Managed Services: Working in partnership and acting as an extension of the HR team.
Adoption of Sage People
Sage People is a global cloud HR and people management system that caters for mid-sized multinational businesses like Laird Thermal Systems. Built on Salesforce, the world’s leading enterprise platform, Sage People automates hiring, managing, and developing an organisation’s people. The system supports new ways of working, freeing HR from manual administration and low value tasks. Laird Thermal Systems adopted the Sage People HR System back in (approximately) 2015 and are increasingly taking advantage of its various features and functionality to enhance their people management.
Extending their HR department
Being a small but busy department, the HR team required general HRIS administration support for their Sage People System in order to manage their system optimally and enable them to focus on the more strategic aspects of their roles.
Initially, the HR team at Laird Thermal Systems reached out to the Tugela People Managed Services team early last year to conduct a technical adoption overview of their Sage People HRIS. This service involves a technical run-through of the Sage People functionality and helps determine which areas of the system are being utilised or not! In addition, it highlights areas for development and facilitates the production of a system roadmap based on the organisation’s key priorities alongside recommendations made by the HRIS consultants at Tugela People.
Jamie Wilkins, Head of Managed Services at Tugela People, said, “a technical adoption overview can be a great foundation to understand and identify where there are gaps - systems evolve, businesses progress and change over time, which can often mean that the system you originally implemented no longer fully meets your needs.”
As part of this partnership, the Managed Services team has the pleasure of working closely with David Stephenson (HR Director) and Iva Strausova (HR & Payroll Specialist) of Laird Thermal Systems.
David said, “ Tugela People were professional, knowledgeable on Sage People, patient and attentive in setting up our support services and conducting the Technical Adoption Overview required at the start. In addition, the team are responsive, flexible and easy to work with’’.
In May last year, following the technical adoption overview, Laird Thermal Systems signed up for the retained managed services support offered by Tugela People to help them optimise the use of their system and implement some of the recommendations highlighted by this service. The additional advantage of signing up for Managed Services was that it provided the HR team at Laird Thermal Systems with a dedicated, experienced HRIS Technical Support Consultant, but with access to the entire team’s knowledge of managing the Sage People system.
David said, “The Tugela People Managed Services team supplement our internal HR resources, working in partnership with us. They enable our internal HR team to learn more about the Sage People system and how to maximise its functionality".
When asked for feedback from the Managed Services team on working with Laird Thermal Systems, they said, “we work closely with David and Iva and act as an extension of their HR team, freeing them up from the general administrative work that the system requires. This includes assisting with reporting, data loading and testing, in addition to helping with user guides and staff training”.
Although Laird Thermal Systems are contracted to 8 hours of support a month, there is flexibility in the service offered that enables them to extend these hours when required. In addition to providing regular support for the administration of their Sage People system, in recent months, this has extended to:
- The review of their Performance Reviews and Objectives process,
- Setting up Compensation planning,
- Talent Planning,
- Reviewing and managing their Succession Planning process
- Supporting the introduction of Development Needs to their staff in WX
Embracing their culture
Laird Thermal Systems are a very forward-thinking organisation and are gradually implementing more elements of Sage People in order to get the most out of the system and meet the ever-changing and growing needs of their people and organisation. In addition, the HR team is also trying to focus on automating HR Processes that were previously done outside of the system. This is very clear in David and Iva’s approach - “They really focus on ensuring that their staff get the information they need when using different system elements in WX. Examples of this include the provision of User Guides and training for their end users. They are great at this”. – quote from one of the HRIS Technical Consultants from within the Managed Services team.
"Tugela People specifically develop improved functionality on Sage for us. This includes better functionality for our HR team and our people line managers (whom we want to use the Sage system more to enable them to make better people management decisions using better people data)”, said David.
About Laird Thermal
Laird Thermal Systems are the world leader in thermal management solutions. The company designs, develops and manufactures thermal management solutions for demanding applications across global medical, analytical, industrial, transportation and telecommunications markets. Laird Thermal are a global organisation with over 500 employees in 10 different countries.
About Tugela People Managed Services for Sage People
Whether you require support on day-to-day administration, simple fixes or complex system configurations, our experienced team of consultants are here to help you take full advantage of Sage People's capabilities.
We act as an extension of your own team so that you can enjoy the benefits of your system with greater flexibility and less expense. And because we understand the people challenges that mid-range companies face especially high growth companies, we offer a range of services to enable you to select the right solution for you, your people, and your organisation.
You decide how much support you need and how you use it.
If you would like to learn more about the services offered or discuss your potential requirements, please reach out to us on tel +44(0)1908 030360 or email: info@tugelapeople.com. Alternatively, complete the ‘Get in touch’ form and a member of our team will contact you directly.