St Barnabas House
St Barnabas House is a local independent charitable
hospice which opened in 1973. It offers palliative care for
patients with advanced cancer and other advanced life-limiting
diseases. It also encompasses Chestnut Tree House, which is the
only children's hospice in Sussex.
St Barnabas House is rightly proud of its service to patients
which includes a 16 bed inpatient ward, a day hospice, a community
team, a family services team and an education department. Its
children's hospice, Chestnut Tree House, cares for children and
young adults of 0-19 years of age.
The team at St Barnabas House consists of nurses, doctors,
social workers, counsellors, a chaplain, physiotherapists,
complementary therapists, an artist-in-residence and volunteers,
all of whom combine to help families cope at a difficult time in
their lives.
Back in 2005, the HR team at St Barnabas House recognised that
their HR system
was not capable of providing the kind of management information
that they needed to help move the business forward. David Gayler,
Head of HR, explains. "St Barnabas House recognised that the
existing HR system was essentially just a simple database that was
not fulfilling the business and HR needs. It was cumbersome and
very difficult to report on, and a cost effective solution was
needed that would grow with the organisation and be essentially
future-proof."
With staff and volunteer numbers over 1000, the need for a
replacement became a priority. The process of searching for a new
HR solution began and after a lengthy investigation into the
options available, St Barnabas House decided to purchase the SelectHR
suite of products. The system in place, David highlights the key
benefits achieved so far…
Benefits of Self-service
"Using the functionality within Select and training the
managers I have reduced absence to just over 2% and saved around
£26,000 per annum in direct sickness costs." David Gayler
Head of HR
"Our managers are really starting to see the benefits of using
such technology - not only with absence monitoring but accessing
general management information like names and addresses. This
speeds everything up!" says David. "I am continually promoting Self
Service to the management team to increase their knowledge of
SelectHR."
Getting the Self-service message across
There are management meetings once a month where David hosts
"tool box talks" on various HR topics, including using
SelectHR.
"SelectHR is discussed regularly and I encourage managers to use
the facilities available to them. It takes away the hassle of
everyday general admin from HR and frees up managers' and the HR
team's time considerably."
Absence monitoring
"One particular area that I focused on after joining St Barnabas
was sickness absence which was running at just over 4%," David
explains. "We operate from two sites with two very different
cultures due to the nature of the work and it was very easy to miss
the odd absence. Using the functionality within Select and training
the managers I have reduced this to just over 2% and in the process
have saved around £26,000 per annum in direct sickness costs.
We will also be moving to electronic holiday records shortly, away
from the old time consuming card system."
SelectHR in the not for profit sector
SelectHR can also offer the not-for-profit sector facilities
like CRB monitoring and checking and skills searches, which David
is very keen on using.
"We keep volunteers' information on SelectHR too - these people
have a wealth of experience and skills that if we know about, we
can use! For example, we recently had an ex-City volunteer who was
very knowledgeable about project management, health and IT. She is
now using this experience to help with a project on electronic
patient records.
SelectHR's skills search would identify her immediately and I am
keen to get this up and running. It will save St Barnabas House
time and money - one of the original objectives back in 2006!"
SelectHR and business management information
"There are many benefits of SelectHR from a strategic business
viewpoint - information for succession planning, tackling resource
shortages using skills searches, staff turnover reports, etc.
It is essential to look down at the organisation and not get
caught up in the day to day minutiae," advises David. "A
'helicopter view' is required from the Board or Management Team to
keep the whole process on track. We are still developing the system
in a structured way, for example changing recruitment
processes from paper to online. We are looking to put our appraisal
system online to reduce our paperwork and streamline the process -
and I am looking forward to the next User Group meeting to attend a
workshop on exactly that!"
Other services
Lastly, David's experience of post-sales service at Select has
also been very positive. "I couldn't speak more highly of the
helpdesk", he says. "They are helpful, friendly and understanding -
very impressive to deal with. I have found working with Access
Select a real bonus and it really makes a difference to the
efficiency of the HR department and the organisation."
Choosing a new HR & payroll system is a long-term commitment, so it pays to spend time getting it right. In this highly practical guide, we explain the principles and aims of an RFI (Request for Information) and also include a quick-start template to get the ball rolling.
Find out more »
Blog
RSS
Twitter 
LinkedIn