Success story:
Travers Smith LLP

Travers Smith is a full-service law firm employing over 750 people with offices in London and Paris.

The firm’s business comprises the following main practice areas: Commercial, IP & Technology, Competition, Corporate M&A and ECM, Dispute Resolution, Incentives & Remuneration, Employment, Environment & Operational Risk, Finance & Restructuring, Financial Services & Markets, Funds, Pensions, Private Equity and Financial Sponsors, Real Estate, Regulatory Investigations and Tax.

Until Travers Smith began working with Access, its 14-strong HR team used what could be described as a ‘grey’ piece of legacy software with limited functionality, other than data entry.

A reliance on manual processes, including paper absence request forms, meant everyday tasks were time-consuming in a company of this size. Data was also limited in scope and quality, making it difficult to report on key HR data such as absence, attrition and pay.

Like many HR professionals, the team wanted to bring payroll and HR functions together on one platform, gain quality data, ensure compliance, remove manual processes and reduce the risk of error.

During the tender process, Travers Smith looked at a number of solutions before choosing SelectHR. What impressed them most was its functionality, particularly the reporting tool, and the fact that it could be configured to meet their needs.

According to the firm’s HR and MI (management information) specialist Erin Green: “SelectHR has excellent functionality, it is highly configurable and with very few limitations. It allows us to quickly and accurately report on headcount, absence, attrition and diversity.”

The HR team also wanted to make it as easy as possible for their busy partners, lawyers and employees to use self-service via the online self-service portal. SelectHR allows users to request holiday, access payslips, and to view and update their personal details from wherever they are using a web-enabled system, with single sign-on access.

With the new HR software in place, the HR team have been able to save time and tap into valuable employee data.

"We value the employee self-service functionality, which is widely used across the firm. We now have a comprehensive central data repository to hold all employee data, where we can track and report on data and automate processes that save us time, improve accuracy and reduce errors,” explains Erin Green, HR & Management Information Specialist at Travers Smith LLP.

SelectHR also supports compliance with company policy and employment regulations by automating tasks and generating automated email notifications. As an example, when a non-UK national requiring a work visa joins the firm, the expiry date is stored in the system, which then sends an email notification to the HR team, when action is required.

Additional benefits of the system include enabling HR to manage sickness absence more effectively and flagging when a new starter is coming to the end of their probationary period (via an automated email notification). The system also provides a platform for employee surveys to be conducted online, such as the firm’s online diversity survey.

“We now have more time to spend on more strategic work, projects and activities including ones which support improving employee engagement, performance and management,” concludes Erin.

The Access Group's HCM division, Access People, offer an unrivalled suite of solutions for businesses, including HR and Payroll, Absence Management, Workforce Management, Compliance, Recruitment, Talent, Learning, Employee Benefits and Engagement, Health & Safety, all of which are underpinned by the powerful Access Workspace platform. 

The Access Group is one of the leading providers of business management software to small and mid-sized organisations in the UK, Ireland, and Asia Pacific. We help over 100,000 customers across commercial and not-for-profit sectors become more productive and efficient.