When using software for work, the last thing anyone needs is to feel they have to be a certified expert just to carry out their tasks. Ease of use and flexibility are often overlooked qualities in business software – but they’re priceless when they give staff the freedom to take care of their work quickly and easily.
Amundi is one of Europe’s leading asset managers and ranks in the top 10 worldwide with more than €2 trillion of assets under management. Headquartered in Paris, France, the group employs more than 5,000 people across the world. Its 400-strong operations in Dublin, Ireland provide support to the group, along with back office functions, front office investment professionals. It’s also a co-hub for Amundi Technology, the company’s in-house application and system development group.
The company had been using a HR system for more than 10 years but there were several obstacles that, over time, started to prevent the company from getting the most out of its system. One was its inflexibility: even making the smallest change involved a team from the software supplier coming on site and working with Amundi’s IT and HR teams. The legacy system was visually dated, and it had limitations with how it handled the employee onboarding process. It was also difficult for the HR team to produce reports for management and this often involved printing documents or emailing zip files.
Together, these barriers were proving too hard to overcome, and Amundi decided to seek out a new provider that could offer a more flexible approach.
The company was directed to Grouper, and on winning the deal it assigned Amundi a contact who was closely involved in the project management to migrate from the old HR system, and in updating the data from the previous system where necessary. Grouper also worked closely with Amundi to ensure the migration was compliant with the firm’s IT policies.
“The implementation all went well. The Grouper team was always responsive and our account manager is diligent and on the ball, and flexible in terms of the time and help he’s provided us,” says Aoife Small, HR Business Partner at Amundi’s Dublin office.
As a busy HR professional, she finds the speed of response and Grouper’s flexibility in handling queries especially helpful. “Even now that the system is established, any time we send an email or have a query, they’ll more than likely be back with a holding email within the hour,” she says.
“Interactions are as frequent as we need them. I know I can pop an email to Grouper if required, and our contact is typically flexible to have quick calls to discuss. That availability is helpful,” Aoife says.
“They’re available for a call to troubleshoot and brainstorm, and if a certain feature or idea wasn’t an option, they would give suggestions as to what might work as an alternative. Even if it’s not the exact answer we’re looking for, time is given to discuss and they are receptive to feedback on the product.”
Ease of use had been a sticking point with the previous HR application, but Aoife finds the system proposed by Grouper “very accessible”. “Anyone who gives the system a little bit of time, will be able to use it easily. It’s very accessible for everyone on the HR team as opposed to just one dedicated HRIS person,” she says.
Sometimes, the Amundi team might not be aware when a feature would change or be added to Grouper’s HR system. After a conversation with the representative, they put in place a scheduled quarterly catch-up call to cover new benefits of the system.
Summing up, Aoife says: “it would be difficult to find a replacement system of the quality and accessibility that we found, for the price and the ease of implementation. Grouper is absolutely an upgrade on what we had before.”
