Success Story

Royal Russell School success story

Royal Russell School

For many years, the HR system at Royal Russell School was made up of filing cabinets and lots of paper and spreadsheets containing different information, says HR manager Carol Oxlade.

“There was no HR system before Ciphr, but we knew it was time for a culture change. When choosing a HR system, we wanted to go for something that we felt we could make best use of and that would improve staff’s access to their personal information, whatever their role – whether they work with us a cleaner or catering assistant, or are employed in an office role or as a teacher. We chose Ciphr based on the support and approachability of the Ciphr team, the level of customisation it offered us, and its ease of use.”

“All of the Ciphr staff I’ve dealt with over the years have been really great, responsive, and knowledgeable about the system. [Account manager] Lindsey [Tudor] has been great and a big help to us. I know she’s got our best interests at heart and if she doesn’t know something, she’ll pass it on to someone else who can help.”

“Notifications will also be sent to the HR team inbox, which might say that we have new employees starting, the category of staff they fall into (which dictates the actions required), contract end dates, and the date for when probation reviews should be carried out. These notifications – which generate reminders if a task is not completed – help us make sure that managers put this time aside in their diary and get the task done.”

“Having PBS as our payroll provider has short-circuited a lot of paper trails and the transfer of pay information from HR to payroll. We’re able to customise payslips, which has been extremely helpful for staff whose pay includes many allowances, and the link between Ciphr and PBS is quick and efficient, which allows data to be transferred quickly – saving us time as a result.”

“My hope is that we all get used to doing things remotely by using Ciphr – whether this means creating electronic contracts or staff just being aware of and accessing the vast amount of information and documents that we provide within Ciphr rather than visiting or emailing the HR staff to request this information."