Eagle Productivity Solutions (Eagle) is a veteran-owned business delivering software and hardware user training as well as work-process consulting to the pharmaceutical industry. The firm’s human factors experts conduct assessments, create custom curriculum, and present training to pharmaceutical sales representatives in more than 40 countries and more than 20 languages. Incorporated in 1988 with headquarters in Rochester, NY, Eagle Productivity Solutions consults with clients around the world—including 18 of the 20 largest global pharmaceutical companies.
Staci Everetts, Eagle’s Vice President of Human Resources, explained that in addition to 95 full-time employees, the firm carries a large pool of freelance employees referred to as ‘casuals’ that provide the ability to flex staff levels to meet increased project demands.
FinancialForce HCM Replaces ADP® HR Solution
Employing casuals creates some unique challenges for the HR team from a technology perspective. Eagle Productivity Solutions had used ADP’s Workforce Now® payroll in conjunction with ADP HR/Benefits (HRB), ADP’s human resource and benefits solution, for several years to manage employee information and issue payroll. The ADP system was billed based on headcount, so leaving casual employees in the system resulted in oversized HRIS charges.
Eagle already used FinancialForce Professional Services Automation (PSA) for project management, FinancialForce Accounting and Salesforce Customer Relationship Management (CRM). Luke Fitzwater, Manager of Business Systems, is responsible for administering all of the solutions within Eagle’s cloud ecosystem. For the new HRIS, Eagle selected FinancialForce Human Capital Management (HCM), a comprehensive human resource management application built on the Salesforce Platform™. “The combination of these applications residing on the same platform was very compelling for us as it allowed for easy user adoption, enabled real-time reporting and analytics throughout the entire organization, and provided one version of the truth across all business units,” said Fitzwater. “It also offered a seamless transition to incorporate HR into our back office ecosystem.”
Human Factors Learning Consultants Gain HR Best Practices from HRMS Solutions
Eagle relied on HRMS Solutions (HRMS), a premier FinancialForce partner, to manage and assist with the FinancialForce HCM implementation. Fitzwater and Everetts were impressed with the HRMS team’s ability to clearly define the project roadmap and successfully deliver the FinancialForce HCM application. HRMS’ combined HR knowledge and project management skills made the firm stand out from other implementation providers. “I could tell that HRMS was going to be extremely committed to the success of our implementation. They were clearly subject-matter experts for HR and HR technology,” said Everetts.
With All Information in One Place, Efficiency Soars
Before the implementation of the FinancialForce ERP apps, Everetts described the ADP systems as “disjointed.” “FinancialForce brought everything together. It’s much easier for our employees. They were extremely familiar with our other FinancialForce applications and HCM is now just one more area for them with no additional password to remember,” she said.
Fitzwater summed up the biggest advantage of FinancialForce HCM as efficiency. “When we onboard a new employee now, FinancialForce HCM generates a resource record and the same record is used to account for time and expenses on projects in PSA,” he explained. “That’s a huge advantage. We no longer have to go into multiple systems to enter and access employee information. We have streamlined processes and information flows on a single cloud ERP platform.”
Implementation Ran Ahead of Schedule
Working with HRMS, Eagle executed an agile, two-phased approach to implementation. As the two firms got into a good working rhythm, priorities were crossed off the list faster than expected. Everetts explained, “HRMS Solutions let us pull some things from phase two into phase one. We had good momentum going, and things just seemed to click and make sense. We were supposed to implement benefits in phase two, but we’ve already knocked that out of the park. HRMS has been extremely flexible and has really helped us get ahead of ourselves.”
Easier Reporting and Analysis Saves HR Executive One Day Each Month
The reporting and benefits capabilities of FinancialForce HCM have made the biggest impact thus far for Everetts. As an example, going through open enrollment, she noticed a significant improvement in benefits reporting and forecasting. “I used to have to look at a benefits invoice, compare it to the next month, and then compare it to my hires and terms to create a very time consuming reconciliation based on paper. Now, there is so much detail in this system that it’s a dream for an HR professional.”
“Each month, FinancialForce HCM easily saves me a day or more of time that used to be spent just doing manual analysis of our benefits. I can now look instantly at every single benefit we offer, see which individuals are enrolled in each plan, as well as review the employees’ costs, our costs, and much more. I’ve used the forecasting capabilities many times which provide fantastic details and enable me to accurately project future company benefit expenses.”
HRMS and FinancialForce HCM—a Winning Combination
Both Everetts and Fitzwater voiced appreciation for the FinancialForce organization and the amount of communication they provide around FinancialForce HCM software updates. Everetts said, “FinancialForce stays up to date on the latest laws and federal compliance requirements, and provides timely updates including all the tracking needed for recent ACA reporting.” FinancialForce communicates effectively about future software capabilities and the release documentation is “phenomenal”—both important benefits to Fitzwater as an administrator.
Both Fitzwater and Everetts are glad they chose HRMS as their implementation partner. The HRMS team provided much-needed guidance and HR best practices throughout the implementation and continues to serve as a reliable and trusted partner.
“This has been a very positive implementation experience. The HRMS team has made me feel comfortable and I’ve gained incredible systems knowledge throughout the project,” noted Everetts. “They really want us to succeed. They’re always there to help, and they’ve been genuinely excited about the project. You simply don’t get this level of service or passion from other software vendors. These guys are right there with you, staying positive and having fun. We appreciate that.”
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About HRMS Solutions
HRMS Solutions is a selective group of professionals offering a better buying and implementation experience for HR, Payroll and Talent Management Solutions. Founded in 2003, HRMS has enabled hundreds of mid-market companies throughout the U.S. and Canada to better manage, empower and optimize their workforce with leading cloud or on-premise HCM solutions. HRMS’ mission is to serve as a trusted advisor to prospects and clients seeking new solutions to their human capital challenges. Our promise of integrity, objectivity and credibility ensures the absolute best experience when purchasing and implementing HR technology solutions.
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