HR software reviews: what customers say about Access PeopleXD

What customers say about PeopleXD

PeopleXD is our flexible end-to-end HR and payroll system designed for medium-large and fast-growing organisations in the UK and Ireland. Our customers include the likes of Furniture Village, DHL, Danone, Footasylum and Hays Travel, usually with 250+ employees, in all industries and often focused on maximising ROI through greater efficiencies, employee engagement and productivity.

Over the years, our customers have shared their opinions on the G2 HR software review site, describing PeopleXD as:

• One of the most efficient and powerful HR management systems
• An all-inclusive software for HR and payroll
• Affordable, easy to use, user friendly platform to manage workflow

Watch a 4-min demo of PeopleXD

Well-respected and trusted

PeopleXD is trusted by more than 100,000 HR experts, managers, and employees from over 70 countries around the world, and as part of Access People, a division within The Access Group, customers benefit from more than 30 years’ experience of our investment in innovation in HCM technology. In addition, customers also benefit from the wider expertise that comes from being part of The Access Group – one of the largest UK-headquartered providers of business management software in the UK, Ireland, and Asia Pacific – with more than 6,300 employees, and a commitment to growth in M&A and product development.

As a UK-headquartered HR provider, Access People provides many benefits to UK based businesses, including:

• Expertise and compliance with UK employment laws, regulations, and GDPR compliance requirements,
• UK based customer support teams to ensure issues and queries are dealt with quickly and efficiently during UK business hours,
• Seamless integration with other UK software, such as payroll systems reducing the risk of errors, streamlining processes, and improving reporting,
• Competitive pricing.

The continued use of PeopleXD from longstanding customers, such as Dairygold, Dublin Bus, Zurich Ltd, Bausch + Lomb, and Irish Distillers, highlights their loyalty, satisfaction, and commitment.  

With additional tailored capabilities and functionality to meet the needs of businesses in specific sectors like financial services and hospitality.

Access People’s HR and people solutions were recognised in the new Fosway 2022 9-Grid™ for Cloud HR as a Core Leader, positioned amongst global players in the HR software space.

Return on investment

Proving the ROI of HR software to key stakeholders is essential for demonstrating the value of the investment, optimising processes, and improving the overall employee experience.

A number of key metrics can be used to demonstrate ROI, including:

• Time savings for HR employees,

Making time savings allows businesses to allocate resource more effectively to where it is needed, ensuring the HR team are generating most value possible. For example, the Doctors Laboratory saw 25,000 hours saved in the first year from HR automation with PeopleXD, to commercially achieve a return on investment within the first two years.

Since using PeopleXD’s Workforce Management module, Cineworld has also experienced time savings. Operations Project Manager, Tom Manning, says "a task that took six hours to write a roster now takes less than 60 minutes. Holiday requests and shift swaps are automated, taking no management time. It’s not very often we get the chance to hand back five hours to every senior manager every week."

• Cost savings for your business,

The Co-operative Bank required a more cost-effective, reliable and intuitive HR and payroll software solution, selecting PeopleXD in 2020. The Bank’s main objective was to reduce the total HR and payroll system and service costs by a minimum of 40%, which was exceeded and cost savings of over £1 million per annum were made.

Other key metrics to demonstrate ROI include improved employee retention, reduced recruitment costs and attraction of top candidates, enhanced employee engagement and productivity, and avoided penalties and fines.

Read more about how you can demonstrate the ROI of HR software

End-to-end HR software

A fully integrated HR system can ensure businesses remain compliant by streamlining and storing all HR processes and data in one centralised location.

There are also a number of additional benefits that integrated HR software can provide a company with, including:

• Increased efficiency of HR operations,
• Improved communication,
• Enhanced decision making,
• Providing a better experience for both employees and the HR team.

PeopleXD is fully integrated so you can continue building your HR software suite, never having to input the same data twice.

Simon Tully, Digital & Technology Services Director at COOK explained that the food manufacturer and retailer "did not want the IT team and the People team wasting their time trying to get two systems to talk to each other, so we chose the integrated Payroll and HR functions that Access People offers."

A fully integrated HR solution proved pertinent for Cineworld, with Leon Foster Hill, their Senior Human Resources Business Partner explaining that "after discussions with Access, we realised we could have a fully integrated system and go from roster to time and attendance, pay deductions, payment and beyond in one system. Managers now have everything under a single sign-on."

In addition, a scalable HR solution is essential in instances of mergers and acquisitions - where a company may need to integrate their HR systems from multiple entities - to accommodate the new data and users without disruption to the existing HR operations. Following the acquisition of Virgin Money UK by Clydesdale Bank, Virgin Money needed to undertake efforts to integrate the two entities. A key part of this process was to migrate colleagues from a legacy HR system onto PeopleXD, ensuring all employee records were securely and accurately managed on one, trusted HR and payroll system.

Integrated payroll

Integrating payroll directly with HR software, rather than through a third-party API, increases efficiencies, improve accuracy, simplify tax compliance, and provide real-time access to payroll data.

PeopleXD has a fully integrated Payroll module, to allow HR and payroll teams to stay in control of payroll and deliver the right pay on the right day.

By integrating payroll within PeopleXD, the Co-operative Bank has been able to fundamentally improve payroll process, “with better visibility and flexibility each month than we’ve ever had, and payroll accuracy has been sustained above SLAs,” says Maria Cearns, Managing Director of Customer and People. The Bank’s project delivered quick and accurate transfer of data part way through the tax year.

Automating payroll process and eliminating manual data entry can reduce the need for additional payroll employees, which can result in costs savings for business.

Since using PeopleXD’s Payroll module, Livv Housing has been able to automate payroll activity. Guy Corbett, their Director of Business Improvement describes the immediate benefits that the team experienced, describing how "we’ve been able to automate 60% of our payroll tasks, meaning we’ve been able to free up 1 FTE’s worth of capability to reallocate to more value-add activity."

Talent attraction and retention

Supporting an employee through the entire lifecycle at an organisation will not only attract the right people and give them a great first impression of the organisation, it will also ensure that they are provided with valuable feedback to help support their development and improve retention.

HR software with recruitment functionality can save an organisation money and time, whilst helping to attract, manage, and hire the best candidates.

With PeopleXD’s Recruitment module, businesses can create a bespoke web presence for candidates with a career’s website and portal to accelerate time-to-hire. The ATS – included as part of the Recruitment module – can undertake candidate screening with fast and automated pre-employment checks.

COOK utilise PeopleXD’s Recruitment module for a more formalised approach to recruitment and onboarding which ensures that no requirements are missed.

In addition, a with self-serve onboarding capabilities, PeopleXD ensures strong new hire engagement, shortens time-to-productivity, and ultimately promotes a positive start to employment.

Since implementing PeopleXD, the David Ross Education Trust has been able to add new starter employee records with ease. HR Business Partner, Cate Holmes, comments that "with other systems it can take ages to learn and hours to sort out, but this isn’t the case with PeopleXD. Our HR admins can now action tasks quickly and easily." When a vacancy is filled, the employee information automatically updates across the entire PeopleXD suite to ensure employee records remain up to date. This saves time, as well as provides businesses, such as the David Ross Education Trust, with one source of truth.

Automatic updates

Automatic updates help ensure that your HR software is up to date with the latest product developments, secure, and running efficiently, which in turn can improve productivity.

As a mobile-first, 100% SaaS platform, PeopleXD always delivers access to the latest technology with no manual upgrades required.

Since becoming a customer back in 2002, Permanent TSB has experienced countless automatic updates of PeopleXD. Sonya Nevin, HR Data and Technology Manager, says "The Access Group is an innovative and forward-thinking company, and these qualities are reflected in the PeopleXD software. Over the last 20 years of being a customer, they’ve continuously evolved the product and seamlessly delivered countless upgrades, improvements, and enhancements, ensuring we always have the best user experience for our employees."

Self-service

Self-service HR software allows employees to manage their own HR-related tasks, such as updating personal information, submitting leave requests, and access company policies, etc.

For Livv Housing, empowering remote workers with PeopleXD’s self-serve functionality has been highly beneficial, as Guy Corbett, Director of Business Improvement, explains, "the Expenses module has enabled our ~150 remote employees, and ~100 who claim semi-regular expenses, to self-serve. Expenses are easier and quicker to upload receipts and submit in PeopleXD. As a business, we have a real-time overview of the overtime submitted to enable us to track and control spending."

With an easy to use, secure online HR portal, employees can access their own HR data and documentation, keep their details up to date, request leave, and shift swap with PeopleXD.

CEO, Nick Slape explains how with the increased and improved use of self service, both by colleagues and leaders, the Co-operative Bank has been able to insource significant activity bank into the Bank, without the requirement to increase headcount within its People function. He describes how "although our principal driver for a move of HR and payroll software and services was a financial one, the results of this change have far surpassed simply a monetary value."

The Doctors Laboratory has also experienced a positive shift in their employee experience. Matt Gibbons, their HR Director shares that since implementing PeopleXD, "employees feel happier that we have made a difference to their working day. They no longer have to find a PC to view their self-service portal or find a paper rota to view their shifts," particularly as employees can use the PeopleXD mobile app.

Mobile app

From an employee perspective, the PeopleXD mobile app allows users to request leave, check payslips, view timesheets, and complete appraisals, to improve engagement and drive productivity. HR teams can manage absences on the go, view shifts, receive real-time notifications of changes and requests; enabling teams to react quickly and efficiently, so more time can be spent on strategic business initiatives.

On the App Store, recent feedback of the PeopleXD mobile app has included:

• 5* rating – I love this app, it’s great to be able to amend all my personal details, view my payslips, view my shifts, and book my holiday. But I also love how it helps me feel connected with my employer via the company updates/news,
• 5* rating – It’s never been easier to book time off or check my payslips,
• 5* rating - Love using this facility to book holidays, view my pay slip and just generally finding any information that I need. It’s more convenient and quicker than writing/handing in holiday forms awaiting a response.

The PeopleXD mobile app has helped Permanent TSB to promote a healthier work-life balance, with the app’s capabilities reinforcing this culture. This proved particularly important during the pandemic, as Permanent TSB recognised the need to enhance their self-service offering for employees to enable them to complete HR activities at any time, from wherever they were.

For Livv Housing Group, one of the deciding factors for selecting PeopleXD was the mobile app. "It was more advanced in comparison to the others. It’s user friendly, has a great interface, and we knew instantly that rolling out the mobile app out across the business would be hugely successful," says Guy Corbett, Director of Business Improvement at Livv Housing Group.

In Senior Human Resources Business Partner, Leon Foster Hill’s experience, "Access People was the only provider we spoke to that could give us an end-to-end, secure, cloud-based HR and Payroll solution that works on any device, allowing us to transact and transform all on one platform." The PeopleXD app empowers employees at Cineworld to manage their working lives, make quick, well-informed decisions and ultimately improve their experiences.

Employee experience

In recent years, improving the employee experience has become a key business priority. Focussing on employee experience leads to better retention rates, higher productivity, an enhanced employer brand reputation, better customer service, innovation and creativity, and improved health and wellbeing for employees.  

HR technology consultant, Silver Cloud’s Head of Sales, Ben Myhill, recently told us that, "clients talk about how they can deliver a better employee experience, especially now employees have different demands from their organisations in this hybrid world, and also benefits that aren’t just financial but offer them a better way of life.” He continues, “Clients say it’s still about getting the fundamentals right first e.g., integrations, single source of truth and analytics but as a phase 2, it’s about how best to serve their employees."

From the Co-operative Bank’s first engagement with Access People, the team were provided with immediate confidence in PeopleXD and its ability to "make our People function significantly more cost effective, as well as providing a better colleague and leader experience," recalls their Managing Director of Customer and People, Maria Cearns.

COOK also shared how end-user adoption is very strong, as everyone is happy with PeopleXD, as it is user-friendly and modern in appearance.

Scalability

As businesses grow and change over time, their HR needs evolve accordingly. For example, as an organisation expands, the number of employees, HR processes, and data volume increase.

If the HR software isn’t scalable, it could lead to performance issues, system crashes, and data losses for the business. It may also face problems and costs associated with expensive, frequent system upgrades, replacements, and/or migrations. It’s therefore worth investing in a scalable HR solution to handle growth demands effectively and ensure HR operations and productivity remains unaffected and efficient.

Head of Sales at HR technology consultants at Silver Cloud, Ben Myhill, told us that, "we’re talking more to clients about talent management, retention, recruitment and how can to recognise and reward employees," highlighting the increasing importance on scalability.

He adds: "We work with a number of large and complex clients and PeopleXD is great for that. As a one-stop-shop, they’ve got the option to grow their portfolio with things like talent, pay and time."

With People Management, Payroll, Expense, Workforce Management, Talent Management, and Recruitment modules, PeopleXD offers limitless growth and scalability to adapt to business complexities and ever-changing HR requirements.

When in the market for new HR software, Livv Housing Group sought a scalable solution to meet their unique business needs. Guy Corbett, Director of Business Improvement at Livv Housing recalls: "Access PeopleXD immediately stood out to us. The software had capabilities that we liked, which the other solutions couldn’t offer. We also liked that there are a wide range of modules within PeopleXD, so we can develop a clear roadmap to potentially take on more capability in the future."

Livv Housing initially invested in PeopleXD’s People Management module but sought other opportunities with PeopleXD to allow the software’s capabilities to grow in line with their business priorities, and have since invested in the Payroll, Expense, and Recruitment modules.

Similarly, the Doctors Laboratory selected PeopleXD as it "contains all the modules as a fully integrated package that not only simplifies deployment but is also more efficient to maintain," according to Matt Gibbon, their HR Director.

A range of implementation and support options

A healthy working relationship promotes success by fostering trust, transparency, and collaboration between two or more companies.

A variety of implementation services can provide customers with access to the technical expertise, customisation, training, project management, and risk mitigation that they require to ensure a seamless and successful implementation process.

The PeopleXD Flightpath implementation programme has been designed to be remote-first to provide a low-risk implementation journey, following well-defined key milestones to deliver timely value.

During the implementation process, Ken Sibbald, Implementation Lead at Virgin Money shares how "the support we received from the Access People project team throughout the entire project has been fantastic. It was vital that we were able to integrate our HR system effectively, ensuring all our records were being securely and accurately managed."

Various support channels and services are also pertinent once the HR solution is up and running. Through a range of services, customers can access the help they require - all whilst meeting the business’ needs and building an open, honest, and supportive working relationship.

The PeopleXD Essential, Standard, and Premier customer support plans provide customers with access to different support options, which are customised to meet the organisation’s specific requirements.

With the Premier Customer Support Plan, Permanent TSB has a named Customer Success Manager and Support Agents, who work with the HR team to make sure they’re getting the support needed to achieve their business goals. As part of their plan, Permanent TSB also has a training and consultancy allowance to further support with their strategic objectives.

Permanent TSB’s HR Data and Technology Manager, Sonya Nevin, shares that "since investing in the Premier Customer Support Plan, our relationship has gone from strength to strength. The Access People team are brilliant at supporting and updating us. It’s with their support and dedication that we really look forward to continuing our journey with Access People."

Joined-up data and reporting

Analysing HR data enables businesses to identify trends, make better-informed forecasts, and gain a deeper understanding of their workforce. This insight is vital for supporting performance management, facilitating resource allocation, making data-driven decisions, and ensuring compliance.

"A lot of the fundamental issues clients have with HR software is around integration, single source of truth, analytics insights and digital processes that just work, and these are still quite common challenges even in larger, more complex businesses," says Ben Myhill, Head of Sales at HR technology consultants, Silver Cloud.

As all employee records and documents are centralised and secured in one, central location with PeopleXD, customers can access a wealth of customisable HR reports and analytics to make better strategic decisions about their people and processes.

The David Ross Education Trust shared how joined-up data has given the Trust access to a suite of 100+ comprehensive, real-time reports. With PeopleXD, the HR team have experienced a reduction in the time taken to produce and customise their reports, as well as visibility and data insights to support informed strategic planning.

Comparing HR software

With many features and capabilities to consider when investing in HR software, undertaking ample research is vital to enable you to make a well-informed, strategic purchasing decision. Part of this research should include checking customer reviews, as they will provide valuable insight.

As well as checking a vendor’s website, HR software review sites such as Capterra, G2 and Software Advice can help businesses find a HR solution that will meet their needs, based on the solution’s quality and performance, the provider’s reputation, and overall value for money.

In their reviews, customers may prove ROI to key stakeholders demonstrating the value of specific HR software features, for example in the context of time and cost savings, such as:

• Time savings for HR teams as a result of automating labour-intensive, admin tasks – like many PeopleXD customers have experienced, such as how the Doctors Laboratory saw 25,000 hours saved in the initial year, and Cineworld managed to give five hours of working time back to every senior manager every week;
• Costs savings for businesses – such as the Co-operative Bank reducing their total HR and payroll system and service costs by over 40%, saving over £1 million per annum, with the use of PeopleXD.

In summary, customer reviews act as social proof and will be able to provide the reassurance and confidence that you will be making a smart purchasing decision.

And what’s more, if you need additional social proof for PeopleXD, you can ask one of the 6,300+ employees we have here at Access using it, as we are all users of our PeopleXD software internally too!

Our guides on how to choose the best HR software for your business, and the different types of HR software available in the market might also help form part of your research.