Nottingham Trent University gives new HR and payroll system top marks

The university, which was named University of the Year 2019 in the Guardian University Awards, has gone live with MHR’s market-leading cloud-based iTrent solution as part of a project to replace its legacy systems with new digital methods of working to modernise the way it manages its 4,500 employees.

This includes the automation of the payroll process and integration of core people management processes which will improve the employee experience and better support managers, while timely and accurate management information will help the university to meet its external and statutory obligations.

The introduction of self-service functionality has increased employee engagement, empowering users to gain fast and immediate access to the data they need.

MHR’s experience of working with many UK universities and having responsibility for processing payments to a third of UK university staff, will enable Nottingham Trent to achieve immediate benefits from iTrent.

Jayne Billam, Nottingham Trent University’s director of human resources says: “At a time when universities are facing funding pressure, it is essential that we adopt more digital methods of working in order to drive efficiency savings and bring our processes up to date”

Phase one, which took 18 months to complete, included the implementation of modules for HR (including absence management), payroll (including timesheets), and learning and development.

Phase two of the project, which is due to commence in 2019, will see the university embrace digital methods to support the management of expenses, annual leave booking and employee appraisals.

Jayne Billam adds: “Self-service functionality has facilitated widespread adoption of the system, and the number of employees using the system is increasing by the day. With iTrent they have greater control of their data and have the convenience to perform tasks any time with a single point of access to the system.”

Anton Roe, chief executive officer at MHR comments: “We’re delighted to welcome Nottingham Trent University to the growing number of higher education institutions we have supported through their digital transformation journey.

“By adopting digital ways of working, the university will be able to perform routine tasks much quicker than before while accurate data will facilitate better-informed decisions. We look forward to working closely with them going forward to achieve further savings and efficiencies during phase two of the project.”