Successful First Half of 2020 Despite Pandemic Challenges

MHR International will focus on new opportunities and the future of work to help customers plan for ongoing diverse market conditions, says Anton Roe, the CEO of the HR, payroll and analytics provider in a statement reflecting on the company’s performance in the first half of 2020.   

“Considering we have just gone through one of the most challenging quarters the world has ever seen, I am very pleased to report that MHR is in a very strong, unique position as a completely financially independent company.

“The recent situation brought a new focus to the crucial work of HR and payroll professionals. The pandemic created a massive workload for these individuals, balancing the needs of employees and the business.

“For some organisations there was a rapid realisation that their existing software or processes would not support them in a remote work world and therefore they needed to move quickly to a solution that would.

“MHR rose to this challenge. We were able to offer customers a complete remote implementation service. Take West Yorkshire Police, for example who established an entire new system with MHR, paying 10,500 key workers within four months of lockdown.

“Alongside West Yorkshire Police we have been privileged to welcome many new customers during the first half of the year. This includes large and complex private organisations like British Steel, which implemented iTrent within just five weeks, ensuring 3,500 employees were paid in line with the requirements of the company’s acquisition.

“During this period our services and software continue to be in demand from public sector organisations, police forces, education trusts and local authorities who are looking to increase efficiencies and streamline processes, crucial in the current climate.

“This is particularly apparent when reporting the success of our automated Pensions Data Service (PDS), launched just over a year ago. The service now processes in excess of 300,000 employee pensions. It’s a great example of how our own innovation, coupled with the right strategic partnership has met a specific customer need. With i-Connect, the leading provider in the pensions processing space, we are helping our customers significantly reduce the time processing pensions returns.

“We have announced several exciting new partnerships with selected leading providers to enhance and extend our services. These include Docebo which will embed its AI-powered online learning management system into the iTrent platform, and Wagestream enabling iTrent customers to offer income streaming to their employees.

“We are committed to investing in leading-edge technology within our products to remain a leader in HR, payroll and analytics. Take People First our new integrated HR and payroll platform. It is the most employee-centric solution on the market. Cloud-based, it has been designed to help companies manage, pay, connect and engage their people quickly and easily wherever they are. We successfully launched the platform into the US market in May and it is quickly gaining traction in line with our international expansion strategy across the US, Asia Pacific and Europe.

“And last month we launched our e-shop, enabling organisations in the UK and Ireland to gain even faster access to workplace management technology.

“It’s great to see our dedicated MHR teams begin their return safely into our offices, which followed a successful period of total remote working. I’m delighted to say this caused no disruption to our services or operations, with implementations running smoothly and customer support remaining on-track. As we move forward, we will continue to offer remote implementation services alongside our on-site option to continue to meet the ongoing changing needs of our customers.

“We are really pleased our growth strategy is on-plan, despite these tough times. We have continued to recruit talented employees throughout the last few months. We will also be welcoming four new graduates onto our sought-after graduate management programme in September, which will be a great addition to our team.  

“As always, I am incredibly grateful for the combined commitment and expertise demonstrated by every employee during these difficult times and want to thank them for continuing to make our business a success.

“We have a substantial road map in place for the rest of 2020, and this will not change. By the end of the year, iTrent will be supporting organisations with vastly enhanced rostering, recruitment and onboarding capabilities new activities in the chatbot and interactive payslips. We’re also introducing new social and collaboration capabilities with integration into our People First Connect solution. This integration allows iTrent users to access a new way to collaborate with their colleagues, give recognitions and keep up to date with company information in an easy to use, social media style format.

“None of us can predict what will happen in the second half of 2020, but we are primed and ready to support our customers and employees whatever challenges they face.”