In the world of cloud-based software, there is a lot of focus on features and functionality. But for many buyers, support and service from the vendor count for just as much. With some software platforms, raising a support ticket generates an automated response. Brookhaven Healthcare needed closer support as it implemented an online HR system, and found exactly that with Grouper.
Since 2019, Grouper has provided Brookhaven with a HR system that logs all staff information for almost 400 team members in a single location, stored in the cloud. As a family-run business operating five nursing homes across Ireland and providing residential care to more than 2,000 people, Brookhaven is a very lean operation and its HR department plays a hands-on role.
The role of HR is to safeguard staff, and doing this effectively calls for clear communication, repeatable processes, and a system that is easy to understand and use. This way, HR can manage everything from staff clock-ins to pay-related information.
The nature of Brookhaven's business means that the HR manager could be in Galway for a staff meeting, and the next day in Kilkenny or at its operations in Laois. That is why it is so valuable to know that all relevant information is easily accessible from anywhere.
With such a busy HR function, Brookhaven appreciates Grouper's highly attentive and fast levels of service. Email responses arrive within an hour. Brookhaven's HR function values that personal touch, which gives confidence that if there is an issue, it will be resolved quickly and effectively.
Until 2022, Brookhaven had administrators at each of the five locations who looked after onboarding new staff. In 2022, it decided to move this work internally to the HR department, and Grouper helped it to meet the challenge.
This changed how Brookhaven worked, which meant the company needed good processes and workflows and reliable systems. It asked Grouper for assistance and the account manager took the company's team step by step through how to do this. Now, Brookhaven management can generate any report from information that is on the system.
This move had a double benefit for Brookhaven. Not only is the system easy to use for a lean HR department, it also allows the company to easily provide comprehensive information to the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA), the regulator that oversees healthcare providers in Ireland.
In healthcare, real-time information, good record keeping, and a way of demonstrating staff files is vital from a compliance point of view. After a discussion with Grouper about how to make information that was already in the system more visible, they created specific folders, each individualised by employee, so that all relevant documents are in one place.
At a time when Brookhaven wanted to modernise how it handled HR administration, Grouper was a help, not a hindrance. The account manager's knowledge and communication style suited its needs. There is no endless cycle of support tickets and automated emails: Grouper promises and delivers.
