European insurance company MMA Insurance transforms its recruitment approach

Reading-based MMA Insurance plc has just gone live with the latest phase of its HR and recruitment strategy, using the modular Workforce system from HR and Payroll software specialist Intellect. This involved implementing a web-based recruitment process, using Workforce eRecruiter, as part of MMA Insuranceís streamlined approach to its recruitment cycle. Recruitment agencies as well as candidates are now using the online facility to submit applications, with MMA Insurance reporting excellent results and a significantly streamlined process.



MMA is a major European insurance group established over 170 years ago, with its most recently reported figures citing income of over 3 billion. Employing some 330 staff, the company has a six-strong HR team, headed up by HR Manager Marion Flower. MMA Insurance originally implemented the Workforce Human Resource Manager as its core HR platform in February 2003, with the installation including an interface to the companyís payroll. In July 2003, MMA successfully brought in the Workforce Recruitment Manager module and more recently implemented Workforce eRecruiter, which went live in February 2005. MMAís Senior Human Resources Advisor Tracy Gilks explains: ìDuring a typical year, we may recruit around 70 employees, involving local and trade advertising, as well as using our principal channels of some 16 specialist employment agencies. Our experience with implementing the Workforce Human Resource Manager and Recruitment Manager modules gave us great confidence in moving to the next stage, with eRecruiter, which we commenced in July 2004.

ìOur principal considerations were to stay a step ahead of our competitors, using our web site as a natural access point for vacancies, as well as streamlining the overall recruitment process internally and with our agencies. Working with our web site designers, our IT department and Intellect, we were able to pull together all the elements, including designing a detailed application form to improve the quality of screening from the outset. We adapted the Workforce screens ourselves, using the great SoftScreen customisation tools, and have achieved an excellent end result. With eRecruiter in place, our new recruitment process has met with universal praise, both internally and from the agencies, who have all said that they love it. They now submit candidate details via Workforce, removing any potential gaps in the information we receive, and vastly improving the information flow and processing speed. We pride ourselves in having a very fast recruitment cycle, typically appointing within a couple of weeks after a vacancy is advertised. Workforce eRecruiter has undoubtedly helped us to achieve this rapid turnaround. We have a superb relationship with Intellect, finding them to be very responsive to support issues, and we are looking forward to evolving our Workforce platform further in the future.î

MMA Insuranceís decision to purchase Workforce in 2003 was taken after a competitive tender process. Workforce was chosen as the most flexible and future-proof solution, with the HR team highlighting the SoftScreen customisation tools and guaranteed lifetime support for all user changes as a key factor, augmented by Intellectís ongoing software evolution process. In May 2004, the company incorporated its core attendance reporting into the system, rolling Workforce out to line management to allow them to record the attendance of their team. This process proved to be highly successful and has paved the way for possibly extending the Workforce deployment throughout the company in the future.

The Intellect Portfolio
All Intellectís solutions are designed to offer unequalled integrated operation, as a result of a unique design approach - using a single source database that holds all of the data used by both payroll and HR. This ensures that the payroll and HR functions operate seamlessly, with instantaneous updates to all fields that can be viewed from either application, at any time.

Workforce comprises seven core options, offering an innovative, flexible and easy to use solution for organisations requiring a modular approach to HR. The latest release of Workforce includes extensive features in support of departmental restructuring, as well as a powerful tool set designed to streamline and automate letter production. Workforceís intuitive prompts and screens simplify the usually complex tasks of moving posts and consolidating departments, automatically transferring selected posts in a few easy steps. On the automated workflow front, Workforce supports a variety of automated communication methods, including letters and emails, across all the modules in the Workforce range - Human Resource Manager, Public Sector, Training Manager, Recruitment Manager and Ochre Payroll. The system automatically sends a communication to an individual or groups of employees via a one-click step.

In addition to Workforce, Intellectís portfolio includes the Ochre Payroll, offering advanced, flexible and ìon-timeî payroll management. Ochre is fully customisable, enabling an organisation to blend and fine-tune Ochre to suit its working practices. The software conforms to all legislative requirements set out by the Inland Revenue for accreditation as an IR-approved payroll system. Completing the line-up is the specialist enterprise-level Indiga solution. Designed for larger, more complex organisations, IndigaHR is completely integrated, combining all aspects of people management, leadership and development, recruitment and retention, plus an optional payroll, into a single seamless solution.

Since launching its first products in 1989, Intellect has built up a total of more than 10,000 users across the UK and overseas, ranging from large local and unitary authorities to smaller organisations. Intellectís strategy revolves around working in partnership with its clients, offering a unique relationship policy that ensures complete continuity of contact from the moment implementation starts. By appointing a dedicated lifetime account specialist, companies benefit from ongoing help and guidance, based on Intellectís in-depth knowledge of the organisation and its working practices. As an ISO9001 Registered Company, all Intellectís software products are developed under a quality system that has gained ISO9001 accreditation.