Hi Freya,
If you find anyone using the system as an effective HR database I'd love to know (and learn from them). There's so little functionality on the HR module, that we don't really do anything other than record core data. I have been looking into HR databases though that 'talk' to iSAMS, but do the kinds of things (workflows, letters, reporting etc) that would really add value. But it's all more cost ...
Nina

In reply to Nina Waters:

Hi Nina

Yes it is not as advanced as systems I am used to! We looked at CIPHR and Carval which are the ones that interact with ISAMS i think but they are so expensive and i think really advanced for what we would actually need/ want and they were so expensive (actually more expensive than ISAMS!) so it was a no go! The system I absolutely love is People HR - although unless you get IT to look at the API key there is no current connection to ISAMS. Our bursar is reluctant to have 'another system' as well which is a shame as it would revolutionise what i could do in HR and it is half the price of the other systems I have looked at.

I will let you know if I manage to contact anyone using it effectively!

Freya

Hi both
We use isams for contact details, for absence reports, image reports etc and are looking at using it as our SCR, I think there is much more it can do but I'm new to the system and my manager is hesitant of moving away from our current SCR.

Hi Freya, I appreciate this is an old post but wondered how you got on with this? I’m in a very similar situation and have looked at whether it will work for our needs at the moment, I’m reluctant to spend £££s on something that may not work when we already have this in place

Hi There,
ISAMS , I think is mostly
Used for registration and admissions team. It probably has limited HR functionalities.

In reply to Sthabirjit:

Thanks, I appreciate it is not going to be all singing/all dancing with workflows and such, however looking at it, it does capture absence, employee core information, department information, development and appraisal, recruitment checks etc - which currently we have on lots of different excel spreadsheets and is difficult to report on or collate data.

So I guess my question is, given the school may be reluctant to spend extra £££ does anyone use the HR module with any success?

In reply to Leela:

When I reviewed it I found there were more 'buckets' for our information, but that reporting on it was not easy/possible/straightforward - certainly not without involving our data manager. I couldn't do letters or workflows either.

If you've got better data skills/SQL than me (not tricky!) then you may well be able to get what you need from it - but we didn't feel it was worth the investment of time for a poor quality return.

On the other hand, it is essential that the HR information held integrates with the timetable, which clearly is built in via iSAMS. We've been working with our provider (Natural HR) to build an API link with iSAMS to automate this - but currently it's still dependent on double entering key elements of data.

Good luck, which ever direction you choose!

In reply to Nina Waters:

Thanks Nina, that's really helpful. I've asked to meet with our Data Manager to look at it properly, but agree don't want to spend too much time or energy on something if it's ultimately not worth it.
I spoke with Natural HR and they were pretty reluctant to take things much further with us, explaining that our complex terms/conditions and multiple roles was something their system could not accommodate without a lot of work. So they recommended Civica, of which I'm aware from these forums does not have good feedback...

In reply to Leela:

Hi Leela, appreciate this post was from a couple of months ago, but I am relatively new into the sector and we use isams as for HR. Compared to what I am used to it is clunky, however does the job. We use the SCR and through isams will go fully digital on our filing over the summer. The reports look average at the moment but I am trying to understand what extra influence we have in producing a better quality MI.

The one area it really does lack in is recruitment, so I invested in a recruitment and onboarding platform that removes the heavy based paper activity whenever we need to recruit. Happy to chat through in more detail if you want.