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Copy linkMindWise leverages HR software to transform processes and elevate mental wellness
MindWise is a leading membership-based mental health charity in Northern Ireland, who have been working with and for people of all ages directly affected by mental health issues as well as families, carers, employers, and teachers for over 50 years.
Bringing Cascade into the business in 2016, the charity decided to invest in the organisation and the infrastructure in place, and say it’s been crucial to their success.
Excel hell: The challenges of managing HR with spreadsheets
Jayne Wright joined MindWise in 2014 as Director of People, and with a team of 120, and an additional 60 volunteers and associates, she knew spreadsheets weren’t going to live much longer within MindWise.
She tells us, “When I came into the business, I knew fairly quickly that we were going to need to introduce software to support us with our HR and recruitment. We met the team at Cascade and found they were very engaging, and we really liked the look and feel of the product. We also met with some existing Cascade customers who had a lot of good things to say about the product and being able to see how it worked for them allowed us to see what it could do for us.”
Before introducing Cascade, the team was recording holidays via paper holiday cards, and absences were recorded “all over the place!” Jayne tells us, “We were crying out for a system that would allow us to consolidate our data and tighten up our HR. We wanted a self-serve system so that our employees could take control of their own HR and so that managers could have better insight into their teams, and Cascade did that for us from day one.”
Using data-driven insights to make positive changes
With more transparency for the team at MindWise, there have been real improvements in how the team not only works together, but also in how they’re reporting. Jayne says, “Cascade has transformed how we report, not only to our board but also to our funders. We have multiple cost centres, and our staff members might be funded by more than one funder, so we’ve been able to adapt the Cascade system to reflect the split cost centres. This has enabled us to clearly report and align with the financial management of the organisation.
“The hierarchy of the system and how you can give different access to staff has meant our managers now have a lot more visibility of their teams, without needing to go through us. And ultimately having all of our data in one place and being able to use that data to make decisions has been a game-changer.”
Seamless transition from HR to recruitment
The team at MindWise is now using IRIS Networx to maximise their recruitment success, which is something they’re really excited about. Jayne tells us, “It’s very early days for us with Networx but we are really excited to see our recruitment processes improve and to see the reporting we’ll have in place. Having this in place integrated with Cascade HR has made it a seamless transition and it’s going to completely streamline our current recruitment process. We’re also taking this as an opportunity to review our internal processes at the same time so I’m really looking forward to the next few months and seeing the changes that are to come.”
Cascade driving team excellence
“Ultimately, Cascade has transformed our processes and allowed us as a HR team, and as a wider business, to make changes for the better. It’s saved us time, and given us such insight into our employees, allowing us to work better as a team. We recommend Cascade to other charities and businesses all the time; for a bespoke HR system that was clearly built by HR professionals, it’s one of the best systems out there.”
IRIS Cascade HRi is a customisable, fully integrated system that can handle everything a medium or large business can throw at it… from annual leave, payroll, recruitment, and training to well-being and talent management.
