Apollo

”Our salary review process has never been so smooth”

The tour operator Apollo has over eight hundred employees in forty-eight countries, many of whom are consultants and seasonal employees. The company needed an agile HR platform to simplify payroll and to get an overview of all staff. Following a careful procurement Apollo chose a system from Verismo.

– We are extremely satisfied with the system which is easy to use and saves time and money for us, says Anne Charlotte Billing, HR Manager at Apollo.

Prior to the procurement of the new HR system Apollo took on a thorough approach. The basic criteria was that the new system would include at least the same functions as the old one, at the same cost or less. A detailed evaluation of all the Nordic HR systems were purchased and from this five potential suppliers were selected.

– Verismo HR made a good impression from the start. They had a professional demo and seemed to have a good grasp of project management which is important to us. Their cloud solution and a modern user interface were also key factors, says Anne Charlotte.

Apollo began by purchasing the modules Core, which provides the basic HR-functions, and Compensation, which adds salary review as well as other services. They were implemented in early 2016 and the response was beyond all expectations, according to Anne Charlotte.

– Rejoicing is hardly the common response when introducing a new computer system. But it was actually what happened here – managers and payroll department really liked Verismo HR and thought it was super easy to use. Our salary review process has never been so smooth, there was hardly any errors at all and it was completed earlier than ever, says Anne Charlotte. She adds that the Danish managers expressed an interest in introducing it next year.

After the initial success Apollo went on implementing Performance, which includes more features for talent management. This module too has brought several benefits to the HR department, says Anne Charlotte.

– It gives managers and HR department a superb overview of all employees. A few simple clicks in the search appliance gives you a neat and easy-to-grasp graphics of the workforce. Here, you also define development goals and such, connected to each employee. Being very flexible, the system clearly saves us both time and money.

Before and during the break-in period Apollo had access to a parallel test system, where they were able to test different functions without risking to create problems in the actual system.

– It has worked perfectly. Verismo HR is good at giving feedback and lightning-fast response. They are technologically skilled and always delivers smart solutions. Nothing has been wobbly. Operations and support are good and everything has been working sound and stable.

As a travel company, Apollo has high demands on its HR system as the system should be able to manage staff in several countries, airline staff, seasonal employees, consultants and various collective agreements. Anne Charlotte has worked twenty years in the HR industry and has come across several systems along the way. She believes that many systems admittedly has good features but they fall on the poor user friendliness. Or that it is too controlled and locked so that the process becomes complicated.

– Verismo’s solution is twice as good as previous systems I have used, and almost half as expensive. With Verismos solution, we bring our HR to another level and we are well on the way to switch to Verismo as our master system. I am more than happy to recommend it, Anne Charlotte conclude.

Modules Apollo uses in Verismo HR:

• Core (Organization and Employee) – eg employee demographics with search function, organizational map and the ability to manage the business areas and export reports to PowerPoint.
• Compensation – eg creating bonus models, compare costs, salary review, advanced reporting and linking performance management to compensation management.
• Performance – eg conduct performance reviews, monitor process performance, reports and histories, operational goals that align with the strategic guidelines.