THE CLIENT
Sonder
Sonder is a not-for-profit organisation that provides mental health and support services to the South Australian community. Sonder delivers high quality, evidence-based clinical psychological therapy services for those dealing with mental health challenges, alcohol and drug abuse and chronic disease management.
THE ENGAGEMENT
Sonder funds its health and wellbeing initiatives using revenue generated by providing hosting and IT services, work which is procured exclusively by competitive tender. As a result, the organisation must be able to scale up and down rapidly in response to demand.
Sonder currently relies on a range of legacy HR systems, most of which have been developed in-house. In the last five years Sonder has grown from 50 to 280 full time staff members, and the existing systems and processes are no longer fit for purpose.
Sonder engaged Adept as an experienced third party to investigate options for a new human resources information system (HRIS) and payroll system that will meet their current needs and have the capacity to grow with the organisation.
THE ACTION
Adept began by conducting a needs analysis to define the requirements of the new HRIS/Payroll system. This included a thorough review of the current processes, identifying pain points and working with Sonder leadership to identify a system that would align with the existing processes and organisational culture. The gathered requirements were distilled into a list of key capabilities and features required, including topics such as the availability of local support, data sovereignty and supported platforms.
Evaluations were carried out through observation, demonstration, and discussion with vendors, and the most promising candidates were grouped into classes according to their core functionality. Candidates were assessed through a combination of a pragmatic evaluation of application usability and a criteria-based assessment, including more subjective reports on individual user experience from current clients.
THE OUTCOME
Adept delivered a thorough assessment of the chosen solutions, providing specific recommendations to address each requirement criteria and an assessment of the most effective overall solution. The report included price breakdowns, features, limitations, and specific examples where each solution could be incorporated into Sonder’s existing processes, as well as general recommendations for approaching the deployment.
