18 years helping Irish businesses
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About Access PeopleHR
Take control of your HR processes. Access PeopleHR is a leading provider of HR software for small and medium companies.
I most like the ease of use and basic functionality.
Expenses section is an additional extra and is a no-go area. I spent more time on to the helpdesk to it than anything and ended up having to stop using it.
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cracking piece of software
Comments: An online platform that does all the basics well, and has additional functionality that we haven't even started using yet.
Pros:
Ease of use. As a user, I prefer to be as near as possible totally self-sufficient and this is great.
Cons:
Sometimes it isn't the most intuitive and obvious where functionality of certain functions are, but that is being really picky and a little unfair.
Alternatives Considered:
Great implementation process
Comments: We have only just commenced using the software, so this review is purely related to the implementation team. The process has been very smooth throughout. [sensitive content hidden] was always on hand to answer any questions before we made the purchase and [sensitive content hidden] provided help and support during the implementation period. Both were friendly, easy to contact and quick to respond to all queries which made the process quick and easy. [sensitive content hidden] , who conducted our training, was very knowledgeable about the system. Thanks team!
Pros:
The software seems to cover everything we need it to administrate our HR needs. It is intuitive to use and the help videos and articles provide further detail when needed.
Cons:
Currently the software seems to do most things that we need. We were not able to use the LOS leave accrual rules as there wasn't the option to award our staff with an extra day on their service anniversary.
The Access Group Response
2 years ago
Good morning - Thanks for taking the time to share your feedback. We really appreciate it. Thanks again, The Access Group
Worst system to use for expenses
Comments: The worst to be honest, useless app, why you can't submit expenses on the PC version of the app is beyond me.. why only allow expenses to be submitted on the app. Fine if you can guarantee it works but there is no alternative.
Pros:
There are very little pros for the mobile app - it's useless and never works properly
Cons:
Sometimes the app works and sometimes it says you need to launch in Microsoft Edge.. when my default browser on my phone is Microsoft Edge. Clear the cache and cookies and still it says 'open in Edge?' even though it is opening in Edge. Tried to report this numerous times to PeopleHR and they give no helpful advice. Sometimes it works, sometimes you get the error message and it just loops around. Our internal IT have checked everything and there are no security restrictions, and as it sometimes works and sometimes doesn't it's a software issue. Also when you can get onto the platform to submit expenses, if you save them before submitting they just disappear.
Implementing PeopleHR for acquired business
Comments: Great to have everything in one place, we were using several systems previously.
Pros:
Easy and intuitive to use. Required little training for staff on the basic functions.
Cons:
The link sent to users expires after a certain time. So once everyone had been uploaded, by the time we had told everyone about it the link had expired. Secondly, it is time consuming having to re-enter everyone's email address in order to re-sent them the link and because of the first point, had to be done for every employee. I assumed there would have been a "bulk" send option but there was not.
The Access Group Response
2 years ago
Good morning - Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback. We really appreciate it, and we'll be sure to pass on your kind comments to the team. Thanks again, The Access Group
It is 'OK'
Comments:
Overall its 'ok' for a small business and fitted our need at the time
As time as gone on and have experienced other systems, it 'seems' more dated and will struggle to catch up.
Pros:
Easy login Able to book holidays easily Performance reviews seem intuitive Applicant Tracking seems 'OK' but having used other systems there are better ones out there
Cons:
Lack of searchability of CVs Lack of integration with well known job boards and services Lack of auto GDPR features Candidate communication was done manually in Gmail as didnt integrate with it
Alternatives Considered:
A terrible product
Pros:
Honestly, nothing. It's not easy to use, it crashes all the time, everything is so many more steps than it needs to be, I can go on, but I'll save it for the cons. Oh, maybe the mobile app, that's not bad.
Cons:
This whole product makes no sense at all. Everything you want to do on the platform is completely extra confusing and not simple AT ALL. The program crashes almost weekly when you want to use it from a HR perspective daily, this becomes very annoying. The user interface is from the 90's, extremely ugly. Almost every single task on this system is painful, it makes you dread want to use it. I've never experienced anything like it, it's very different to every other system in our toolbox, and for all the wrong reasons. They need to take a long hard look at this system and redesign it from the ground up. Yes, you have a nice app, but 95% of people don't use a HRIS app, they use the web page.
Easy to use HR software
Comments: Overall really happy with this software - it makes managing the team smooth and straightforward.
Pros:
The interface is simple to use from a management perspective, as well as for individuals to request annual leave. I am not sure how we managed our HR / leave process before this software.
Cons:
Some of the menus can be a bit tricky to locate what you are looking for initially.
Great software for timesheet management
Comments: Overall a nice system for HR related functions.
Pros:
It’s mobile friendly and can be accessed on all devices.
Cons:
Performance management side sometimes does not work and I face a hard time saving data and retrieving the previously saved records.
Cloud-based HR platform
Comments: Allows employees the ability to self-serve freeing up HR resource.
Pros:
Straight-forward, cloud based HR platform. Easily manage workforce with HR software and payroll process
Cons:
Mobile app has a better user interface than the Website with. Some features are more difficult to find on the Website than the app.

Useful but not always reliable
Comments: It is useful for maintaining mailing lists and grouping people, but I don't think it is always reliable. It could be more useful.
Pros:
I like being able to keep track of contacts for people and putting them into groups for various mailing lists.
Cons:
I've had times where I've updated mailing lists right before sending out and email and then when trying to send to that list, it sents to the unupdated list. I haven't had that issue in a while, so hopefully it is solved. I also wish it was more compatable with my phone.
Quite complete
Pros:
Not the easiest one to approach as this is quite a complete solution, but once a few manual queries have been worked out, it then becomes easy to sort out all the reports needed on a monthly basis to work out the monthly payroll.
Cons:
Somehow wish we could go further in terms of making scheduling and calculation even easier.
A good cloud-based HRIS solution for smaller organisations
Comments: It's an effective HRIS that can be integrated with a number of their other platforms, so we hope to find new efficiencies over the coming year (integrating with payroll, LMS etc)
Pros:
PeopleHR has a really straight forward interface that was quick to roll out across the organisation. We're pleased that they've recently improved their customer support, with lots of guides available (eg for creating custom reports, workflows) and with quick response times to any enquiries that need further investigation.
Cons:
It feels like the Performance Review (appraisal) and ATS modules were designed by someone who doesn't work in HR, as we've had difficulty modifying those to suit our needs. We hope that those areas of the system will be redesigned in the future.
The Access Group Response
2 years ago
Good morning - Thanks for taking the time to share your positive feedback with Access PeopleHR. We really appreciate it, and we'll be sure to pass on your comments to the team. Thanks again, The Access Group
Great software, and amazing support in set up
Comments: This should put a lot of our seperate systems into one which is extremely beneficial.
Pros:
The system is very easy to use and modify with lots of automatic functions to set up for efficiency.[sensitive content hidden], the Support Team Leader has been very helpful, and [sensitive content hidden], who carried out our training session, was very informative and enthusiastic
Cons:
Only hiccup is adding features like sabatical without having to make the employee a leaver or manually working out A/L. 'Freeze' feature or something would be great.
The Access Group Response
2 years ago
Hi there - Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback. We really appreciate it, and we'll be sure to pass on your kind comments to the team. Thanks again, The Access Group
A good HR system with great potential
Comments: Although I've listed more Cons than Pros the system is good and I'm enjoying using it, but its by no means perfect. As long as you go into the PeopleHR experience with your eyes open and a realistic expectations you will find the system easy to use functional and it will add value to your business. None off my Cons are show stoppers they are more annoying than anything, but loads of annoying niggles can add up. Having used many HR systems over the years they all have quirks and limitations, PeopleHR are very proactive and I'm sure these will all be addressed in the future
Pros:
The People HR platform is a easy to use and relativity simple HR platform that gives small / medium sized businesses a flexible HR solution. We've been able to get up and running in a few weeks with little intervention from the People team, which is a testament to the usability of the system. Out of the 11 platforms we looked at People gave us the best value and of offered the widest amount of functionality. The system is constantly being developed with new functions and features being added on a regular basis, due to the modular nature of the system you can cherry pick the parts of the system you need to use helping with the deployment process. The ability to create custom forms (though the logbook) adds a unique level of on the fly customization which lets you capture additional data removing the use of third party tools. There is a decent amount of supporting documentation (written & video content) which makes getting going really easy. The reporting out of the system is also really solid and very flexible. You can load your own data !!! (this is a great feature)
Cons:
The custom logbook forms are good but are also very limited, and working with them can be frustrating . It can take some very creative thinking to get them to behave in the way you want, this can be very frustrating. (this feature has so much potential and more development would greatly enhance the functionality and impact the system has) The ripple workflow engine is very "unique" and does require a solid understanding of the system to make best use of it. There isn't a "test now" button which means when you build a workflow, you have to sit about waiting to see if its worked which is time consuming and a little frustrating. The guys on he support desk are really knowledgeable, although it can take along time to get the right answer out of them. They are prone to making assumptions about your request with out fully understanding your requirements, and you end up going round the houses. There isn't a customer roadmap showing platform development, understanding whats being worked on would be really useful. Training matrix offers little functionality and currently isn't very usable After a few weeks of use you start to notice there are lot of unnecessary clicks when navigating the system, e.g. to jump between employee records takes 4/5 clicks, when making a single change across multiple records this can become very annoying. There are parts of the system where you assume you will be able to click on something e.g. when looking at a line manager you can see all their direct reports listed, but you cant click on them to view their profile. Cant click on employee profiles from the org chart To assign an employee goals they have to have an active performance review You cant have goals linked / team goals If you want to add the same goals across team you have to copy and paste each goal to every individual team member The performance review isn't "smart" there is no ability to add weighted questions. You cant have an employee involved in more than one performance review at a time. No ability to plot your staff into a 9 box talent matrix using the outcome from the performance review (having to do this off system using a separate tool) The implementation process is a little vague, with little project management from their side. e.g. handing over data to be uploaded and not being told when this will happen. Our system training is being delivered after having the system for 2 months, we could be using elements of the system completely wrong and wouldn't know. When uploading data into the system, the data was "adjusted" by the system during the upload process which caused a random (/nr) command to be added to all our employee addresses, I still haven't had a response as to what happened. This means i have to go through 110 employees and remove this manually....
PeopleHR Review
Pros:
- Good UX - Link from recruitment to staff - Ability to include a multitude of HR functions on Logbook - i.e. 360 reviews
Cons:
Areas for development: • With GDPR coming in, it would be extremely useful for PeopleHR to have retention dates on documents (this would show under the GDPR when we were required to dispose of the data) • A automated chase for feedback. For example, if we could input the date of an event (i.e. appraisal) onto the individuals calendar, we could then set up automatic chases at specific time periods before the event. • A look into how training can be better incorporated into the system • Option for admin to see all employees calendars at once (similar to google calendars) • A greater focus of customer service via phone – Online chats are good but email is time consuming. It is also helpful for the PeopleHR IT support for them and the company to be able to share screen to resolve problems • Remove gender option. There is currently only a binary option for gender. Although we can add more through logbook, those who are already classified as male or female cannot be unticked. • For admin to be able to view 2+ profiles simultaneously • When refreshing the employee page, for it to not return to the alphabetically ordered current staff view but where you left of. Or, an option to choose in settings • We have added our appraisal system via logbook. Our appraisals require individuals to refer back to a word/pdf doc. It would be great for our team to be able to access these documents through logbook when completing the appraisal. • Statistics - feedback is a fundamental part of our business and the ability to analyse, for example, who has completed feedback over a time period would be extremely valuable • For certain information to delete automatically on the day after an employees leave date. For example, work email. • For salary updates to automatically calculate the salary per year based on the hours worked for part time staff • To notify or automatically delete doubles in the ATS section
Intuitive, clean and simple
Comments: For SMEs who have the infrastructure to run a cloud-based system, it is great value and is deceptively powerful. Like all subscription based products, it is constantly evolving and growing and they are very willing to listen to feedback and feature requests. Customer service is friendly, effective and second to none. It is much cheaper than competitors that don't offer a great deal more in functionality and if you are shifting from paper and Excel spreadsheets, you won't to be sorry you made the move.
Pros:
It is easy to use even for non-technical staff, so it is relatively easy to implement even with a workforce that has predominantly not grown up in the digital age. It is simple yet sufficiently customizable to enable it to be shaped to many if not all of the idiosyncrasies of your own organisation. It is modular, so you can take (and pay for) only as much functionality as us useful to you or that your organisation can cope with. The customer service is excellent. Queries are dealt with quickly and satisfactorily, which is important with an evolving product like this which is constantly in improving development.
Cons:
There are times when I've felt I'd like a tiny bit more ability to alter things or building upon them. An example is the 'return to work' functionality, in which I would like the ability to add a few more questions or to alter the tone of the existing questions. There are ways to work around this but I'd like to be able to do it within the native functionality of that area of the software. But as I say, if I feel that strongly about this there are workarounds available so this is more about the ability to tweak to the nth degree of personal Al taste, and of course they have to stop someone...but the ability to add custom fields to any area of the programme (or even just to forms that already exist) would be a big plus in my view.
People HR, solid could do more...
Comments: I'm sure some of my cons can be resolved and further training on the system would improve my knowledge. People Hr has the potential to be a non corporate HR system but is in-between at the minute.
Pros:
It provides a clear structure for a HR user to input employee data It has the ability to group employee data from a wide range of sources and information to get a complete view of an individual Sections such as the logbook are bespoke and can be edited to create your own forms and data capture There are self service options so line managers and employees can update their personal data
Cons:
It has limited complex reporting functionality, meaning i export CSV's to run reports externally from the system It feels like a back end system and could benefit from a UI update for hiring managers and employees for the self serve options to drive adoption and useage There is a chat function to ask questions from an online service team. There advice is good and helpful but very slow to respond. Feels less real time chat and more like an email function
Software not user frinedly, support is rude
Comments: Thieves
Pros:
It can in theory do everything - rotas, time sheets, leave tracking, sickness monitoring
Cons:
It is so un user friendly it is untrue. Managers and staff hate it. You can never find even an ee address when you want to find it. Reports are awful to design. However it's approach to customer service is what has prompted me to write this review. Rude argumentative and nothing is ever their faultAvoid.
The Access Group Response
2 years ago
Good afternoon Anthea - Thank you for taking the time to share your experiences, although we're sorry to read your feedback in regards to our software and support team. We'd be keen to speak with you to discuss this further, so a member of the team will be in touch shortly. Thanks, The Access Group
A great multifeature product but needs some time to learn to navigate
Pros:
Variety of features, system works quickly and efficiently, great design Different access levels is useful to manage multi teams and locations Clear and comprehensive planner, good there is an option to auto carry over the remaining holidays Task feature handy and easy to use Very comprehensive reports/queries feature Detailed employee profiles, ability to set personalised work patterns Great service and help from the People team plus and great online training material provided
Cons:
Cannot re-route timesheets authorisations to the additional reporting line (holidays only) Would be handy to approve expenses from the email or a least to have a link ''Please log in to People to see the details'' Would be quicker to have direct link from the email into the area within PeopleHR system (e.g. to people profiles when clicking on the name) News could have a ''like'' button Notification email of New News Alert could include the title of the news, so people instantly now what is it related to Expenses app: handy features would be a possibility to enter the expenses of someone else's behalf; the app to have a scanner for the receipts which would enable to populate the fields on the expense report automatically without a need to add manually Not possible to add a link through bulk actions (document attachments only) Would be very handy to create performance reviews with different questions for the employee and the manager Org Chart: cannot delete additional information and only leave a photo and job title; cannot download pdf with org chart orientation set to left, right etc. Could have ''open in a new tab'' option
A very cost effective and time-saving resource for HR professionals
Pros:
This software was a blessing to our company and is highly recommend for small business due to the reasonable costs and time taken to implement it. Task automation, reminders, announcements/ company news, chat option and collaboration tools are great!
Cons:
It was quite hard at first to get used to the set up guides. The company has done a good job of uploading video guides and hence it was useful. If not for the videos on how to set up, it would have been very hard to set up the software. Every time we make changes, the prompt captures the reason why the change was made to salary or start date etc. However, if something is entered due to typo and one wants to change it, it still asks for the reason, and it can get a little annoying at times. Apart from that, this product is a blessing in disguise for HR professionals 👍👍👍
PeopleHR Review
Comments: Would like to see better API integration with the tool to either input or extract data from the platform.
Pros:
Ease of use and the ability to allow our employees to use this platform both on site and with us at customer locations. Timesheet management to critical to our operations and overhead. The bespoke reporting allows us to be very agile in our reporting methods. Holiday and Absence management is also key and a fundamental part of our needs.
Cons:
We sometimes find entering in timesheets can be long winded and take more time than traditional Excel timesheets. However we weigh this up with the long term benefits.
From Paper to electronic
Comments: Make sure you have a team to implement the software!
Pros:
Great to track holidays, absence and employee details. We've gone from paper to electronic with these aspects and also personal development reviews. It has been a transformation for our managers to find everything in one place and it has reduced our administration - also stopped us killing lots of trees! Eco. We can process accurate reports very quickly which helps with reporting to the Board. The ATS tracks candidates in one place, with full visibility as to where they are in the process for managers. When a candidate is successful, you can create them as a new starter in seconds.
Cons:
We also bolted on the recruitment ATS module but we cannot report on the data from this which can be frustrating. It took us a long time to get our jobs boards to feed in to our careers page which then fed in to PeopleHR to have candidates all in one place.
Great HR Tool!
Comments: People HR gives us the freedom to pretty much do everything we need to. The API access has helped us create a number of dashboards via external reporting tools to see stats more easily and bundled in with the rest of our company reports. It's really easy to use and the approval workflow is solid. You can store staff reviews, disciplinary documents and contracts of employment for a one-stop HR shop.
Pros:
Ability to store HR documents Ability to include more than one "Report To" Mobile App The fact that you can include TOIL Ability to split and only show certain teams API access for integrations You can give specific access to certain queries and not others
Cons:
I don't think you can book more than one 'event' on the same day. e.g. WFH (am) and TOIL (pm) which is a regular occurrence here.
People HR is a good product, but some of the feature could be improved
Pros:
People HR is a great piece of software to organised employees data in one place easily. The system allows you to store data in a easy and confidential way, GDPR was easy because of this as it allowed us to go completely paperless
Cons:
Our company is 24 hours, so it was difficult for using the tap in/tap out system as this product works more on a traditional office environment. However, for the most part this was the only product we found which suited our needs
Great customer service!
Comments: A really great system ideal for a small to medium sized businesses where budgets need to be carefully considered. The support team are always willing to work with you to help resolve issues and even accept feature requests. I recommend this product highly - it has made the administration associated with my job much easier to handle.
Pros:
Almost instant replies from the support team which are always helpful and well thought out. Feature requests are accepted which is fantastic. The support site is full of useful 'help yourself' answers and the system has been built with HR rather than IT in mind.
Cons:
That we don't use more of the functionality on offer - there is a wealth of features and modules which I think would be useful to many businesses, unfortunately we just don't use them at the moment. I am hoping this will change very shortly.