Ascentis HR uses web-based management programs to help automate complex HR processes. Ascentis’ other services included customizable payroll, time and attendance and recruiting modules. Ascentis was acquired by UKG in March of 2022, and will be discontinued.
N/A
symplr Talent Management Solutions
Score 7.3 out of 10
N/A
symplr acquired HealthcareSource in July, 2021. The former HealthcareSource now forms the foundation fo the symplr talent management suite.
In working with Ascentis in payroll, the program makes my job so much easier. I am new to this position and the learning process has been so much easier with this product than those in the past. I appreciate the patience I am given when I call in for assistance as well.
If their HRIS system holds all their data - employees, supervisors, positions then HealthcareSource can really take advantage of that data and save you a lot of time. We looked at a lot of systems and one of our needs was both Applicant Tracking and Performance Management and these systems work very well together. Other systems we looked at didn't have all our most needed features - we needed a vendor that could do both, integrate with our HRIS, report back data in a customizable fashion, and be user friendly. Some systems listed the features but during the demo and product reference calls we found they didn't perform as advertised. Some had reporting but the reporting was missing key data or didn't export in a data friendly manner. We have found HealthcareSource to be not only "pretty" - aka user friendly/non-cluttered but also had the engine under the hood as well that met our data analyst needs.
Easy to use software. I have had several new HR employees comment on how easy the system is to learn!
Problem Solving- Ascentis is always problem solving! When we were in the process of selecting a new payroll company, we needed unemployment claims management assistance for our locations, something Ascentis did not currently offer. The sales rep went out of his way to find a unemployment claims management company that would work with Ascentis and us. That company has helped us keep an 80% win rate for our claims!
User conference- Engage is an awesome way to learn more about the products Ascentis has available as well and meet up with the staff you work with every day!
When any company implements a new program they have specific needs that they want customized for them. Healthcare source did a great job providing excellent customer service to our HR and IT professionals working behind the scenes to help us maximize the programs potential at our organization. They did not limit us to any standard uses or prohibit us from reaching our internal goals. Some examples include specialized reports, data uploads of employee data and time frames for our annual reviews.
They provided us with training and retraining and more training on using the system. This included training new members of our team when we had turnover in HR and inviting us to conferences and webcasts regularly.
The presentation of the software was very appealing and that may seem small but it really helps appeal to the employees that use it for their reviews.
Updating the system so it is one platform and not two.
Create changes to the benefit enrollment process and upgrade the system so hire dates do not need to be changed to trigger benefits for status changes.
Focus updates on HR Admin, mobile application, ATS and transitioning to one platform. Larger areas of focus have been on the payroll portion of the system with a few updates to other areas.
When something is broken, quicker turn time on fixing the issue.
This rating would be a 10 if it were not for some issues we have been having recently with the benefit carrier connections. The carrier connections are critical for us so how these issues are resolved will be key in our renewal decision.
Looking back we can say that every year we used Performance Manager and other products too like HeathcareSource's Compensation and Position Manager we saw the ease of use for employees and HR staff members increase, we saw employees getting more comfortable with the product and HR Staff getting better at expressing their needs to the HealthcareSource team and this made us want to stay with the same company, when things are getting better each year we know we are in the right place.
I'd give it a 7.5. If the modules were easier to access and not so buried (or placed in left field to find), I would give it a higher rating. As I said, as the potential to be great if ACCESS to other modules was easier.
They normally give you notice when an update will affect the use of the system. Otherwise, when we have an error , we send a message to the support team. Sometimes someone will get right back with you and sometimes it takes a while.
Support is attentive and quick to answer the call and get the answer for you. If they for any reason cannot answer right then, they are back to you within a day and always seem to have a sense of urgency. You truly get the impression that they are aiming to make you happy.
On the previous rating scale, I kept thinking "it depends". If I know it's an easy question or easy fix, the response is super fast. If I know I am asking something complex, custom or I just know it's not going to be able to be answered by 1st tier, it can take some time. I have worked on these issues with them (they are all very nice) I do now have avenues for finding things out from one person. We had one issue where we had a major problem and it required a software patch and their support team worked throughout the weekend to create, QA, and deliver the patch as promised. I was very impressed
First, to clarify our "in-person" training was done mainly through Web-X meetings and conference calls. It was the closest thing we got to as far as an "in-person" training for this software. However, for the large majority of it, this type of training worked out well. We were able to share our screens and the trainer was able to share his/her screen. We could follow along with what we were doing in our database in real time and see how different functions worked and how manipulating our information could produce different results. It was also nice in that it provided for real-time results if something hadn't been coded correctly or we were having issues as to why something wasn't working the way we thought it should be. However, it did have some downsides in that we often had to rely on a conference phone and that made it difficult to hear people on both sides. Also, sometimes the trainers had internet difficulties when working from home and that caused issues with the WebX meetings.
Ascentis HR has a number of online training videos to watch on a number of different topics. I gave it a lower rating because there is not much interactivity with the videos and it seems to cater to really only one or two learning styles. Plus, one has to be pretty motivated to go to a separate area to access the videos and then pull up a specific one to watch it and then learn. From my experience, people know that they are there, many just don't take the time and effort to go find them and actually watch them - especially since the username and password are different from their normal username and password.
It was very easy to implement, but the customization pieces should really be fleshed out in order to determine the full need of an organization at the time of implementation. I believe if a little more time was spent on the requirements, the recruiting module would not have to be customized again at a cost at a later date.
Ascentis has far better customer service and the implementation experience was also better. The ability to do a lot of customization is also easier with Ascentis as it's smaller organization. The payroll has positive and negatives compared to ADP but the accuracy is the same in both. Ascentis just started their community site which doesn't have a lot of traffic but hopefully can become more like ADP's community site, which was extremely helpful to me as an administrator.
Both Health Stream and Healthcare Source have to-do lists, completion lists, and tracking. However, the functionality of Healthcare Source is far superior to HealthStream. The notifications are much better and helpful. The tracking on Healthcare Source is easy to use and see. Overall the interface in Healthcare Source is more intuitive.
HR DPT. is much more effective, as we can assess any employee information no matter where we are, etc. This helps to provide information immediately when requested!
Employees have access to Ascentis, and therefore to their timecard, open enrollment, etc., from anywhere at any time!
Time, PTO requests, employee goals, and evaluations can be approved from anywhere at any time!
Recruiting can be accessed any where at any time, and this helps with hiring, internal communication, etc.
NetLearning has increased our nursing CEU credits with the most efficiency. Now nurses can take courses on NetLearning and have it track their hours.
On a compliance standpoint, NetLearning has benefited us when we are being audited and we have to show what trainings or classes an employee has made. Also, to make sure that their certifications are up to date.
