#1 Software for Company Structure and Growth
Updated September 16, 2020

#1 Software for Company Structure and Growth

Anonymous | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 4 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with Namely

Namely is being used for our entire organization. We have 5 office locations and a few remote employees. Namely provides an inclusive platform for all employee data and information. This creates structure, improved communication, and transparency. Our team members can see who else works in our company, what teams they're on, and company goals. Employees have access to their personal paystubs, timesheets, time off, performance reviews, signed documents, and benefits. There is a news feed to post updates, employee appreciation, and welcome new employees.
  • Most people I've worked with in Namely is competent, friendly, quick, patient, and very helpful. I've never before worked with any company like this. Their customer service, professionalism, and forward thinking blow me away. (2018)
  • Namely is quick to listen to client feedback and solve problems. They're constantly adding new features.
  • Namely's HRIS platform that faces employees is very user-friendly. It's easy to navigate and learn how to use. For many users, it's self-explanatory. They provide training tools as well.
  • Namely Payroll can be confusing as it doesn't link directly with HRIS time off. It is another platform and there is a lot of duplicating information, increasing potential for errors. There is a lot of manual entering and not great ways to input data for multiple employees at once.
  • The time sheets are not as simple as we'd like. We have a lot of employee errors with these on a regular base. You need to save on each page that you make updates on and the search features for approvers aren't as user friendly as we'd like. (This is separate from the time feature which is an additional expense, we don't use this.)
  • The time off doesn't link directly with payroll and employees have to enter time off twice. This could be user error on our end, but we've been told a few different answers from Namely help as they've made some changes recently. (2020)
  • Namely is constantly updating features but it feels sporadic and is a lot of time and energy to learn how things have changed.
  • Performance reviews are a bit tricky to learn how to use because you have to learn the language that Namely uses. They don't seem very obvious to use. I think their capability is good, but it takes some learning to set them up correctly. Our managers have had some difficulty with them.
  • In general, it feels a bit difficult to make edits and changes simply and efficiently.
  • Namely has had a very positive impact as it has allowed us to grow in a managed fashion. It has helped our team stay connected and keep good communication. It has also helped us with best practices and stay compliant. We've been able to form good HR habits from an early stage which will save us time and personnel as we grow and have more federal compliance mandates. (2018)
  • I think more recently the value received versus the energy and time our HR department has has to put into Namely hasn't been a great ROI. We still spend a lot of time entering information and fixing errors within the system. We've actually hired another HR assistant to manage Namely, which isn't necessary with other platforms.
2018: We looked at many ATS platforms and payroll platforms. Namely had a complete package and the most support to offer. The other systems were good but only handled 1-3 HR issues. We could not afford multiple software, so picking Namely was the right choice for us.
2020: We stayed with Namely through many issues as their customer care was above and beyond. Unfortunately, over the years things have drastically changed. Namely is no longer the right choice for us as there are other more user friendly, simpler platforms available. We will be switching platforms once our contract ends.
Unfortunately, in more recent years we've had a lot of difficulty with Namely as they've undergone a lot of internal changes. It took 4 returned emails saying the person no longer worked at Namely to find someone to help me (I finally called payroll) and it took a while to get connected with a direct source of help. Namely now has set up their "pod" feature of communication which works well for the most part, but is different. I felt spoiled when we first started with Namely, but now it feels very much like working with most large companies' help centers. There is a system to go through and you do have the option to click "urgent". In general the help is efficient, but it still takes a few days and it's hard to speak with someone directly. It is all done via online communications and is difficult to actually speak to someone on the phone. This works well for most cases, but I do feel frustrated more often than I'd like to with this type of communication. (2019/2020)
Namely has a very nice interface on their HRIS platform. This is fun to use, but is the least important part of the system in my opinion. The payroll, time, and benefits need to be top notch and the payroll system and time system aren't. Benefits has improved significantly from when we first started. Payroll continues to update, which will probably be great once it's more complete. Until then there are constant changes and the systems (HRIS and payroll) don't communicate very well.

Do you think Namely delivers good value for the price?

No

Are you happy with Namely's feature set?

No

Did Namely live up to sales and marketing promises?

No

Did implementation of Namely go as expected?

Yes

Would you buy Namely again?

No

I can see large organizations with tech users utilizing Namely very well. For those who are less competent at utilizing technology platforms, it might be challenging to use it well. There are add on features that allow Namely to handle more aspects of the platform, which would help those who are less confident with using technology. It is one of the few platforms that offers all of the features it does, which may work well for remote and larger organizations who are willing to pay and take the time to learn how to use it. Smaller companies or those who don't want to use all of the features might be better off using a simpler platform.

Namely Feature Ratings

Employee demographic data
10
Employment history
5
Workflow for transfers, promotions, pay raises, etc.
3
Organizational charting
5
Organization and location management
6
Compliance data (COBRA, OSHA, etc.)
7
Pay calculation
7
Support for external payroll vendors
Not Rated
Off-cycle/On-Demand payment
Not Rated
Benefit plan administration
9
Direct deposit files
10
Salary revision and increment management
8
Reimbursement management
10
Approval workflow
6
Balance details
Not Rated
Annual carry-forward and encashment
Not Rated
View and generate pay and benefit information
8
Update personal information
9
View job history
9
View company policy documentation
10
Employee recognition
10
Tracking of all physical assets
8
Report builder
4
Pre-built reports
5
Ability to combine HR data with external data
7
Performance plans
7
Performance improvement plans
7
Review status tracking
9
Review reminders
10
Multiple review frequency
10
Candidate search
Not Rated
New hire portal
9
Manager tracking tools
9
Corporate goal setting
10
Individual goal setting
10
Line-of sight-visibility
9
Performance tracking
9