Putting people first: Mencap transforms its payroll with Zellis HCM AIR & Cloud

Mencap is a national charity with a mission to help everyone with a learning disability to get the best chance in life. As well as providing direct services to individuals across England, Northern Ireland and Wales, it also runs a range of initiatives in local communities and is an ardent campaigner for societal change.

With 7,500 employees delivering frontline services, social inclusion programmes, training, campaigning, and fundraising, Mencap’s workforce spans a wide range of roles and working styles. “We have lots of different ways of working and different types of workers,” explains Amanda Smith, the charity’s People Systems Manager. “Some are more IT-savvy than others, so managing payroll and HR for a diverse workforce is always interesting.”

For years, Mencap relied on Resource Link as its on-premises payroll and HR system. But as it accelerated its use of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solutions across its business – offloading the cost of managing its own infrastructure in the process – it sought a way to leverage the benefits of the cloud in its payroll and HR solution too. Zellis HCM AIR, an all-in-one solution for HR and payroll, offered that opportunity.

“What Zellis HCM AIR enabled us to do for the first time was have a SaaS application and still have really good access to all our data. It had been something we have wanted for many years, but it’s never been quite the right time. Zellis HCM AI made it possible.”

– Amanda Smith, People Systems Manager, Mencap

A smooth transition to the cloud

Despite initial fears internally that a move to the cloud would be disruptive, the actual transition was far smoother than Amanda and her team expected.

“Having a dedicated expert team and access to customer success managers has made the transition and adoption much easier,” Amanda says. Health checks, user days, and community forums have all contributed to Mencap’s ability to leverage the full potential of Zellis HCM AIR. 

One of the biggest challenges was change management. “We needed to convince people this wasn’t a big change,” Amanda says. “They were going to be using exactly the same system – it was just going to be living somewhere else.” 

The introduction of a tertiary database as a transitional step made moving integrations seamless, ensuring that Mencap didn’t have to build APIs straight away or suffer from system downtime. “The transition happened within the predicted timeline of 12 weeks, and we didn’t hit a single payroll issue in the process,” Amanda says.  

Real-time, intelligent payroll: faster, more accurate, less stress

Since implementation, Mencap has realised significant operational benefits. Payroll processing cut-off period has been cut in half from ten days down to five days, allowing colleagues extra time to put through request such as leave requests.  

“Previously, there were around 60 notifications per month that needed catching up,” Amanda says. “That’s now down to 20, and payroll can deal with exceptions in the month they occur rather than pushing issues forward.” 

The extended working window allows for more time to provide accurate information, reducing errors and tickets at month-end.  

“Previously, over 200 tickets rolled into the next pay period, but this has been reduced to 70. Interim payment tickets also decreased​,” Amanda says. “The team can now spread work more evenly across the month. They feel less stressed and more in control.” 

Mencap’s payroll team is also benefiting from Zellis HCM AIR’s Intelligent Data Input capability. Leveraging artificial intelligence (AI), it scans and interprets even scrawled handwriting and bad printouts and automatically enters the details into the relevant employee’s record. This has transformed the onboarding process, reducing the new starter checklist processing time from 10.5 hours to just 2.5 hours.

“It removes repetitive, manual tasks and reduces errors. It’s really been a game-changer for our team.”

– Amanda Smith, People Systems Manager, Mencap

Empowering employees with visibility and control

The benefits of Zellis HCM AIR are not just operational. For employees, payroll is more accurate, timely, and transparent.  

“People used to be frustrated about how long it took for payroll issues to be resolved,” Amanda says. “Now, end-user satisfaction is much higher because their queries are addressed quickly, which is particularly important for colleagues on the lowest wages or with variable pay.” 

The new system also aligns with Mencap’s wider commitment to employee wellbeing. “Anything that helps with financial wellbeing is really positive. Employees can plan ahead, avoid errors affecting multiple pay periods, and generally feel more secure about their pay.” 

A future-ready payroll and HR system

Looking ahead, Mencap is exploring further AI and automation features provided by Zellis HCM AIR. “When looking for any new capability, we tend to have a remit of ‘Why not Zellis?,” Amanda says. “Making the most of what we already have provides the best end-user experience and minimises unnecessary change.”  

Amanda and her team are already exploring the solution’s anomaly detection features, which surface payroll errors in real time. They are also looking to adopt intelligent payslips, which will allow employees to access draft payslips earlier in the month.  

“Employees want to see what they’re getting paid so they can plan their finances,” Amanda says. “Having real-time payroll opens up that opportunity, particularly for colleagues on variable pay.” 

Ultimately, Amanda is confident that Zellis will be part of Mencap’s journey for many years to come. “Working with Zellis is a true partnership, not just a transactional relationship,” she says. “I’m excited about what the future will bring.”