Improving Management: Interview With BrightHR

BrightHR is an innovative and industry-leading HR software and employment law advice firm, transforming people management for small businesses all over the world. Our HR software, expert employment law advice, and health & safety tools and guidance give employers everything they need to manage and grow their business during the pandemic and beyond.

Who Are The Brains Behind The Brand?

BrightHR is funded by award-winning serial entrepreneur, Peter Done. Our Chief Executive Officer is Alan Price, a successful entrepreneur and senior business figure. Alan is a Chartered Fellow of the CIPD with over 18 years’ experience in employee relations, he sat for four years as a Board Director at The Chambers of Commerce Ireland and on their audit committee, and is a non-Legal Lay Member of Employment Tribunals for the UK Ministry of Justice.

Alan’s wealth of expertise means he’s often sought for advice by business leaders and to provide comment to the media, including The Daily Telegraph, Sky News, The Sunday Times, Financial Adviser by the FT, and The Guardian.

Our Chief Technology Officer is Alistair Brown, who is responsible for driving forward BrightHR’s expansion plans and the management of our technological needs. Alastair’s career has always been delivery-focused, and he has extensive experience in transforming businesses through technological and process change, including working in influential positions at LateRooms.com and Valtech.

Having started out in 2015 with just 30 staff, BrightHR now employs almost 200 people, and every single person brings knowledge, experience, inspiration and enthusiasm to the table. We value our people, and know that their hard work and dedication is what makes BrightHR a success.

Why Is It Important To Companies In Modern Times To Use HR Software?

We passionately believe in the power of small businesses, but could see employers struggling with the responsibility of HR. We knew no one sets up a business to manage HR, yet employers were spending hours away from their businesses and the jobs they love on endless HR admin. So we set out on a mission to change that.

BrightHR lets employers manage all their HR in one place, from their desktop and mobile app. Our software is easy to use, efficient, and affordable, because we know employers are too busy for confusing tech talk and complex systems, and don’t need something that’s going to break the bank when they’re trying to run a business. We’re here to champion small businesses, and we’re committed to providing employers with all the software and tools they need to take their business to the next level.

With So Many Other Players In The HR Software Market, What Makes Bright HR Different?

BrightHR is dedicated to its four core values, which set us apart from other players in the market and form the foundation of everything we do:

Be an EXPERT

With our legal know-how and years of experience, we know our stuff – but we’re never stuffy. We don’t lecture or judge; we simply break down mind-boggling information so that it’s easy to understand.

Be BRAVE

We’re the risk-takers. We try new things, push boundaries and always dream big. Because we’re committed to creating cutting-edge tech that helps small business owners succeed.

Be OPEN

We don’t sugar-coat. We give the advice employers need to hear every time. And we don’t bombard with tech talk or legal mumbo jumbo either. We speak like real people, because that’s what we are.

Be an ALLY

We know what small businesses need because that’s how we got started. We’ve faced the same struggles and revelled in the same triumphs. That’s what makes us the perfect people to help small businesses grow.

Has The Covid-19 Pandemic Increased Or Decreased The Need For Software Of This Nature And Why?

The Covid-19 pandemic has enormously increased the need for HR software. Last year small business owners had to suddenly adapt to new rules, regulations, and processes, and we had to respond fast to a huge shift in customer demand.

We created a full suite of software to support employers through every stage of the COVID-19 pandemic in-line with changing government guidance, including the furlough navigator, the back to work navigator, and the redundancy navigator. Most recently we launched VaccTrak; a tool to help employers keep track of who’s had the Covid-19 vaccine in their business, along with an exclusive vaccine awareness course for employees.

These new products are in addition to our core offering, our award-winning HR software lets employers easily log staff absences, manage holidays and annual leave, create shifts and rotas, and much more. We also have two additional people management apps: Blip lets staff clock in and out of work using just their mobiles, and PoP lets employers approve expense claims in a swipe.

Over the years our offering has evolved with our business, and now includes: BrightAdvice, our expert employment law helpline, which gives customers 24/7 access to qualified legal advisors; Bright Wellbeing & Counselling, our complete employee assistance programme with an award-winning app; and BrightInsure, providing optional legal insurance for claims for up to £1million, all delivered digitally.

What Have Been The Biggest Challenges You Have Faced Since Starting?

Our biggest challenge as a business was in 2020 when we had to completely shift our offering to small businesses in the pandemic as they faced brand-new government restrictions and regulations. We had to give employers ways to overcome these challenges—all whilst facing the same challenges ourselves.

This meant, for example, creating software to help employers with such things as managing staff working from home, while all our staff were working from home for the first time, too. We had to find new ways to keep communication channels open, like using video calls, screen sharing, and collaboration tools like Slack and Figma to plan out new products and launches.

In April we launched the furlough navigator to help employers plan wage claims, record staff details, and comply with the JRS. With enormous team effort we went from concept to creation in three weeks—under half the time a project of this scale normally takes, with over 95,000 furlough records logged to date.

We then rapidly shifted focus to release the Back to Work Navigator, helping employers bring staff back to the workplace safely. We invested £1million in the software and financed a national TV and audio communication campaign to raise awareness to prospective and existing clients. The Back to Work Navigator has now been used over 69,400 times.

We then released our new health & safety software, BrightSafe, which comes with tools and advice to make workplaces COVID-secure, including risk assessment templates, and H&S e-learning courses. Recently, we launched BrightSafe On The Go, the app that lets employers manage essential H&S anywhere, followed by VaccTrak, a tool to help employers record who’s had the COVID-19 vaccine in their business.

What Does The Future Hold For Bright HR?

As a company, we think big, and our ambition is for every single small business owner to receive end-to-end support in running their business and managing their employees. And we do this by listening to what small business owners and employers want and continuing to create and develop software and support services that respond to this demand.

One of the biggest ways we’ll be supporting employers this year is through continuing to roll out our COVID-19 tools to help them get their businesses back on their feet as lockdown restrictions ease. This will include pushing out our BrightSafe health & safety software and advice to help employers make their workplaces COVID-secure and keep their staff safe if they’re working from home, as well as our new VaccTrak tool, as more and more people get the vaccine.

We recently launched the first iteration of our payroll navigator, which allows employers to store all their important staff payroll information in one secure place and download essential payroll reports, so they have quick access to accurate payroll information every time they need to submit to HMRC. We’re currently developing our software to support employers in managing staff overtime within BrightHR, which will be integrated into the payroll navigator to further assist employers manage working hours and wages. The payroll navigator is being developed not only for our UK customers and prospects, but also for those in Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada, as we continue to build our presence in these countries.

We’re also developing Blip, our award-winning app that lets staff clock in and out of work using their mobiles. Using smart geolocation technology, employers are able to see where and when their staff are working, which has become even more valuable during the pandemic now that so many people are working from home—we’ve now had almost 8million clock-ins with Blip, which is a fantastic achievement.

By offering employers such innovative software products we’ve been able to retain clients and attract new business. In 2020 we took on almost 10,000 new UK companies, and global businesses jumped up from 35,086 to 54,336 in this year alone. In the financial year 19/20, BrightHR generated £8.7m in revenue, which is a 50% increase of revenue YoY.  And we’re not slowing down.

How Can We Find You?

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