For Nath Bio-Genes (I) Ltd. (NBIL), which is not only a pioneer in the seed business but is also one of the oldest seed firms in India, there was a burning need to do away with manual HR interventions and onboard new innovations in HR technologies. This is not surprising given the rise in HR automation and how it empowers organisations to take charge in designing future-forward and agile talent management strategies. However, while an integrated HRMS module is known to yield several benefits and add long-term organisational value, the ability to invest in these systems varies across businesses.

This is where Akrivia HCM came in, a winning digital platform promising cost-effective, high-impact and customised solutions in payroll, learning management, recruitment and even expense management. The power of Akrivia HCM lies in meeting all of NBIL’s requirements, reducing the per-user cost and meeting two of their key challenges: manual administrative operations and the absence of data integrity. 

The flawless implementation and execution of Akrivia HCM

In conversation with Abhinay Jadhav, CPO of NBIL, he insightfully shared, “Manual operations tend to be person-specific rather than process-specific.” And rightly so, the shift to an automated system becomes essential to reduce the burden on HR professionals and enables more consistency in the functional processes of the organisation at large. An added bonus is data integrity, reliability, and real-time access to data by the relevant stakeholders. 

Following due diligence, a robust business case and finally joining hands with the Akrivia team, it was in April 2022 that the organisation started exchanging data in prescribed templates to the team. Abhinay added, “Providing apt templates for data population was a critical success factor in the flawless execution and implementation of the platform because data mapping was done in line with their needs.” Then, the team kickstarted the phase-by-phase module implementation of the platform. At present, the complete Hire to Retire suite is in production and has gone live which includes these modules: Employee Management (HRF), Time & Attendance, Leave Management, Payroll, Offboarding, Full and Final Settlement, LMS, and Recruitment, Pre-Onboarding.

Abhinay immensely appreciated the after-sales support and handholding offered by the Akrivia team and their Subject Matter Experts. He highlighted, “They took no more than one day for query resolution and to ensure that our organisation was heading in the right direction, they took the initiative to have weekly check-ins which is a practice sustained till date.”

To drive successful implementation, NBIL also introduced Change Champions state-wise from HR, Finance and Accounts teams who were first trained by the Akrivia team and then led virtual sessions in batches to train the end-users. The end result? This train-the-trainer approach covered 100% of employees who can now seamlessly and efficiently use the platform. Abhinay also shared how Akrivia’s app was extremely user-friendly and required minimum training. 

Empowering their on-ground employees with HR digitisation

Given the unique nature of their business, around 54% of NBIL’s workforce is in the fields, closely working with farmers. The first module they implemented, Attendance increased the efficiency of tracking as the organisation opted for both geo-fencing and non-geo-fencing features to accommodate on-ground and in-office employees.

Another area that they successfully transformed was claim settlement by leveraging Akrivia HCM’s Expense Management offering. NBIL’s on-ground staff working in the fields tend to incur travelling and lodging expenses. But earlier, the process was quite tedious, calling for manual submission to the branch office, which then passed on to the head office and finally shared with the Finance and accounts team, who verified and settled their claims.

Since Akrivia HCM, everything has been done online. Their employees simply needed to upload their claims with supporting documents, which the reporting manager first approves and then reaches the finance teams. 

This reduced the overall lead time, removed any lapses in sending couriers and settling of claims which earlier took a month is today no more than 7 days. With the presence of rules in the system, challenges in query resolution has gone down drastically and the ovearll employee experience in expense and claims management has improved,” highlighted Abhinay.

The success of the first fully integrated HRMS platform 

A key differentiating factor in Akrivia HCM’s HR platform was their employee user experience. It was extremely efficient in carrying out basic hygiene tasks whether it was attendance recording or attendance correction. With all of NBIL’s employee-facing policies being housed on the platform, everything is at the employee’s fingertips, and the dependency on the corporate office or HR has reduced. Abhinay shared, “If I call it out as a success in a single line: it’s the improved employee experience because of HRMS.”

Additionally, the organisation’s compliance levels have gone up with increased accuracy and speed in processing payroll in line with statutory compliance requirements. From 4-5 days, the time period for processing payroll has become a single day. 

Coming back to the importance of data integrity, Abhinay emphasised, “Today, when it comes to data, we are no dependent on the individual but are only dependent on the system. Akrivia HCM offers us a single source of data which is accessible as per role requirements and needs. But it’s not just about retrieving the data and putting it into an excel sheet; it’s also about the data analytics they offer, which has been very helpful, especially in gathering insights from an attrition standpoint.”

With Exit Interview as part of their HRMS, data insights on the reasons behind attrition are housed in one place and empower NBIL to make strategic hiring decisions. 

What does the future of this partnership look like?

Abhinay again highlights his appreciation for the Akrivia HCM team’s support and highlights how truly customer-centric they are. “There is a lot of comfort in having chosen the right partner in our journey of success, and we are happy with the services they have offered and are quite sure that this relationship will be long-lasting,” Abhinay said. 

Indeed, having the right partner on your HR digitisation journey pays enormous dividends and ensures your organisation is geared to greater heights. If you’re looking for someone to help you address your challenges and customised needs and elevate your employee experience, schedule your demo with Akrivia HCM today.