Q&A
technologies will be crucial. It’s our view that migration of assets to the cloud, increased awareness of business continuity and improved data security will all impact the workplace of the future, especially where these issues may not have been seen as a priority. From Frontier’s perspective we expect the increased interest for outsourced services, Smartphone apps and e- learning tools to continue as the UK adjusts to the post-Covid workplace. New developments and enhancements to technology that support the hybrid work landscape will take priority for some time to come.
• School budgets are under pressure now as never before, how can Frontier help schools save money and restructure their processes to manage budgetary pressures? Frontier Software is well placed to help schools save money and manage budgetary pressures. Our software will cut down paper based processes that consume staff time and resources. Plus, we offer a product that covers the end to end staff lifecycle, all from one single database. Frontier Software is a one stop shop, removing the need to pay multiple providers licence and support fees for multiple systems that may not even talk to one another! Duplicated data entry takes time and put simply, is wasteful. The best use of staff is not to input details to a HR system, then Payroll, then Absence and so on. And, as our solution is modular, schools can buy what they need now and look to add functionality from the budget in future years. Options for solution delivery include Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) and outsourced payrolls, both great options for knowing costs in advance and managing expenditure. With both these options, responsibility for the infrastructure can be handed to us, so schools do not have to buy and maintain the equipment to run the payroll. Added to this, they benefit from the knowledge and experience of a specialist provider to ensure they are processing data in accordance with legislation. Futhermore, use of workflow enabled software will streamline and support processes.
• The teaching profession has shown itself to be resilient to the pressures of Covid, but it remains a fact that good teachers are highly sought after – how does Frontier help schools ensure they are getting the right people for the right job and equally as importantly, how do you help them keep the right people once they find them? Getting recruitment and retention right is a
challenge that impacts every organisation regardless of their market sector. Precious time and money can be spent recruiting only to then quickly lose a staff member because of non- existent or ineffective processes before, during and after the recruitment phase. It is so important for new recruits to be onboarded quickly and efficiently and for them to have the right tools in place to succeed from day one. In addition to recruitment software with an applicant portal for streamlined recruiting, schools should consider onboarding software to engage recruits ahead of their actual start date, which can often be months away. Smartphone access to progress activities, submit documents, sign contracts etc is a key aspect of onboarding. It identifies you as a progressive employer, especially with younger staff coming into the sector. We offer a range of talent management tools
that will enable schools to record and maintain details of all the staff skills, capabilities and experience and to easily develop and track career plans. The exact skills mix needed in the future may not be known right now, but that doesn’t mean you can’t prepare by developing career and succession plans, identify training needs and act on gaps in workforce capability. Through a focused, professional approach to
recruitment, onboarding, development and career planning, each school or Trust can differentiate themselves in the eyes of prospective staff and, maybe, parents too. Investment in talent management software should be viewed as an investment for an engaged, motivated and
productive team, equipped with the best technology and future ready.
• E-learning became commonly accepted and used practice during the previous lockdowns – where does Frontier see the benefits in adopting an e-learning approach to training? Our planned introduction of e-Learning for users was accelerated by the pandemic and we continue to expand the range of tutorials available. The e-training approach is now widely accepted and I think the core benefits of this approach centre on efficiency and accessibility. Each user completes the training at their own pace to suit their individual needs and workload. At Frontier Software our users have access to e- Learning tutorials on the client area of our website. Whether they need to brush up on how a function works or understand a whole new module, they complete their learning online and on-demand. With e-Learning it is easy to review and revisit a training module later.
• Equality and diversity have become important topics recently, and the pandemic has thrown up some stark figures showing the disproportionate effect of Covid on certain ethnicities. How important is it that establishments have a secure handle on relevant data in this area? It’s very important and in some sectors a legal requirement to collect, report and publish data about the make-up of the workforce. Progressive organisations understand how important recording and publishing this data is to how they are perceived amongst staff and customers. HR software makes it easy to collect workforce diversity data and to report in real time and on- demand. With the added benefit of security, access to data is only given to authorised users. Being transparent about this information has never been more important.
October 2021
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