Provision of an HR and People Systems Platform

Tender description

Hanover Housing Association is seeking to engage the market prior to a formal procurement for an HR and People Systems platform. The procurement may encompass Core HR, Payroll, Learning Management, Applicant Tracking and associated modules, either as a single integrated solution or a combination of products. This notice invites supplier engagement to inform the scope and structure of the forthcoming procurement. Lot 1: Hanover Housing Association is undertaking a programme of HR and People Systems transformation and is conducting this market engagement to understand the range of solutions available. Hanover currently operates a number of separate systems and manual processes to support its HR, payroll, recruitment and learning functions. The purpose of this Prior Information Notice is to understand what the market is able to offer — individually and in combination — across the following functional areas, and to explore the trade-offs between integrated single-platform solutions and best-of-breed combinations. Core HR (Required — Implementation by 31 October 2026) Hanover's current HR system is due to be decommissioned and a replacement Core HR solution must be in place by 31 October 2026. This is a firm deadline. Hanover is seeking to understand market capability across the full range of Core HR functionality, including but not limited to: Employee Records and Data Management Centralised, auditable employee records covering personal details, employment history, contractual information, pay and grading, and document storage. The ability to maintain accurate organisational structures including multiple reporting lines, departments and cost centre allocations. Leave and Absence Management Management of all leave types including annual leave, sickness absence, maternity, paternity and other statutory leave. Integration with timesheets, overtime recording and flexi-time arrangements. Automated accruals, carry-over rules and manager approval workflows. HR Case Management End-to-end management of employee relations cases including disciplinaries, grievances, capability processes and investigations. Structured workflows, letter and document generation, case tracking and audit trails. Hanover is also interested in whether performance management — as a process driven by forms and workflows — could be accommodated within this module rather than as a standalone function. Employee Self-Service and Manager Self-Service A modern, intuitive self-service portal accessible via mobile devices, enabling employees to view and update personal information, submit and track leave requests, access payslips and documents, and engage with HR processes without manual intervention. Manager self-service should support approval workflows, team visibility and basic reporting. Reporting and Analytics Standard and configurable reporting across all HR data, including headcount, turnover, absence and equality monitoring. Dashboard views for HR teams and managers, with the ability to export data for use in wider organisational reporting. Compliance and Policy Management Support for statutory compliance requirements including GDPR-compliant data handling, equal opportunities monitoring, and audit logging. Configurable policy acknowledgement and document sign-off workflows. Organisational Design Visibility of organisational structure, headcount planning at a basic level, and the ability to model or represent changes to structure. This links to the Advanced HR requirement for post and establishment management. Onboarding and Offboarding Structured workflows to support the full employee lifecycle from pre-employment through to leaver processing, including right to work checks, document collection, task assignment and system access coordination.. The service will operate within a framework of continuous improvement with which the service provider will be required to engage; bringing innovation, sharing ideas, and implementing improvement measures to increase operational effectiveness/efficiency and drive out waste.