Namely vs. Saba TalentSpace

Namely is nice because it has everything all in one place: performance, applicant tracking through Greenhouse, payroll, time off, hourly timesheets, and benefits. From the payroll side, Namely is especially helpful for remote employers who have employees in multiple states, especially Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Indiana. Namely will automatically update the payroll profile of the employee with the state and local tax for the work or home location, whichever the employer chooses. I have found a few mistakes with the local tax being assigned not matching the Ohio Tax Finder, but for the most part, it is accurate. It is also helpful that we can create multiple payrolls for multiple periods and they are included in the overall fee

Incentivized

I think it's a good platform for tracking and monitoring goals, feedback, and development. We don't use the 1:1 meeting feature, however, I can see how that would be valuable for many organizations. I do like that it is very customizable, however, that also presents problems in that sometimes forms and/or processes can be a bit challenging to create easily and quickly.

• Namely has helped with our COVID sick leave response. It has made a major difference both with the weekly payroll and the 941 tax filing
• Keeping track of our multiple PTO plans. Thank goodness for Namely, I have shredded my old PTO spreadsheets.
• Employees like the convenience of the cell phone app. As a payroll administrator, I like the Geo Tracking tool where I can see where some are when the clock is in or out.
• The flexibility inside of the payroll system both as you are finalizing an employee profile and when you are processing payroll is a major advantage.
• The reports I get out of Namely in Excel format work well for me.

Incentivized

• I think their Support Center is great! All of their Customer Service Representatives are knowledgeable, friendly, and able to troubleshoot any and all issues I've had in the past. I am very impressed with the breadth of knowledge that each representative has - every time I've called them, they were able to resolve my problem.
• Halogen's dashboard is very user-friendly. The dashboard allows the user to sort, filter, and manipulate data in order to create compelling reports.
• Version 18 of Halogen looks very sleek and is user-friendly. With simple instruction, employees are able to log in, enter their goals, and review their performance using the navigation menu on the left. Also from an administrator's perspective, it is very easy to navigate on the back-end.

Incentivized

• in my opinion, HORRIBLE performance review platform, we had a really hard time with it and would not recommend that you use this function
• In my experience, poor customer service, difficult to get ahold of them when you need support
• Capabilities are limited in comparison to other more robust HRIS systems

Incentivized

• When creating Evaluation Processes the limitations around the number of Goals that will push over to the form can be frustrating to some departments/positions. Only the first 10 will automatically come over.
• The ability to attach any Documents that you have saved within Halogen should have a way to link to any Feedback that is entered in through Feedback Central.
• The file size of and media that is attached to a Learning Activity or Path could be increased to accommodate more elaborate videos/presentations.

Administrators and employees love Namely. It is very easy to use and streamlined. Employees stay engaged with news feed updates and enjoy all the self service options. The time cards are very easy to access and clocking in and out for non-exempt employees is a breeze. Namely is part of our family.

At this point, I would also love to see what other systems have to offer. But we have gotten to a place in which our employee population understands the system, our HR Managers can all use the back end, and for the most part it works for our staff. I am always very pleased with Halogen's customer support, constant upgrades, and think the system is continuously improving and have been pleased-to-date.

It is very simple to use for myself, the HR team, and our employees. I find the payroll process very user-friendly. Reporting is simple to navigate and produce the required information requested. I know our employees enjoy the self-service feature and use it on a regular basis, which saves me time.

Incentivized

Halogen is very intuitive and provides very clean work-space ... lots of white space and modern layouts. There is more than one way to accomplish your action, too!

Unfortunately, in more recent years we've had a lot of difficulty with Namely as they've undergone a lot of internal changes. It took 4 returned emails saying the person no longer worked at Namely to find someone to help me (I finally called payroll) and it took a while to get connected with a direct source of help. Namely now has set up their "pod" feature of communication which works well for the most part, but is different. I felt spoiled when we first started with Namely, but now it feels very much like working with most large companies' help centers. There is a system to go through and you do have the option to click "urgent". In general the help is efficient, but it still takes a few days and it's hard to speak with someone directly. It is all done via online communications and is difficult to actually speak to someone on the phone. This works well for most cases, but I do feel frustrated more often than I'd like to with this type of communication. (2019/2020)

Incentivized

We only purchased the appraisal module and without the other modules offered, you are really limited in what you can do and the process becomes much more involved with needing to maintain information across multiple platforms. We found that they charge for everything and call it "consulting." We poured so much money and time into a system that was just overkill for what we really needed.

Incentivized

It is very easy to use and I can do my own programming instead of paying a technician and waiting sometimes days for them to program the changes.

There were so many specialists in the implementation process; it would have been nice to have fewer people who had a more holistic understanding of the platform. Also, the onboarding meetings covered so much technical information that there was relatively little time for questions (though questions were invited). Eventually, everything worked out.

Incentivized

Very easy to implement and Halogen has a well-trained implementation staff!

We had used Namely in conjunction with Wurk for payroll and Ease for benefits enrollment. Unfortunately the "fraken-system" was very cumbersome to manage. The fraken-system was used due to the limited options in the cannabis industry for providers who were willing to work with us. We eventually transitioned to OnePoint to have an all-in-one system but also left it because it was not able to scale with the organization.

I have used other systems in the past and I like that Halogen provides everything in one space. I would like to see a more developed way to report training, not in the LMS, but I think that for the most part that Halogen is a robust system that is superior to its competition.

Incentivized

• When we were over 100, it provided a huge benefit to us due to the accuracy of payroll, benefits integration and management, and org chart and performance tracking. Having all of that in one place was a huge improvement from the former disjointed user experience.
• When we dropped below 100 due to covid, our insurance rates went up 93% to offer comparable plans, and we had to move over to a PEO for benefits which meant we also had to move payroll. It was hugely disruptive, and now our employees have a bad experience when trying to manage their HR lives in multiple places. It is confusing and, again, disjointed.

Incentivized

• Consistent goal setting and monthly 1:1 conversations across our entire company - especially as it relates to our sales teams. Consistent 1:1 dialogue and process has driven a more focused coaching conversation for a positive impact on our sales pipeline and close rate. This has been the biggest impact we have realized from the system.
• On-demand learning availability for all employees. We partnered with LinkedIn Learning for content that is easily searchable and viewable by all employees at any time through the Learning platform in Halogen. Employees engaging in learning activities has significantly increased.

Incentivized