Success Stories

Headquarters: Philadelphia, PA
Industry: Financial Services
Solutions: Sage Abra HRMS
 View the Coventry First Success Story PDF

Coventry First enables life insurance policyholders to tap into the market value of unneeded or underperforming policies. The result is greater financial flexibility, better performing portfolios, and a dramatically different view of how life insurance can be used as a financial instrument.

Based in Philadelphia, Coventry holds Standard & Poor's highest ranking and has been ranked first in the insurance category of the Inc. 500 listing of the fastest growing privately held companies in America. They are most proud of their recognition as one of the top companies to work for in Pennsylvania.

Manual Reports Consume HR
Given the emphasis on employee satisfaction at Coventry, it was even more critical that they reevaluate how they were managing employee data. They had grown to more than two hundred employees and were managing human resources and benefits administration using a series of eight spreadsheets. Trying to track employee records and benefits, not to mention job history was growing increasingly difficult. Extracting and consolidating data from too many places also made reporting a challenge. As data would change, updating those reports was even more difficult than creating the reports to begin with. Consistency in reporting was equally as difficult. Coventry had conceded that they'd outgrown their ability to effectively manage back-office processes using spreadsheets.

Collectively, they decided they needed a consolidated, single repository for all human resources data. They needed the ability to streamline the process of daily HR activities including compensation and position management, open job requisitions, consolidated job history, and benefits administration. They needed 21st century tools to better manage their aggressive growth.

Investment in a New Solution
Coventry began their search for a better solution and a service provider to help them, and quickly narrowed it down to a few companies. They spent a considerable amount of time with each, but HRMG Solutions was a clear standout. "We were very comfortable with them as a company," commented Stephanie Baillie, Senior Associate of Finance and Human Resources. "However, what really sold us were the products HRMG recommended. Further, they were flexible in their approach and were willing to accommodate our request to conduct some of the training on-site."

HRMG suggested Sage Abra HRMS which turned out to be the perfect solution for Coventry's environment. Sage Abra HRMS is the market leader in HR, payroll, benefits and compliance solutions for small to medium-sized companies. Its line of payroll, recruiting, training,benefits administration and compliance solutions provide a single, virtually seamless integrated database and powerful reporting tools to help businesses increase productivity and tackle challenging HR issues.

"We had a clear, well-documented project plan in place," remarked Ervin Martin of HRMG Solutions. "We were able to systematically take Coventry First through the project and they were live by the committed completion date. It helped that Coventry was engaged in the project from the beginning. They did their homework, participated in all classes and they really seemed to want to be a part of the solution," Martin added.

A Second Life for Human Resources Department
The resulting system was just what Coventry was looking for – a single, consolidated view into all Human Resources data. "We really wanted this new system and I feel like the whole process was relatively painless," said Stephanie. "When we were unable to make one of the scheduled trainings, HRMG worked to accommodate our schedule and brought the training to us. Ervin was really easy to follow and their documentation is great – I'd give it a 10," she added.

"Most companies looking at on-premise HR systems do so looking for a return on their investment," said Harold Ford, Professional Services Manager at HRMG. "Our customers tell us that Sage Abra not only increases numerous efficiencies in their HR departments, such as reducing administrative burdens and providing better compliance reporting, but it also helps build better strategic value in the department. Utilizing metrics and key performance indicators, companies can quickly gain a thorough knowledge of their most important asset, human capital, and use this knowledge to build better budgets, plan for the future, and make better business decisions about their people," Harold added.

The solution means managing human resources for Coventry is now an easier and less time consuming task. Because Coven try has eliminated the spreadsheets and manual process of consolidating information, personnel data is more accurate and up to date. With the data stored in a single system, consolidated reporting has become an inherent part of the new human resources processes. "The system is very easy to use and we feel like we have more time to do those things that usually get put off," said Stephanie. "We're very glad we did this!"