Access People HR—Recruitment Software Review

Access People HR is a standalone product of the Access Group, a software company from the United Kingdom. The company develops various software solutions for different industries, such as HR software, event and waste management services, cloud hosting, electronic point of sale (EPoS) systems, and accounting.

Source: Access People HR

In this article, we’ll review the company’s HR system—Access People HR—and focus on its applicant tracking system (ATS) specifically. We’ll also introduce Workello, an ATS combined with pre-hire assessment software that helps you spot the best candidates fast.

Access People HR—Key Features

Access People HR has features that can help businesses with various aspects of HR management. The features are split into five categories:

1. HR system—Automating employee management processes and creating reports
2. ATS—Sourcing candidates and hiring new employees
3. Self-service HR—Features for employees to manage their tasks, data, and day-off requests
4. Payroll outsourcing services—Managing and automating your payroll. Access People HR uses Access Payroll Services (a separate product) for this
5. Expert guidance—Access People HR creates data-driven reminders and alerts to help you not miss anything important

Access People HR’s ATS

When it comes to Access People HR’s ATS features, the software guides employers (and recruiting officers) through the entire hiring process, from posting job ads to sending contract offers. It’s a built-in system in your HR software, and you can’t pay for the ATS only.

With its ATS, you can create job vacancies and a mobile-friendly careers page that automatically displays your job posts. Thanks to Glassdoor integration, you can post your job ad on the platform automatically as well. Once candidates start applying, Access People HR will automatically create a database of candidates so that you can quickly review applications and compare them.

Access People HR lets you use video prescreening questions, i.e., questions on which candidates need to record a video and respond orally. This way, you can gauge their body language, confidence, and communication skills before inviting them to an interview. The videos candidates upload get attached to their candidate profile within the applicant database. Once you make a shortlist, you can invite them for a formal, one-on-one interview.

Access People HR—Downsides

The first thing you’ll notice is that Access People HR’s ATS is not available in the introductory pricing plan, and you’ll have to pick at least the second-tier subscription plan to unlock applicant tracking and candidate management features. You won’t have much luck here if you’re looking for an ATS solely, without unrelated HR functionalities. Still, there’s a workaround for this. The pricing model is based on the number of employees you manage, and if you use only the ATS, you can get it for as cheap as £7 per month.

Another issue is the lack of features—you can see that the ATS system was made as an accompanying functionality and not a complete product. It lacks job board integrations (supports only Glassdoor), video questionnaires are the only pre-hire assessment option, and it lacks automated correspondence with candidates.

Access People HR Pricing

Access People HR offers a 14-day trial. After that, you need to choose one of their three subscription plans. Note that the ATS is available in Enterprise and Elite plans only.

The available plans are:

1. Professional—£5 per employee per month
2. Enterprise—£7 per employee per month
3. Elite—£9 per employee per month

Although Access People HR lists only GBP as an option, they also accept AUD, EUR, SGD, and MYR. 

Source: Access People HR

Access People HR—Integrations

Regarding Access People HR integrations, only two are ATS-related—Glassdoor and Greenhouse (you can connect the two ATSs for automatic data imports). As for the rest of Access People HR integrations, the software supports over 40 of them, some of which are:

• Access Payroll
• ADP
• PayFit
• Google Docs
• Access Learning
• OrgChartNow
• Learn Amp
• Moorepay
• Ceridian
• WebMerge
• Zapier
• RotaCloud
• Okta
• Process Street
• Slack
• Holiday Sync
• Google Calendar
• Passly
• Flow
• Microsoft Word
• Microsoft Excel

Access People HR Customers

Access People HR caters to companies from the United Kingdom, Ireland, New Zealand, Australia, and Asia-Pacific. English is the only supported language. The company has had over 7,000 clients, such as:

• JustGiving
• Ella’s Kitchen
• Royal Air Force Museum
• Ascot Racecourse
• Kuoni Travel
• Circle IT
• Ministry of Sound
• MS-Group
• A B Medical Services
• Slendertone
• St Loye’s Foundation
• Sid Valley Practice
• Capital Economics LTD
• Robert Heath Heating
• TopLine Comms

Alternatives to Access People HR

If you’re looking for an ATS with more recruitment-focused features without having to pay for unnecessary HR-related functionalities, you’ll be better off choosing another solution. We’ve reviewed hundreds of ATS solutions for SMBs—check them out:

Workello vs. Access People HR

Workello is a standalone ATS that, unlike Access People HR, doesn’t have any payroll, time management, or self-service features for HR managers. It’s a platform dedicated to high-volume recruiting that combines an ATS with pre-hire assessment software.

As opposed to Access People HR, Workello comes with an ATS that automates your entire hiring process. You can use it to distribute job ads on multiple online job boards and create a single database, regardless of where the application comes from. You can use our pre-written job description templates to speed up the process of setting up your job posts.

Once applications start flying in, use Workello’s pre-hire assessment option to test candidates’ capabilities via a written test. This way, you can get an insight into the quality of their work and not how good they are at preparing themselves for a job interview. 

Using Workello’s single-page dashboard, you can move candidates through the funnel effortlessly. All you need to do is change their candidate status. Among Workello features is also a dedicated candidate page that applicants can visit and learn about their status in your funnel. Workello also automates the correspondence, ensuring you don’t miss out on the best candidates because you forgot to send a follow-up email.

Another difference from Access People HR is that you unlock the full capability of Workello with the introductory plan. The difference between pricing models is in the number of candidates you want to assess and the billing period:

1. Growth—$299, billed quarterly (up to 30 assessments)
2. Scale—$597, billed annually (up to 300 assessments)

Access People HR vs. Workello: Features and Pricing

Check out the table below to see how the two systems compare:

Final Thoughts

Access People HR is HR software for companies that want the whole package—payroll management, employee management, attendance and holidays tracking, and applicant tracking. While the platform is built with quality and has many valuable features, its built-in ATS lacks some key features other dedicated ATS solutions have, such as more job board integrations and automated correspondence.

If you’re looking for an ATS that doesn’t come with additional HR functionalities, you can try out Workello for free. With Workello, you can source and test candidates to hire the 1% in no time.