RNN Group, a leading education and training provider based in South Yorkshire and North Nottinghamshire, incorporating Rotherham College, North Notts College and Dearne Valley College, has announced a partnership with MHR Analytics, the specialist provider of business intelligence and analytics solutions.

The partnership will support the organisation’s finance team to overhaul its financial planning processes and stay ahead of the increasingly pressured further education sector. 

Swapping manual spreadsheets for an IBM Financial Workforce Planning system, the team plans to slash administration time and improve overall financial performance. 

Like many further and higher education organisations, RNN Group has struggled to tackle rising operational and workforce costs against a backdrop of reduced funding and tighter budgets. 

The team were dealing with more complex workloads and needed clearer visibility in areas like resourcing, recruitment, payroll budgets, maternity pay and starters and leavers. 

A spreadsheet-based system meant all analysis had to be conducted manually using Excel, extracting and pooling data from HR and payroll systems. This process required significant time and money, draining resources and failing to provide necessary detail and accuracy, delaying decision-making by several weeks. 

With the help of MHR Analytics, the finance team will deploy Financial Workforce Planning, operating alongside the college’s existing MHR iTrent payroll system.

The new technology will enable HR and finance teams to take a monthly snapshot of payroll and completely automate the monthly data extraction and consolidation process, improving accuracy and eradicating errors. It will also allow the organisation to reduce workforce costs and plan for fluctuations in the workforce and legislative changes.

Kate Noble, RNN Group Financial Director comments: “Gaining critical insights into financial forecasts and staff resourcing is vital for driving our operational efficiency and delivering high quality education to our students.”

“It became clear our existing system was inefficient and was struggling to deliver the visibility we needed. The new system implemented by MHR Analytics brings together our HR and finance functions, giving us a clear view into the future, allowing us to plan ahead efficiently and provide management information more easily. This improved efficiency and value for money allows the organisation to focus on what it does best and continue to provide students with an outstanding education experience.”

Nick Felton, SVP, MHR Analytics comments: “As a leading education and training provider, RNN Group needed to improve its financial planning processes to drive better decision-making and provide clear forecasts. By taking a proactive approach to overcome these challenges, the group can make accurate decisions based on a wealth of data, saving substantial amounts of time and money.”