Rethinking Recruitment: Exploring the future of our HR Systems

2025-07-03

In a digital world that never stops evolving, legacy systems can quickly become roadblocks.

For Sport Wales, that reality has hit home with our ageing HR portal – a system no longer fit for purpose.

In response, we've been carrying out a HR Portal Discovery Project: a project to uncover what isn't working, what you (as users) really need, and what the future of a streamlined, user-friendly HR system could look like.

Why Now?

The current recruitment system is heading towards obsolescence - with the software becoming unsupported by the end of the year.

Sport Wales needs a modern solution that not only ensures compliance but works for real people – job applicants, HR staff, Sport Wales managers and employees.

But instead of stopping at recruitment, the team are taking a wider lens.

We thought if we're fixing part of the system, why not take the opportunity to improve the whole employee management experience?

This led to a dual focus: reimagining both the recruitment process and the broader HR functionality such as leave booking and absence tracking.

The Method Behind the Discovery

To understand how the existing system is used, the team conducted an eight-week focused research push, including:

• Interviews with HR staff, new recruits, line managers, payroll and finance officers
• A staff survey
• Detailed customer journey mapping and service blueprinting

These methods have given us a current view of both the applicant experience and the internal management process.

What We Found

Some findings weren't surprising – like clunky forms and duplicated processes. Others, however, offered new insight into how even small barriers can create big problems.

1. Recruitment: Good Intentions, Poor Execution

The detail in application forms was appreciated, but users find the layout cluttered and overwhelming, especially around equality and diversity sections. Even more significantly, there is unnecessary duplication between the recruitment portal and Sport Wales' website. Applicants were spending more time than needed – a particular issue for those who are time poor, such as carers or those juggling multiple jobs.

2. The Careers Page Is Being Skipped

A major eye-opener was that many candidates bypassed the careers page entirely, heading straight from external job adverts (like on LinkedIn) into the application. As a result, they missed out on key content: pay scales, benefits, guidance, and training information. This raises an important question: how do we make sure critical information reaches applicants even if they skip the "intended" journey?

3. Accessibility Gaps

One of the more pressing issues is the reliance on a Word-based application forms. Some users lacked the right software or hardware, forcing them to borrow devices or licences. A web-based application process emerged as the clear solution – removing the need for downloads and making the process more inclusive.

4. A Desire for More Transparency

Applicants also wanted more updates on their application status. Many found the process a black hole, logging into their account only to see no clear progress updates. While it's unclear what best practice looks like here, the need for clearer communication is evident.

5. HR Management: Complex Tasks, Clunky Tools

Internally, staff are split into two groups: general users (who used the portal for basic tasks like booking leave) and specialist users (in HR, payroll, finance). The latter group reported significant friction, including:

• Manual data transfers between recruitment and HR systems
• Repetitive report building
• Overtime and casual staff data managed offline
• Difficulties automating part-time leave calculations

It is clear the system is often forcing staff to work around it – not with it.

What Happens Next?

The team has compiled a comprehensive report, including detailed user personas and a full list of requirements – everything from 'must-haves' to 'nice-to-haves'. These include more intuitive dashboards, automated calculations, and seamless integration with other systems like payroll and Single Sign-On.

The next step is for the HR team to review and refine the requirements, ensuring nothing critical is missed. Then, the current system provider will be approached to see if they can meet these expectations.

We need to replace the recruitment system by the end of the calendar year, so we will need a solution fast.

Paul Batcup, Matt Davies and Anselm Powell