ADP Vantage Software

Pros

The system is cloud based which means I can access from any computer and there is a mobile application.

Cons

Poor customer service support, too many clicks to locate information I seek, "ghost" employees that disappear when in process to transfer, unable to attach documents

I use ADP for applicant tracking, recruiting, hiring, on-boarding, reporting. Currently on version 2.01, not user friendly, have run into several issues since the migration from version 2.

Cons

- Applicant tracking
- New hire wizard
- Postings
- Reporting

We converted to ADP this past March after positive recommendations from a couple of colleagues that have been on the platform for a few years. Our implementation was an absolute nightmare. We spent much more time, energy, resources and money on it than should have been necessary. The unfortunate part is that as of August, the wrinkles still had not been ironed out. For example, at implementation we received emails from an implementation specialist at the company recommending us to purchase a certain tablet to use at all our locations for the time keeping system. We went ahead and purchased them, which was costly, only to find out after countless hours on the phone with support and many frustrated employees, that ADP does not support that tablet. Payroll is one thing that cannot be inaccurate and I feel like making the switch we had more errors in the last 6 months than we had in the last 10 years combined. Many of them were completely avoidable had the implementation been done correctly. We also have a special excel document that we have created just to manage all the cases that we have with ADP, because we would have so many at one time that the only way we could manage the follow up was to track it ourselves. Unfortunately, for a small company like we are, we did not have the manpower to take on a failed transition and so we are currently looking to make a switch to a different platform.

Pros

Ability to have a timekeeping system and payroll in one software

Cons

Implementation, Cost, Ease of Use of Payroll

Advice to Others

I would not recommend switching to ADP unless you have excessive amount of time and energy to devote to making sure your implementation is up and running months in advance before you need to go live.

Once you learn how to use the software it is easy enough, but it takes a lot of training.

Pros

They are large enough to offer 24 hour support

Cons

The support center is rarely helpful and they are not able to help you if your issue is not on their script

Our implementation was very rough. Team made lots of promises, but didn't deliver. The help line is terrible, they have no experience and most don't seem to know what you are talking about. Even when the support team make corrections to our system, they screwed it up, and we had to fix it later. There is little to no good reports for WCB reporting.

Pros

once all the bugs were worked out, the system works well

Cons

Help support is terrible

Advice to Others

just be prepared for your expectations not to be met the first time, double check everything they say they are doing to ensure it has been done right

I've had a good experience with ADP. Very straightforward and easy to use.

I have worked on the ADP Human Resource Benefits system for over 5 years. As a solo HR practitioner it has been good to have a HCM system, however ADP was selected first for payroll and A/P and time tracking. We have made the system workable for recruiting, performance management, etc. but any customization has been a challenge.

Pros

Would not be able to manage recruitment as easily without the on-line application portal. It has some limitations, but allows for communication with the candidates and automatic transmission of data when an individual is hired. Employee Self Service allows staff to easily change their address, emergency contacts, etc.

Cons

It's difficult to customize in the manner we would like to. For our size company, we do not have a dedicated customer service group so calling in for customer service you get varying levels of competency with the rep who answers the phone. Unemployment compensation services are extremely poor - missed deadlines, lack of response, delays in processing. Would not recommend using this service, ADP outsources it.

Advice to Others

We just finished looking at vendors because our frustration level with ADP was so high. I would evaluate Paycom and Paylocity as well if you are considering a new system for a smaller company.

Great product and very user friendly I would recommend to anyone or any business.

Pros

Just takes a wile to understand the difference in movement

Cons

After understanding the product it is a great tool

Advice to Others

Great Product!!

It does what they say it does. However, they have some issues with consistency in their customer service team.

We utilize ADP Workforce Now and there have been some hiccups along the way. The customer service team is diligent in responding to any issues that have occurred and is always professional and friendly. I'm sure that having to answer the same questions and supporting the client in all matters ADP can be mundane and sometimes challenging. Not once have I ever felt that my questions or issues are unimportant. Even though the product is good, customer service can make or break solid relationships. Kudos to ADP for cultivating a culture of client satisfaction.

Pros

The product is fairly straightforward and the database allows you to collect all the employee data in one place to access easily. There are several features to the program and the report selections are aligned with our company needs.

Cons

Our plant is located in the Midwest but our customer service support team is located on the east coast (our corporate office is in RI). There has been, on occasion, the inability to reach support because of the time difference. The cost of some of the modules has prohibited us to purchase.

Advice to Others

ADP is a good program for managing payroll and some HR functions.

We need to define product...IS "product" a piece of software or the service provided by your company or the combination of the two?

The software is excellent. Well written and easy to use and maintain.
The support...Employees change often and when a serious issue needs to be handled, they require me to call someone else.

When a big issue arises you can forget about proper follow through. Any and everyone is willing to drive to my place of business to talk and leave a few free pens and sticky notes. I don't need your pens. I have been raked over the coals on the Work Comp pricing and I can't get resolution. It is so infuriating that I have explained the issue, provided competitor pricing and nothing happens.

I am looking to not only move my work comp to a more competitive company, but I am moving my payroll service as well. Are we a big loss?... Not at all. However, as each of our small companies move away because we aren't "a big fish" you will eventually feel the pain and discomfort of such losses.

All this could be avoided if I could get my questions not only answered, but price changes immediately implemented and credited since it is an obvious egregious over charge and over sight. But no...Too many employees between the customer and the people who can make things happen.

Maybe you need someone like myself that operates a small business to show you how to provide the customer service we want, not the customer service you think we need. We are extremely easy to understand and typically low maintenance. I would think having a lot of small businesses is better than one large business. Better diversification, better profit potential because of the diverse needs of each company would allow you to sell other products line you offer to an even larger customer base.

Sadly, I am sure this review will be seen by the one employee hired to check the email server and forward to another email that is rarely checked. The Regional Manager will continue to stress about his or her employee turnover rate because his/her boss has a cap to stay under or it sets off an alarm that requires them to file a report explaining why customer service ratings are down, new customer sign ups are low, existing customer base is dropping and employee retention is increasing. Their aggravation will be felt by the Regional Manager; who in turn will call or probably email their District Manager, who has limited training on leadership, and they in turn will REACT to their Supervisor instead of taking in the information, assessing it, and creating a measurable plan to actual FIX these issues.

Again, this is probably all for nothing. ADP is doing just fine and close to an all time high stock price. However, over the last 5 years how many new payroll companies have come onto the scene? Does anyone ask why? Job markets have been soft and more people leaving the job market. So...one reason could be OPTION 1: software design. Or maybe...OPTION 2: customer service. I'm going to go with OPTION 2.

Such a simple service to do. Extremely basic and easy to teach and to execute. Customer Service creates loyalty. Take the word customer off and just use the word SERVICE. Think about it..SERVICE. From picking up your groceries or dry cleaning. A smile, good product, and if there is ever an issue, you identify and fix it immediately. That is all most of us ask for from those we live with, work with, and play with. We want our needs met and if you mess up: apologize, fix it, learn from it...repeat.

Meeting the customers needs is much cheaper than all the pens, sticky notes, and coffee mugs that are made trying to project an image. How about instead of projecting the image...BE THE IMAGE! Be the leader in the industry. Be what everyone else looks up to. Since ADP is the world's largest payroll provider the best way to clinch #1 and stay there forever is by beating everyone else at customer service. You have the pricing, you have the software, you have the internal operating procedures already in place. Now put fear in your competitor by making it impossible to meet, much less beat, the service you provide.

I end this review with the same question I started with...IS "product" a piece of software or the service provided by your company or the combination of the two?

Sincerely,

Kent Snyder

The recruiting module is very archaic. Many companies use external ATS systems.

Pros

None from a recruiting standpoint

Cons

not user friendly or mobile ready

Advice to Others

Buy an external ATS that will integrate with ADP.

WorkForce Now provides fields to capture a lot of employee data. In the case of our organization it does require quite a bit of time and manpower on the front end to set up a system to utilize these fields effectively. We issue a lot of equipment to our employees. Much of this equipment has calibration and serial numbers. WFN has the fields to capture this data. The challenge is developing the structure and fields to capture this data. The same is true with the document cloud. Annually our company is required to generate a lot of documents for our employees. These documents need to be retained. The documents include drug tests, background screens, company policies, etc. Structuring the storage of these documents is critical to their ease of accessibility. ADP's provision of an advisor to help develop these structures would be a welcome service.
Open enrollments, benefits administration, and payroll are WFN's strengths. The recruiting and applicant tracking system is not very robust and well behind the technology of other vendors. We recently switched to ICMS.
Customer service in regards to payroll is good but not outstanding. Customer service from the Benefit Service Center is inconsistent at best.

Pros

Payroll, document cloud, open enrollment

Cons

Benefit Service Center performance, Recruiting module and applicant tracking system

Advice to Others

ADP provides a lot of standardized training through online recorded classes and webinars. They do not provide much one-on-one training with the system. When implementing ADP WFN it is advisable that your team be lead by someone with HRIS experience who will recognize your needs and aggressively pursue ADP to meet these needs and provide solutions.

ADP is a solid technology which enables payroll to work very well. Everything is there, but it requires a dedicated resource to manage. If HR is supposed to be more data driven, unfortunately, ADP does not make it easy to take the data and manipulate it and make it work for fast growing companies.

Pros

Payroll can be adjusted within 48 hours of submission.

Cons

Just one thing? The ability to get the data needed requires an advanced degree in database configuration, and time to be on hold for hours for a report specialist to understand what your ask is.

Advice to Others

Be ready for slow moving customer service, and technology that frequently doesn't do what it needs to (like work).

Six months experience as user migrated over from legacy ADP product Virtual Edge.

Pros

1. Dashboard style, access to data for requisitions and candidates in one place.
2. Better communication features than legacy platform.
3. More user control for configuration than some other platforms.
4. Very cost effective.

Cons

1. Multiple copies of the same stored documents with different names - confusing for users.
2. Very difficult to sort order fields reporting in created queries.
3. System has quirks for documentation such as offer letters can't date stamp when e-signature is given, but other side by side same format documents allow for this.
5. System allows for a lot of client configuration but getting to the source field for changes is very difficult for non heavy site admins.

Advice to Others

1. If user ease is focus, compare to alternative systems before selection.
2. If cost is not barrier, and there is time to train fully, it can be a good option.

I have used ADP for many years everything is great except customer service at time it can be a bit hectic to get someone to help with issues.

Pros

Easy to use

Cons

Customer Service

Overall, I do like ADP. The system is always being updated and the customer service is wonderful! The only downside is that the UI needs to be more friendly, and there is a somewhat steep learning curve to the SaaS. If you have a dedicated team within your company who deals with ADP and they also have prior experience with the software then you should be fine. On another note, I would love to see the UI the same regardless if you use payforce or workforce.

Pros

Very robust and can handle most HR & Payroll functions seamlessly.

Cons

Steep learning curve.

I have used ADP products for years for various size companies. Overall I have no complaints. They have products that work for small, medium and large companies and I have used them all. In my current role, I am not in charge of payroll. However, my company does use ADP.

Pros

Customer Service is always quick in their responses. They have always resolved my issues and answered my questions. Very helpful.

Cons

The cost is a little higher than other payroll services
I wish they had had more of an ala carte program to lessen the cost of software for the items we don't need or use (ex. vacation/time off tracking, etc)

Advice to Others

Research your needs and pick the service that best meets those for the cost you are looking for.

Our company has used ADP HR&Benefits for about 10 years now, and although there are some very good time-saving features, we continue to get frustrated by the bureaucracy of their many divisions in service and massive setup procedures. Good service also has gotten very difficult to find in recent years as well.

Pros

Ease of use and functionality

Cons

Recruiting application

Advice to Others

Make sure to tailor ADP modules to your main goals or activities.

ADP can be extremely helpful at times, but it is always a hassle to get what you want out of ADP without having to jump through hoops. Something as simple as submitting a final payroll file requires you to "submit" the file, in three different ways before the final submission is actually completed. Report generation often times produces different results than what was asked for, and customer support often leads to dead ends unless you get lucky and reach someone who actually knows what they're talking about. When it works, it works good. When there is a small issue, it often leads to lots of frustration and dead end phone calls.

Pros

A lot of features