VFM Services offers claims handling, risk management solutions and training to the financial services industry. With 84 employees across two sites in Hertfordshire, they were looking for a simple, cost-effective solution to their leave management needs. “We made the decision to switch from a paper-based system to an online leave management solution in 2008 and it proved much more efficient. But as it was charged per person, per day, it was very expensive, costing us around £300 a month," explains Carina Daily, Recruitment & Benefits Officer at VFM. “Our IT department looked into alternatives and felt that LeaveWizard looked like the most simple and straightforward of the products on the market. I reviewed the system and spent some time using it and felt that it wasn't very different from what we had been using but with a cost saving of 80% represented better value for money." Easy win with staff Since signing up to LeaveWizard in October 2010 all employees within VFM are now actively using the system for their leave management. “There is always some reluctance when you ask people to try something new but LeaveWizard is so simple and easy to use that it wasn't a big learning curve for our staff," says Carina. “Our HR team oversees the leave arrangements for all staff but the sign up process was easy to follow and we were able to perform a bulk upload to get all our staff details onto the system in one go which was great – it would have taken forever to upload them all manually." Proactive involvement in development And VFM have been able to work together with the LeaveWizard team to ensure that the system meets all their needs. “There have been a lot of improvements since we first signed up to LeaveWizard," says Carina. “The system has been consistently enhanced and it's great that the development team have been willing to listen to our feedback and we've been able to take a proactive role in the development process. More importantly the things we've requested that have been implemented work really well, just the way we wanted them to which from our point of view is brilliant." Strong support any time Being a small and dedicated team has enabled LeaveWizard to provide VFM with great customer service. “The support we have received from LeaveWizard has been much better than we had previously as we used to find that we could never get hold of people. The LeaveWizard team always respond very quickly to enquiries no matter how trivial, and they are always really helpful. “Managing leave online you do need to get on top of any problems that crop up quite quickly, for example if an employee is having difficulty submitting a leave request. It is great knowing that there is someone on the other end of the line that you can get hold of at any time." Keeping holiday booking simple “LeaveWizard makes managing leave arrangements and sickness absence really easy because it is so straightforward and easy to use and I think that's the best thing about it. There is no need to over complicate holiday booking or it can become a real nightmare. Plus we're paying less than we were paying previously so I think it provides great value for money."

VFM services