For care providers, investing in workforce technology is rarely just about replacing spreadsheets or digitising existing processes.
The real opportunity is bigger than that. Good workforce technology should make work feel clearer, fairer and easier for the people using it every day, from frontline employees and managers to regional leaders, finance teams and the board.
Salutem’s implementation of Sona is a strong example of what this looks like in practice.
Across a 2,000-person workforce spanning around 150 care homes, children’s homes, schools and colleges, Salutem has used Sona to improve payroll accuracy, reduce manual admin and build trust in workforce data at every level of the organisation.
Why this matters now
Social Care providers are operating in an environment where labour costs, workforce pressures and compliance expectations continue to rise. In this context, workforce technology has to deliver measurable value. It needs to help providers manage costs without compromising care quality, while also improving the experience of the people delivering care and support every day. For Salutem, the impact was immediate and significant.
-
£1.3M saved per month on payroll through contracted hours enforcement and accurate clock-in/out.
Payroll complaints reduced to near zero.
Managers rarely need to make manual adjustments.
Board, executive and operations teams now trust payroll data.
Regional and divisional leaders have clearer visibility across services.
This level of visibility and accuracy gives leaders more confidence in the data they use to make decisions. It also reduces the frustration employees can feel when pay is incorrect or unclear.
Why payroll accuracy is a people issue
Payroll errors are not just finance problems. They affect trust, morale and the employee experience. When pay is wrong, frontline employees feel the impact immediately. Managers then spend valuable time investigating queries, making manual adjustments and reassuring teams. Finance and people teams also lose confidence in the accuracy of workforce data.
With Sona, Salutem has been able to create a more reliable Time & Attendance process, supported by accurate clock-in/out and geofencing. This means employees can trust that their hours are being captured correctly, Managers have fewer manual corrections to make and senior leaders can rely on the figures being reported.
The unexpected wellbeing win
One of the most valuable outcomes from Salutem’s implementation was not expected at the start: better workforce wellbeing visibility.
With Sona, operations directors can see whole divisions and regional directors can see whole regions. This gave leaders a clearer view of working patterns across multiple services.
In one example, Salutem identified a staff member working excessive hours across two services. Rather than treating this as a compliance issue alone, the team were able to understand that family pressures were contributing to the situation and step in with support.
This is what good workforce technology should enable. Better visibility, fairer processes and more opportunities to support people before issues escalate.
What made the implementation work
Salutem’s success was not just about choosing the right software. It was also about how the organisation approached implementation. The team had learned from a previous failed rollout of iTrack, which shaped how they scoped requirements and involved the right people from the beginning. Key decisions included:
-
Scoping requirements carefully upfront.
Including Managers in the selection process, rather than making the decision only at senior leadership level.
Turning the most resistant Managers into champions.
Running roadshows and dial-ins to address frontline concerns directly.
Focusing messaging on pay accuracy, not surveillance.
Bringing the CEO and CFO out to services alongside the people team.
Leading with numbers and data for board buy-in, then following with the wellbeing story.
This approach helped build confidence across the organisation and ensured that the rollout was treated as a people project, not just a systems project.
Why ownership matters
At Salutem, the systems team sits within the people team, not IT. That decision reflects an important principle: workforce technology has a direct impact on employee experience. If payroll is wrong, employees feel it. If shifts are unclear, Managers deal with it. If data is unreliable, leaders struggle to make confident decisions.
For that reason, workforce systems need strong people-side ownership. They still require technical support, but the strategy should be shaped by the teams closest to the employee experience.
Expanding to the full Sona HR suite
Salutem has now signed for the full Sona HR suite, which was announced at its national Managers conference. The reaction was relief, not resistance. The vision is to give every employee a personal development plan visible in one system. Supervisions are already being logged on shifts in Sona, replacing manual spreadsheets.
Over time, the goal is to match staff skills to the complexity of the people they support, creating a more connected view of each employee’s development, capability and working patterns.
What this means for care providers
Salutem’s experience shows that workforce technology works best when it is implemented with people in mind. The measurable results matter: payroll savings, fewer complaints, reduced manual admin and trusted data.
The broader benefits are equally significant. Effective workforce systems instil greater pay confidence in employees while returning valuable time to Managers. Furthermore, these tools provide leaders with enhanced oversight and create new pathways for organisations to recognise and act when staff require extra assistance.
Looking ahead
As care providers continue to manage rising costs, workforce shortages and increasing operational complexity, technology will play a central role in building more resilient organisations. But the goal should not be digitisation for its own sake.
The goal should be better workforce experiences, stronger operational control and trusted data that helps providers make better decisions for their teams and the people they care for.
