The HR & Compliance Center and Automated Handbook Management subscriptions have been incredibly helpful in keeping us compliant. We are a small department and have employees in 15 different states so staying on top of individual state laws with regard to things like paid leave, etc. can be very daunting. Brightmine has helped alleviate some of that.
Pros
The dashboard is great at keeping me up to date and is a quick look at all things compliance.
The 50-state charts are WONDERFUL!
The webinars are very useful and I appreciate the email blasts when important things change.
Cons
I get really frustrated when I'm reading about a given topic on the HR & Compliance Center and click to see the handbook template and receive this notice, "Handbook Templates product requires a separate subscription". We pay separately for the Automated Handbook Management tool, which has recommend handbook templates but it's frustrating to have to go there separately to get it instead of being able to just see it in my browse of the compliance center. This is my only compliant about Brightmine.
Likelihood to Recommend
It was tough to get management on board with paying for these tools and resources, but the bottom line is compliance is everything. Sure we can get the information through various other sources and scouring the web, but Brightmine puts it all at your fingertips...and when you're running from fire to fire in a small HR department, there's no time to waste!
Mostly use it for reminders/advice on process and example letters and policies. Useful for checking on situations which don't come up very regularly e.g. particular redundancy scenarios or tricky disciplinary cases.
Pros
Template letters and policies
Detailed guidance on ER topics
Cons
The search function could still be improved, it isn't always easy to navigate to particular types of resource.
Likelihood to Recommend
For a business where there aren't lots of policies and processes in place, it offers excellent templates, guidance and documents. They are all adaptable to specific scenarios and situations. As an experienced HR professional, they are good resources for guidance on some more unusual situations and give solid information for scenarios where more detailed legal guidance isn't required. I have mainly used it for ER type issues.
We purchased Brightmine to assist with our UK pay benchmarking exercise and help us apply some salary parameters for roles across the company ahead of our annual pay review. Brightmine was the only solution that gave us comprehensive information adapted to our specific industry and the different seniority levels of the role. It was the most extensive and accurate data source we could find.
Pros
Pay benchmarking.
Roles specific to the gaming industry.
Amending benchmarks based on level of role.
Cons
Ability to search based on job title rather than building each role.
Increased locations (international) for benchmarking.
Information around average annual pay increase % awards (specific to industry).
Likelihood to Recommend
It is very well suited to pay benchmarking for technical roles in the UK where you want to break down the information based on industry or other factors such as role seniority. However, it is not well suited if your company requires international pay benchmarking data. It may also not be well suited if it's a pervasive role where you can easily find pay information from other sources without building each role.
We use this as our platform for templates and updates for the HR team. It's convenient when something outside of standard practices comes up. Most templates that I need can be found and are easily adaptable to the situation we need to use them for. I also find the benchmarking on sickness and turnover necessary when comparing ourselves to others.
Pros
Templates for HR letters.
Benchmarking key data.
Basic Policies and Processes.
Cons
Sometimes they can be a little slow to reflect the external market.
Minimal account manager contact.
Would be good to see some networking/discussion groups.
Likelihood to Recommend
It is good for general basic templates; they align with ACAS best practices but need to be adapted to your organization's style. I wouldn't use this platform for salary benchmarking as it doesn't give the data we need. Having more contact/interaction on best practices/webinars would be great.
We use Brightmine for our HR and HS Alerts, Policies, and Documentation to ensure that our company is up to date with current HR and H&S legislation.
I particularly like the policies which are in an easy to adapt/download format, and the fact they list case law under the policy is extremely useful.
Pros
Legal updates - keeping up with constant changes.
Great letter and other document templates.
Useful and well formatted Policy Templates - helping us keep up with changes to legislation.
Handy dashboard with trending topics, updated & last viewed items.
Daily newsletter updates are very useful for keeping up with current issues and changes to policies.
Cons
Search can be hard, I sometimes have to google the template I need to find it.
There could be more staff contract templates; intern (as a worker), for instance, wasn't there, so I had to google one online.
Could have Webinars and more information for HR professionals.
Templates for Wellbeing plans would be good (I used Mind's in the end).
The training slides are sometimes not brilliant, often on long power points with a few words per slide, The content is great just needs updating.
Templates for PDR's, 121's, Risk Assessments etc would be very useful.
Likelihood to Recommend
Great updates and templates if you want to keep up with current changes and policy updates. Search/contracts could be better (more options needed). Also, a way to share policies with people who don't have a log-in would be great, e.g., if I wanted to forward an article to my MD.
We use Brightmine as a source of information on people related topics. Most prominently to find templates and understand employment legislation. We use it to address employee relations issues as well as knowledge share within our People team and with management.
Pros
Easy to locate information
Regular updates
Great webinars
Cons
Since becoming Brightmine, there are too many clicks to login. Clicking on login takes you to a separate page where you have to click a further login button. This seems unnecessary.
Likelihood to Recommend
Brightmine has been a great resource to sense check my knowledge. It has many many resources that can be leveraged in a whole variety of situations for all sorts of industries. It is regularly updated and clear when pages have been updated for legislation changes etc. However, I would not rely on it as a resource for extremely complex ER cases or more sensitive employee issues as these are less generic scenarios.
VU
Verified User
Professional in Human Resources (1001-5000 employees)
I use Brightmine in my organization in order to create and update state specific addendums and handbooks. Brightmine creates templates for us to work off of that include applicable laws and regulations per state and city. It is useful for us as a great place to start and helps us keep up to date on the most up to date laws and regulations.
Pros
Policy Updates
Collaborative features
Clear guidelines
Cons
No notifications are sent when you tag others in the tool - therefore others are not aware they have been @ mentioned unless you inform them.
Tables/graphs are not exportable from Brightmine. They have to be copied separately or you will get a document error.
No international policies
Likelihood to Recommend
Brightmine is great for one person to update handbooks/state addendums. It is not as good when you have a larger group wishing to collaborate as it does not have good tagging or notification features.
Brightmine has been really useful for a stand alone HR Manager. The platform helps address missing policies and letter templates. Without having a large team of HR professionals, it is useful to have something to fall back to get technical knowledge and expertise.
Pros
Legislation updates
Templates
Knowledge of process
Cons
Pricing is the only thing I can think. Compared to HR-Inform, there is a distinct difference in price
Likelihood to Recommend
Brightmine is a good starting point, but templates and policies do need adapting to the tone and language of the specific organisation.