System Fieldbase
Two people talking over notes in a casual workspace

Client stories

Client stories from studies that had to survive a challenge

These notes come from people who sat with a System Fieldbase pack in a real committee. They name the constraint, the argument, and what changed. One of them still wishes we had arrived a quarter earlier.

They refused to print a single turnover figure on page one. That irritated the chief executive for ten minutes and then saved us from a hiring freeze that would have hit the wrong ward. The leaver map by tenure made it obvious the problem was first-year healthcare assistants on nights, not the registered staff we were about to stop recruiting.

People director · NHS trust, East of England · Workforce planning commission

Priya’s establishment audit found 22 posts we were still advertising that finance had already taken as a saving. Awkward afternoon. Necessary. We now have one table before the budget round, which is dull in the best way.

Finance business partner · adult social care group · Establishment audit

The attrition review for our Midlands depots was slower than I wanted because our leave reasons were a mess of free text. They said so on day two instead of pretending. I still think they could have guessed more of the groupings, but the final month-by-month chart stopped us running a January bonus that would have missed the people who actually leave in March after winter overtime.

HR lead · logistics · Attrition pattern review

James kept the Sunday contracts in the pack when everyone else wanted a neat FTE. The chair is a former store manager. She would have spotted the tidy version in thirty seconds.

People partner · multi-site retail · Board briefing pack

## Longer note: a restructure that needed two scenarios, not one hero plan A manufacturer in the East Midlands asked for a workforce planning commission ahead of a proposed line closure. The original brief was “show us a 12 percent headcount reduction.” Helen asked for the apprenticeship end-dates and the age profile on the night shift before agreeing the scenarios. The pack put three pages on the table: a closure in September, a closure in March after the current apprentice cohort completed, and a reduced-hours option for one grade only. The September option looked cheaper until replacement cost on the remaining lines — overtime and agency on the adjacent shift — was written in. The board chose March. We were not in the vote. We were in the room for the hour when finance tested the overtime assumption and HR had to name which supervisors would move. The client later said they wished the study had started before the rumour reached the shop floor. That is fair. A pack cannot unmake a rumour. It can stop a date being chosen for the look of a round number. ## What we will not publish We do not invent star ratings. We do not name employers here without their say-so; several of the notes above are by role and sector only. If you want a conversation with a referee, ask when you [write](/contact/).