GOTAFE has overhauled its disparate IT systems in favour of a unified approach to payroll, human resources and finance - delivering real-time visibility into workforce metrics, all while ensuring all 400+ staff were paid accurately and on time.

The Victorian TAFE made the switch to Australian Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) provider TechnologyOne’s Human Resources and Payroll (HRP) solution after reaching end-of-life with its previous payroll system.

GOTAFE People & Culture Systems Administrator Lynda Southgate said, “We had used the old system for so long, but it couldn’t keep up and we couldn’t risk payroll failure. We ran three pay runs in parallel before switching to TechnologyOne, just to make sure it was a smooth transition for the end user.”

"Employees embraced the change quickly, with HRP's range of user-friendly self-service tools allowing them to submit leave requests and access pay slips without support.”

The move is part of a broader shift in the tertiary education sector, as institutions wrestle with ageing infrastructure and growing demand for operational transparency.

"For the first time, we have a clean, consolidated view of people data and live business insights. I can easily spot and remedy data entry errors and provide leaders with snapshots of our workforce instantly rather than in six weeks. Previously generating contracts took up to four days, now we can have them ready in five minutes,” Ms Southgate said.

“We are no longer chasing disconnected spreadsheets. We’re planning ahead. It’s not just about paying people anymore, it’s about understanding their roles, where they want to go in their career, and how we’re investing in them.”

But the project was not without challenges.

“It was an adjustment for the team and initially we didn’t want to make the changes required to adopt the product properly. HRP is so flexible that it allows you to make the mistake of trying to adapt the new system to old processes, but eventually we learned to trust the product instead of reshaping it around outdated workflows,” she said.

“It’s been a major culture shift within the team, but we now see the vision of having a single enterprise product that gives us continuity of data and real integration between systems.”

TechnologyOne Executive Vice President of Education David Cope said, “By moving to a single enterprise platform, GOTAFE has not only ensured continuity in critical operations like payroll, but unlocked deeper workforce insights, faster reporting, and empowered staff with self-service capabilities.”

“GOTAFE’s journey reflects what’s possible when an organisation commits to adopting a solution rather than trying to adapt new technology to legacy ways of working and set the benchmark for other TAFEs navigating end-of-life systems. We’re proud to be working with GOTAFE as they embrace modern solutions to better support their people.”