Three and a half years ago, I managed HR with Excel and scattered software. Today, I can no longer imagine going back. Here is what Odoo has really changed in my daily life, honestly, including the limitations.
Morianne Salmon — HR Manager, Nalios · June 2026
01 The before: Excel, multiple tools, and the hunt for information
Before Odoo, the daily HR routine looked like this: an Excel file for leave, another for contracts, one software for recruitment, another for payroll. Each tool lived in its bubble. And the question that kept coming back: where is that information, again?
It wasn't so much the work itself that was heavy. It was the mental energy spent navigating between tools, copying data from one place to another, and never being completely sure that the right version was in the right place.
The hardest part wasn't the HR work itself. It was finding the right info, in the right place, at the right time.
02 What changed everything: everything in one place, and all connected
The first concrete change with Odoo is centralization. But not just "everything in one tool": it's all interconnected. You enter information in one application, and it automatically appears in another. No more need to copy, synchronize, or juggle manually.
Recruitment
All applications related to the published offer, grouped in one place. No more scattered emails.
Fleet
Tracking vehicles, invoices, reported issues, direct communication with accounting from the record.
Employee file
Contracts, amendments, history since arrival, accessible in one place, for each employee.
Integrated communication
Request feedback, report an issue, notify a colleague, from the relevant record, without leaving Odoo.
Interconnection is what seems trivial at first and quickly becomes essential. A problem with a vehicle and an invoice? You inform accounting directly from the fleet record, without changing tools, without copy-pasting.
03 The multi-site dimension: 14 sites, 5 countries, in one click
My role at Nalios has a particularity: I manage HR for 14 sites spread across several countries. Each entity has its own database, and switching from one to another is done in one click.
With Odoo, I switch from one company to another with a click. Same interface, same logic, isolated data but accessible from a single place. A considerable gain in clarity, especially since each entity has its own teams, its own legal framework, and its own HR needs.
04 The real benefit: less searching, more being there
If I had to summarize in one sentence: I stopped searching to start doing. Saving time, yes, but above all gaining peace of mind. Knowing that the right information is in the right place, that I won't miss a deadline, that I can find a contract in 30 seconds: that's less mental load.
This recovered time, I dedicate to what really matters: being available for people. That's the H of HR, and Odoo helps me protect it.
There is no world where I see myself going back and not using Odoo daily.
05 Honesty about the limits: Odoo is not perfect, and that's okay
An all-in-one tool has a trade-off: it will never be as specialized as a dedicated tool. A specialized ATS will likely have more recruitment features than Odoo. That's real.
But the question is not "is it the best tool for every feature?". It's "is the gain of having everything in one solution worth the compromise?" For me, the answer is clearly yes. Rather than changing tools, I prefer to look for ways to improve the use of the existing solution.
06 My advice: click, test, understand, not just use
The difference between "using Odoo" and "understanding Odoo" is huge. One can settle for doing the minimum, it will work. But it is only by exploring, clicking, and testing things that one discovers what the tool can really do for oneself.
Click everywhere. Test. The best way to know the solution is to really engage with it, not just to use it like you would use a form.
07 The turning point: a smoother start than expected
When integrating a new solution, one often expects a period of turbulence. With Odoo, it didn't really happen that way. The tool is designed to be taken in hand quickly. It's a real difference compared to other HR solutions I had known, often heavier, more technical, and less intuitive.
I trained myself by combining tutorial videos from Nalios on YouTube and help from colleagues. This mix worked well: the videos to progress at my own pace, the colleagues for everyday questions. And quickly, I felt that I could be autonomous.
What struck me is the speed at which one becomes comfortable. Odoo is learned by doing, and it's great.
08 Odoo in daily life for the whole team: a collective reflex
Today, Odoo is not just my tool. The whole team uses it daily. Leave requests go directly through the platform, I just have to validate them. This shift towards self-service is a discreet but real time saver: fewer emails, fewer informal requests, and automatic traceability.
09 The multi-country dimension in practice: recruiting for 5 countries from a single location
My role at Nalios covers the entire HR cycle for all agencies: recruitment, leave, employee file tracking. And this, for 5 countries, with very different realities depending on the offices.
Job offers are published directly from Odoo and automatically appear on our website. Each application automatically lands in the database of the relevant country. When managing about ten recruitments in parallel, spread across Belgium, France, the USA, Quebec, and Switzerland, having all the data centralized and accessible in one click is a daily comfort.
What I particularly appreciate is being able to work with the directors of each office from the same solution. The follow-up with candidates, exchanges with local managers, the progress of files: everything happens in the same place.
With one click, I am on the database of Martinique. With one click, I am on that of the USA. Same interface, same logic, zero data lost.
In summary
Less time wasted searching for information
More clarity on what really matters
Reduced mental load to focus on the human aspect