G2

Verified User in Libraries

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

8/31/2026

"Flexible for Custom HR Data, But CSV Imports Need Work"

4.5/5

Describe the project or task Herbst HRM helped with:

Herbst HRM provides a flexible platform for managing custom HR data, particularly useful for tracking volunteer-specific information. However, it faces challenges with CSV imports and role-based permissions, which can complicate data management and delegation of tasks. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you like best about Herbst HRM?

I’m Svante Almroth, HR & Administrative Coordinator at Maple Community Library Services, our 38‑person U.S public library organization. What I value most about Herbst HRM is how flexible its user‑defined tables and security profile controls are. Our main HR platform HRSprout handles core employee time‑off and official personnel files, yet it is very restrictive when it comes to tracking volunteer‑specific metadata. With Herbst HRM, I can spin up separate custom tables to log background‑check expiry timelines, volunteer training completion records, and participation status for our busy summer reading events. I can set up distinct security profiles so our volunteer supervisor can look over volunteer‑related entries without being able to open confidential full‑time staff documents. We previously relied on BambooHR for this secondary tracking work before switching over. BambooHR hit hard caps on custom fields, forcing me to keep lots of volunteer information stored inside messy spreadsheets. Last year while organizing our summer youth volunteer intake, multiple admin people edited those separate spreadsheet copies. We ended up with conflicting background‑check statuses and almost cleared a volunteer with lapsed clearance to work with children. That stressful near‑miss pushed us to find a better tool. CSV data transfers still bring annoying surprises. When migrating records over from BambooHR, multi‑line training notes got chopped off during one import job. I didn’t spot the truncated safety training descriptions until I was prepping staff review materials and had to manually cross‑check and repair every affected entry. Even with that frustrating CSV flaw, the adaptable tables and permission controls deliver real value for our small public‑library HR‑admin operations. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Herbst HRM?

Even though Herbst HRM excels at custom table creation, there are significant pain points that create extra stress for our small public‑sector HR team. First off, the field‑mapping logic behaves poorly during CSV imports. Not long ago I pulled part‑time staff training records exported out of HRSprout and loaded them into Herbst HRM. Several multi‑line text fields holding library safety training notes got completely truncated after upload. Critical details about child‑protection training were lost in the process. I only discovered this mistake when I started compiling documentation for our quarterly library audit. I had to go back to the original HRSprout source files, compare each record one‑by‑one, and re‑import smaller batches to fix the damage, burning multiple hours of my workday. Role permissions also fall short of our needs. Our volunteer coordinator needs edit access for volunteer custom tables, but should never touch sensitive full‑time employee HR records. Herbst HRM cannot enforce permissions at the individual‑table level. If I enable edit privileges for volunteer datasets, that same permission extends across all other HR tables in the system. This puts private staff data at risk, so I wind up doing almost all volunteer‑record edits myself instead of delegating work. I really hope future updates add smarter CSV field mapping that preserves multi‑line text, plus true table‑level access controls. These fixes would cut down manual recovery work and help us safely delegate HR tasks within our library organization. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Recommendations to others considering Herbst HRM:

I really hope future updates add smarter CSV field mapping that preserves multi‑line text, plus true table‑level access controls. These fixes would cut down manual recovery work and help us safely delegate HR tasks within our library organization. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What problems is Herbst HRM solving and how is that benefiting you?

Before adopting Herbst HRM, we were using BambooHR for secondary volunteer tracking, but we quickly ran up against its custom‑field limits. Important volunteer data including background‑check expiration and training progress spilled over into scattered Excel spreadsheets shared among library admin staff. Last summer during our large‑scale summer reading volunteer recruitment, two different team members modified the same volunteer spreadsheet file independently. We ended up with two conflicting versions of records. One version marked a volunteer’s background check as expired, while the other listed it as valid. We nearly assigned that volunteer to run kid‑focused library activities before I caught the mismatch. That scary incident showed how risky scattered spreadsheets and constrained HR tools could be for our public‑service institution. Herbst HRM solves this exact problem. I build dedicated custom tables inside the platform to centralize volunteer onboarding status, training completion and background‑check expiry dates. I can configure security profiles so our volunteer supervisor can view volunteer information, without gaining access to full‑time staff private files. This consolidates our auxiliary HR data away from messy, conflicting spreadsheets. That being said, CSV imports remain a consistent source of trouble. When importing HRSprout‑sourced records, multi‑line training notes were truncated, and I had to manually restore lost safety training details. Since there is no native integration with HRSprout or our old BambooHR, every data sync requires careful manual file handling. Even with those drawbacks, Herbst HRM gives us a stable, centralized home for library‑specific HR data that our previous tool stack could not support. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.