Retain, bridge, grow: How Alxemy used HeroForce to keep great people and unlock new ones

About the business

Alxemy is an Auckland-based consultancy that helps businesses get more from their HR and payroll systems, particularly Employment Hero. New Zealand’s employment legislation is complex, and many businesses need a specialist partner to configure, implement and remediate their systems correctly. With a team of around 30, Alxemy works with enterprises across New Zealand and increasingly Australia. Hilde Marais is the internal HR Manager, responsible for everything from onboarding and policies to the Employment Hero setup used to manage the team itself.

The challenge

For a consultancy, people are the product. Losing a specialist is costly, not just in recruitment time and fees, but in the institutional knowledge and client relationships that leave with them. Alxemy’s challenge wasn’t a growth problem. It was two separate situations where the right person existed, but geography stood in the way.

The first: a valued employee whose partner found work in Australia. She needed to relocate to Sydney, and without a way to employ her there, Alxemy would have lost her entirely. Setting up an Australian entity wasn’t a realistic option for a business of that size as it was too many steps, costs and too much commitment for a single hire.

The second: a strong candidate in Fiji, with the exact software skills Alxemy needed and a plan to eventually relocate to New Zealand. His visa would take months to come through. Without a way to employ him in the meantime, Alxemy would have had to wait, or risk losing him to another opportunity.

“We were not in a position to create an entity ourselves in Australia. That would have just been way too many hoops to jump through and it’s just too hard.”

HeroForce in practice: two real hires

Sydney employee — talent retention  ·  Auckland, New Zealand → Sydney, Australia
When Alxemy’s Auckland-based employee needed to follow her partner to Sydney, the business used HeroForce to employ her in Australia rather than lose her. She had originally been recruited from overseas on a visa specifically for her specialist software skills. Skills that simply weren’t available locally in New Zealand. Hilde estimates replacing her would have cost at least $10,000 in visa fees and recruitment expenses alone, with a recruitment-to-arrival timeline of four to six months. With HeroForce, the transition was handled without Alxemy needing to set up an Australian entity. She remained a part of the team, stayed across her existing work, and, as a bonus, is now well placed to support Alxemy’s growing Australian client base from the same time zone.

Fiji employee — visa bridging  ·  Fiji → New Zealand (in progress)
Alxemy identified a candidate in Fiji with specialist skills in the exact software the business needed. He wanted to relocate to New Zealand, but his visa was months away from being approved. Rather than leave him idle, or risk losing him, Alxemy used HeroForce to employ him in Fiji as a bridge. For over four months, he worked on live client projects, supported Alxemy’s Fijian clients in the same time zone, and arrived in New Zealand ready to contribute from day one. The hiring process was straightforward: Hilde contacted HeroForce, received a breakdown of local employment costs and requirements, then followed the guided steps inside Employment Hero to get him onboarded.

“As a consultancy, time is money because you bill your hours. Our international employees have been able to bill hours while they weren’t yet in the country. That’s been really helpful.”

The ROI

• $10K+ in rehiring costs avoided: no need for overseas recruitment, visas or relocation
• 4–6 months saved: bypassed lengthy hiring and onboarding cycles for specialist talent
• 4 months of billable work unlocked: Fiji hire contributing revenue ahead of NZ start
• Stronger Australian market presence: local hire unlocking new client opportunities
• End-to-end compliance covered: multi-country employment handled without internal lift

“It’s really helpful to know that HeroForce looks after all the rules and regulations. They know exactly what that employee needs in Australia, and exactly what the employee needs in Fiji. That means I don’t have to look it up.”

Why it matters

For a specialist consultancy where talent is hard to find, HeroForce has redefined both hiring and retention. It’s enabling global expansion, retaining top performers, and securing the right people the moment they’re found, wherever they are.

“I love the fact that we have the option to employ under a different entity in the country. It just made sense.”.