At a glance
Explore this case study if:
- Your HR and payroll is manual and paper-based
- Your HR to-do list is overwhelming and in need of an overhaul
- You want to save time and money on HR and payroll processes
- You’re looking to boost your compliance confidence
- You’re in a period of growth and need to hire and onboard employees quickly
About The Sands Torquay
The Sands Torquay resort is located along the pristine coastline of Victoria, just over an hour from Melbourne. With 112 beautifully renovated resort-style rooms, a golf course with sweeping ocean views and multiple on-site dining options, it’s a beautiful stay for a trip away. Across the resort, they employ over 150 people and are currently going through an exciting period of growth.
Leanne from The Sands Torquay shared her experience using Employment Hero and the enormous impact it’s had on their HR and payroll operations.
The challenges…
Paper-based processes were overwhelming and causing day-to-day inefficiencies
Before Employment Hero, the team at The Sands Torquay were managing their entire HR and payroll processes manually. Not only was it a time-consuming process, it also started becoming increasingly overwhelming, with over 150 employees on their books. It meant that precious time was being taken away from other business-critical processes and instead, poured into tedious administrative tasks.
“We were drowning in paperwork, out-of-date certificates and manual payroll nightmares.” However, what was even more overwhelming for the team was when their HR Manager resigned – they were left to pick up the already overwhelming workload.
Upon reviewing their processes, they decided it was time to invest in HR and payroll software to take their employment process digital. With a long list of requirements for their needs, they turned to Employment Hero – and they’ve been loving it ever since.
A huge HR to-do list
Like many growing businesses, it became clear that their HR to-do list was ever growing. Certifications, policies, contracts and onboarding were just some of the things the team at The Sands Torquay were looking to improve. However, beyond the basics of managing people, they also wanted to optimise reporting, digitise contract management, control document versions and take their safety incident reports digital.
They wanted to confidently tackle their long to-do list and set up their business for HR and payroll success moving forward – and they turned to Employment Hero to help them do it head on.
Solutions…
Increased operational efficiency via one cloud-based HR solution
Introducing new software and systems into a business is no easy feat – but Leanne agreed that the operational efficiencies they’ve achieved have been absolutely worth it.
“The time-consuming and manual processes of onboarding, payroll, and document management are now streamlined, saving invaluable hours and boosted productivity,” Leanne said.
Taking their HR and payroll digital has been a game-changer for their entire team. Now, their teams can work more efficiently and managers have visibility across everything they need to – without any need for paper documents, email threads or filing cabinets.
“Our office no longer resembles a paper mill. Instead, we’re a harmonious orchestra with each section (or department) playing its part perfectly, all thanks to Employment Hero. We’re not just thriving; we’re setting the gold standard”, Leanne said.
Making the switch to Employment Hero can be transformative for business operations, and now the team at The Sands can focus their attention on things that matter – like giving their guests the best experience and growing their business.
Time and money saved
It wasn’t just the time savings that the team at The Sands experienced. They also had huge financial savings.
The Sands Torquay had first-year savings of $50,000 AUD when they first implemented Employment Hero and an annual reduction of $35,000 thereafter.
Without an HR headcount, The Sands were left with a huge pile of to-do’s. However, they quickly saw the value that Employment Hero could bring and realised just how powerful our software was. So, instead of backfilling the role, they made the decision to leverage the platform and their existing team to increase operational efficiency.
“By choosing not to replace the HR Manager and leveraging Employment Hero’s HR advisory support, we were getting expertise without the overheads.”
An efficient way to onboard new hires during a period of growth
Getting all of your ducks in a row is challenging when you’re experiencing a period of huge growth. Finding, hiring and onboarding new team members was top priority for The Sands team, and they had to do it all at speed.
With Employment Hero, they could track all candidate and interview information, and securely share it with co-workers who were involved in the interview process. When a candidate was successful in their application, they could easily send an offer of employment letter and have them complete their onboarding documents before their very first day.
“The ability to onboard over 20 new employees in just two weeks shows a massive improvement in the hiring process, equipping the resort to meet demands quickly.”
Compliance confidence skyrocketed
It’s no secret that Australia has one of the most confusing and complex employment law systems in the world, and the thought of non-compliance is a scary one for any small or medium-sized business.
That’s why ensuring that The Sands were doing everything by the book was critical to their operations. After implementing Employment Hero, they could be confident that they were doing the right thing, every time – from policies to payroll, and everything in between.
“We shifted from lacking key company policies to a state of empowerment. With updated and compliant employment contracts and policies in place, risks were mitigated.”
But Employment Hero didn’t just give them confidence when it came to their general hiring and contract obligations, it also meant that they could easily document any incidents in the workplace, to ensure that their team stayed safe and well on the job.
A team who can access a range of employee benefits and manage their own employment information via self-service
Employee retention is on every employer’s mind right now, and it’s no different for the team at The Sands Torquay. With our employment superapp, Swag, their team have been able to access all of their employee information right from their phone, as well as access a range of inflation-fighting discounts and everyday offers. It’s empowered them to take control of their employment and life admin via one, easy to use self-service app.
“We have a now-digital and secure data storage system, and with tools like Swag, employees are more engaged, efficient, and satisfied.”
An implementation process that’s a cut above the rest
The process of implementing Employment Hero for Leanne and her team couldn’t have been more enjoyable. With different tiers of implementation packages on offer, an easy implementation process is always on the cards with Employment Hero.
“The guided implementation is simply stellar! From helpful videos to how-to guides and a friendly team ready to help, we were on a 2-month transformative journey”, Leanne said.
Transformative software, transforming Australia businesses
“Employment Hero is not just a tool, but a catalyst that propelled The Sands Torquay to new heights of growth, efficiency, and excellence”, Leanne said, and our team here at Employment Hero can’t wait to see how they continue to thrive.
We love hearing about the impact Employment Hero has made for The Sands Torquay. If you’d like to learn more about how Employment Hero can support your team and transform your HR processes, speak to one of our business specialists today.
The Sands Torquay also took out the 2023 Transformation Awards in the Thrive Category.
The Transformation Awards were established to recognise the inspiring achievements of our customers from around the world. These annual awards are a great way to showcase and recognise the remarkable efforts of our customers, applauding businesses who’ve transformed their overall employee experience, scaled their business or increased community impact using Employment Hero.
Want to get involved in the 2024 Transformation Awards? Keep an eye out on upcoming editions of the customer newsletter for more or learn more here.
If you’d like to see how much time and money you can save with Employment Hero, take a look at our return on investment (ROI) report.
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