How Eliot Sinclair transformed HR with Employment Hero

About Eliot Sinclair

Eliot Sinclair is a multidisciplinary consulting firm specialising in land and site development since 1932. Catering to residential, industrial, and commercial projects, they offer everything from engineering, survey and spatial planning, and environmental and water assessments to urban design and landscape architecture.

Eliot Sinclair’s HR Manager, Kate Shuker, wears multiple hats, overseeing all things recruitment and HR while also leading the marketing team. With a talented team of engineers, designers, technicians, and support staff onboard, Kate found she struggled to manage all the HR admin that her role entailed – until she made the switch to Employment Hero.

Inefficient HR systems and manual processes

Before Employment Hero, Eliot Sinclair was using another platform for HR management. However, Kate shared that it wasn’t intuitive and made simple tasks complicated.

“I’m quite tech-savvy, but nine times out of ten, the obvious wasn’t obvious,” Kate shared. “You had to click through multiple steps just to get where you wanted.” 

Some of the issues with their previous system included the lack of integration with e-signature technology, poor functionality, high costs, and a lack of automation and integration with payroll leading to time-consuming errors.

Kate and her team needed an HR solution that would integrate seamlessly with payroll, reduce administrative overheads, and provide a user-friendly experience.

Getting everyone onboard in less than 3 weeks

Kate says after booking a demo to see what Employment Hero could do, she was immediately impressed. Although she had initially considered other options on the market, Employment Hero’s functionality made it a clear choice. She was also really pleased with the efficiency of the transition from their previous platform to Employment Hero.

“Timelines were tight with only three weeks before our previous contract expired, but the Employment Hero team ensured a smooth transition,” Kate shared.

“Our project manager, Ryan, was great. He was super accommodating, and even though we did things a little backward, it all worked seamlessly.” 

Eliot Sinclair opted for a staggered rollout, introducing leave requests first before gradually implementing additional features each week.

The results

Since adopting Employment Hero, Kate has experienced significant improvements in efficiency, cost savings, employee engagement, and overall reliability:

“I would say I have about 20% more time now that we’re using Employment Hero. It’s helping us work smarter, not harder. I can now focus on events, culture, and marketing – things that truly make a difference for our team.” 

She has also begun recommending the platform to her network:

“I’ve been sending people the pricing and telling them how amazing it is… definitely spreading the word.” 

Even one of the firm’s directors has praised it as a “slick, intuitive system,” with one admitting he figured everything out effortlessly without any training, despite joking that he’s not the most tech-savvy!

Beyond time savings, the team has saved $1,000 per month in software costs by switching to Employment Hero.

Saving hours on recruitment with SmartMatch

With the SmartMatch feature, Kate has sped up her recruitment processes, reducing the time she spends on sorting applications by 4–5 hours per week during peak hiring periods. She says she feels confident she won’t miss out on a “gem candidate”.

“Employment Hero puts who is best suited to the role at the top of my list so I’m not scrolling through hundreds of CVs,” she says.

“I can have up to 14 roles to fill at once and doing that on your own… that’s a big ask, but SmartMatch saves me so much time.”

Workplace policies made easy

The policy feature has also been a huge time-saver for the firm, allowing policies to be scheduled and published without overwhelming staff. Kate says it’s more efficient than their previous manual process and makes the whole process a lot easier. Having a catalogue of draft, customisable policies ready to go saves her team hours each week.

With so much time redirected from wrestling admin and their old HR platform, Kate is able to focus her efforts on managing people and workplace culture, including holding a very successful International Women’s Day event recently.

“It’s always nice when you feel like you’re not letting your team down because now you have time to attend these sorts of meaningful events that I know mean a lot to our people,” Kate shared.

Payroll no longer a pain

Payroll processing, which once took three full days, is expected to be completed in just a few hours with the transition to Employment Hero Payroll. Previously, salary changes had to be manually updated across three different systems, leading to frequent miscommunication, especially as the payroll team wasn’t automatically notified of changes in their previous platforms. With Employment Hero, Kate is relieved that HR now has a single, reliable source of truth.

Improving company culture with one feature

The platform has also had a positive impact on company culture. Performance reviews, which previously took hours to complete, can now also be set up in just a few clicks. AI-powered features like the company shout-out feed and automated reminders have made it easier to recognise and reward employee achievements, milestones, anniversaries, and birthdays. This has been especially meaningful for long-standing employees: 

“We have people who have worked here for over 40 years,” Kate shared. “When you can acknowledge a 45-year work anniversary, it makes employees feel truly valued.” 

Gaining peace of mind

Above all, the transition has provided Kate with peace of mind and reduced mental stress.

“I take pride in my work. Now, I don’t have to worry about shortcomings of our previous system reflecting poorly on me or my team. It’s a relief to know that what we implement will work seamlessly.” 

Looking ahead with Employment Hero

Employment Hero has transformed HR operations at Eliot Sinclair, eliminating inefficiencies, improving culture, and saving valuable time and money.

Looking to streamline HR and bring more value to your business like Eliot Sinclair? Book a free demo with us today!