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HUD Studio

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4min read

At a glance

Company
HUD Studio Ltd
Locations
Auckland, New Zealand
Employees
28
Product
Platinum HR
Explore this case study if:
  • Youโ€™re part of a fast-growing startup
  • Youโ€™d like to bring in more effective performance reviews
  • Youโ€™re looking for new ways to improve your HR function

About HUD Studio Ltdโ€ฆ

HUD Studio Ltd are the creators of a unique dating app titled HUD, dedicated to facilitating commitment-free relationships. The app is used in 145 countries around the world and is managed by the 28-strong team, based mostly in Auckland, New Zealand. The HUD Studio team is also currently working on another app, due to be released in 2023.

Stef Moser, HUD Studioโ€™s People & Culture Manager, spoke to us about why the company chose Employment Hero as their HRIS system and their experience so far.

Challengesโ€ฆ

In a startup, everything moves fast

HUD Studio is constantly innovating, coming up with new features and fixes for their users. When it came to their own HR processes however, there was some room for improvement. As Stef says,

โ€œWe didn’t have an HRIS system and processes and paperwork were a little bit disjointed, which for me as an HR professional I wanted to change because it can have such an impact on compliance, right? It’s really important.โ€

Like all HR professionals, Stef has plenty on her plate and she wanted to make sure that all the boxes were ticked when it came to compliance. As she points out, โ€œit was really important to find a system that could do all the compliance work and meet all legislative requirementsโ€.

While compliance had been managed so far, the risk of non-compliance as the business grew quickly was a big concern. With a big app release on the horizon next year, Stef knew that this was only going to get more pressing.

Two-way communication had gotten lost

Open and easy communication is critical for ensuring strong employee performance and satisfaction. While in a small team, itโ€™s easy enough to talk to each other about the everyday things, however, Stef admits that they were missing the formal communications needed for effective performance management.

โ€œI’m the first HR person for HUD, so when I arrived, reviews and surveys were informal and unstructured. I tried doing them by sending out a form via email, but it was just too clunky and painful to keep track of.โ€

Stef knew that an HRIS system could be a top tool for the HUD Studio team, and one that could support their future growth. Lucky for us, she had one in mind already โ€“ Employment Hero.

Solutionsโ€ฆ

Introducing the one-stop, HR shop

When choosing an HRIS system, Stef did a lot of research. She knew what HUD Studio needed and for her, the obvious leader of the pack was Employment Hero. Describing her process, Stef said,

โ€œI’ve used HRIS systems throughout my whole career, so I knew what I wanted and what wasn’t going to work for us. One of the things that made me really enthusiastic about Employment Hero was the survey features, and the coaching options. And they were all wrapped up in one system.โ€

Working as part of a team who are often pressed for time, she was aware that a new system had to easily fit into their routine as well.

โ€œLet’s face it, people are busy. When you try to add on things, like, let’s have monthly conversations with this person and this person, it can get lost. Employment Hero makes it so much easier. You can schedule the meetings, and managers can track all of the conversations.โ€

Minimal training required

Itโ€™s all well choosing a software, but often the real challenges happen when implementing it. Having software thatโ€™s intuitive and easy to set up from the get go can help boost employee adoption โ€“ something thatโ€™s critical for getting the most out of a new piece of tech. Stef told us how she found setting up Employment Hero for HUD Studio.

โ€œIt was easy! I did the guided implementation process and I went to the webinars, and I don’t even think I had to watch all the videos… it was just so straightforward. Soon enough, Iโ€™d uploaded all of the employees’ bits and pieces and the other HR documents that I wanted to capture.โ€

As the newly designated Employment Hero expert in her team, Stef actually found her tech support role was easy.

โ€œI had to do very little training with the team to teach them how to use it because it’s really self explanatory. You log in, there’s a little notification that tells you where to go, you click on it, and then you do the tasks listed. It’s just really user-friendly and easy.โ€

Easy performance management

The team at HUD Studio were missing a formal performance review process. Stef wasted no time in getting the team into the routine of regular one-to-ones and reviews through Employment Hero. The process proved to be straightforward, and having recorded notes meant that nothing was forgotten.

Stef explains, โ€œIt’s a lot easier to have structured conversations and keep things on track, rather than having paper forms or no documentation at all. Without that structure, conversations can go off track or points can be forgotten.โ€œ

Plenty of new ideas to try out

In her HR role, Stef is a self-admitted โ€œpolicy geekโ€. For her, one unexpected bonus was the range of policy templates available to use, adapt and implement in the company.

Stef explains, โ€œEmployment Hero made me think a lot about a lot of processes and policies that we could implement. With all those great templates to choose from, Iโ€™d find myself going, โ€˜Oh, that would be a good policy for us to implement.โ€™ And then Iโ€™d do it.โ€

HUD Studio and Employment Hero: a match made in heaven

Much like the perfect pairings that HUD sets up everyday, the relationship between Employment Hero and the HUD Studio team is a happy one. With an exciting future on the horizon, HUD Studio is perfectly placed to scale and streamline their HR processes.

For Stef, implementing Employment Hero is a decision sheโ€™s proud of, saying, โ€œIt’s a really good overall system and I can 100% see why small businesses, especially those without HR, would benefit from Employment Hero because it’s so easy.โ€

We love hearing about the impact Employment Hero has made for HUD Studio. If youโ€™d like to learn more about how Employment Hero can support your team and transform your HR processes for the future, speak to one of our business specialists today.

Stef Moser
People and Culture Manager - HUD Studio Ltd
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