Nelson Airport’s Flight to HR Efficiency with Employment Hero

About Nelson Airport

Nestled at the top of New Zealand’s South Island, Nelson Airport is one of the country’s busiest regional airports. With direct flights to major cities like Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch, the airport plays a vital role in regional connectivity and boasts a modern terminal built in 2018. 

Behind the scenes, however, HR operations weren’t keeping pace with the airport’s growth.

“Our Payroll software was quite basic. It did the job for paying people, but beyond that, it was all very manual,” says Tania Mitchell, Support Services Manager at Nelson Airport. “Timesheets were on paper, leave applications were on paper, recruitment was via Seek and emails. It worked, but only just.”

With just over 30 employees spread across three distinct operational teams – office staff, customer-facing terminal teams, and emergency services – Tania wears multiple hats, managing both HR and IT. The airport needed a platform that could streamline operations and grow with their evolving HR maturity. 

“We wanted something modern that made managing people easier and more engaging. That’s what kicked off the search.”

Landing the perfect fit

The search for a new platform wasn’t straightforward. Tania and her team explored a number of options, but quickly ran into challenges.

“Most of the platforms we looked at were designed for enterprise-level organisations,” she explains. “They were expensive and far too complex for our needs.”

That all changed when she discovered Employment Hero: “Honestly, it felt like a dream come true.”

From intuitive features to a sensible price point, Employment Hero ticked all the boxes. It also offered something that many other platforms didn’t – true accessibility for all staff.

“It was the only platform that could cater to all our teams in one place. We loved that it came with an app, since a lot of our staff aren’t sitting in front of a computer all day.”

A smooth takeoff

Rolling out the platform was a seamless process, thanks to robust support and well-designed resources.

“The setup guidance and webinars were fantastic,” Tania says. 

Even complex scenarios, like configuring rosters for emergency services staff working four days on, four days off, were handled with expert help.

“The support we got, including local assistance from a New Zealand-based rep, was invaluable.”

And the response from the team? Overwhelmingly positive.

“Everyone loves it. The platform is so intuitive, and they’ve picked it up right away.”

Cruising through hiring and onboarding 

Recruitment was one of the first areas to see a dramatic change. 

Previously, Tania had managed the entire process manually. Now, thanks to Employment Hero’s Applicant Tracking System integrated with Seek, hiring managers are empowered to take ownership.

“Managers can go in, filter applicants, and drive the process themselves.”

This has not only streamlined internal workflows but also significantly enhanced the candidate experience, leaving a strong impression from the very first interaction.

“From templated offer letters to a clean and consistent hiring flow, it gives applicants a great first impression. It’s slick and it saves me a huge amount of time.”

The onboarding journey saw similar improvements. New hires arrive with everything ready to go – contracts, payroll setup, and policy documents all in place.

“No more digging through paper files or chasing down signatures.”

Saving a day and a half for payroll

One of the most significant benefits has been the time saved in payroll processing.

“It used to take our payroll person about two full days to process everything. Now it’s down to half a morning. That’s a day and a half saved every fortnight.”

Rostering and timesheets, once a major pain point, are now streamlined.

“We used to run our rosters in a spreadsheet… If someone swapped a shift last-minute, we’d have to resend the file and just hope people were looking at the right one,” Tania recalls. “Now, it’s live and visible in the app. It’s been a game changer.”

Keeping staff connected

With a highly mobile and diverse workforce, accessibility for the employees at Nelson Airport was crucial.

“We have people in different locations across the terminal and runway,” Tania notes. “The Employment Hero Work App has been brilliant because staff can submit timesheets, apply for leave, and see their rosters from their phone.”

The Learning Management System has also made training more accessible.

“Training used to be tricky with shift work. Now, if customer service staff have downtime, they just jump into a module. It’s self-driven, and we can see who’s doing what.”

Building team culture 

Beyond HR and payroll, the platform’s engagement tools have helped strengthen internal culture.

“We use Shout-Outs and pulse surveys regularly. We don’t need to pay for these tools anymore since we can use Employment Hero’s custom survey tool for our annual engagement survey.”

Nelson Airport has gone even further, integrating the recognition features into their new values award program.

“It’s just another way the system keeps evolving with us.”

“Just do it… It will make your life so much easier”

For Tania, one of the standout qualities of Employment Hero is its ability to adapt. Recent updates, like linking staff perks directly to onboarding, have only added more value.

“It’s not like buying an off-the-shelf tool that sits unchanged. The platform keeps improving.”

Asked what advice she’d give to others in similar positions, Tania doesn’t hesitate.

“Just do it. Especially if you’re a small team. Employment Hero will make your life so much easier. We use almost every feature, and it’s genuinely made a huge difference.”

Want to fly high with Employment Hero?

Nelson Airport replaced paper-based HR systems with Employment Hero’s all-in-one platform, streamlining payroll, onboarding, rostering, and recruitment. The result? A faster, more professional, and more connected employee experience – plus huge time savings and a platform that scales with their needs.

Employment Hero is your all-in-one Employment Operating System for HR, payroll, and recruitment built to simplify compliance, automate admin, and empower your people. From onboarding to offboarding, we streamline every step of the employee lifecycle so you can spend less time on processes and more time scaling your business.

Want to see how companies like Nelson Airport are transforming their HR operations and driving real business impact?