How Cyd Innovation cut payroll time by 70% and set the stage to 5x its team
At a glance
Company
Cyd Innovation
Location
England
Employees
21
Explore this case study if:
- You’re scaling fast and your tools aren’t keeping up
- You’re looking for a system that centralises onboarding, HR, and compliance
- You want to reduce payroll processing time
The challenge
In fast-growing startups, makeshift systems can quickly become bottlenecks. That’s the reality Victoria Potter, Head of People, faced at Cyd Innovation, a retrofit management consultancy working to decarbonise the UK’s housing stock. As the company’s third hire, she was brought in to help expand the business to over 40 employees by the end of 2025, but the existing HR tools weren’t cutting it. Through Employment Hero, Victoria centralised and sped up all HR processes, reduced payroll processing time by up to 90% and built a more strategic people function.
Scaling at speed without the system to match
Cyd Innovation has an impressive high-growth trajectory, but it didn’t take long for Victoria to realise that the operational setup wasn’t built to support scale:
- Tools and processes were spread across multiple platforms, creating duplication and confusion.
- Manual onboarding and payroll increased time demands and error risk.
- Compliance gaps were missed by their existing HR system.
- There was no clear, centralised foundation for scale.
In just a few months, the business had already more than doubled its headcount. Victoria knew the business needed something unified and built for growth, so that’s what she set out to find.
The solution
One platform, countless wins
Victoria turned to Employment Hero’s all-in-one HR platform to bring structure, automation and clarity to the business’s next phase of growth.
“We needed to future-proof the business, so I drew up a spec of everything I wanted in an HRIS and thought “This is wishful thinking”… But then when I compared my spec with what Employment Hero offered, it ticked every single box.”
From CV to employee profile in one click
With hiring ramping up, Victoria needed an efficient way to manage applicants and onboarding without sinking hours into admin. Using Employment Hero’s Applicant Tracking System (ATS) and onboarding tools, she completely transformed the process.
“I love that you can just drag a CV into the system and it builds all the information into a profile with no typing required. When someone is hired, it takes one click and they’re instantly an employee on your database with all their details ready to go.”
Onboarding that once required form-chasing and duplicated entries is now handled entirely in-platform, seamlessly, accurately, and without bottlenecks.
“Can I tell you my favourite feature? Onboarding. I used to spend so much time inputting starter information in different places. Now, it’s all down to that one profile. It’s like waving a magic wand.”
Payroll, simplified and stress-free
Payroll used to take days, and any mistakes landed on Victoria’s desk. Now, with Employment Hero’s integrated payroll software, the process is nearly instant. New starters sync automatically, removing the need for duplicate data entry or last-minute corrections.
“Payroll takes 70% less time now because I just click a few buttons and it’s done in minutes. I used to spend so much of my week just on payroll and making sure things were done correctly, whereas now I can focus my time back on where it’s needed.”
Confidence through compliance
Employment Hero also gave Victoria peace of mind when it came to policies and contracts. With document storage and compliance tools built into the platform, everything is now stored, tracked and accessible in one place. During implementation, the team even uncovered areas of non-compliance that had been overlooked by their previous provider.
“When Employment Hero audited our policies, they flagged a few areas we weren’t compliant with, despite using a HR platform before. That was scary, but incredibly helpful. It gave us peace of mind.”
The impact
Time saved. Confidence gained. Strategy unlocked.
For a social enterprise like Cyd Innovation which is aiming to raise standards in its sector, operational excellence is a must. Employment Hero has helped Victoria and her team get there without any compromise, all whilst removing admin tasks that have been pulling her away from strategic work.
So far with Employment Hero, Cyd Innovation has seen:
- 70% reduction in payroll processing time, freeing up full days each month.
- New hires processed in one click, from CV to full employee profile.
- Fully centralised HR, onboarding and policy management, all in one platform.
- Compliance gaps identified and resolved, improving risk mitigation.
- More time for strategic work, accelerating the company’s scale-up plans.
“I was spending way too much time doing fiddly little things. Now everything’s in one place with built-in reporting. We’re only scratching the surface of what Employment Hero can do, but we’ve already saved so much time. It’s helping us build the people function we need to grow strategically.”
The world’s first Employment Operating System from Employment Hero
Employment Hero’s Employment Operating System is more than just a platform–we’ve taken the traditional isolated aspects of employment and integrated them into a seamless, human and AI-powered solution that empowers employers, employees and job seekers alike. Find and hire top talent with SmartMatch, seamlessly onboard new hires, automate complex payroll, drive employee engagement and more.
See what you could do with the world’s first Employment OS.
One system. Everything employment.
