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Growing Canada’s online home insurance provider was an exciting (and challenging!) task for and Kristina Wheeler, the company’s Director of Operations. Established in 2011, Square One started off with five employees who were building all aspects of the company, including its software program.

Now, Square One boasts over 137 employees. And as the company continued to grow, the way they handled their employment experience processes needed to evolve.

The challenge

In 2018, Kristina realized that using the same manual processes and different software programs to manage what was previously 20 to 30 employees was no longer practical. She knew they needed to find a long-term solution that could better support their needs.

“We were using a combination of documents, spreadsheets, and Quickbooks to manage time off and payroll. This just wasn’t scalable. Once you get to 100 people, you can’t effectively manage things with documents and spreadsheets. And adding tasks and reminders manually into a digital calendar doesn’t work.”

The solution

After evaluating different software programs, 91���� emerged as the only solution that could fit the company’s needs because there wasn’t a need to toggle between different platforms. Everything from managing time off to payroll could be handled by 91����.

“91���� had the most potential for what we needed. You had core functionality and key enhancements.”

According to Kristina, 91����’s customer service was a main factor in Square One’s decision. From getting to interact directly with 91����’s founders, to quick communication and problem solving for time-sensitive payroll roadbumps, the collaborative relationship has been essential in maintaining and growing the relationship between 91���� and Square One.

”I felt my feedback was always welcomed. Having human contact is really important for HR and payroll matters. I know I can talk to a real person at 91���� if I need help when something has gone wrong. That’s critical to me.”

The results

With time off requests, training tracking, and document signing all done in one platform, Square One has cut down on HR emails substantially. The ease of onboarding and offboarding staff also makes a big difference.

“I can easily go in and find the information I need, who hasn’t sent me information they need to, and send reminders. Task management lets everyone know what they need to do so you’re not dropping the ball anywhere.”

When it comes to Kristina’s favourite modules, Time Off and Payroll are the clear winners.

“It’s really easy to keep track of who is where. When I look at the calendar, I know if somebody’s sick, while other staff can only see that they’re not there so the privacy aspect is there. You can calculate outstanding vacation time to be paid when offboarding, and when there are HR concerns for things like unpaid days off, the tracking is there to refer to for coaching sessions.”

With 91���� Payroll, Kristina can rest easy knowing that checks and balances are in place, while helping Square One with time and cost savings.

“91���� definitely reduced costs in payroll processing. Payroll is all done on the platform and it automatically files CRA taxes, probably saving 30-40 minutes every payroll. With checks in place, it helps our accountant provide that final stamp of approval.”

And when Square One started looking into switching their Health Spending Account provider due to bad customer experience, the 91���� team helped them switch over to Benefits by Design. Employees now enjoy quicker payouts for their claims and an easy to use app.

In fact, employee experience is another key reason why Kristina praises 91����.

“It allows employees to be more involved in their HR experience with the company. Employees have access to look up things they need. They can automatically see who else has time off and coordinate so there’s coverage for their vacation, they can easily see employment contracts and signed documents. No more trying to find things in some email inbox.”

Ultimately, Square One has streamlined their processes while keeping documentation in one place, which provides value in the way of time savings.

“91���� saves about 5 hours per employee per year. When you have 100 employees, the overall company savings is 500 hours a year.”

Those are hours that employees can use to focus on other things – like better coaching and development sessions, people management training, and staying on top of regulations.

“Our entire team has learned not to fear automation because it means they get to do something more interesting.”