91����

is a non-profit organization anchored in downtown Toronto. Known for its unique skate trails in the winter, and art events throughout the rest of the year, its goal is to ignite urban imagination, using the city as site, subject, and canvas (such as Phase 1 under Toronto’s Gardiner Expressway). The Bentway is creating a network of public spaces, developing a cohesive vision for wayfinding, and reconnecting the waterfront to the downtown core.

HR & Office Coordinator for The Bentway, Jaime Meier, was tasked with finding a way to simplify HR processes for their growing team. She needed a solution that could support them on the back-end while they continued their work to support the city. 

The challenge

Upon being hired, one of Jaime’s first tasks was to replace their payroll system. Their software at the time was causing more headaches than it was curing, so she was asked to find a better one – and perhaps even find a solution that could ease other problem areas, as well. 

Onboarding was one of these areas. It was done through countless emails, and Jaime found herself constantly having to follow-up for forgotten signatures, missing documents, or incomplete training. 

“Our onboarding process was like, 17 emails, with all of these documents, and constantly following up for missing signatures. It was just a lot to look out for and we knew there was a better way to do all of this.”

Time off was a manual mess, with spreadsheets being their only form of tracking. Requests were sent through emails and then entered into a spreadsheet – but this meant that the team wasn’t always aware when other members were taking time off. 

Jaime knew there had to be a more efficient, streamlined way to perform all these HR processes. Enter, 91����. 

The solution

When searching for a solution, Jaime considered other HR softwares, like BambooHR and Rise. But she ultimately chose 91���� for a multitude of reasons, one being that 91���� was Canadian.

“One of the great benefits of 91���� is that it’s a Canadian company, so it works a lot more closely with the CRA and understands those processes. BambooHR is American, so they didn’t offer the same resources and knowledge that 91���� does.”

She also commended 91����’s ability to provide her with information during her research, without being pushy.

“Something I really appreciated about 91���� from the start was it was a lot more relaxed and someone wasn’t constantly badgering us. I felt like I wasn’t being rushed into a decision.“

She decided to go with 91���� because she felt its software was established enough to support The Bentway with everything they wanted to do.

“91���� felt more set up than Rise. There were things that we wanted to do, for example, with our payroll system – like certain reports we wanted. 91���� would have it, whereas Rise would say they didn’t and would send us a way to do it with Excel.” 

The result

Today, Jaime can’t help but sing 91����’s praises. It’s helped her streamline many of The Bentway’s processes, and empowered the team to be more independent in accessing information. 

“91���� has helped in everything. I cannot even express how useful and incredible 91���� has been – it’s transformed the organization. The staff love it because everything is in one place, they don’t need to sign into 15 different softwares to access things… It’s given everyone a lot of time back.”

She speaks to how much 91���� has helped her as a payroll administrator, thanks to its simple interface and ease of use for employees. 

“Payroll has been a total game changer. It’s so fast and easy – it’s everything we wanted. People can access their payroll information easily, and it’s so user-friendly for myself, as a payroll administrator.”

When it comes to time off, Jaime attests to how 91���� has allowed the team to be more aware and transparent. 

“You can sign into your 91���� account and see whoever is off, and calendar integrations allow us to see where people are. It’s made a huge difference because there’s transparency on what’s going on in the organization.” 

But Jaime’s favourite module is recruiting – in fact, she calls 91���� her “dream recruiting tool”. 91����’s ability to house all of The Bentway’s applications confidentially, assign hiring managers, and organize applicants as they move through interviews has made recruiting 1000x easier. Plus, email automation allows The Bentway to respond to their applicants in a timely manner.

“The auto-emails were really important to me. It’s the worst when you apply for a job and never hear back. With the auto-email feature, everyone hears back, and I feel like that makes us stand out. Before 91����, I’d have to manually send out individual emails. It’s saved me so much time.”

Jaime also raves about how supportive 91����’s customer experience team has been. She recounts having to reach out to them on several occasions, and hearing back from someone that’s willing to help every time. Beyond software, Jaime is happy to have found a solution that not only streamlines her processes, but supports her and The Bentway team.

“The support team is always so kind and I never have to worry about an issue, because I know if I reach out, they’ve got my back and everything will be okay. Everyone is willing to go above and beyond… It feels like we’re a team. It’s not just us and 91���� – it feels personal.”

All in all, 91���� has helped Jaime and The Bentway streamline their business so the organization can thrive. They make sure to use every part of the software as much as they can, and they’re never looking back.

‍“We utilize 91���� as much as possible because we know we can count on it… I love everything about 91����. It’s awesome.”

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