Animal Food Bank is a Canadian volunteer-dependant, non-profit providing pet food and supplies to pets in need. They also work as a support network to the animal welfare community, providing pet food and supplies to other organizations helping pets in need. Thanks to founder Nicole Frey and her team, thousands of pet owners across Canada no longer have to make the choice between feeding their pet or themselves. Nicole and her team have exemplified the power of collaboration by donating over 620,000 lbs of food to partner organizations throughout Western Canada.

They are challenging the status quo for other nonprofit organizations and leading the way for volunteer & employee care. By using Rise to sidestep the headaches of conventional benefits providers, Nicole and her team were able to unlock unexpected cost savings and streamline HR operations while starting the newest chapter for their organization.

Before Rise

Before joining forces with Rise Health, Animal Food Bank was volunteer-run and wasn’t able to offer any health benefits. But when Animal Food Bank received a "Community Recovery Services" grant to develop free-to-use software, Nicole was able to hire employees— and wanted to compensate them well. With her background in operations management, Nicole knew from her experience that they needed to get creative with employee compensation in order to stand out when hiring and retaining employees.

“Offering benefits is a very easy way for somebody like me to offer value to employees, especially in today's economy, even if we weren't a nonprofit. We're seeing all of these cutbacks and so benefits are a very easy way for organizations like mine to offer incentives to attract and keep their employees.”

However, the conventionally arduous (and expensive) process of acquiring group benefits would be an unwelcome burden, straining AFB's already limited resources. Simply put, Nicole didn’t have the time to court multiple brokers for quotes that could be out of her price range, or— due to the size of her organization— not get a quote at all. She’d experienced issues at past companies where conventional providers weren’t interested in taking on smaller organizations, or offered enticing rates for the first year that shot up drastically when it was time to renew.

This spurred Nicole to seek alternatives for payroll and benefits, leading her to the discovery of Rise Health.

Comprehensive benefits coverage made accessible

“The coverage was far better than what I thought we would get as a small fish in a giant pond.”

With a limited budget, Nicole was surprised to find Rise Health’s turn-key group benefits packages made it easy to pick up and implement. And better yet, they offered what her employees were looking for; things like massage, dental, mental health coverage and more. With her 15 years of experience in operations, she found that the coverage in the packages covered more than one might expect when working with a traditional provider. 

When working with the Rise team to set up group benefits, she found the team to be more interested in finding the right package for her & her employees, versus “selling” her on more expensive plans or flashy introductory pricing.

Unlocked cost savings

While the coverage offered in a turn-key package was promising, Nicole also found the pricing not just to be fair, but superior. For her, Rise Health offered good value and some of the best benefits coverage out there for their organization's size. On average, Rise Health clients usually unlock 10% cost savings by switching over for our platform. In Nicole’s case, she was able to introduce group health benefits to her employees, and came in 20% under budget, unlocking extra budget that could be spent on other important areas of her business.

While the initial cost savings opened up more budget right away, over time, the lack of additional paperwork and tedious admin tasks have saved Nicole and Animal Food Bank “infinite” amounts of employee hours. Having their HR processes consolidated onto one system has made taking care of her team quick and easy. Running payroll, HR, and benefits administration as a team of one can be a daunting process without the right support, Nicole notes that “I didn’t have to hire a HR person thanks to Rise and their all-in-one platform”.

“While I had budgeted for benefits based on my previous experience, Rise actually came in 20% under budget and the coverage is great.”

Sustainable pricing with no surprises

By cutting out the middleman, Nicole found that the coverage in the Rise Health packages were more than what she had experienced with traditional providers. During her initial conversations, the Rise team was able to provide Animal Food Bank with sustainable pricing that wouldn’t leave her with future unhappy surprises. From her own previous experience, traditional carriers have a tendency to increase prices after the first year. But with Rise Health, there was a little extra work upfront to ensure that dilemma could be avoided as much as possible.  And as a result, the price of Rise Health works for her limited budget— and in her case— has remained stable as they head into their second year of coverage.

World-class support & stress-free implementation

While Nicole was sold on the cost savings and the ease of setting up our comprehensive packages, it was Rises’ support that won her over. The implementation of Rise Health proved to be a game-changer for Animal Food Bank. Nicole describes the transition as "OMG SO EASY" thanks to a user-friendly interface that helped her tremendously during setup. The seamless self-enrollment process and the immediate positive response from employees helped Nicole feel like she had a payroll & benefits team working right alongside her.  

Today, she relies on the world-class support team at Rise to help cover areas where she might not have the time or resources to be the expert. Because our support team are trained on the Rise platform and are certified benefits experts, support is available for anything and everything related to Rise.

“It feels like Rise is a wing of our Animal Food Bank. It’s like you’re our internal benefits & payroll department. Anytime I have questions or make a mistake on Payroll, the Rise team is so patient and just helps me fix it.”

The verdict on Rise Health:

Nicole's experience with Rise Health allowed for a modern solution that saved a ton of time— and money. With easy implementation, and the helpfulness of Rise support from the very first time she spoke with our team, left a lasting impression. Rise has Nicole’s back when it comes to running HR, payroll and benefits in one place, so she can take off one of her many hats to focus on the cause that started it all.

As for how she feels about having employee benefits, payroll & HR on one system;

“It’s like.. my favorite thing ever.”

Rise Health can support companies of all sizes by bringing quality benefits to your employees and save you hours of time by running it all from one place. To learn more about switching to Rise Health or set up group benefits for the very first time, talk to our team for a personalized demo.

The post Beyond Benefits: Animal Food Bank’s innovative approach with Rise Health appeared first on Rise.

What vortX loves about Rise:

• The simple and easy-to-use interface makes running payroll very efficient
• Rise offers the most robust solution at the most affordable price for their small business
• They’re saving a lot of time and money by not having to manage payroll themselves

VortX’s President and COO Clemens Adolphs explains that their mission is to make their “clients’ lives easier by using the power of machine learning.” Rise helps them work towards that mission by taking payroll and HR tasks off their plate.

What vortX needed

Being a start-up, vortX has to make sure that they use their time and money well. Clemens comments, “I don’t see us having a dedicated HR or accounting person any time in the near future. So we needed a solution that we knew we could handle on our own.”

He continues, “I just really couldn’t see myself managing everyone’s hours and writing cheques and mailing them out, and then dealing with the CRA and remittances and all of that. Because we’re small, we really need to be mindful of how we spend our time and energy.”

What vortX gets with Rise

With little time to waste, Clemens and his team at vortX have been very pleased with Rise so far. “Onboarding was so easy and we’ve been able to find our way around the platform no problem,” he comments. The few times that they have had to utilize support, Clemens says that the experience has been great.

Payroll isn’t any trouble at all for vortX with Rise. “It takes us less than an hour every week to do a pay run,” Clemens notes. He continues, “Payroll is not a pain point for us. It’s not something we groan and moan about at vortX.”

Much of the work that Clemens was worried about having to do himself is now done completely by Rise. “Rise takes a lot of that manual work away,” he says.

“The way the Rise platform looks, with its balance between ease of use and complexity of features, is just so easy.”

VortX has been using Rise for not just their payroll, but to manage their HR and time off as well. Overall, the platform has been a hit with their employees. “People are able to book their time off easily and the electronic pay stubs are great,” Clemens comments.

Clemens chose Rise because it’s what another organization he’s associated with uses to manage their payroll, but he was also recommended ADP by someone in his network. He ultimately went with Rise because he felt that ADP was far too complicated for vortX. “People tend to think that complicated software automatically means that it’s more appropriate for sophisticated use cases, but simple and easy to use works. If it can be simple, then keep it simple,” he says.

Learn more about how Rise can support your growing business by booking a customizable demo with us today.

The post How Rise supports an AI product development company appeared first on Rise.

What the Leftovers Foundation loves about Rise:

• They’ve saved time and money by switching over to Rise
• Rise support enables quick resolution of any issues
• They have more insight into their data and control to update anything as needed

Before Rise

As a small charitable organization, The Leftovers Foundation and its executive director Cory Rianson needed a payroll solution that was cost effective and wouldn’t eat up a lot of time—which they weren’t getting with their former provider, ADP. 

“We had a lot of issues with ADP. It’s for very large enterprises and with our number of employees, I realized that ADP really isn’t for smaller organizations—it’s obvious why we were having issues. It’s too complicated, it doesn’t allow for a lot of customization. Everything has to be done through these multiple systems. It’s such an extra layer of complication. It was just not working, payroll would be wrong just about every run—it was a nightmare basically,” explains Cory. 

He goes on to describe a typical pay run with ADP, which usually resulted in a lot of frustration. “We’d always find errors when we were running payroll in ADP and then have to be on the phone with support for hours. So basically we were running our payroll through ADP support and no one ever offered us any solutions, even though it was always the same issues,” he explains.

Cory explored a number of different solutions, including Knit, Humi, Nethris, Collage, Wagepoint, Payworks, and Rise. As he  explains: “We looked at a few other providers. We ultimately went with Rise for a combination of reasons. The cost and simplicity of the system were important and we liked that we could control everything ourselves.”

What the Leftovers Foundation needed

In addition to a payroll platform that would save them time and money, the Leftovers Foundation—and specifically Cory— wanted a payroll provider that offered more control to the team. With ADP, Cory felt that he didn’t have a lot of insight into org data and when there were issues—which was nearly every pay run—he and his team weren’t able to resolve anything in-house. 

Essentially, Cory wanted to do less thinking about payroll and focus more on the Leftovers Foundation’s important work. 

What Rise provides the Leftovers Foundation

Rise has given Cory valuable time back. He says, “Rise has definitely saved us time. Especially as I get more comfortable with the platform, being able to go in and do stuff and fix stuff myself just saves so much time where we aren’t waiting for someone else to come in and help.”

The few times that Cory and his team have needed to use support, they’ve been able to find a resolution quickly. “Rise support has been quite great when I’ve made mistakes or needed help with something,” he explains.

Cory also notes how “the UI looks good and the cost was right” for them. Perhaps most importantly, though, he comments that he thinks way less about payroll now than with ADP.

As Cory and the Leftovers Foundation get more comfortable with the platform, he hopes to utilize other parts of the solution more. He says that “we haven’t had the time or resources to jump into a lot of the other parts of the platform, but we’d love to get more use out of it and can see the value”.

Learn more about how Rise can take payroll off of your mind by booking a customizable demo today.

The post How Rise supports a Canadian food charity’s rescue mission appeared first on Rise.

What FMI loves about Rise and Xero:

• The high-quality user experience and interface
• Multiple hours are saved each month by eliminating manual processes
• Rise and Xero are seamlessly integrated, and journal entries are now completed in a single click 

As the Director of Finance for FMI, Lydia Jay knows how much time it can take to prepare and manually enter journal entries based on a wealth of detailed financial data. From data entry to reconciliation to checking balances, it’s often a time-consuming endeavour—but not so with Rise and Xero.   

Before Rise and Xero 

FMI has been using Xero and Rise separately since 2020, so Lydia, in her own words, “was very excited when the integration was announced. The push from Rise to Xero is completely seamless. You just press a button and the manual journal entry is prepared from the data and sent into Xero. The system even does a check, so I don’t have to myself. It’s great and the user interface is clean and logical,” she explains.

Before Rise’s Xero integration, Lydia remembers that there was a lot of checking (and double-checking data) before submitting it. “Before Rise was truly integrated with Xero, the Rise JE tool would shoot out a pivot in a workbook and it was very difficult to reconcile and see what was going on because the total payroll costs didn’t match the invoice showing how much money was taken out of the bank. So it required doing numbers and notes on the side of the spreadsheet to get things to reconcile. Part of the reason it was confusing was because of the tool used to map the payroll accounts to the GL accounts. It was very simplistic and not user friendly,” she describes. 

What FMI needed

It was important for Lydia and the team at FMI to have a truly integrated solution for their journal entries. Any extra time spent checking over data, waiting for files to download, or uploading documents into another platform, or figuring out why something was not reconciling when pieces are missing due to system limitation mapping issues, was time wasted.

As Lydia explains: “When you’re a smaller company, with say less than 50 employees, the people in those administrative functions such as HR or Finance are doing multiple roles and various things within those jobs. Because of that, everything has to be very streamlined, fast and very logical… And the tools have to work correctly or you can really get bogged down”.

Lydia also explains that accuracy is essential for FMI. She says: “We needed a solution that we could trust to flag any discrepancies in journal entries and eliminate errors. We now get that with Rise." 

What Rise and Xero provide FMI

Prior to Rise’s integration with Xero, FMI was using Rise’s built-in JE solution. Although it provided basic capability to get a JE done, it didn’t meet all of FMI’s expectations. As Lydia mentions, “everything is very fast and very smooth now. We don’t have to look at things piecemeal because it’s all integrated straight through to Xero. It’s saving our bookkeeper lots of time; I’m really very happy with it”.

Having been with Rise for several years now, Lydia reflects that, now, “it really seems like a different Rise. Before, everything was solely HR Operations focused, but now there’s technical support to ensure payroll numbers will be accurate when transferred to a financial system. We are now able to depend on the integrity of the platform and its ability to perform”. 

The benefits of a true integration

The Rise and Xero integration has made things much easier for Lydia and her team. She comments, “I love that it’s a true integration. The GL mapping is very straightforward and the built-in check gives me assurance that everything is working as it should be”.

Lydia also notes how “the integration has allowed FMI to focus much more on our data rather than processes, which, as a financial modeling organization, is crucial”. She explains that “the platform allows us to just focus on doing the financial work and analyzing the numbers instead of trying to figure out why payroll didn’t go into the books easily”.

“I feel confident about the data I am sending to Xero. It’s easy to read and clear.”

Lydia is also very excited about the way that the JE solution looks, as well as its functionality. “The way that everything is set up is very nice. It’s logical in its presentation of the elements of payroll. It lists earnings, hourly earnings, salary earnings, contributions, the invoice charges, and then the benefits and deductions, and the taxes. It’s very clear and such a nice-looking solution too.  Before it was not laid out as cleanly,” she says. 

Lydia was one of the first people to test the integration during our beta release and provided Rise with a lot of valuable feedback that went into making the solution that other clients rely on today. Lydia comments how what she really loved about working with Rise through the initial steps was “that Rise was just so easy to work with and you all spoke my language and really seemed to understand the needs of the user”.

Lydia also notes that the Rise and Xero integration is very intuitive and “even without the walkthrough I had with Rise, the solution is easy to understand and use”.

Want to learn more about Rise and Xero? Visit the Xero app store for more details about the integration and how it can streamline your journal entries.

The post How Rise’s Xero integration provides the right model for financial experts appeared first on Rise.

Why KINETIC loves Rise:

• A truly all-in-one HR platform for their employees
• It meets the needs of both their support office and manufacturing team
• Rise Health has helped with employee retention and recruitment

Developing custom products for a wide-range of industries is no easy task. It takes a dedicated team of experienced professionals—a team which needs to be well taken care of. That’s why KINETIC chose Rise People for their HR, payroll, and health benefits.

Before Rise

KINETIC recently expanded their team when they acquired the manufacturing facility that had been building their product. Consequently, they went from two employees, President - Tim and Business Admin - Tiffany, to more than 40 employees. 

Tim and Tiffany were already using Rise when it was just the two of them. They decided to add on Rise Health to give their newly acquired team a holistic benefits package. Tiffany explains that they “were already using Rise Payroll when it was just the two of us and it worked well. With the acquisition of the new team members, we knew that we had to provide an amazing benefits package that would help retain staff through the transition. The Rise platform offered everything we needed to help process payroll, manage HR, and provide benefits at a competitive rate".

What KINETIC needed

Essentially, with the expansion of KINETIC, Tiffany needed an all-in-one solution that she and her team could count on. She explains: “We’re a small business and I wear a lot of hats, so I needed a solution that was easy to use and that would take a lot of the manual weekly tasks off my plate".

In addition, because KINETIC was still operating under two different RP numbers—for KINETIC Trailers and KINETIC Manufacturing—they needed a system that managed both seamlessly. 

What KINETIC gets with Rise

Rise takes tasks off of Tiffany’s plate. “Rise’s all-in-one offering is really great. All of our HR data is in one place and easy to manage. We get the support we need without having to think about it too much,” she explains. Of the few times that Tiffany did need help with something on the Rise platform, she remarks that “support is great and always very timely”. 

When KINETIC acquired the manufacturing business, it was important for Tiffany to offer their new team the same—if not better—benefits. Of course, as a small business they needed to be cost-conscious. Tiffany explains that, with Rise Health, KINETIC is actually “getting more bang for our buck than with the provider we had been using previously”.

“I definitely see Rise Health playing a role in retention and recruitment.”

Not only is Rise Health cost effective for KINETIC, but Tiffany has noted additional benefits as well. She explains: “I was surprised actually. When we did the rollout of the benefits, all of our team members were very interested and excited about the coverage they were getting. It's a big factor in keeping our employees happy”. 

Tiffany also feels that having an integrated platform has benefitted KINETIC in many ways. She notes how “it’s smart having everything all-in-one.” 

If you want to learn more about employee benefits that can benefit your team, book a customized demo.

The post How Rise helps a manufacturer gain traction with employees appeared first on Rise.

As both an HR consultant and HR Director for Forward Level, Leona Moser examines the inner workings of organizations and identifies areas for improvement. By implementing Rise at Forward Level, she has helped streamline their health and wellness plan.

Before Rise

Having worked as an HR professional for 17 years, Leona has vast experience in utilizing and introducing various HR platforms for diverse organizations, ranging from smaller enterprises like Forward Level to larger companies with hundreds or even thousands of employees. She often wonders, “HR departments do so many things manually. Why? There are so many options for optimization.”

Before Leona implemented Rise, Forward Level relied on various systems to manage their human resources processes. Their employee files were stored on OneDrive, scheduling and time off were coordinated through Centreli, payroll was implemented through Payment Evolution, with data inputted into QuickBooks. Although employees had a health spending account, they had minimal coverage. The system was "obviously very clunky."

What Forward Level needed

Leona recognized the importance of consolidating multiple platforms into a unified solution for Forward Level. She often had to make changes in various places to ensure the accuracy of information, regardless of which platform the team referred to.

“Let’s say an employee changes their address. You need to change it in 27 different places because you have to update it in benefits, you have to update it in the health spending account, you have to revise it for the payroll provider, you have to change it for the EAP.” She continues: “Until you understand how many cascading changes come from something simple, like an employee changing their address, you don't realize the timesaving potential that you're losing out on”.

As a small business, Forward Level prioritized a cost-effective solution. They sought expanded coverage for their benefits package and looked for ways to consolidate their platforms into a minimal number. Leona discovered that although solutions like Bamboo HR had comparable features to Rise, they did not offer Canadian payroll services.

What Rise provides Forward Level 

Rise ticks all of Leona and Forward Level’s boxes. The all-in-one solution provided by Rise has simplified things for Forward Level. Leona notes how “having one single source of truth for documents and information makes everything so much more streamlined. By partnering with Rise, we could eliminate some of the other platforms that Forward Level was using. It was clear that for a similar cost, if not cheaper, we got significantly more value for our money”.

Leona stresses the significance of considering net spending instead of a straightforward cost analysis. “While we might actually pay slightly higher in certain areas, the total net spend still results in savings”.

"By signing up for Rise Health and consolidating onto a single platform, we were able to save both time and money!"

Previously, Forward Level had a health spending account as their primary source of employee benefits. Leona notes that the $1000 they provided to employees goes much further with Rise Health. “From a cost value perspective, repurposing our dollars allows us to spend the same amount and get more from a value standpoint. The value there is tremendous,” she says. She continues: “Rise is giving us so much more value for our money than we had previously.”

On top of that, Rise is also saving Forward Level time by consolidating everything into one platform. “Rise is saving Forward Level two to four hours per week on payroll alone.”

“Offering benefits in-house is very brilliant and entrepreneurial of Rise.”

As an experienced HR professional interested in benefits plans, Leona is thrilled about Rise Health. She notes that the pre-built tiered options for Rise Health simplify the selection process, and that the requirement of just a minimum of three employees under a plan is a genuinely innovative and enterprising approach.

For Forward Level’s employees, the flexibility of being able to customize benefits plans was crucial. Additionally, Leona loves the variety of coverage offered, such as gender transition coverage—something she’s never seen before. 

Leona is not the only one who feels the love for Rise Health. "The Forward Level team loves it too. The user experience for the benefits onboarding is simple and straightforward," she comments.

Leona believes that Rise Health can significantly contribute to acquiring and retaining employees at Forward Level. By transitioning from a health spending account to Rise Health, the value for employee retention is clear. “It is a significant value proposition for both employees and administrators. As a solo HR department, allowing managers to access employee information and insights saves time and streamlines the process.”

To learn more about Rise Health and how you can get any plan for FREE when signing up for Rise Health, book a customized demo today.

The post How Rise supports forward momentum at a marketing and advertising firm appeared first on Rise.

Adrenaline uses Rise for their benefits, HR, payroll, performance management, and scheduling and time tracking. Here’s what they love about Rise:

• Rise Health is saving them money on their benefits 
• The all-in-one platform has streamlined their processes
• Built-in employee check-ins help with retention and career progression

When their former bookkeeper retired in 2022, General Manager Erynn Lawrence notes how Adrenaline VanCity really had no idea of the scope of different things that the bookkeeper was handling—which didn’t even include HR. Because of this, Adrenaline was looking for a truly all-in-one solution. With multiple brands, locations, and employees who are contract, hourly, salaried, and/or on commission, they needed an HR and payroll provider that could do it all. 

“Our employees definitely appreciate Rise Health and they’re using their benefits more than ever.”

- David Nixon, owner and operator of Adrenaline

Having a competitive healthcare plan is something that is very important to Adrenaline. Erynn notes: “We’re using Rise Health as a way to tell artists that they should work here because we have an awesome benefits package”.

When exploring new benefits offerings, Erynn comments on how it was important to have something that offered more and better coverage for their team’s mental health. “We really wanted more mental health coverage, so the fact that Rise Health comes with a number of free sessions and then the $750 on top of that towards therapy. Our old coverage was something like $300 a year for therapists,” she explains.

Owner and Operator of Adrenaline VanCity, David Nixon, agrees, explaining: “Everyone is much more mindful of their mental health now, and being able to offer extra mental health care is certainly an advantage for long-term retention.” 

Adrenaline was also able to utilize Rise’s offer to receive any plan for free, forever, when signing up for Rise Health. Being able to utilize the entire platform, along with Rise Health group benefits, is a great advantage for Adrenaline.

“Rise is truly all-in-one. It was clear to us that Rise offered more than any of the other platforms.”

- David Nixon

Erynn and David run the day-to-day for Adrenaline, but neither are HR or payroll experts. “So many smaller businesses may not have a dedicated HR person or department, so having an all-in-one solution is a real advantage,” David comments. 

Scheduling employees has gotten a lot easier for Adrenaline since they started using Rise. Previously, Erynn used one application for scheduling, then employees clocked on and off using a separate POS system, and then that was all sent to the bookkeeper. Now, the schedules are all made within Rise, approved by Erynn, and sent directly to Rise Payroll. 

Although Adrenaline hasn’t utilized Rise Performance yet, they anticipate that it will positively impact employee retention. They’re looking forward to completing their first performance review cycle with their team, as well as utilizing the check-ins feature to create better two-way communication with their employees. 

Book a personalized demo for more information on how Rise can better support you and your employees.

The post How Rise helps Canada’s premier tattoo and piercing shop keep their employee health on point appeared first on Rise.

What Nelson Waldorf’s team loves about Rise:

• Truly all-in-one solution for Benefits, Payroll, HR and scheduling
• The Rise platform being 100% free with Rise Health addition
• Saving time and money by consolidating their technology stack from 3 platforms down to 1
• Rise Health empowers employee recruitment and retention

Nelson Waldorf school is an educational institution for students grades K-9 in Nelson, British Columbia. The Waldorf or Steiner style of learning is based on the principles of engaging the head, heart, and hands—or thinking, feeling, and doing. 

Previously, Nelson Waldorf used QuickBooks to manage their HR, payroll, and time tracking. As Executive Director of Nelson Waldorf Lesli Lancaster explains: “QuickBooks wasn't integrated. And so, I had to sign into three different programs, just to complete payroll, and then I had to transcribe everything from QuickBooks Desktop into QuickBooks Online. Payroll probably took me five hours to do. Being able to have everything in one spot has totally changed everything.”

The school needed a solution that was truly integrated to meet their unique requirements. “Quite frankly, Rise was one of the only ones that offered scheduling, payroll, and HR all-in-one. Many of the other platforms I looked at, you had to pick and choose,” says Lesli. 

“The biggest draw of Rise in the first place was the all-in-one platform. That’s really what I was looking for.”

Lesli invested a lot of time evaluating systems that could meet all of their needs at Nelson Waldorf within one platform. What she found was a lot of mixing-and-matching available and nothing else truly all-in-one. 

“It's a hardship for smaller organizations like ours with limited budgets to pay for multiple mix-and-match piecemeal systems that are necessary to run the organization, costing $500 or $600 per month. The biggest draw of Rise in the first place was the all-in-one platform. That's really what I was looking for,” continues Lesli. 

Having benefits, HR, payroll, and time off tracking all within Rise has made the biggest difference for Nelson Waldorf and Lesli. “Entering and tracking data in separate systems previously was just way too burdensome for an organization our size to manage,” she recalls.

Now, with Rise for their benefits, payroll, HR, and time tracking, Lesli says it takes her less than two hours to do everything—including setting up new staff for group health benefits. 

“We get way more for our money with Rise.”

When it comes to benefits, Lesli talks about how the staff, even those who are “not very techie”, got the hang of using Rise Health right away. After self enrolling in benefits through Rise Health, employees were able to use the benefits app to submit claims and check coverage easily. 

Lesli knows that they’re getting their money's worth with Rise Health. “Compared to the other quotes we were considering, Rise’s was just way, way better. We get way more for our money with Rise,” she explains. 

Not only is Rise Health cost-effective for Nelson Waldorf, but it’s an appealing addition to working at the school that Lesli believes will play a significant role in both recruitment and retention. She notes how “having a really strong benefits package is essential to us being able to attract qualified teachers”.

“Being able to save money on both our software and benefits costs is huge for us.”

Lesli says that “Rise Health was easy to set up and the staff love it”. Typically, the benefits offered by private schools are less than those offered by public schools. She continues: “Rise Health is providing all of the benefits that make us comparable to public school offerings and makes us much more competitive in the labor market. That, and it's easy to use.”

She also says that “Rise Health adds this other element of value to having a job here. If people are considering leaving, that's kind of one more thing they're going to lose. It definitely adds another consideration to their decision whether to stay or leave”.

“The scheduling component is something that is unique to Rise and is hard to get in another system.”

In particular, Lesli found that scheduling and time tracking (STT) wasn’t something that was typically included—or even available at all—with most other platforms. As she explains: “The HR system and time tracking has been hugely helpful for us. With a school, managing sick days, days off, and making sure that classes are covered is so critical to success. We can instantly see all of that in Rise”. 

Lesli also mentioned that Nelson Waldorf is interested in utilizing Rise performance management, as regular performance reviews are a part of the Ministry of Education’s requirements for educators. With Rise Performance, Lesli and her team will also use the goals application to set and keep track of their learning and development initiatives. 

“I’ve recommended Rise to other associations, because you really don’t know what you’re missing out on until you have it,” Lesli concludes. 

Learn more about how our people management solutions could help you and your team. Book a personalized demo of Rise today.

The post How Rise Health helps an educational institution improve their employee experience appeared first on Rise.

As a not-for-profit, St. John Ambulance wanted something reliable and easy to use for their HR and payroll needs. As Rick Stewart, VP of Operations at St. John Ambulance Alberta, explains: “We're not-for-profit and have 50 salaried employees, so we don’t want or need complicated payroll and HR systems”.

Formerly using ADP for their HR and payroll, Rick recalls that “ADP is a very big product; it's got a lot of moving parts. It’s complicated and expensive. We have no need for that.”

Wanting “something just easier to use” with a more user-friendly interface is what prompted Rick to search for a new combined HR and payroll solution. St. John Ambulance Alberta now uses Rise for all of their HR and payroll needs, including time off, recruiting, and performance management. 

"ADP, I used to dread going in there... I actually enjoy using Rise."

When asked how Rise has impacted his management and day-to-day life, Rick says: “Well, to put it simply, I do not dread using the tool. ADP, I used to dread going in there. I’d actively avoid it because it was so big and so complicated. I was afraid to change things within it because I never knew what would happen if I did.”

Laughing to himself, Rick recalls his fear of using ADP, making mistakes, and how “quite often, if you change one thing, there are downstream effects. And then to go back and fix it is double the work, or triple the work sometimes”. With Rise, on the other hand, Rick admits he’s “not scared of the software”. 

“I’m not dreading it. I actually enjoy using Rise,” he continues. “It's freed up a bunch of my time, just by making it simple. And me not having to learn things and dread making mistakes, I think that's what I enjoy the most about it.”

“Rise is a sweet spot fit for companies that might not have a paid professional who can dedicate 100% of their time to HR, payroll, and benefits.”

Rick notes how HR and payroll solutions he previously used, such as ADP or Ceridian, “can be great, but they’re also very big, they’re very expensive, and they need dedicated professionals to run those softwares. With Rise, it’s so intuitive and easy to use that anyone can do it.”

Another advantage that Rise has is being an all-in-one platform. As Rick explains: “I was able to put everything into one employee profile—it's all in one spot and that’s really nice, having everything in Rise. I don't have to go find a spreadsheet for this or that. I don’t have to go find the birthday spreadsheet and risk missing anniversaries or other important things. It’s a relief!”

“It’s also very easy to move employees through the whole ‘hire-to-retire lifecycle’ without having to manage separate databases or spreadsheets,” Rick continues. He noted how important this feature is, especially for people like Rick who are doing multiple jobs. 

Rick loves Rise’s recruitment feature as well. “It’s fantastic [and] so intuitive”. He’s particularly happy with having everything in one place and not having to do data entry in multiple places or move information from one application to another during the recruitment process. 

Rick also mentions that both he and his employees love the mobile app. Because the St. John Ambulance team is spread across Alberta, the Rise mobile app is a great way for employees to connect and easily keep track of things for their dispersed team. Rick notes, “our employees love the mobile app. It’s a really nice feature.”

“Whenever I’ve had to reach out to the support team, they have been fantastic.”  

Rick also notes how he’s made suggestions in the past for ways that the Rise platform could work better and has noticed that his suggestions have actually been incorporated into new software releases. “It shows me that Rise is actively listening to clients and our feedback, which is refreshing,” he remarks. 

Rick is also pleased with Rise’s custom roles and permissions, and the ability to clearly see who has permissions to view what within the Rise platform. In the past, with applications like ADP, he noted how everyone was very careful about what they put in writing because “the security on the notes was very convoluted”. 

“The weekly touch base is awesome.”

Moving forward with Rise, Rick is excited to fully launch the Rise performance module and that he's been “pretty impressed” by the software’s features. He mentions check-ins in particular, saying that “the weekly touch base is awesome. I thought that's a nice way to make your employee know that you're there, you're talking, you're listening, and they have an opportunity to just touch base”. 

He also notes some other benefits of regular check-ins for employees. Rick comments that so often with performance reviews, whether supervisors mean to or not, there’s a tendency to focus on what employees can improve rather than focusing on all the things they’re doing well. “Having a weekly touch base allows you to keep track of the good stuff as well, the ability to document everything within Rise helps to improve the employee experience and satisfaction,” he explains. 

As Rick summarizes: “Rise hits all my target points, simple, easy, well supported, those kinds of things that are really critical to a not-for-profit.”

Learn more about St. John Ambulance by visiting their website.

The post How Rise is aiding the Canadian not-for-profit St. John Ambulance appeared first on Rise.

SIGnature Recruiting was founded in 2010 with the goal of helping exceptional people find short-term contracts and long-term careers in Vancouver’s flourishing IT industry.

It wasn’t long after their founding that a fellow recruiting firm recommended Rise People to them. SIGnature Recruiting began using Rise for their payroll needs in 2012. Since then, they have been early adopters of many of Rise’s features, such as HR and group health benefits. 

Rupinder Gill, co-founder of SIGnature Recruiting, notes how the ability to manage everything (benefits, HR, and payroll) in-house is fantastic and works very well for the way they work.

Rupinder comments how, in the past, working with health insurance brokers was “purely on an as-needed basis,” in that every time they had a question or request, they would have to reach out and wait for someone to get back to them. 

“We’d never go back to what we had,” Rupinder remarks. “We have a lot more control over what’s happening now, a lot more insight into our benefits with the Rise platform.” 

As for the switch to Rise Health group benefits, Rupinder recalls it was “very smooth and very straightforward”. In particular, both Rupinder and office manager Alannah Korf were quick to highlight the stellar service they’ve received from the Rise benefits team. “Support has been so great. Everyone was extremely, extremely helpful and super fast with responses. The team is very detail-oriented,” continues Alannah. 

Another issue that SIGnature Recruiting experienced with their previous benefits provider was (overly) long wait times for a claim to process. 

Alannah mentions that “with other health benefit providers, I've waited weeks, sometimes months, to make sure a claim has gone through. So it's great to see how quick the process is with Rise Health”. 

Rupinder adds: “I feel it's a very modern way of looking at a very, I would say, a traditional industry. We love using Rise. When I’m at a networking event, I always recommend Rise Payroll to anybody who asks me about payroll. And now I mention Rise Health too. The system and experience have both been very good”. 

The SIGnature Recruiting team looks forward to continuing to use the many features of the platform—and any new ones, too.

SIGnature Recruiting previously tracked time off manually. Alannah dealt with a number of employees coming directly to her to ask how much time off they had. “I think it was open to too much human error,” remarks Alannah. “What I really like about the Rise time off is it's so simplified and it's broken down very well. So not only will that help myself, but that will help our bookkeeper and help the employees know how much time off they have,” she continues.

“[The Rise platform is] absolutely fantastic… Once you switch to an all-in-one, it just makes sense. It's such a no-brainer. We've seen a huge benefit of that and it’s enhanced everybody's experience as well and just made life so much easier for administrators,” Rupinder summarizes.

See how our people management solutions could help you and your team. Book a personalized demo of Rise today.

The post How Rise supports a recruitment firm’s organizational and employee health appeared first on Rise.