Auror’s mission is to reduce retail crime worldwide. Based in Auckland and with additional sites in Melbourne and Denver, Auror is making a huge impact—helping police and retailers identify offenders and connecting communities to reduce crime. As the company grew, Auror’s PX team wanted to replace the spreadsheets and manual processes they were using with more efficient processes and have access to tools to help them make data-informed decisions for their people. They wanted to find an HR platform that was truly global and could support their needs Down Under. After seeing Bob, they knew that they’d found the platform they’d been looking for.
Finding a modern and truly global HR platform
Auror’s People Team hadn’t had positive experiences with HRIS in the past, finding them clunky and not user-friendly. They also felt that while many systems claimed to be global, there were often issues with managing things like time zones effectively. Auror sought a global HR solution, which could support them as they scaled and help them streamline their people experience processes.
Streamlining People Experience with Bob
Auror saw that HiBob, as a global company with teams distributed around the world, was well-positioned to support its global needs. Bob can be easily configured to different time zones, so there are no calendar-related issues when celebrating employee milestones or setting meetings across sites. All alerts and time scheduling runs smoothly between their offices from Auckland to Denver.
Bob has also helped Auror’s people team become more efficient. Whereas previously, they would have needed a lengthy email exchange with each new hire covering all the information required to get started, now, they manage everything directly in Bob. Bob’s automated workflows and task lists have replaced spreadsheets and emails, saving them valuable time and effort. For example, Bob’s onboarding workflows help them seamlessly manage preboarding and onboarding for all new hires—they can even vary the tasks according to geography.
Auror invites all new hires to sign up to Bob before their first day, fill out their employee profile and enter their personal details. They then send them different tasks and requests through Bob, such as signing paperwork electronically using Bob’s easy-to-use eSign feature and ordering office equipment. Using Bob’s Employee Fields, Auror enables its employees to choose their laptops and other office equipment ahead of time, ensuring that everything they need is ready for their first day.
“There are so many things that come up day-to-day when you are building a company.” said Kirsti Grant, VP People Experience at Auror, “Being able to incorporate them into the system is very helpful, and knowing that it provides a good experience for the person at the receiving end is invaluable.” These small details help Auror create positive experiences for their people from their very first touchpoint.
Seeking a scalable and flexible HR platform
As they grew, Auror looked for an HR platform to support their “better with scale” approach. As a company, Auror is flexible, adaptable, and always looking to improve. They wanted the capability to increase their use at their own pace and the flexibility to configure the platform to support new company initiatives.
Rolling out new initiatives with Bob
Auror recently introduced a four-and-a-half-day workweek with full pay across their sites as part of their employee wellness program. However, they didn’t want the shorter workweek to negatively impact their employees’ annual leave or wellness days. They were confident that Bob would be flexible enough to support this new initiative, and it was. They configured Bob to define a half-day company vacation day every Friday afternoon for all people across all sites.
As Kirsti explains, “In a system like this, flexibility is the part that excites me the most. Sometimes, someone on the team asks, ‘Can Bob do this?’ and I’m like, ‘Yes, it can. Let me figure out how, but I know it will be able to.’ And I think it’s just the way we’ve been able to build on it, exactly what we need and how we need it. It’s often the little experiences for people that I can build into the platform.”
Auror rolled out the shorter workweek as a trial and then sent out a company-wide survey to gauge employee feedback. 77 percent of employees said they felt that they were more productive when working shorter hours, and 60 percent said that it improved the quality of their weekend. Overall, the feedback was very positive, and Auror’s People Team looks forward to using Bob to introduce more initiatives in the future.
Making data-informed decisions for their people
Auror is serious about representing the communities, customers, and partners that they build software for, to help report, solve, and prevent crime. Having a diverse team has a very clear impact on their ability to make decisions about their business that don’t inadvertently harm any marginalized groups. As such, Auror is committed to hiring a diverse workforce and creating an inclusive environment where people feel welcome and represented.
Measuring DE&I using Bob’s People Analytics
After implementing Bob, one of the first things that Auror’s People Team did was analyze the employee profile data to understand their company demographics. They also ran a company-wide DE&I survey through Bob to gain feedback on where their people felt they were succeeding and where they could improve. After analyzing the survey results, they ran a series of sessions to dig deeper into the findings and create an open dialogue. Increasing diversity at Auror was a priority, and they wanted to have stats that they could be proud of.
Auror uses Bob’s KPI dashboards to track their DE&I goals. They have made great strides in their diversity goals, with the current representation of women and non-binary employees at the company standing at 54 percent—a significant improvement on their numbers just a short time ago. They are now actively working to increase the number of women in leadership roles and hire more people from the Maori and Pacific Islands minority groups, who are still under-represented at the company.
Auror has achieved so much in the short time they have been using Bob and are determined to continue building the best company they can—with the best people and best People Experience platform.
Main takeaways
- As a company based in New Zealand, Auror’s People Team had seen many HRIS that couldn’t support their local currency or time zone. However, Bob is a truly global HR platform and can fully support them across their sites, from Auckland to Denver.
- Auror uses Bob’s task lists and workflows to replace the spreadsheets and emails they had been using, saving them time and effort, and creating seamless processes.
- Auror loves Bob’s flexibility, enabling them to add and configure fields to support new company initiatives, such as rolling out a four-and-a-half day working week for their employees worldwide.
- Auror’s People team uses Bob’s People Analytics to understand their company demographics and measure their DE&I goals.
