Columbia College
Established in 1936, Columbia College is an independent charity providing first and second-year university courses that can lead to an associate degree, fully transferable to local universities. Along with ensuring accurate semi monthly payroll for 275 hourly and salaried employees, and a year end of 400+ T4’s, the college also navigates a complex employee handbook that features various grid steps, eligibility criteria, intricate benefits structures, compliance regulations, and more!
Avanti has teamed up with the payroll team at Columbia College to transform their business processes, making payroll processing and onboarding quicker and much smoother.
Goals
Improve payroll operations
Columbia College encountered some real challenges with their manual payroll processes, which relied on an outdated system that required a lot of manual data entry that led to inaccuracies. The Payroll team worked hard to navigate a complex employee handbook, dealing with multiple grid steps for different employee statuses and varying benefit eligibility. They also managed intricate RRSP tracking, including special arrangements for grandfathered employees. On top of that, generating accurate reports and issuing Records of Employment (ROEs) took considerable time and resources.
Increased onboarding efficiency
The College's onboarding process faced challenges due to a heavy reliance on paper-based documentation that moved between departments. This often led to inaccuracies and prolonged the time required for new employees to get up and running. Given the high turnover of casual staff, managing this process became particularly difficult.
Streamline employee self-service
Before using Avanti, employees had limited visibility into their payroll information, resulting in numerous requests for pay details, benefits, and time-off balances. While these tasks may seem minor and easy to update, they consumed a significant amount of time, diverting the Payroll team's focus from more strategic initiatives and critical work.
The Solution
Integrated payroll system
By implementing Avanti’s integrated payroll solution, Columbia College significantly improved the efficiency of its payroll operations. The system automates data entry and report generation, reducing the need for manual work and minimizing errors. This increased efficiency has allowed the team to reclaim around 5 hours each week that were previously spent on routine payroll-related tasks. These hours are now dedicated to higher-value human resources functions, such as employee engagement, payroll compliance, and strategic planning. Additionally, with the ability to generate intuitive payroll reports quickly, the team saves approximately 7 hours each month. A major milestone was achieved during the smooth transition to a new entity, where they processed 400 ROEs (Records of Employment) in less than a day—an impressive feat for a task that would have otherwise taken weeks to complete.
Automated onboarding processes
Avanti has transformed the onboarding experience with automated recruiting tools and centralized applicant data that give visibility of the entire process – from welcome email to completion of onboarding tasks. New hires can complete their onboarding tasks remotely, automatically updating their employee profiles. This change reduced inaccuracies and the time spent on manual onboarding processes, all while streamlining the management of new hires. Plus, there’s no more chasing down employees for paperwork, such as profiles and tax forms — everything is tracked within Avanti, making the process smooth and hassle-free.
Transform employee self-service features
With Avanti, employees gained access to a user-friendly self-service portal where they can view their pay stubs, tax information, and benefit eligibility and more. This shift empowers employees to find the information they need independently, significantly reducing the time spent addressing payroll-related inquiries. Plus, the transition has led to substantial paper savings — no more mailing T4s to casual employees or tracking down addresses — streamlining the process and reducing waste. Overall, this has saved the team considerable time and resources!
