The Thinking Traveller, a luxury villa rental company operating across multiple countries, faced significant operational challenges as their team expanded to 150 employees across three countries. Their existing manual HR processes, which included paper-based onboarding, spreadsheet-driven leave management, and decentralized employee records, were becoming increasingly complex and time-consuming. With different regional requirements for each location and a growing need for standardized processes, the company needed a solution that could scale with their ambitious growth plans while maintaining compliance across all territories.
The business was managing critical HR functions through a combination of emails, spreadsheets, and physical documents, creating bottlenecks in employee onboarding and leave management. This fragmented approach was particularly challenging when handling multiple regions' specific requirements and was limiting their ability to maintain consistent HR practices across their expanding operation.
The Thinking Traveller partnered with Ostratto to implement a comprehensive Zoho People solution, transforming their HR management from a manual, location-dependent process to an automated, globally accessible system. This digital transformation project focused on standardizing processes while maintaining the flexibility needed for regional variations in HR requirements.
Products Featured
Zoho People
A comprehensive HR management platform that streamlines employee data management, onboarding, and HR processes.
Professional Services
Designing, implementing and maintaining the solution to meet requirements was all completed in-house by Ostratto.
Ostratto Support
Dedicated helpdesk support ensures users confidence in knowing they are technically supported at all times.
Implementation
The entire approach was then designed around these requirements, plus a few extras that would enhance the solution.
Globally Adaptable
We configured Zoho People to handle multiple territories by creating location-specific forms and workflows for each country. This included setting up 17 departments, 70 designations, and specific processes for three different locations, ensuring compliance with local requirements while maintaining global consistency. Each location received its own customized set of HR documents and processes, with automated translations where needed.
The system was structured to automatically route employees through the correct regional processes based on their location, while still maintaining centralized oversight for global HR managers. This careful balance of local autonomy and central control ensured that regional HR requirements were met without creating administrative silos.
User-Friendly
User-Friendly
The platform was set up with intuitive self-service features, including an automated leave management system with eight different leave types and clear approval workflows. We created standardized processes for common HR tasks, making it easy for both administrators and employees to navigate the system.
The interface was customized with role-based dashboards, ensuring users only see the information and options relevant to their position. Mobile accessibility was prioritized throughout the implementation, allowing employees to submit requests and access information from any device. Training materials and help documentation were created specifically for each user type, from basic employees to HR administrators.
Process-Driven
Process-Driven
We implemented structured workflows for employee onboarding, including automated document collection, digital signatures for contracts, and customized forms for each location. The system was configured with up to 10 forms per location, covering everything from basic employee information to specific regional requirements. Each form was designed with smart validation rules to ensure data accuracy and completeness.
The onboarding workflow was built with conditional logic that adapts based on the employee's role, department, and location, automatically triggering relevant tasks and notifications. This eliminated the need for HR to manually track and assign onboarding tasks, reducing the risk of missed steps in the process.
Integration-Ready
The solution was implemented as part of the Zoho One ecosystem, ensuring seamless integration with existing tools while establishing a foundation for future expansion. This included setting up automated workflows that could be easily modified as the business continues to grow.
The architecture was designed with scalability in mind, allowing for easy addition of new locations, departments, or HR processes without requiring significant system changes. This forward-thinking approach ensures the system can evolve alongside The Thinking Traveller's business needs.
Result
The implementation of Zoho People transformed The Thinking Traveller's HR operations, delivering significant improvements across their global business.
Manual onboarding processes that previously took days are now completed in hours through automated workflows. The system successfully manages 150 employees across three countries, with standardized processes reducing administrative time by up to 60%.
Leave management, previously a complex manual process, is now handled automatically with location-specific rules and approval workflows. HR documentation is now 100% digitised, with all forms and processes accessible through a single platform. The self-service capabilities have reduced HR inquiry response times, while the automated onboarding process has cut new employee setup time significantly.
Most importantly, the system has provided a scalable foundation for future growth, capable of handling increasing employee numbers without additional administrative overhead.
At Ostratto, we're fundamentally customer-success focused. This means instead of designing solutions based on our expectations, we focus on customer requirements and needs to ensure their success. In turn, we find success in shared success as our customers' trusted technical consultancy partner whom they can rely upon.
We solve complex business problems with cutting-edge technology, whilst keeping everything simple for our customers. Be sure to check out other examples of how we have helped businesses make their work, less work.
