"Built solved multiple problems with one affordable tool."

When Dave Mathewson became Davisville Church’s executive pastor in early 2018, the fifteen-person staff was relying on each employee to track their office absences. With the responsibility to oversee operations and human resources, Dave realized that increased accountability was required to improve the organization’s processes.

"We are a church, and we believe in the honor system. However, accountability is really vital for any organization, when it comes to not just holding employees accountable to something but also making sure they are getting the benefits they’re entitled to."   - Dave

Beyond simply keeping accurate records, a primary concern was ensuring employees were fully utilizing their generous benefits. Davisville’s management team places importance on employees using their allowed time off, but without proper reporting, this valuable benefit wasn’t always being used to its full extent.

Photo from davisville.org

Each employee had a personal paper calendar stored in a communal filing cabinet that was used to highlight the days they were planning to be away. However, it wasn’t always obvious when there was a highlighted date whether the time was for vacation, sick, or personal leave. Because account balances weren’t kept up to date, managers and employees had no method to determine if time off should be requested, approved, or even required.

"Differentiating your time-off and tracking that time was nonexistent, and the accountability was also nill."   - Dave

Dave also relied on the staff to manually submit paper timesheets. Improving PTO tracking was the priority, but it was evident that the organization would eventually need a more streamlined timesheet process.

"Honestly, submitting timesheets was always pulling teeth a little bit to make sure they got handed in on time. They weren’t in a centralized location, and you were always following up with people."   - Dave

There are numerous HR software options, and Dave found the market to be crowded and noisy. It took several months of research to sort through the various solutions available online.

"I felt that with a lot of other solutions, I had to jump all in with every part of HR. Except for I didn’t need all of that. I was just looking for PTO."   - Dave

It was important to Dave that this solution was not only affordable but also easy to adopt for the end-user. To digitize the reporting and tracking of PTO would simplify his administrative duties, and hopefully, be a celebrated tool used by his staff.

It was a priority for Davisville Church to find a new system for tracking and reporting PTO. However, the implementation of any digital product rarely comes without hesitation or a steep learning curve.

"I would describe the transitions to some other software as very painful on the end-user side of things. Going from tracking PTO and timesheets on paper to using Built was a very smooth transition. It went really well!"   - Dave

Dave welcomed these efficient transitions after months of hunting for the right HR software. He appreciated that the Built support staff was readily available, making implementation relatively quick. In the end, the software proved to have enough flexibility to meet the organization’s need for custom policies.

"There is a lot of flexibility. It feels like this software is set up for us as opposed to it is set a certain way, and we have to change what we are doing to fit it."   - Dave

Davisville’s immediate focus was to improve PTO tracking, but with Built, the organization had access to a toolbox of useful features to streamline its HR processes.

"One of our favorite things that we have now is the calendar on Built. We really struggled not just with the tracking of paid time off but also having a staff calendar of who is out of the office, when and why. It’s all in one place now."   - Dave

To eliminate additional paper headaches, Dave was interested in someday switching to digital timesheets. The release of the Built Timesheet product couldn’t have come at a more convenient time.

"At the time, I wasn’t looking for a timesheet program, but I knew I would need to at some point. Now we use the Built timesheets, and it works really well. It’s simple and very user-friendly."   - Dave

The electronic communication system streamlines the timesheet process for Dave’s team, making it much easier for the people in the right positions of authority to approve what is needed. The Built Advanced Org Design module has additionally helped clarify these roles and responsibilities.

"I love when people see the org chart for the first time and are able to see clearly the structure of how the staff is laid out."   - Dave

Even as a small organization, Davisville has realized the benefits of utilizing multiple features that are continually being fine-tuned by Built's developers and designers.

"What I’ve been impressed with over time is that Built hasn’t stayed the same. There isn’t a stagnation with the software. I’ve struggled with other cloud-based software providers where there are items that get stuck in development."   - Dave

With the introduction of new features, Dave has seen Built continue to make progress and change for the better. He enjoys how the product team encourages and creates an open dialogue for customers to influence this development.

"What I appreciate about Built is there seems to be a culture of movement with the software forward; that they are going to be listening to customers, but also innovating ideas for what would be useful."   - Dave

Photo from davisville.org

Even as a small organization, Davisville Church needs access to advanced digital tools to support its HR needs. Dave found an affordable solution with Built and an opportunity to improve simultaneously.

"What I appreciated was that Built was scalable. It’s not breaking the bank and worth the money we are investing in it."   - Dave