"When I think about Breathe, I'd say it's simple in the best way – it's incredibly easy to use. It's efficient; it streamlines our processes and keeps us on track with record-keeping. And it's robust; it handles everything we need, whether it's building pick lists or using dropdown menus. It's adaptable and makes our
tasks feel like a one-button press."
- Lisa Cox, Head of Operations, Casterbridge Wealth
Challenges 🎯
As Casterbridge Wealth experienced rapid growth, Lisa Cox, Head of Operations, faced significant challenges. Managing the expanding team and maintaining essential HR functions with limited resources became critical issues. Manual tasks like paperwork and holiday requests were time-consuming and inefficient.
"With so much growth within a short span of time and limited resources, we needed a solution to help us expand the team while maintaining compliance with HR functions. It was crucial to eliminate manual processes, paperwork, holiday requests, and similar tasks. We were looking for a tool that was easy to use, something our team could quickly pick up, and that would help us achieve our goals for our people."
Key pain points:
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Managing rapid team growth
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Eliminating manual processes
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Finding an easy-to-use tool
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Maintaining HR compliance
Solution ✅
Casterbridge Wealth outsources HR to an external company for annual reviews and employee needs. On their recommendation, Lisa adopted Breathe, a tool now fundamental to daily operations.
"We rely on Breathe for managing day-to-day admin tasks. The team uses it for holiday requests, sickness reports, equipment tracking, and more. It's a self-sufficient tool that allows myself and my assistant Victoria to monitor and adjust as needed."
Supporting growth 📈
Maintaining efficient HR processes was a high priority as Casterbridge Wealth continued to expand. Breathe significantly supported this growth by providing tools and reminders that ensured the team stayed on track.
"As Casterbridge Wealth grows, efficient HR processes are crucial. The system helps us maintain accurate holiday entitlements and manage equipment, especially for remote workers. It ensures we prioritise and fulfill our responsibilities to employees.
Reminders for annual DBS checks and work anniversaries are beneficial too. Celebrating work anniversaries has become a meaningful way to unite our team, thanks to Breathe's reminders.
Breathe's continuous updates and newsletters keep us informed of new features that enhance our operations. It's a tool that evolves with us, adding value to our team. We've grown with Breathe.”
Keith Edwards, CEO at Casterbridge, added:
"In fast-growing businesses, you're so conscious of where you're going and sorting out what you're doing in the now. Sometimes the longer-term planning and the issues that you've identified in the previous months aren't prioritised – but you can keep track of what you need to be doing with Breathe."
Favourite features 💙
Holiday management
One of the standout features for Casterbridge Wealth within Breathe is its holiday calendar functionality, which plays a pivotal role in their day-to-day operations.
"The feature we rely on most is the holiday calendar. Breathe is the ultimate solution for holiday management. It’s incredibly easy to use, allowing everyone to see each other's availability, whether they're in the office or not. This feature is crucial for arranging team coverage and avoiding conflicts. It's our go-to tool for effortlessly managing holiday requests and ensuring seamless operations."
Performance reviews
Lisa highlights the critical role of Breathe's performance review feature in managing team productivity and development.
"The performance review feature keeps us on track with targets and objectives. We use it for annual reviews, one-to-one sessions, and informal chats to ensure our team understands new processes. It helps us maintain audits and ensures our team meets required competencies, keeping everyone aligned with our goals. This feature supports structured evaluations, continuous improvement, and skill development across the team at Casterbridge Wealth."
Top highlights
As Head of Operations, Lisa values a system that integrates comprehensive employee self-service and HR functions.
"What I like most is the ability for everybody to have input. Employees can change their personal information, manage their holiday calendar, and time logs. Our external HR support function can access everything too, which is a huge benefit for performance reviews and managing long-term absences. It's all seamlessly integrated, so I don't have to start from scratch explaining things. Breathe serves as a one-stop shop for various operational needs, making it an invaluable tool."
Results 📊
Growth plans
Breathe has already and will continue to play a pivotal role in Casterbridge Wealth’s business growth strategy. As they expand, Breathe's new developments will ensure they maximise potential and support their growth journey.
"Breathe will support our significant growth plans over the next two to five years. Continuous developments and enhancements are crucial, and I’m eager to see what’s next. We’ll be looking at how we can use every aspect of Breathe to help our teams become even more streamlined, supporting our growth effectively."
Enhancing business efficiency
Lisa now has more time to focus on growth and to focus on the more strategic areas of the business because of Breathe.
"Breathe is the best solution for enhancing business efficiency. As Operations Manager, it frees up my time by allowing employees to use a self-service solution. We handle day-to-day tasks more efficiently, with quick checks to keep records updated and automated reminders to keep us on track. The new recruitment tool has streamlined our lengthy hiring process too. Breathe saves us time, enabling us to focus on other areas with full confidence in its support."
Keith adds: "Breathe does the job that you need it to do, and that's fantastic, and it’s easy to use. I know that it's easy to use because across our various skill levels, people are engaging with it."
Cost-effective
Breathe delivers significant cost savings by reducing the time required for manual processes.
"The cost of Breathe is minimal compared to the time it saves. It ensures our team has everything they need and simplifies our processes, making it a cost-effective solution for our business. My time is costly in terms of people-hours and Breathe frees that up for us. When we look at number crunching, it's clear that Breathe is a very minimal expense for us compared to the value it delivers."
Lisa's advice for others 💭
“For anyone considering Breathe, my advice is to take some time to explore all the tools before you start inputting data. Breathe is truly a one-stop shop for anything HR-related. Even if you don't use all the functions initially, understanding the full functionality will show you how it can enhance your team's efforts and efficiency. Each development in Breathe continues to enhance what we do for our people, making it an invaluable tool."
