If you’re looking for a company specializing in digital design and experiential marketing, knock on Timecode Lab’s door in Montreal, Quebec—or rather, reach out to them on their website. Just one look at the homepage is enough to understand the aesthetic spirit and the ultra-unique expertise of this team of 10 digital ninjas.
Their mission? To work hand-in-hand with many brands and support them in creating new forms of engagement and outreach. At Timecode Lab, everyone’s talents and skills are brought together into a unified team that always strives to make each project unique and exceptional.
For Stéphane Hoareau, President and Strategist, “customer success is our success. We take all our projects to heart and we build a real relationship of lasting trust with our clients: We invest ourselves personally to guide our clients to the best ideas and possibilities, while taking into account their business reality. Each project teaches us and allows us to exceed the limits of what's possible.”
So when an agency fond of aesthetics finds its design match in the Rise platform, it’s the beginning of a beautiful collaboration.
Stéphane refused to settle for mediocrity, and went in search of a better payroll software.
Shortly after Stéphane Hoareau founded Timecode Lab in 2012, he learned just how much of an obstacle course payroll management could be. He entrusted the task to a traditional payroll company… and, very quickly, it became clear that the process was complicated and convoluted.
“I’m someone who likes visual things, so from the start, I wasn’t wowed by the sad and unintuitive aspect of the platform. When I started to use it, my concerns about payroll management were confirmed: it was long, complex, you had to call to make your own changes. I was not guided and supported at all. There were many errors on the paystubs. Even downloading reports was a headache.”
An easy and quick transition ‘almost too good to be true’
What immediately surprised Stéphane when he discovered Rise was the intuitive and dynamic aspect of our platform, a far cry from his impression of past payroll companies. "At first, I even thought it was a little too good to be true," he explains, laughing.
After requesting a free demo of the Rise platform—and being wowed by our UX/UI interface and robust features—Stéphane signed on.
He shares: “The transition and the implementation of the data went really fast and I was very well supported by the implementation specialist. She explained everything to me very clearly in a video conference. It was amazing!”
After switching to Rise's Payroll and HR software, Stéphane decided to also take advantage of our benefits management solution. "Sun Life is a client of our agency, so when I saw that Rise and Sun Life were also partners, it gave me confidence and I also signed on for the group benefits solution. I like the fact that everything is integrated into a single platform,” continues Stéphane.
I discovered that payroll was not a necessary evil
Like many entrepreneurs, Stéphane saw payroll as a complicated and unpleasant task—a necessary evil. Not so anymore, since Rise took over Payroll + HR + Benefits management for his company.
“Before, I thought that managing payroll was a bit like having a tooth pulled at the dentist: it's painful, it hurts, but you have to go through it. Thanks to detailed explanations from Rise specialists, I feel perfectly in control of the details of my organization and of my employees' files. I know updates and changes are going to be quick. For instance this morning, it took me only 3 minutes to approve my team's next pay. And when I have a question, there is always someone at Rise I can easily reach. I discovered that payroll was not a necessary evil.”
I couldn’t imagine going through COVID-19 without Rise's support
Globally, COVID-19 has had an immense impact on companies and has created a period of upheaval and concern—but it’s also a time where everyone has come together in support. To our delight, Timecode Lab has noticed efforts made by the Rise team to support organizations in this exceptional situation.
“We had to adapt,” Stéphane tells us, “and unfortunately had some temporary layoffs, made salary adjustments… Rise's support was incredible throughout. Everything could have been so complicated and it was just the opposite. I couldn’t imagine going through COVID-19 without Rise's support.”
For Rise, there is no greater reward than knowing that we can make our clients’ lives easier and make a difference for them. We’re thrilled to continue supporting Timecode Lab, who thanks to its creative and multi-talented team, will come out stronger after these challenging times.
In fact, Timecode Lab recently put its collective energy and resources into concepting and building the VOCAB site, a French learning platform that uses artificial intelligence to support elementary school students in mastering their language while schools remain closed.
