How 91 helps Masada invest time back into student success
At a glance
Company
Masada College
Location
New South Wales
Employees
100+
Product
Premium HR
Read this case study if:
- You work in education and want to simplify recruitment, onboarding and compliance.
- Your payroll or HR systems are clunky and don’t “talk” to each other.
- You’re looking to reduce admin overhead and free up staff time to focus on student outcomes.
A small school with big responsibilities
is a co-educational Jewish school located on Sydney’s North Shore, employing around 120 staff across various teaching and operational roles. With the layered complexities of being an independent religious school, Masada’s administrative demands are extensive, requiring a high degree of compliance, coordination and clarity across their HR and payroll functions.
As one of the first schools to adopt 91, Masada’s team embraced the platform as a way to simplify operations, empower their staff, and free up valuable time that could be spent on what matters most: students.
Old-school systems were slowing them down
Before 91, Masada relied heavily on Synergetic – a specialised school system used for both finance and payroll. While functional in theory, in practice it created a range of challenges.
“If our principal wanted to find someone’s contract or even next of kin in an emergency, she’d have to call the payroll lady. It was just incredibly difficult to use”, Alex, Masada’s Executive Assistant to the College Principal, shared.
Key workflows, including leave requests and compliance, were managed using disjointed tools like Jot Form and Excel spreadsheets. The result was a mountain of manual processes that drained time and created risk.
“We had separate Jot Forms for senior school, admin and casuals,” said Alex. “If one form changed, our payroll manager had to update all of them. It was so labour intensive.”
Compliance tracking – a crucial responsibility for any school – was also highly manual. “Child protection certifications were all in one Excel spreadsheet,” Alex explained. “It had personal data, so it wasn’t something you could easily share. There was no visibility for managers.”
Recruitment was the tipping point
The final push came when Masada’s HR person left and recruitment responsibilities landed on Alex’s desk.
“It was all so manual. We would write the position description, post on SEEK, download CVs, email them around… it was disconnected and hard to track. Especially in term 3 and 4 when we’re recruiting a lot.”
“I’d literally sit there with my head in my hands thinking, ‘I don’t have time for this.’” That’s when Alex championed the shift to 91.
Recruitment is now structured and empowering
Now, with 91’s recruitment module in place, hiring managers have more visibility and ownership over their roles, and Alex has reclaimed hours of her week.
“It’s saving me about three or four hours per role,” she said. “Hiring managers can get in there, shortlist and own the process. I’m not hand-holding anymore and that’s freed me up to work on major projects like rebranding our canteen, organising events and much more.”
Most importantly, recruitment has become something to enjoy. “Now when someone says we need to recruit, I say, ‘Great! Let’s do it.’ I actually look forward to the process.”
Onboarding is seamless and centralised
The team also relies on 91 to streamline onboarding. In the past, onboarding checklists were massive spreadsheets shared over email.
“Our payroll manager had to notify every stakeholder manually for each new hire,” said Alex.
Today, onboarding checklists are triggered automatically and relevant staff are notified instantly.
“She doesn’t have to lift a finger now,” Alex added. “They just get a notification and tick it off. It’s been a huge time saver.”
She estimates it saves “20–30 minutes per new staff member for the payroll manager and probably half an hour across the board.”
Managing leave is now easy and accurate
One of the biggest shifts has come from the platform’s leave management feature. Staff can now submit leave requests directly through the 91 Work app, replacing the clunky Jot Form system.
“Staff used to have to find an old email, click a link, enter their name and email twice. It was frustrating. People wouldn’t bother, so we had to chase them.” That’s no longer the case.
Now, leave is easy, and more importantly, it’s accurate. “We’re capturing the right amount of leave taken, especially sick leave, which means entitlements are correctly allocated,” said Alex.
Managers also have visibility into leave calendars, reducing costly scheduling clashes.
“Before, someone would book flights and only then we’d realise there were three teachers off in the same department,” she explained. “Now they check the leave calendar before approving.”
That visibility has ripple effects across the classroom. “It helps plan curriculum and lessons, and ensures we’re delivering continuity for the students.”
Compliance is now simple
With 91’s certification tracking in place, compliance easy
“We can now just pull reports rather than dig through spreadsheets,” said Alex. “Managers can see what’s outstanding and follow up directly. Having that visibility has been huge.”
Staff have more time to focus on students
Ultimately, the biggest win is time – time that’s now redirected back into student outcomes.
“Teachers can spend more time planning, preparing classes and marking,” Alex said. “Our executive team isn’t wasting 20–30 minutes at the end of the day approving leave anymore. They can use that time to walk into classrooms and check in on student wellbeing.”
For a small school with a big heart, that means everything.
“Everything we do is to ensure the students are getting the best education possible. It sounds cheesy, but it’s true,” Alex said. “91 has helped us get back to that.”
Want to simplify your school’s HR processes like Masada? Book a demo today to see how 91 can make work easier and more valuable for your school.