Hypergrowth is exhilarating until the cracks start to show. For Metronet, growing from 350 to 3,500 employees was an operational sprint, adding roughly 300 new employees every year for the past seven years.
The tools and processes that had served them as a smaller organization simply couldn’t keep up anymore. Tracie Akers, VP of Associate Resources, oversaw headcount planning. “We had become proficient in adding 300 heads every year—we could do it,” she says. “It just became extremely time-consuming, and we had important resources spending all their time on non-value-add activities.”
Metronet’s headcount plans lived in spreadsheets, which Kasey and her Finance counterpart, Taylor Fjeldheim, VP of FP&A and Data Analytics, had to update weekly. As the leader of FP&A, Taylor was responsible for turning raw headcount data into actionable financial forecasts, a process that required precision and collaboration across departments. Because of how fast Metronet was growing, headcount reconciliation took up to three days.
“The problem with spreadsheets was that the data was outdated almost immediately. It was only accurate for the hour you were looking at it, which made decision-making incredibly difficult,” Taylor explains.
Caught in a recurring cycle of manual data entry, Kasey couldn’t see the bigger picture because she didn’t have the time to invest in strategic priorities. “I started to believe that I just wasn’t a strategic person,” she admits.
The constant pressure to reconcile spreadsheets and chase approvals consumed her weeks, leaving little space for OKRs, coaching, and other projects that could move the needle.
“We spent half a day reconciling headcount data, only to know it wasn’t accurate. It felt like wasted time.” -Taylor Fjeldheim, VP of FP&A
For Kasey, the tipping point came during yet another multi-day reconciliation.
“I was lying in bed pissed off,” she recalls. “I had all these projects piling up, and instead, I was stuck reconciling headcount spreadsheets. I thought, ‘There has to be a better way.’” She started searching for solutions late that night, which is when she discovered TeamOhana.
Kasey took the first demo, then she brought in Taylor and eventually Tracie. “It had everything we needed: real-time visibility, intuitive workflows, and a way to finally connect HR and finance,” Kasey says.
The platform immediately stood out for its user-friendly design and flexibility. TeamOhana allowed Metronet to avoid the high costs, long timelines, and complexity associated with fully custom development, while still getting a tailored experience to meet their unique needs.
“We weren’t looking for an enterprise solution that would take six months to implement. TeamOhana’s flexibility and ease of use stood out right away,” Taylor adds.
Unlike other tools Metronet had explored, TeamOhana seemed purpose-built for solving their challenges.
“It was as if you were in my head designing our ideal enterprise headcount process and system exactly the way I would have done it,” Tracie says.
The final step was convincing executive leadership to take the leap. “We never buy from startups,” Tracie explains. “It feels too risky, especially for headcount, which is our largest expense.” Leadership also questioned whether hiring another full-time employee to manage the process would be a simpler, safer solution.
But with more growth ahead, Tracie knew the amount of admin work also would grow exponentially. One new FTE turns into two, then three; soon, you need managers, departments, and more tools. In other words, hiring FTEs wasn’t going to scale, whereas a platform would.
“TeamOhana worked hard to address our concerns by providing us with references from other high-growth companies, a sandbox environment, extended implementation support—everything we needed,” Tracie says. “I am a huge believer in customer service, and TeamOhana proved from the very first meeting that it was super important to them, too.”
With Tracie’s stamp of approval, Metronet’s executive leadership signed off on the purchase. Their story of transformation was underway.
To ensure a smooth transition, the team adopted a phased approach, which balanced immediate benefits for Finance and HR with the need to onboard hiring managers thoughtfully.
Right away, Kasey, Tracie, and Taylor saw a difference in their day-to-day work. They saved time on headcount reconciliations and approval tracking. “I used to spend 15-20 hours every week updating data, chasing people down, looking for emails, going back and forth,” says Kasey. “All of that went away.”
“TeamOhana has transformed my conversations with Kasey from tactical data entry to strategic planning. Now, we can focus on what’s next, not just what’s missing,” Taylor says.
For hiring managers, the rollout required a more deliberate approach. Training sessions helped them understand the platform’s workflows, like approval processes and budget tracking, while TeamOhana’s customer success team provided hands-on support. By phasing the implementation, the company ensured hiring managers could adapt to the system without disruption.
“There was hesitation at first,” Kasey admits, “until the hiring managers saw how easy it was to track their plan and budget in real time.” It was a total transformation from the tedious back and forth of the past.
“The best part about implementation was TeamOhana didn’t just hand us the software and walk away,” Kasey says. “They were with us every step, making sure we succeeded.”
Success for Metronet meant cleaning up their disjointed processes and eliminating the manual admin work that consumed Kasey and Taylor’s days. Here are the key workflows that Metronet uses to save time and costs as they grow.
1. Centralized approval desk put an end to endless email threads and lost approvals.
Before TeamOhana, Metronet didn’t have a clear or centralized headcount approval process, which led to hiring delays. With TeamOhana, Metronet has a centralized approval system that tracks every approval, logs all decisions with an audit trail, and ensures transparency across the organization.
“Before TeamOhana, the headcount approval process was really inconsistent, so hiring managers would often need multiple rounds of approval for one head because we’d lose track of the original approval. It was slowing us down. TeamOhana enables us to keep up with the demands of the hiring process even when we’re moving and growing so fast.” -Tracie Akers, VP of Associate Resources
2. Hiring Tracker: Rebuilding trust with a single source of truth.
Instead of manual spreadsheets, Metronet now uses TeamOhana’s hiring tracker, which unifies real-time employee and hiring data from UKG. While this is critical for Finance and HR alignment, it’s been even more impactful for hiring managers, which number in the hundreds. All of their individual plans used to be in spreadsheets, which were entirely dependent on manual updates from Kasey. Now, they are centralized with real-time updates on the plan and budget. Every stakeholder—whether in HR, Finance, or a hiring role—can rely on the same, accurate data. For Taylor, having real-time access to accurate headcount data meant fewer bottlenecks and faster budget adjustments, a critical improvement over the past.
“Trust is the one word I’d use to describe what TeamOhana has given us. With hundreds of hiring managers, we all needed to be on the same page. Now we have clear, reliable data—and trust has been reintroduced to our team.” -Kasey Sullivan, Talent Acquisition Manager
3. Scenario Planning: Saving money while thinking strategically
Managing a headcount plan for thousands of employees while staying within budget is no small feat. Tracie, Taylor, and Kasey use Scenario Planning to create different “what-if” scenarios in a controlled, risk-free environment. Metronet revamped its budgeting process to identify savings while hiring strategically. Tracie credits scenarios with helping the company prioritize roles, optimize leveling, and push start dates to align with financial goals. Kasey is no longer chasing numbers but having strategic conversations with hiring managers about how their plans align with company objectives.
“TeamOhana has made us much more budget-conscious as we grow. We’re adding hundreds of employees every year, but now we’re finding ways to do it responsibly and strategically.” -Tracie Akers, VP of Associate Resources.
For Metronet, measuring ROI is a mix of both quantitative and qualitative outcomes, all of which have transformed how they operate as a fast-growing company. Here’s how Metronet evaluates the return on their investment in TeamOhana:
1. Kasey alone saves 15-20 hours per week on manual tasks, chasing down approvals, and updating spreadsheets.
By automating time-consuming processes like approvals, reconciliations, and headcount tracking, Kasey got half her week back. “Before TeamOhana, I was working a lot of hours because, of course, I had to get it all done. But I wasn’t spending nearly enough time on metrics, coaching, talent strategy, and other action items,” she says.
2. Metronet saved the costs of at least three full-time employees—a 7X ROI.
Without a system to unify headcount plans and budgets, Tracie estimates that she would need two full-time headcount to do the work that TeamOhana does automatically. Taylor noted that TeamOhana allowed his team to scale efficiently without adding new hires, saving both time and resources.
“Without TeamOhana, I would have needed to hire a full-time manager just to handle headcount planning. Now, it’s 10% of one person’s job.” -Taylor Fjeldheim, VP of FP&A
3. Kasey has gone from data entry clerk to strategic business partner.
The clip below says it all.
4. Metronet has rebuilt trust and transformed cross-functional collaboration.
The single source of truth in TeamOhana renewed a sense of trust between every headcount stakeholder, including hundreds of hiring managers.
“Before, it felt like HR was the police—always saying, 'You can’t do this' or chasing people down. Leaders felt hounded. Now, it is shared accountability because they can see the data themselves. This shift has transformed our relationship with them to be more collaborative, positive, and based on mutual trust." -Tracie Akers, VP of Associate Resources
After seeing such promising ROI from the headcount management platform, Tracie opted to expand Metronet’s partnership with TeamOhana to include compensation planning. In 2024, Metronet ran a bonus cycle and a merit cycle in TeamOhana— without a single spreadsheet—for nearly 3,500 employees.
Meanwhile, Kasey is excited about TeamOhana’s people analytics, which provide insights around hiring health and workforce demographics at the time of need.
What started as a search to replace spreadsheets and manual processes has become a company-wide shift toward trust, efficiency, and strategic alignment. Metronet empowered leaders to collaborate more effectively, plan proactively, and grow responsibly.
“It’s incredibly rewarding to know our FP&A team is delivering accurate, timely data that drives better decisions.” -Taylor Fjeldheim, VP of FP&A
With measurable cost savings, reclaimed time, and strengthened relationships across HR, Finance, and hiring managers, Metronet is now positioned to continue its scaling journey with greater clarity and confidence.
.png)
.jpeg)
