Whites has been supporting brands with digital marketing for 13 years, operating across 34 markets. The agency creates effective 360° digital strategies powered by AI, Data Science, and proprietary tools developed by their Innovation team. The company operates on data, not intuition. They value teamwork, build lasting partnerships, and share knowledge openly. Their campaigns have won awards for effectiveness at international competitions including the Global Content Awards and The Drum Marketing Awards.
As the 50-person team at Whites grew, they identified an opportunity to streamline how they managed employee information. Natalia Jędrzejczyk, People and Business Support Lead, describes the goals they set:
Our main challenge was centralizing data about compensation, time off, and employment history in one place, and giving managers intuitive access to that information. We wanted to move away from spreadsheets and stop constantly digging through contracts to confirm basic details.
The company was looking for a solution that would help the team work even more efficiently. Up to that point, different information lived in different systems—which was natural for a growing organization, but over time, they saw an opportunity to optimize.
Previously, for compensation and employee data, we used scattered files and Excel spreadsheets; we had a separate system for time off. We saw a chance to improve communication and create one place to update and verify information.
The team also wanted to give employees a more convenient tool for managing their time off.
Whites conducted a thorough analysis of available HR solutions. The company tested several systems—some for a few years, others for shorter periods. After careful evaluation, they chose Calamari.
Key decision criteria:
Calamari stood out for its intuitive design, flexibility, and ability to consolidate all our data in one system.
"The integration with Google Workspace and Slack—our core work tools—was crucial," recalls Natalia Jędrzejczyk. "Another plus is access to Calamari's API, which we can continue to build on and create our own integrations."
Thanks to integrations with Google Workspace and Slack, employees have quick access to information and can easily submit requests. This simplified HR processes and made them more transparent and user-friendly.
The integration with Slack and Google Workspace, easy exports, flexibility on multiple levels, and support from the Calamari team sealed the deal.
Timeline: About one month
Key success factor: Strategic data preparation
"For us, the key was gathering information from managers at the outset about what data they needed. This allowed us to set up fields in Calamari and upload a defined database right away."
Team adoption happened very quickly! The simple interface and easy request submission—both through the website and via Slack—allowed Whites to roll out Calamari rapidly.
We wrapped up the entire implementation in about a month. Now it's our go-to tool and gets nothing but positive feedback from both managers and the entire team.
The Whites team noticed the biggest changes primarily in communication. Easy access to the right data helps them avoid unnecessary back-and-forth.
Impact: Managers have instant access to the information they need, and employees can independently manage their requests.
Additional areas where they saw improvement:
Here are proven implementation tips from Whites Agency:
"For us, the key was gathering information from the team at the beginning about what data they needed."
"It's worth spending time to thoroughly understand the functions and variables in the time-off panel. Focusing on the initial setup makes it easy to implement Calamari across the entire organization."
"The system's flexibility allows you to accurately model different scenarios and exceptions in companies."
We would definitely recommend Calamari—it's a tool that significantly simplifies daily work for HR, managers, and employees. It's intuitive, has plenty of customization options for different organizations and situations, and the Calamari team is helpful and accessible
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