Waterloo Sparkling Water
FRACTIONAL HR THAT DELIVERS MORE THAN COVERAGE
How Waterloo Sparkling Water saved $100K+ and modernized HR with Amplēo
INTRODUCTION
Waterloo Sparkling Water is a fast-growing beverage company known for its bold flavors and clean ingredients. When its only HR leader went on parental leave, the timing couldn’t have been worse. A bonus cycle, open enrollment, and an organizational reorg were all in motion at once. Waterloo needed more than a placeholder. It needed someone who could step in, take ownership, and keep everything moving.
What started as interim coverage turned into something much bigger.
Download the full Waterloo Case Study
CHALLENGE
Waterloo was running lean on HR when its manager stepped away on parental leave. With no backup and several high-stakes initiatives already underway, the company faced a familiar but difficult situation: too much happening to pause, and no one to lead it.
At the same time, Waterloo’s HR infrastructure had deeper problems. A fragmented, manual tech environment was creating inefficiencies across payroll, benefits administration, and reporting. Data visibility was limited, administrative burden was high, and the systems in place weren’t built to support a growing company.
Waterloo needed both immediate support and long-term solutions.
SOLUTION
Amplēo HR embedded a seasoned HR consultant directly into Waterloo’s team and got to work fast. Within days, she was operating like she had been there for years, taking full ownership of critical processes while also identifying opportunities to modernize the underlying infrastructure.
She handled:
- Full HR operations leadership with minimal onboarding time
- The annual bonus cycle from calibration with leadership through timely, accurate distribution
- Benefits selection and open enrollment end to end, fielding 100+ employee questions with clarity and care
- Organizational reorg support, advising on structure and communication plans
- HR tech modernization, replacing manual processes with a fully integrated payroll, benefits, and reporting stack
- A full benefits program redesign across medical, dental, vision, 401(k), and life insurance to optimize cost and deliver more competitive options for employees
RESULTS
- 100% HR continuity during leave
- Bonus cycle completed with 100% accuracy
- $100K+ in annual cost savings through benefits optimization and vendor consolidation
- Stronger employee satisfaction and retention through more competitive benefits
- Reduced manual work and improved reporting across HR and finance
CLIENT QUOTE
“When your only HR person goes on leave, you realize just how much they carry. Amplēo made sure we never felt that weight. Within days, our Amplēo HR Consultant was operating like she’d been part of our team for years—and the improvements she introduced in capital efficiency and process are still paying off.”
— David Ingraham, CFO, Waterloo Sparkling Water
CONCLUSION
Waterloo’s partnership with Amplēo HR is a reminder that the right fractional support can do far more than fill a gap. By embedding quickly, owning critical initiatives, and modernizing core HR infrastructure, Amplēo HR helped Waterloo come out of a challenging stretch stronger, leaner, and better equipped for what’s ahead.
