Welcome to the second edition of the Quinyx Q&A. Every quarter we’ll be taking you behind the scenes as we talk to a different Quinyxer to get their insight into the wonderful world of workforce management.
This instalment features Senior Customer Advisor, Mikael Nylén, who forms part of our support team. Mikael is in a unique position as, before he joined Quinyx, he worked as a chef at Vapiano who are one of our customers. Mikael’s hands-on experience of using Quinyx on a day-to-day basis means he’s perfectly positioned to help a whole range of customers ensure they’re getting the most from the system.
In this interview, Mikael tells us what it's like working in support, what excites him about the workforce management industry, and why it’s important to enjoy work.
What’s your role at Quinyx?
Mikael: I used to be in front line support but now I work as second line support which means I take care of more complex questions and issues that our customers have while providing assistance to my colleagues in front line support when they need it. The role I do now means I also have regular contact with our developers to help ensure our customers are getting the most from the system.
What do you enjoy most about your work?
Mikael: I love the support work. The thing that I love working with support is everything is solution orientated. Everything is directed to the customers and we always have immediate feedback. I’ve always worked closely with customers and I enjoy the customer relationship.
When we get a ‘thank you’ it’s the most rewarding part of the job. In support we have a Wall of Wow - so whenever we get a particular grateful response from a customer, we print it out and put it on the wall. It’s a great feeling when I can see how the time I’ve spent helping a customer leads to them resolving an issue they’ve had for a long time. It might sound like a cliche, but when we find a solutions, and the customer is happy, this makes me happy.
How did you discover Quinyx?
Mikael: I actually started using Quinyx when I was a chef at Vapiano and ended up working with it a lot. I used to train new employees, and teaching them how to use Quinyx became part of this. After a while I started helping the restaurant manager with the IT systems and looking at ways to get the most from them. What I loved right from the start was the flexibility Quinyx gave us as well as being able to choose how to view the schedule and the different reports we could run. I’ve always loved the product so when the opportunity came up to work for Quinyx I knew it was one I had to take..
What excites you about working with Quinyx?
Mikael: One of the exciting things is the rate we’re expanding. We’re opening in new countries and reaching new markets. When I started at Quinyx we’re around 25 employees in a small office and now we’re well over 100 people in multiple offices and multiple countries. The journey for us to reach where we are now has been amazing.
What excites you about the industry?
Mikael: What excites me is the way, as an employee, you can interact with the system and affect the way you're being scheduled in a much more direct manner than you’ve ever been able to before. Moving forward, it’s going to be great to see more powerful automation of schedules, especially those based on previous sales forecasts. More and more things are going to become automated. One of the most powerful aspects is when a WFM tool becomes an assistant to a store manager or a scheduler, helping the make the right call and the right decision when it comes to knowing when to schedule someone, who to schedule and at which point to do it. It doesn’t just benefit the company, it benefits the employee too and this means they're much happier when they’re working.
What are some of Quinyx’ customers biggest challenges?
Mikael: We get many different questions from our customers that differ depending on the time in the month and the year. For example, at the start of the year the questions will tend to focus on forecasting while at the end of the year people want support with running reports. We often find the people who benefit the most form Quinyx are those who fully embrace it and leave their old ways of scheduling, reporting, and running payroll behind.
When we first start working with a customer, managers quite often want to see a particular KPI but, after we get to know and understand them, we can see often see that what they’re actually looking for is an entirely different number. There’s often a ‘light bulb’ moment when they see how easy it can be and how powerful the new information from Quinyx can be - it’s always an exciting journey to see the transformation.
How important is it to enjoy work?
Mikael: The enjoy work culture is crucial for any business. If you have employees who don’t enjoy work they’re not going to be loyal to the brand or the business. A happy employee stays with a company for a long time, they learn more, they progress more in the company and they are more efficient.
What would your advice be for WFM system?
Mikael: Change management might sound scary but it’s absolutely crucial and can be a very rewarding process to go through. Don’t be afraid of change, it’s almost always something good.
If you have any questions you’d like Mikael or one of the Quinyx team to answer, let us know on LinkedIn or Facebook and we’ll do our best to answer them.
In the meantime, if you’d like more insight into the world of workforce management, you can download our free guide looking at the future of the industry.