In our latest blog we speak to Toma Pagojute, chief HR officer at Quinyx, about staff scheduling software. Here, we uncover the positive impact it can have on everything from team morale to better efficiency and bolstered bottom lines, plus the challenges to consider before implementation.
Which businesses most benefit from staff scheduling software?
At Quinyx we work with organisations who predominantly manage frontline personnel. Those employees who aren’t desk-based and have a role that involves them being mobile. Everyone from warehouse operatives and hospitality staff to chefs, carers, couriers and more.
As many of these sectors sell a face-to-face or ‘always-on’ service, having sufficient cover is the difference between turning a profit that day or not. So, are there enough bodies to manage the tills, serve tables and stack shelves? Having the right people in post, at the right time is therefore essential and where staff scheduling software comes into its own.
What’s the alternative to staff scheduling software?
Many of the brands that come to us have realised that their former ways of managing staff shifts were inefficient and too time intensive. They may have been using a hand-written rota or excel document to keep track of employees, and then alerting staff via text or WhatsApp messages about their shift patterns.
The problem with this kind of system is that it’s very two-dimensional. It doesn’t allow for things to go wrong or to learn lessons. The onus is on the rota manager to keep everything up to date, while doing their day job. Not only does it add pressure to their role – particularly when people need to swap shifts, are ill or taking leave –but it doesn’t provide any insights on future demand trends either.
In addition, for the employee there is a lack of flexibility and the risk of infringing on their downtime, with their personal device being flooded with work-related messages.
Using an app like Quinyx takes a lot of pressure away on both sides.
Our customer Starbucks told us how scheduling that used to taken them four hours now only takes 30 minutes!
Wayne Byrne, Operations Manager UK for Starbucks, said: “Flexibility is really important to us, and the Quinyx app facilitates that flexibility. Our partners (colleagues) include lots of different people with varying needs, such as parents who only work during school hours and students who work around their studies. Quinyx allows partners to help with shift planning and have ownership of their schedules. Whenever I’m in stores, I always get brilliant feedback about it.”
What are the benefits of using Quinyx’s staff scheduling app?
Our app has fantastic functionality – allowing schedules to be developed at the touch of a button, using AI to forecast workforce need and gaps in talent, and putting flexibility into the hands of workers.
As a communications tool it’s not only user-friendly and quick but it ensures businesses are compliant. No more grey areas about whether it’s right or appropriate to contact employees through WhatsApp – the app handles that.
In fact, our customer Odeon Cinemas, noted how their teams love using Quinyx and how the app has allowed managers to be ‘agile’ in their scheduling, while being able to ’respond to customer demand, and the peaks and troughs’ of their industry.
Can staff scheduling software support wellbeing at work?
Since before the pandemic we have been polling people in our sectors about what it really means to be a frontline worker. Through our annual barometer, the State of the Frontline Workforce Study, we found that the mental health of frontline workers is declining– many more people are now taking their work-related stress home with them.
That’s why we so passionately advocate tools like Quinyx. This one app has so many uses to aid people in the workplace:
– Accurate scheduling, which is adaptable to the minute and not the sole responsibility of one person.
- Quick and shareable communications, keeping everyone informed – no matter where they are -at the touch of a button.
- Forecasting that helps inform real business decisions based on AI, allowing leaders to plan for the future and maintain business continuity.
- Pulse surveys to get a true picture of how employees are feeling, allowing for better connection and integration with such a fluid workforce.
Is it expensive and time consuming to introduce staff scheduling software?
When it comes to implementing a new system or tool, what you put into it at the outset will really reap rewards in the long run.
We work closely with all our customers to make the transition as easy as possible, but there will always be learnings on the way and some team members who resist change.
My advice to any business leader who is considering investing in workforce management software is to ask, what are your scheduling pain points and how does your current system address them? If the current system can’t address them then maybe now is the time to make a change.
Investment-wise, moving to a technological innovation will always be costly in comparison to pen and paper or excel. The fundamental question is around how will the tool pay for itself through improved efficiencies, better lines of communication with staff and intelligent forecasting.
To find out more about Quinyx and to book a free demo with one of our sales team get in touch