Our client, an iconic UK retail brand, has always been synonymous with innovation. In 2004, opening its first store in London.
But its workforce management systems were lagging behind. Its paper-based payroll processes were regularly causing inaccuracies, while the lack of integration between its manual clocking and HR systems meant that when staff worked overtime, or didn’t turn up on time, their pay wasn’t adjusted accordingly. With no way to contact staff electronically, shortfalls weren’t being filled quickly enough – costing the business huge amounts every year.
In 2014, the company selected Nextra’s Classic solution, which was implemented in retail stores across the UK. The company was so impressed with the solution that it embarked on a major upgrade to the Nextra NextGen system the following year. This involved transitioning to a fully electronic, integrated process, giving managers a clearer view of staff schedules, reducing administrative costs and allowing for more intelligent reporting on company performance.
Our solution
Our mission was to achieve a more efficient approach to resource scheduling that would boost business performance during challenging times.
We did this by moving the company from a paper-based to an electronic payroll process. Timesheets fed directly into payroll calculations, which were seamlessly integrated with the HR system, producing helpful insights for head office to analyse. By replacing paper rosters with digital versions, we generated significant resource and time savings and reduced the frequency of errors.
Staff leave requests are recorded instantly, providing a centralised view of availability each day. Any shifts that remain unallocated are offered to staff who have made themselves available for additional work. And at the end of each day, those who fail to clock in within the set time parameters are flagged as late and contacted through the system. Store scheduling information can be viewed by location – giving head office a complete view of their workforce operations at any given time.
All rosters were designed to comply with local regulations – automatically avoiding giving staff less than 11 hours off between shifts and preventing too many shifts in a row. We managed labour requirements based on business needs and budget constraints by using available employee hours rather than contracted hours, and by reducing overtime and additional shifts that exceed budgets. We also made it possible to fill last-minute gaps quickly by introducing SMS and email messaging – improving communication across the business.
And it didn’t stop at rostering. We transformed the company’s approach to skills management by automatically matching staff with roles based on their qualifications and capabilities, eliminating the need for manual checks. We provided a clearer view of staffing requirements and shortfalls, configuring the system to automatically highlight where cover was needed.
Finally, we brought the company back to its innovative roots by streamlining the reporting process – giving its leaders the insights they needed to make powerful, intelligence-led changes to the business. This included reporting on inactive rosters and missed tasks and clockings to help ensure all workers complied with time and attendance requirements. We co-designed bespoke reports using data on working hours, timesheet submissions and leave requests – giving leaders an unprecedented level of understanding of their business operations.
The results
Our upgraded solution delivered huge efficiencies to our client’s HR department. By digitising the entire workforce management process, we achieved improved accuracy in tracking and costing hours worked, which is helping managers plan and report on their employees more quickly and easily. We substantially improved the accuracy of timesheet submissions, optimising employee rostering and gaining more visibility into absences.
By streamlining rostering, absence and payroll processes, we reduced the need for administrative time and resources – freeing its HR department up to focus on more strategic projects and allowing for a more efficient allocation of efforts across the company. Meanwhile, our accurate, detailed and visually appealing reports are helping leaders forecast more intelligently, giving them the insights they need to navigate disruption and accelerate growth.
By streamlining rostering, absence and payroll processes, we reduced the need for administrative time and resources – freeing its HR department up to focus on more strategic projects and allowing for a more efficient allocation of efforts across the company. Meanwhile, our accurate, detailed and visually appealing reports are helping leaders forecast more intelligently, giving them the insights they need to navigate disruption and accelerate growth.
