An early adopter of Bizimply, wagamama quickly realised the benefits to using technology to control scheduling, time & attendance. We caught up with Elaine at wagamama to see how they use Bizimply.
Hi Elaine, thanks for meeting today. Could you tell us what you were previously using for scheduling, time & attendance and workforce management?
Hey, no problem! Well previous to Bizimply, all our restaurants were using Excel spreadsheets. Keeping an eye on rotas and attendance across all our locations was difficult, to say the least!
What challenges led you to look for a solution like Bizimply?
The spreadsheets we were using were heavily dependent on the computer skills of each store manager. We had to ensure all managers knew how to adjust formulas and what to enter in which cells. Any time there was a change in management, we would have to go through it all again. With time, each of the units changed some small areas of their spreadsheets, and soon everyone was doing their own thing! There was no consistency and it was becoming very difficult to manage.
How did you get started with Bizimply?
To be honest, Martin, I don’t remember! I think it was Christine who put me in touch with Ger and our contact grew from there. We decided to roll out the sales reporting first in the Blanchardstown store where I was general manager. As soon as we had it working there, we then rolled it out to all our branches.
What was most important when evaluating your options for time and attendance?
Most important to us was that it would save us time and that the system was user friendly. It was key that the system would be very simple for people to use.
Who in your business is using Bizimply regularly?
Bizimply is now used on all levels of our team. Our staff get their rotas sent directly to them by email and on their smartphone app, so they always have a copy of it. The daily shift managers use it to record their daily sales, guest numbers, staff hours, and use it to set themselves targets compared to last week and last year. Senior management can easily log in – either online, or on their smartphone – to check how the store is doing and who is clocked in. Most importantly, the reporting tool gives us a great synopsis of how the business is doing.
What have you found particularly useful?
The floor staff love the fact they get their rota sent directly to them. There is no need to ring the store, they can just log in and get their shifts. The management team can log in from anywhere in the world to check and complete the rota, or to check back on previous shifts.
What results has Bizimply helped you achieve in scheduling, time & attendance and labour costs?
It has helped us in many different ways. I can be confident that staff are getting paid for the times they are actually working and it takes the managers just a few moments daily to ensure the staff have recorded their hours correctly. I can also check back very easily to track if staff are regularly coming in late for shifts. It has helped general managers complete the store rotas, as it’s a lot quicker than our old system. As operations manager, I love the fact that now all stores are using the one platform, I can see immediately who is scheduled to work. I also know if my general managers are in work or not, as I don’t like to ring them if they are on a day off work!
On the dashboard, I love that I can see at a glance if the store has gone over or under their planned rota and if they were up or down on sales.
Thanks for talking with us today. Is there anything you would say to other businesses who may be interested in using Bizimply?
You’re very welcome! I would just say that there is simply nothing else like it out there. If you want to lower costs and really improve efficiency and communication, then it’s a no-brainer!
