What do companies do if their corporate office has selected a solution that is more general and doesn’t fit their scheduling needs? No matter what city you’re in, typically, they revert back to spreadsheets and don’t get to take advantage of the automation that could come from using scheduling software with the appropriate workforce management system.
Celayix has seen this many times. Many of our food and beverage (F&B) customers already have access to corporate-wide labor management or workforce management solutions (WFM). The challenge that they face is that the software does not fit their unique requirements. For example, a hotel property may purchase a WFM that they think will work for every department.
However, given the number of different departments in a hotel including but not limited to housekeeping, concierge, maintenance, food & beverage the chances of it meeting each departments’ specific needs are slim. In fact, the WFM software typically is a general system that has many components of which scheduling is one. However, the scheduling module will handle only the most basic requirements.
The requirements of the F&B department are far more complex than can be met by the WFM and therefore to be more efficient with the resources they have, they are required to look for a different solution.
Some of the key questions we get asked are:
1) Can we handle complex schedules?
Absolutely! Celayix has been building scheduling software for years and can handle the most complex schedule. This includes being able to handle the needs of the different boards (ex. A vs. C board), union rules, complex rotations, and many other capabilities.
2) Do we allow staff to manage their own schedules?
If the company chooses, they can have their staff pick their own shifts. Many of our customers with banquet operations simply publish the available shifts at specific times and their staff will use the employee portal to pick their shifts. This significantly decreases the time spent scheduling.
3) Can I use Celayix with software tools aside from workforce management?
Celayix has different ways to integrate with other software packages. We have integrations with leading payroll and HR systems and have an API that can be used to build a custom integration offering any level of required automation.
As can be seen, Celayix does not require you to replace your existing WFM system but will work alongside it. In the case where the corporate solution doesn’t fit, the F&B department will not see any reduction in cost or time savings and it will resort back to the original solution, typically using manual processes. This leads to potentially higher costs due to the increased risk of errors and overtime, and makes it more difficult to manage growth.
