Tarocash, YD, Connor - Future Business Systems

CASE STUDY
STAFF ROSTERING
TAROCASH - YD - CONNOR
Integrated staff rostering system
saves Tarocash time and money.
Setting the optimal staffing levels within
stores can have huge paybacks for retailers.
Wages and tenancy are the two big cost
areas and getting the mix right is a vital
ingredient to enjoying a healthy bottom
line. With large numbers of casual and
permanent workers, retail chain managers
need both control and flexibility to maintain
a workforce that is optimised for servicing
anticipated demand.
Les Kraus
RAG
Depending on the organisational structure of the business, retailers have varying
methods of controlling their staffing. They might centrally control the
staffing at each store; they might delegate to store managers; or a
combination of both where a budgeted number of positions and hours is
determined by head office (or Area Managers), and then stores allocate
the individuals to the planned slots.
These differing requirements have led to the development of a highly
configurable rostering module, fully integrated within the Harmony
package.
It allows management to optimise staff rosters to match expected activity
within the business facilitating integration of actual hours worked into the
payroll system.
A single best-practice method does not exist because it is dependent on
organisational structure and the degree of responsibility management
wants to delegate. However, best-practice rostering principles are:
• Clear lines of communication must exist between staff members and
management, allowing for easy, accurate, and timely data collection of
hours worked
• There is seamless data integration between sales history, planned
promotions, budgeted hours, actual hours worked, and
payroll systems
• Management has business intelligence tools available to analyse data
and view exceptions to aid decision making
• There is flexibility to deal with the many workplace rostering situations
that arise including training, job-sharing, and unplanned activity
• Expected store traffic is the key driver for determining work slot hours
and timing
About Future Business Systems
Future Business Systems (FBS) is an Australian software
development company supporting Enterprise Management
Systems since the mid 1980’s. They supply comprehensive
software solutions based around their Harmony software
suite consisting of over 45 integrated software modules.
FBS supports customer use of its software by providing
training and installation services, and offers on-going
hardware and networking support services. FBS also offers
web development services, to deliver software solutions to
suit businesses operating across multiple channels.
FBS has a growing list of over 250 client businesses engaged
in manufacturing, import and distribution, and retailing located
across Australia and New Zealand, Hong Kong, Malaysia
and China.
Retail clients span chains with 4 to 250 shops and operate
within a large range of sectors including apparel, footwear,
manchester, giftware, and home wares. Well known clients
in retail include Blue Illusion, Review, Sires, Tarocash, YD,
Collette Dinnigan, TS14+, Events, Carla Zampatti, Famous
Footwear, Wittners, Lincraft, Pillowtalk, and Victoria Station.
“Since implementing the staff rostering software, we can now
complete our payroll function within about 60% of the time it used
to take. During this same time, our payroll has grown by 40%. With
Harmony we are doing a lot more in a lot less time” said Les.
Les explains “Tarocash head office sets the rosters for store personnel,
providing important controls for the business. Stores can technically trade
outside the roster, but we have rigid reporting on performance to roster.
Harmony allows us to monitor and analyse what is happening in our
business.”
“We have configured the Harmony rostering module in a way that
involves all levels of management from the store up, thus ensuring there
is a proper supervision and planning process taking place. Being fully
integrated into Harmony means we have one system, and of course,
as it feeds the payroll system, it makes the entire payroll process very
efficient.”
Tarocash moved from a completely manual rostering system to the fully
integrated Harmony system in order to
drive efficiencies within the business.
Mr Les Kraus, Chief Financial Officer of Retail Apparel Group (RAG) which
owns and runs the brands Tarocash, yd, and Connor, has been a longterm user of FBS’ Harmony suite of software, and has implemented the
rostering module with remarkable results.
FUTURE BUSINESS SYSTEMS PTY LTD
See how Harmony can help your business grow
Telephone: +61 3 9500 1788
Facsimile: +61 3 9500 1766
Email:sales@fbsaust.com.au
Web: www.fbsaust.com.au
Level 1, 204 Balaclava Road,
Caulfield North,Victoria 3161, Australia
CASE STUDY
STAFF ROSTERING
TAROCASH - YD - CONNOR
The simplest form is where store personnel start with an old roster and
either use it again for the following week, or alter the staffing according
to expected activity and personnel constraints.
Mark said “We designed the software to be fully integrated with the Point
of Sale and payroll functions in order to maximise the productivity of staff
collecting and processing the necessary data”.
“Together with our analytics software, stores can be allocated a
particular template according to their range and trading profile. It’s
all about providing the tools to optimise sales and expenses. Staffing
and trading levels are matched with the added dimension of providing
efficient and clear communication to hundreds of store associates,
minimising the administrative expense at the same time” he said.
“When deciding to implement Harmony rostering, we looked at the other
systems available on the market, but even though they seemed to have
more bells and whistles, they were very expensive to establish and then
maintain on an on-going basis compared to Harmony” Les said.
Les Kraus says that RAG intends to generate more efficiencies by
integrating the data with store traffic counters in the near future.
“Another key point is that we were able to work with FBS to adjust the
system to suit our exact needs. We fully expect that as FBS grows its
customer base, the rostering modules will grow in functionality, and we
will then get the bells and whistles too.”
“As a payback, we now process about 40% more pays than we did
18 months ago in two-thirds of the man hours at the backend, and we
have valuable information that is system generated and reportable upon,
which was never previously available.”
When asked to give advice to others about implementing a new rostering
system, Les said “Make sure you understand the unique requirements
that drive your business and research what is available. Then, try to get
the best of all worlds. We continually try to do this with FBS, and we feel
proud of what we have achieved to date on the integrated rostering and
payroll system.”
“It is also important to appreciate that when you need to modify a system
to your own requirements, it’s very important to have practical time
frames in mind and dedicate the appropriate resources to planning and
then reviewing the developments as they are delivered.”
Mr Mark Silver, FBS Managing Director, said “Our customers come in a
variety of sizes, and so we have built the software in a variety of flavours
to suit virtually any business”.
“We can already run very useful reports collating turnover with store
staff performance, but the one thing we have always wanted to better
understand was our traffic flow and conversion rate. By implementing
an integrated traffic counting system with Harmony, we will be able
to measure more appropriate key performance indicators (KPI’s), and
consequently highlight potential areas that require improvement, training
and focus.”
According to retail industry research, matching store traffic with
staff rosters typically will increase sales by as much as 10% without
increasing the number of hours worked within the stores.
“Three years ago we released the first version where head office staff set
up the roster centrally, and store people could log on to see when they
were rostered on. We have come a long way from then” he said.
The software can be configured with role templates created by head
office, area managers, or store managers, and then authority can be
delegated to stores to allow them to allocate team members to the roles
within the templates.
FUTURE BUSINESS SYSTEMS PTY LTD
See how Harmony can help your business grow
Telephone: +61 3 9500 1788
Facsimile: +61 3 9500 1766
Email:sales@fbsaust.com.au
Web: www.fbsaust.com.au
Level 1, 204 Balaclava Road,
Caulfield North,Victoria 3161, Australia