Logical man management

QBIS Business Systems Ltd's Andrew Johnston reveals to NGR how an improved work force management protocol can eliminate errors and boost a retailer’s bottom line.

What are the main challenges that management and employee administrative processes present for retailers, and what are the immediate benefits of automated systems?

Andrew Johnston. In today's economic climate retail businesses have a greater challenge than ever before to be more efficient, accurate and lower their costs, while improving quality.

Depending on the size and nature of an organization, it is commonplace that staff are dispersed over several locations making the administrative processes more cumbersome.  Payroll processing demands more engagement and resource planning can take a large effort. Communication between employee and management isn't as good as in other sectors.

One of the most challenging and time-consuming administrative processes within any organisation is payroll.  All employees and management are involved with this process to some extent, with time and expense reports, management approval or payroll administrative routines. It is a challenge to collect this information from employees accurately.

We see that it is easy to reduce administrative costs and improve quality by using automated systems. Procurement of these systems brings benefits such as lower administrative costs and increased production, standardised administration, improved communication flow and reduction of manual work giving more accurate results.

How can effective time management technology benefit the retail industry
specifically? Is the technology suitable for retailers?

AJ. It is absolutely suitable for retailers. There is much manual administration that can be easily improved by using technology. Manual time management carries heavier administration than that of an automated system. The disadvantages of handling time manually are potential duplication problems, the increased risk of manual errors and, most importantly, the fact that it is a slower process that requires more administrative staff and thus is more costly.

When using an effective time management solution staff will spend less time with the administrative process and therefore be able to use this time for more productive activities.

One of the most tedious tasks in payroll preparation is the collection and validation of staff timesheets.  Retail sector staff often have different time schedules and are spread out over different locations, which makes it more difficult for management to speak to staff and easily address any issues.

Providing an automated solution to the business will lessen this overhead and reduce manual errors along the way.  We have seen that customers who have automated solutions have reduced their payroll process by 75 percent and achieved more accurate results.

Are you experiencing any resistance from retailers who are reluctant to make administrative processes automated? How do you respond to those concerns?

AJ. No, in fact the opposite. Once you show the benefits of such technology we find retailers are very open and favourable to the introduction of such systems.  We have even seen that staff in the retail sector welcome the introduction of technology and find it motivating, even more so than in other industries.  Employees benefit too from such a system, with accuracy of information, overview of their vacation and flexi-time.

At the end of the day, the main concerns, like with all business sectors, are the costs and the effort involved in implementing such solutions.  From our perspective it is not how much the introduction of such a system costs, but how much a company will lose in profit by delaying the introduction of such technology. Our software solutions focus on taking advantage of technology that is already available and familiar such as internet, web-browsers and mobile telephones. We therefore see even less technical people getting started very quickly.

How do you predict that automated workforce management systems will evolve? What features can retailers expect to see in the future?

AJ. More and more organisations within retail will move over to automated solutions, sooner rather than later.  We already see this transition.  Automated systems will take advantage of readily available and familiar technology such as internet, web-browsers and mobile telephones.  Software-as-a-service (SaaS) makes use of this technology and is the way systems will evolve. With SaaS there is no hardware to buy, no system maintenance, no software to install and upgrade, making return of investment immediate.

Time and attendance management, expenses reporting, vacation planning, resource planning, automatic payroll, employee global positioning, social and information sharing will be features that the retail industry can expect to see.

About

Andrew Johnston is the CEO and Product Manager for QBIS Business Systems Ltd. He is the co-founder of the Swedish-based parent company QLogic AB. Andrew brings more than 20 years of experience from developing business systems & IT solutions for both private and public sector.