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Greatwood Lumber & Ace Hardware

Case Study

Business Overview

Greatwood Lumber & Ace Hardware opened at the beginning of 2001 along the I-70 in Bennett, Colorado. The location is comprised of a lumberyard and Ace Hardware supplied store run by a developed full-time, part-time and seasonal staff of helpful and knowledgeable individuals.

Desired Objectives:

  • Simplify the employee scheduling process
  • Ability to track/report on schedule data
  • Handle absence requests and availability with ease
  • Handle multiple position assignments

Challenges Faced:

Greatwood, a home improvement and Ace hardware store, was struggling to keep control over their employee scheduling. Each week they were taking a lot of time to complete the schedule and usually had inaccurate information. Once schedules were made, if people requested an absence or there was a last minute shift change, the printed copy became an unorganized mess. Seasonal staff had a habit

Business Details

Business Name:
Greatwood Lumber & Ace Hardware
Industry:
Retail
Location(s):
1
Website:
www.greatwoodlumber.com
Number of Staff:
15-20 employees
Previous Method:
Excel® Spreadsheet

of missing shifts, which meant a manager had to take time off the sales floor to call other employees until they were lucky enough to find a replacement. On top of all this, shift errors and scheduling conflicts were frequently occurring, creating frustration for department managers and employees.

A Microsoft Excel® built schedule was out of the question for Greatwood after struggling with its limitations for too long. Jim made it clear that they didn’t want an overly complicated solution, but instead something that would be easy for him to use and for his employees to view their schedules from. Basic alternatives didn’t have an absence management module that could easily track time-off requests, another requirement of his.

“Scheduling and managing employees with eSchedule has become easier and requires less time.”

– Jim Sprecker

Implemented Solution

eSchedule flawlessly fit with the home improvement and Ace hardware store’s business requirements. There is now less room for errors or conflicts and as their store owner Jim puts it, “eSchedule has removed all schedule ambiguity for staff regarding shifts, scheduled positions and absence requests.”

Both time and effort has been significantly reduced for department managers as the process has become mostly automated. Real-time functionality and workflows make absence request approvals and shift changes visible to both managers and employees, ensuring everyone remains up-to-date.

Now when an employee calls in sick or misses a shift, instead of going to the backroom to sort through a list of employee availability and phone numbers, managers log-in to eSchedule from a mobile device. With a couple taps, they can release the missed shift as open and automatically notify all available employees via email and SMS. This has ensured they find a replacement as quickly as possible… without even leaving the sales floor!

As a bonus, since using eSchedule, Greatwood has gone paperless and couldn’t be happier doing so (especially as a lumber company).

Results

  • 80% less time spent finding replacement employees to cover missed shifts
  • Eliminated all conflicts in employee scheduling
  • Ability to accurately track and approve absence requests
  • Saving both time and effort
  • Gone paperless

Conclusion

Greatwood loved the easy setup and helpful, receptive service that was received upon their eSchedule trial sign-up. It was quickly apparent their this businesses requirement for a simple, organized form of scheduling that could handle absence requests would be addressed. The department managers and employees at the home improvement and Ace hardware location are happy to have a solution that simplifies their lives.