The store managers at the Swedish retail chain Granngården need to be even better at using TimePlan. This is why HR Manager Maria Pressing and Regional Sales Manager Mona Jansén have just held the first workshops on how TimePlan can provide a better overview and free up time to focus on employees and customers.
Granngården has used TimePlan for shift planning and time registration in the chain’s 111 stores in Sweden since 2012. But when Mona Jansén was hired as a Regional Sales Manager in 2018, she discovered that not all the stores use TimePlan optimally. Therefore, together with HR Manager Maria Pressing (photo above), she initiated a number of workshops for Granngården’s store managers. The first workshop has now been held in Stockholm for 111 store managers.
“Many of our store managers have not been aware of how much and how they can use TimePlan,” says Mona Jansén, who has previously worked with TimePlan at a Swedish electronics chain and in JYSK.
“Retail stores have changed over the past seven years, as have employees. That’s why we need to update our use of TimePlan to reflect where we are today.”
Why TimePlan is important
For HR Manager Maria Pressing, it has been crucial to convey an understanding of why TimePlan is important and then train the store managers on how to make the most of the software.
“At the first workshop, we have therefore emphasized what happens if the work hours and employee data are not updated in TimePlan. This gives us extra work during the payroll process when the system is not used correctly,” says Maria Pressing.
During the workshop, Mona Jansén also focused on costs, index counters, and rights profiles.
“We have shown how, as a store manager, you can use TimePlan as a management tool because the program provides data on sick leave, overtime, and tendencies in a store. One of the eye-openers has been that when you as a store manager keep TimePlan up to date, the program does a lot of the administrative work for you. This means that you can get away from the screen and focus on employees and customers,” says Mona Jansén.
Less shy
At the workshop, the store managers were also introduced to TimePlan Software’s senior consultant Anna Friborg. She is hired by Granngården to man the TimePlan telephone support a few days a week, and she also answers inquiries by email.
“Several of our store managers got up and hugged Anna when they found out that it was her they had spoken to. It helps a lot that she is originally from Sweden and speaks Swedish. After the workshop, the store managers feel less shy about reaching out for help. We are delighted to be working with Anna,” Maria Pressing says.
A tool we already had
The next step for Granngården is a follow-up workshop in December, where Mona Jansén and Anna Friborg will go in-depth about how the store managers can use specific functions in TimePlan. Today, Granngården has just over 1,000 employees in TimePlan, who register their work hours by signing in and out of TimePlan terminals. Employees can also view their roster, holidays, and time off in lieu through the TimePlan Web App.
“After our first workshop for the store managers, we have now also trained our seven regional sales managers and our Country Manager in TimePlan,” Mona Jansén says, adding:
“TimePlan is a tool we already had but didn’t make the most of. We will do that now.”
Mona Jansén (right) with one of Granngården’s store managers who recently participated in the TimePlan workshops initiated by Mona Jansén.
