Since 2006, Denmark’s oldest and largest department store, Magasin du Nord has used TimePlan for shift planning, time recording and HR administration for its 1,900 employees in Copenhagen, Lyngby, Rødovre, Odense and Aarhus.
“We selected TimePlan because it was the system we found was the most user-friendly. We were given the opportunity to influence the development of the software, and this was very important to us,” says Hanne Bjorholm, Personnel & Salary Manager at Magasin du Nord.
“For us, it is a big advantage that our managers can always access the current data on labour costs in an easy and fast way directly in TimePlan. Our managers are accountable for these numbers within their budgets, and thanks to TimePlan, they can check the status on a daily basis,” explains Hanne Bjorholm.
A really good tool
Maria Kai (pictured) is the manager of Magasin du Nord’s Shoes Department. The first thing she does when she arrives in the morning is to check TimePlan either on her mobile, tablet or computer.
“TimePlan is a really good tool for me to keep track of who is scheduled to work during the day and to plan the whole day’s operation. I also use TimePlan in the evening to look at the plan for the next day and to anticipate any problems with coverage of shifts during busy periods and how to cover them well in advance,” says Maria Kai.
“When I get a call from an employee asking for a vacation or who calls in sick, it’s great to be able to handle it in TimePlan right away, instead of sitting and browsing through papers or looking through a system that does not work.”
Maria Kai adds that the employees in the Shoes Department are happy with the fact that they can have a say in who takes their shift and that they can always see who they are going to work with.
Easy to estimate costs
Anders Højberg Nielsen is the Shop Manager for Cosmetics in Magasin du Nord, and he keeps track of the work hours of his 100 employees in the department.
“The biggest benefit of TimePlan is the fact that the program makes it incredibly easy to estimate our costs, both on a daily basis, on a weekly basis and throughout the pay period. TimePlan makes it easy and manageable to comply with our agreements,” says Anders Højbjerg Nielsen.
“Depending on what agreement the employee works within, they will turn yellow if they have too few hours, red if they have too many hours and green if their number of hours matches with what they should have.”
Anders Højbjerg Nielsen points to his screen, where TimePlan shows the red, yellow and green counters.
Employees get the right salary
TimePlan’s management of the many collective agreements is one of the most important functions for Magasin du Nord.
“One of our most important priorities is of course that our employees get the right salary. It is imperative for us because it is one of the things that – if something goes wrong – it is very unfortunate,” says Anders Højberg Nielsen.
“It means a lot to the employees that we make them feel that we take care of things and do our jobs. With TimePlan, our employees can see and follow up on the data entries we make, and it gives them peace of mind that they get the correct salary and we comply with the agreements we need to comply with.”
