Greetings to our subscribers and everyone who stumbled upon the Shifton company page. Today, we’re presenting an interview with one of our clients – the owner of a cafe chain who’s been utilising Shifton online service for quite some time.
Shifton: Hello. Let’s acquaint ourselves!
Irina: Hello! My name is Irina Uskova, and I own and run a chain of coffee shops Coffee Molly in Nizhny Novgorod (Russia).
Shifton: Tell us a bit more about your business.
Irina: As of early 2021, the company employed over 20 baristas with varying levels of commitment. Coffee Molly has been operational in the city since 2014, promoting the coffee shop concept for office workers. Presently, there are seven coffee shops in Nizhny Novgorod, with an annual turnover of 25 million roubles.
Shifton: Why did you choose to partner with Shifton?
Irina: The market’s unique nature means that our employees are generally quite young and therefore tend to frequently change jobs. For many, it’s their first job, so working with personnel is time-consuming and involves selecting applicants, training, mentoring, and professional development.
I’ve long understood that this process should be handled lightly, since the primary goal is to maintain the key ‘backbone’ of baristas – 5-6 individuals. They assist newcomers in adapting quickly and easily.
All this ebullient activity affects the work schedule on a daily basis, so it should be promptly monitored, and in case of changes, everyone must be notified immediately.
Shifton: How have you dealt with these issues before?
Irina: Previously, we communicated updates via a group chat, and at times, we had to call employees personally to ensure they were aware of any changes. However, as we opened more coffee shops, the need to automate the entire routine became evident.
Shifton: Does your organisation require an automated online scheduling service?
Irina: Certainly, those keeping up with trends know that the food service industry is increasingly integrating IT technologies. Scheduling is part of the administrator’s and senior baristas’ daily routine. As part of scheduling, they should consider employee preferences (personal matters, second jobs, etc.), the barista’s effectiveness at each coffee shop, and the specifics of the day (weekend or weekday). Additionally, we need to arrange training for newcomers, conduct inventory or general cleaning, find replacements for the sick, or split shifts between two employees. And of course, we must factor in potential delays and overtime.
We had automated this process for quite some time, but the company’s growth continued, and I sought something more than just a programme that set work schedules. I was looking for partner developers who could make the programme also function as a payroll for each employee. There were even more ideas…
Shifton: Have your expectations been met as the cooperation with Shifton has grown?
Irina: Yes, I am completely satisfied! To be honest, when I stumbled across Shifton, it took me a while to realise how adaptable this product can be.
During the testing phase, I asked numerous questions about what else was planned for implementation and what features Shifton offered, so that employees would be consistently informed about their work schedule and in advance know the sum they would receive at the end of each month. I wanted payroll to be processed without delay, in real time, and accessible on one’s smartphone at any moment, not just on payday.
Shifton: Were you able to meet your requests? How satisfied are you with the support from Shifton developers?
Irina: All my requests were met, and I also discovered that the programme could be further modernised to suit our needs. I worked closely with the developers for six months, sharing our likes and further expectations. We implemented the programme quickly and soon realised that we wanted to use it more and tailor it to our needs.
Shifton: Have you achieved success thus far?
Irina: We’ve accomplished the following: automating each employee’s schedule while considering their preferences, assigning baristas to branches, and adjusting the calculation of bonuses and penalties. We also resolved salary miscalculations where some shifts were overlooked or paid twice. We installed the application on all employees’ smartphones, where they promptly receive updates and payroll notifications. We’ve also reduced scheduling time by tenfold and decreased turnover since employees can view their shifts/salary and exert influence over them, generally improving the time planning process for all staff.
Shifton: Surely you have further suggestions for customising the Shifton tool?
Irina: Yes, absolutely. We’re anticipating a more user-friendly interface for schedule adjustments. Currently, not all details can be modified, and to adjust certain parameters, you must recreate everything. We await more adaptable settings in salary reports for overall periods and the option to comment on work. Regarding service features, we need the option for employees to leave comments and draft task completion reports within the app. I am also interested in the automatic calculation of bonuses based on sales performance or KPI achievement and more flexible app interface settings for employees’ ease: what to display on the main screen, what notifications to send, and what to report on.
Shifton: Thank you for your detailed and insightful feedback, Irina. Would you recommend the Shifton online service to other company owners?
Irina: I already recommend it to my clients who I assist in launching their coffee shops, as Shifton helps save money, is user-friendly, and is appreciated by my employees. Before adopting Shifton, I rigorously tested over 10 different applications and programmes. By the time I discovered Shifton, I had already agreed with a developer ready to create a similar programme for us. Shifton thoroughly addressed all my scheduling and payroll automation needs.
