Tanda Blog

Rosie Ramirez

13 March 2019    |   

When you think of the average American worker, who comes to mind? Did you imagine a waitress on her second shift in a big city bar? Or did you picture a plant worker in an automobile factory? Over 80 million workers aged 16 and above work in these types of jobs and are paid at hourly rates. They represent 58.3 percent of all wage and salary workers. For managers of American businesses, scheduling hourly workers has always been difficult. They need to balance workers’ skills and availability with the requirements of the business. They also need to make sure that the labor cost doesn’t hurt the company’s’ bottom line. In the past, managers had to schedule everything manually. They would draw up the week’s schedule on paper and leave it on a board for the employees to see. In case there were changes, it was difficult to communicate them. And when it came time to pay the employees, each time card would be scrutinized to create paychecks. Even for small companies, all of this would take hours and hours of administrative time. For larger companies, entire departments would be dedicated to the task. Today, managers use a variety of tools to optimize the process. From paper to screen: modern scheduling process Many managers have experienced scheduling employees through simple pen and paper. This manual process involved a considerable amount of time and resources. As a result, they would be spending more time on administrative work than really managing their employees. With the availability of computers, managers have shifted from paper to screen to get the work done. One way that managers do this is through free scheduling templates. A scheduling template can easily be uploaded and shared with employees. A typical scheduling template requires you to input the employee’s name, wage rate, shift start, and shift end. The template will automatically compute how many hours you scheduled them for that week. It will also show you how much you’re going to pay them for these hours. You can distribute this to employees via the Google Sheets sharing service, control their access according to your desired effect, and restrict them to view-only, allow them to comment, or even let them make edits. However, it has several drawbacks. First, because you are scheduling on a Google Sheet, you will be responsible for tracking conflicts. You will need to check if somebody has filed for leave or unavailability on a separate database. It will also not flag you if you’ve scheduled somebody over or under their regular hours. Second, you will need to manually compare this sheet with your time clock data and then use another sheet to compute for pay. Third, it doesn’t keep you updated on changes in US labor laws. It may be a step up from pen and paper, but there is still a considerable amount of administrative work. That’s why many businesses opt for software that can address all this and more instead. Read more: Wage Theft in the US: How to stay compliant with labor laws Taking it to the next level with workforce software A free scheduling template can only give you so much. While some tasks are automated, you still need to do manual scheduling, attendance tracking, timesheets, and communication with employees. With the fast-paced business world, simply getting by with manual scheduling is not going to cut it. Investing in modern employee scheduling will give you unprecedented control over your workforce. It’s not just about getting the schedule out anymore. Now it’s all about making that schedule work for your business. With Tanda’s Scheduling Software, you can save shift templates and set cost schedules to make sure you never go over budget. You will be able to see, in real-time, how much each employee will need to be paid for any shift. You will also be able to publish schedules instantly. Employees will receive their shift via SMS, email, or in-app notification. This is especially useful for cities and states that have already implemented predictive scheduling laws. With Tanda, you will never fail to comply with an advanced shift notice. Read more: Building a Solid Shift: Predictive Scheduling Laws across the US But why stop there? Time and attendance automation technology has come a long way. Tanda’s Employee Time Clock App can be used on any tablet and allow staff to clock in and out, photo verification included. It automatically generates costed timecards that you can export to multiple payroll add-ons like Xero and Quickbooks. That means you don’t need to communicate schedules, monitor attendance, transfer data, or compute for pay. You can do all the tedious administrative work on one platform at a fraction of the time. You can even approve shift swaps, use demand data to adjust staffing levels, and pool tips. The future of the American workforce US employment went up by 213,000 jobs in January 2019. The service-producing industry reported 46,000 new roles. The goods-producing sector reported 35,000 new roles. Employment is robust, and there are plenty of opportunities for hourly workers in America. But this rise in employment and the fact that many workers hold multiple jobs also means managers need to step up. Managers need to upgrade the way they schedule, monitor attendance, and pay employees. The old manual methods are just not going to cut it. Workforce management software like Tanda empowers both managers and employees to grow the business. Managers can spend less time on administrative work and more time training employees. In turn, employees need not worry about missing their shifts or being paid less than they should. Investing in good software eliminates many common management problems. It also improves efficiency, transparency, and sustainability. The future of the American workforce looks bright, and harnessing technology is going to determine which businesses will be able to take full advantage.

Rosie Ramirez

11 March 2019    |   

Are your employees quitting faster than you can train new ones? Are you having trouble finding employees who will stay for more than 5 years? You’re not the only one. In 2018, the national average turnover rate was 22%, with resignations making up a whopping 16% of it. Layoffs and terminations only accounted for 6%, while retirements made up 1%. What’s more, the average American employee stays at a job for 4.6 years. Millennials and service workers are the ones most likely to leave, typically after just 3.2 years. What do these numbers mean for American companies? First, hiring is expensive. While figures vary across industries and positions, hiring just one employee can cost between $1,000 and $5,000. This figure includes advertising costs, in-house recruiters’ salaries, third-party recruiter fees, travel expenses, sign-on bonuses, employee referral bonuses, and relocation costs. Filling up a position can also take days, even months. Once hired, there is also a necessary training period before the employee can become productive. Clearly, each resignation represents thousands of dollars in lost investments. Second, whether voluntary or involuntary, high turnover rates are symptoms of a larger problem. Employees resign when they are overworked, undercompensated, or simply bored. Layoffs and terminations, on the other hand, usually happen due to bad hiring decisions and management techniques. Both contribute to significant losses in productivity and profits. No workplace is perfect. However, companies with low turnover rates adjust their practices whenever necessary. Below are 3 strategies you can use to retain more employees this 2019. 1. Ramp up your onboarding process Companies that invest in hiring but not onboarding are effectively throwing their money away. Onboarding matters, for every position, in every industry. If you have great onboarding processes, you can expect to nearly double your corporate revenue growth and profit margins. Employees are more invested when the onboarding process is better. Some of the biggest and most profitable companies in the world tailor each onboarding experience to the relevant role. Onboarding starts even before the employee’s first day, so it’s best to have your complete checklist ready. Free eBook: Making the Onboarding Experience Work for your Business 2. Provide rewards and advancement opportunities Employees look for a position where they’ll get a great manager and be part of a productive management culture. This is especially true for millennials, who will make up the largest percentage of the global workforce by 2025. They want to find jobs in companies where they will be given opportunities to learn new skills and advance in their careers. Employers need to ensure that they have plans and opportunities for a long-term career path. And they need to reward employees for their hard work. If you provide this, you can expect loyal employees who will grow the company with you. Read more: Show up for success! A step-by-step guide to rewarding employee attendance 3. Introduce flexibility to the workplace Introducing flexibility to the workplace can immediately improve morale and work-life balance. Managers can implement solutions that will not hurt the company’s bottom line. This includes better time off management, optimized scheduling, and shift swapping. These solutions will not only increase employee engagement but also improve business in the long run. And it is not difficult, as introducing flexibility to the workplace is aided by technology. Today, workforce management software like Tanda can help you manage shifts and schedules. Read more: Should you approve shift swaps at work? Invest to retain your employees Employees give their best when they are trained, valued, and empowered. If not, they look for other opportunities. Some industries are hit harder than others. Foodservice, for instance, has a turnover rate of almost 73%, while the retail industry has a turnover rate of 60%. Investing in workforce management technology like Tanda can instantly help managers onboard, schedule, train, and reward better. It can even help employers communicate better through Tanda Chat. Managers will appreciate the efficiency of the system and help them have complete oversight of their staff. Employees will also benefit from the transparency that it provides. No business grows without well-trained and dedicated people. Genuinely investing in employees and showing them that management is willing to make reasonable concessions helps in fostering loyalty. It also increases your positive reputation as an employer. Once word travels that you take care of your employees, it will make it easier to attract the best talent. With enough planning and investment in the right technology, you too can lower your turnover rate.

Rosie Ramirez

29 January 2019    |   

The loss of productivity and profits due to time theft has been an enduring problem for many employers across industries. It can come in many forms, from clocking out too early to slacking off at work. While it can be hard to determine exactly how much it costs, a 2017 PollFish survey revealed that the U.S. economy loses approximately $373 million to time theft every year. This is true everywhere else, not just in the US. Paying unproductive employees for their time can make companies lose millions. Below are the top 3 ways employees steal time, and what you can do about it. 1. Buddy Punching The Problem: Buddy punching occurs when one employee clocks in or out for another as a favour. Employees do this to avoid being reprimanded. They often believe that this act is not inappropriate, as it only affects a few minutes of the total hours. But some employees use buddy punching to get paid for hours or even days they didn’t work. This is more prevalent in off-site locations where monitoring systems are lax. A 2008 Nucleus Research report showed that 19% of employees admit to buddy punching. The Solution: Confirming the identity of the person clocking in or out is the easiest way to solve buddy punching. Previously, employers opted for fingerprint clock in technology but this has become less popular with increasingly strict biometric privacy laws. In fact, a data privacy complaint was filed in Illinois against a biometric equipment provider. Because of this, photo-verified clock ins are the safest way to confirm an employee’s identity. A manager can monitor if a clock in matches the employee via cloud data, regardless of where they are working. Read more: Why Fingerprint Scanners Don’t Work for Time and Attendance 2. Time Clock Deception The Problem: Time clock deception, or timesheet falsification, happens when an employee inflates the hours they worked. A 2015 American Payroll Association (APA) study found that 43% of hourly employees surveyed admit to exaggerating the amount of time they work during their shifts. Further, a shocking 25% of employees surveyed report more hours than they actually worked more than 75% of the time. APA estimates that a business that pays out $1 million in annual payroll could be losing up to $70,000 each year due to timesheet falsification. The Solution: Manual forms of timesheet monitoring is the most susceptible to deception. Companies who allow employees to write down their own clock ins and outs will often have no way of knowing whether the information is accurate or not. Even 30 minutes of falsified timesheets can already cost money for businesses. The only solution is to invest in a program that accurately records clock ins and outs, and generates timesheets at the same time. Tanda’s workforce compliant timesheets even calculates precise shift costs using either a managed award or EBA. Read more: The Digital Workforce Success Revolution: Why you need to shift to cloud-based HR today 3. Extended Breaks The Problem: Employees can sometimes take breaks longer and more frequently than they’re supposed to. For many companies, a 30-minute break extension, or five 10-minute smoke breaks, may not seem much. When done large-scale however, it can have a real impact on productivity. Smoke breaks in particular accounted for the highest cost in lost productivity, according to a 2013 Ohio State University study. The study further suggested that U.S. businesses pay almost $6,000 per year extra for each employee who smokes. The Solution: Enabling employees to clock in or out for their breaks is one way to shift responsibility for their time to them. Because automated time clock solutions can be programmed to accommodate breaks, this will come at no extra cost, and will enable businesses to monitor employee breaks better. But because this affects compensation, employers should take care to abide by laws that apply to breaks. They should also ensure that they are not deducting pay illegally. Conveniently, Tanda’s system is able to flag anomalies in breaks, and makes sure the pay interpretation is always legally compliant, wherever you are in the world. Read more: Only a Matter of Time: Punctuality and attendance in multicultural workplaces To eliminate time theft, it is essential to create a work environment with the resources to monitor and prevent it. Investing in the right software will take care of many of the administrative issues that contribute to letting time theft slide by. After these systems are in place, it is also important to increase employee engagement by making sure your onboarding process is effective, and rewarding attendance the right way. These strategies will enrich the work experience and drive productivity to benefit both the employees and the business as a whole.

Rosie Ramirez

15 January 2019    |   

Even with the advent of online shopping, brick-and-mortar stores still line the streets of many American cities. These stores command a powerful share of the market. An estimated 15% of Americans are employed in these retail establishments, supporting millions of families across the country. Retail workers typically work unstable schedules to match labor to incoming traffic, increasing profitability in the process. However, irregular or overlapping schedules can cause a considerable amount of stress for managers and employees alike. The Fair Workweek Initiative has been on this side of the issue for years now, which is why their main advocacy is to give workers control of their schedules in their respective jobs, giving employers and their families alike the opportunity for a healthy work-life balance. Needless to say, for managers, keeping track of multiple employees or stores can result in errors. This includes badly made schedules and late notifications. Unfilled shifts are more likely in this scenario. For employees, not having a schedule ahead of time can cause lower job satisfaction and greater instances of work-family conflict. Both scenarios can lower profits and put thousands of livelihoods in jeopardy in the long run. In large part, some local governments and states in the US now implement predictive scheduling laws. This is also known as ‘fair scheduling’. What is predictive scheduling? Predictive scheduling laws require advanced notice when posting a schedule. This ranges from 48 hours to two weeks, depending on state law. They also restrict or ban employers from scheduling on-call shifts and adding pay incentives for these shifts. As of 2018, four cities and one state have enacted these laws. They are: San Francisco, New York, Seattle, and Emeryville, and the State of Oregon. Fair Workweek began its influence in the cities of San Francisco and Santa Clara County, CA. In 2014, people working hourly jobs in these cities have been given the basic standards for work-hours policy, i.e. Predictive Schedules, Opportunity to Work, Healthy Schedules, and Flexibility. Some business giants have also started taking initiative. Last November, Walmart announced predictive scheduling for all US stores. The bottom line for all of them is to make schedules both more predictable and flexible for everyone. Predictive scheduling across US cities City of San Francisco The first city to have a predictive work scheduling law, San Francisco’s ordinance covers retail stores, fast food franchises, and restaurant chains that have at least 40 establishments worldwide. Any contractors who provide janitorial or security services to these businesses are also covered by this law. It requires employers to do the following: Give new employees a document with a “good faith estimate” of their minimum number of scheduled shifts per month; Provide the days and hours of those shifts, including on-call shifts; Provide staff schedules (2 weeks in advance, including on-call shifts; and Give “Predictability Pay” of: One (1) hour at the regularly hourly rate for changes made less than 7 days but more than 24 hours after the advance notice Two (2) hours at the regularly hourly rate for changes made less than 24 hours before the scheduled shift, for shifts less than 4 hours long Four (4) hours at the regularly hourly rate for changes made less than 24 hours before the scheduled shift, for shifts over 4 hours long New York City New York City has different predictive work scheduling laws for retail businesses and fast food establishments which came into effect on 29 November 2017. Retail businesses that sell consumer goods and hire at least 20 employees are covered by the law and are required to: Provide employees with a written work schedule at least 72 hours before the first shift; Pay a penalty of $300 per employee if they fail to do so; Eliminate all on-call shifts, and pay a penalty of $500 per employee if they fail to do so; Permit employees to trade shifts, which is beneficial for employers and employees alike; and Make all changes 72 hours before it is scheduled to start. Retail businesses are prohibited from canceling a shift 72 hours before it is scheduled to start. The predictive scheduling law also covers fast food businesses that have at least 30 establishments nationally. Employers are required to: Give staff their schedules 14 days (two weeks) in advance; and Ensure there is a minimum of 11 hours between each shift, to avoid “clopening” or consecutive closing and opening shifts. City of Emeryville For the City of Emeryville, retail and fast food employers should conduct regular calculations to determine whether or not they are covered by the Fair Workweek regulations. Retail firms with 56 or more employees globally, and fast food firms with 56 or more employees globally and 20 or more employees in Emeryville are required to: Give new employees a document with a “good faith estimate” of their minimum number of scheduled shifts per month and the days and hours of those shifts, including on-call shifts; Provide staff schedules 2 weeks in advance, whether through a public post at the workplace or electronic methods; Give “Predictability Pay” of: One (1) hour at the regularly hourly rate for changes made less than 14 days but more than 24 hours after the advance notice Four (4) hours at the regularly hourly rate for changes made less than 24 hours before the shift starts; Allow the employee to decline work hours if it starts less than 11 hours after end of previous day’s shift. City of Seattle In Seattle, covered by the predictive work scheduling law are retail and foodservice establishments that have at least 500 employees worldwide, and full-service restaurants that have at least 500 employees and 40 locations worldwide. They are required to: Provide staff schedules 2 weeks in advance, including on-call shifts Give an extra hour’s worth of pay at their regular hourly rate if: Extra hours were added to the schedule The start and end times were changed with no loss of hours Give one-half of the employee’s scheduled rate of pay per hour for any scheduled hours the employee does not work if their: Employer subtracted hours from an employee’s schedule Start and end times are changed resulting in loss of hours Shift was canceled Scheduled on-call shift is one they don’t need to report for Predictive scheduling in the State of Oregon In July 2018, the State or Oregon became the first to implement statewide predictive scheduling laws, which requires retail, food service, and hospitality industry employers with at least 500 employees worldwide to: Give new employees a document with a “good faith estimate” of their minimum number of scheduled shifts per month;he days and hours of those shifts; Provide staff schedules 7 days in advance from 1 July 2018; Provide staff schedules 14 days in advance from 1 July 2020; Give 1 hour of pay at the regular hourly rate if their: Employer adds more than 30 minutes of work to their shift Start and end times were changed with no loss of hours Employer schedules an additional work shift or an on-call shift Give one-half times the employee’s scheduled rate of pay per hour for any scheduled hours the employee does not work if their: Shift was canceled Shift was shortened or their scheduled hours were reduced Oregon employers have the option to invite staff to a “voluntary standby list” who can work extra hours, but the additional compensations don’t apply to them. Make Predictive Scheduling hassle-free With these key changes in scheduling employees in the retail and fast food industries, other employers can only expect that similar laws will be implemented in other cities and states. Employers need to be prepared to manage schedules efficiently to not incur any penalties and increase overall productivity. While predictive scheduling sounds like a lot of work, it doesn’t have to be. Workforce success platforms that specialize in creating schedules and communicating them to employees are already readily available in the United States. One such platform is Tanda, with a Scheduling Software that eliminates manual scheduling work. With Tanda, employers can build schedules to match customer demand, see staff availability in real-time, save templates, and set targets and cost schedules to make sure the schedule is never over budget. Laws will soon require schedules to be provided one or two weeks in advance. Conveniently, custom schedule templates can be saved and applied in seconds. Thus, compliance is a given every time. Informing employees of their shift is also a breeze. They can receive published schedules instantly through Tanda’s Scheduling App, or even via SMS and email. Tanda also has a Cognitive Scheduling feature which takes schedule management to the next level with smart algorithms and proprietary logic to weigh employment types, pay rates, age, skill level of staff, and much more to generate the best schedule that maximizes all resources. Employers can run multiple scenario testing against qualified data inputs to suggest an optimal output. This, and multiple other features, ensure a hassle-free schedule that fits all staffing requirements. They can even be sent to employees at the touch of a button. Technology is the future of workforce management, and Tanda is built to get you there.

Renée Mellish

22 February 2018    |   

  Tanda now has a mobile app, this means your employees have one simple location where they can see exactly when they are working and also let their managers know when they are unavailable or would like to file for leave. What your staff can do right now with the app As of now, your staff can: View their rostered shifts View and apply for leave Enter unavailability In the coming weeks and months we will be adding many more exciting features timesheet updates, as well as features for managers! How to get your staff to use the app Your staff can download the app on the Apple App Store or Google Play Store. Just search for “Tanda Employee App”: There will also be links to the app at the bottom of the roster email when you send that out. What if my staff don’t have an existing Tanda login? That’s no problem, all they need to know is their Tanda email address (the one they use to receive roster emails). Once they have downloaded the app, they simply click “I don’t know my passsword” and they will be prompted to enter their Tanda email for instructions. From here, they will receive a password reset link. After creating a password, they can then log in to the app! If you have any questions about your employee’s account or how to get your staff to use it, please contact employees@tanda.co and we’d be happy to help.

Enrique Estagle

20 July 2017    |   

We at Tanda are excited to let you know that our Time Clock application is now available for the iPhone. This new version adds on our existing Android, iPad, and desktop time clocks. And just like those, this has the same set of features. It lets staff clock in with their unique PIN and a selfie. The Tanda Time Clock accurately records employee attendance and compares it with the weekly roster. It also updates the timesheets automatically to the cloud and stores it offline when the device is not connected. This added presence gives added flexibility to businesses currently using our app. You can add it to complement your main time clock, decentralizing clock-ins-and-outs. You can refurbish old iPhones to serve as time clocks, instead of it taking up drawer space. It can also be the backup if, and when, your office’s main Tanda Time Clock is unavailable. Remote employees with iPhones can also use this to record attendance, wherever they may be. Click here to download the Tanda Time Clock for the iPhone. Are you a new user? Signup for free here to use Tanda to track time and attendance for your business, and so much more.  

Jessica Genio-Ignacio

10 May 2019    |   

Attending Georgia State University on scholarship after living in a small town, Savannah Samples didn’t originally envision her part time jobs would eventually bloom into the business opportunity she’s pursuing today. The young founder of Atlanta-based total family assistance company Angel Assistance started out doing nanny work to support herself alongside full-time studies. “I always did nannying as well as doing other things—doing laundry, doing dishes, cooking dinner, taking the kids places, all the different kinds of stuff the moms usually do. When they got home they would be all, ‘oh thank you so much, you helped so much, not just nannying but doing everything’,” Savannah says. She worked hard—a necessity when coming from humble beginnings. She found one regular in her sophomore year of university, and another the year after—and as word-of-mouth referrals from those two poured in, the list began to grow. Two became twelve, and she now had a loyal client base. But juggling the number of clients on top of schoolwork took a toll on her. “Everybody kept referring me, a good problem to have, but I only have so many hands. And this mom I was working with at the time who owned two businesses, she said, why don’t you just start up your own company?” From Side Hustle to Fully-fledged Business She decided to go for it despite no entrepreneurship background and little knowledge about government requirements. It took two years of her learning the ropes of business ownership alone for Savannah to hire her first full-time employee. From there, it snowballed. Angel Assistance, once a one-person company, now employs 6 full time “angels” and 30 clients, around 23 of whom have set recurring weekly schedules. The company’s services? A common misconception about is that they do elderly care, or purely nannying. That isn’t the case. “We wash, we walk the dog, we cook you dinner, we grocery shop, organize your closet, do summer, winter switch up on closets, make your beds, everything you can’t get from a deep cleaner, you can’t get from a babysitter, you can’t get from a chef, from a dry cleaning service. We do all in one. So family assistance totally, with individuals as a family as well,” Savannah says. This scale up meant Savannah needed to find a reliable employee scheduling app to ease her managerial load. Employees would contact her to manually schedule shifts, and repeatedly fielding calls would make her “go insane.” She tried one brand of workforce software, but despite the good customer service as time went on the app would glitch to the point where it caused operational issues. Read more: How to Avoid Timesheet Mistakes Employees wouldn’t be able to see their schedules, and clients would be waiting for an angel to show up at their door to no avail. It also didn’t have as much features as she would like. “I mean, I like the app and the people that I did talk to when I first started were great […], but the app glitched enough to where it was causing issues with our clients where angels weren’t showing up to the location because they couldn’t see their schedule published. So I knew something was going to have to happen.” Finding the Right Scheduling App Tanda’s name came up when Savannah asked around for possible alternatives. She became interested in it once she did some research: It had more features than the previous app, and the possibility of developing more in the future. Now, Angel Assistance uses Tanda primarily for its employee scheduling app. They’ve adapted to use it for their specific needs as well—instead of just Savannah holding the manager title, Angel Assistance’s families have manager accounts of their own, enabling these recurring clients to see and respond to the shifts of their assigned employee. This was in contrast to their previous app, where families ended up with a “put it out in the universe and hope the angel shows up” situation. Being someone who does organizing work herself, Savannah especially appreciates how Tanda has room for consolidating information about her angels. Other than the time clock and location features, which they also use, she mentions the qualifications tab: a place where she can keep a file on each angel that contains their background check, driving record, profile, and more. “I love that Tanda has the qualifications tab where i can put all of those on the app; if we need them we can pull them up and look at them.” Forward-looking Enthusiasm Tanda has also helped Savannah cut down on her role as middleman between clients and angels. She handles 2-3 different families per day herself for about 4 hours each, and keeps in touch with others in-between, with a short break for lunch. But the work doesn’t stop there. She gets home at around 9 or 10 pm, but sometimes the phone keeps ringing. “I’m to the point now where I have to put my phone on ‘do not disturb’ past like, 11 o’ clock because otherwise I probably wouldn’t sleep.” Despite her busy schedule, Tanda does help. With the employee scheduling app having features for leave request and shift time changes, employees don’t need to contact her as much as before. While she feels there are still more features they need from the software, such as a monthly view for schedules and more access for managers, she’s also optimistic for future updates to come. Read more: A Manager’s Guide to Modern Employee Scheduling Her eventual goal? To fully transition to overhead management. “It’s a lot, and I don’t mind it because it’s what I do and obviously I love what I do,” she says. “But I know I can’t give my 100% to families because I’m doing management. I’ve had some kids 4 or 5 years, so I feel bad that I’m not giving them full attention because I have to answer the phone for a management call for 20, 30 minutes.” She may be a business owner now, but Savannah—and Angel Assistance—retains the core that made clients trust her years ago: the sincere compassion and heart for the families they serve.

Rosie Ramirez

2 April 2019    |   

The lush valleys of Pennsylvania are home to a robust agricultural industry that generates employment on 59,000 farms in every county. Due to its mild climate, rich soils, and dedicated farmers, the industry generated a direct output of $83.8 billion in 2017. Among top outputs are chicken eggs, winter wheat, potatoes, oats, rye, soybeans, and barley. But one product stands out from the rest: Pennsylvania ranks first nationally in mushroom production. With an annual yield of more than 425 million pounds, valuing more than $330.7 million per year, the mushroom industry is a key player in the state’s economy. Nobody knows the significance of mushrooms better than the owners and staff of Palumbo Foods, headquartered in Avondale, Pennsylvania. Founder Tony Palumbo, having grown up in the mushroom industry, invested in his own company in 2008. A decade later, Tony is joined by several members of his family in overseeing more than 40 staff members. They sell over 350,000 pounds of mushrooms each week. Together, they supply mushrooms and seasonal produce to customers not just in Pennsylvania, but also in Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Ohio, Virginia, Georgia, and Texas. Tanda asked Vice President, Shawn Palumbo about running this successful food business. Talented people behind a family business “We have a lot of talented people on the staff who really go above and beyond,” Shawn says. “And that goes from our office team to our dock employees who are building orders day and night to our over the road truck drivers. We have a lot of dedicated people and that’s really what makes it work.” Company founder Tony Palumbo is joined by his son, Shawn, and daughter-in-law, Kimiko. Besides providing fresh, locally grown produce, the Palumbo Foods team also emphasizes customer service. Indeed, the family business has thrived through the tight-knit relationship of the staff, not just with each other, but also with their customers. Shawn remarks, “A bunch of loyal customers believed in what Tony was looking to do and stuck with us to help us get started.  Years later, most of those customers still work with us.” Today, from locally grown mushrooms, they’ve branched out into seasonal produce like garlic, ginger, peppers, onions, cucumbers, and microgreens. Data-led improvements that matter Time is of the essence, especially in the food business. That’s where Shawn’s team encountered their biggest challenge. They thought they could make headway by keeping most of their staff in the first shift. “We always only operated with a first shift team, but we realized we were overloading them. There just was too much work for anyone to get done,” he recalls. Enter Tanda, a workforce management software with tracking and reporting capabilities. “The biggest key is visibility. Tanda gave us visibility to see where our hours were being spent and where we could place them,” he shares. From just having a first shift and seeing what needed to be done during the day, using Tanda allowed Palumbo Foods to see that they actually needed a third shift. “Looking at the numbers and seeing the physical data on paper and on the computer allowed us to make a decision that we wouldn’t have been able to make without Tanda so to speak,” he says. The team in charge of carrying out improvements relied on Tanda to make the decision to add a third shift. The results were astounding. “They’re coming in at night getting a third of the work done, so the team during the morning shift does not have as much pressure to get everything completed,” Shawn shares. The simple change decreased production errors and increased employee morale. “They’re less stressed and they’re more efficient. The quality has gone up to our customers as well. We’ve seen our returns decreased,” he adds. The addition of the third shift even allowed their trucks to leave earlier, which assists in completing their deliveries within service rule hours. Palumbo Foods uses Tanda to see where hours are being spent and how to improve operations Team visibility despite the miles “When I was younger, I worked at places and you grabbed the card, you put it in the machine, you put it back.  What visibility does that give anybody?” Shawn asks, recalling the punch clocks that most businesses used decades ago, and which some still use today. For him, Tanda’s Time Clock App increased visibility and engagement with their teams who are working 2,000 miles away. “As management is in Pennsylvania, we have cameras at our Texas facility, but no one is sitting here watching the cameras all day. With Tanda, we can see what time they’re punching in, and coming and going,” he shares. For Palumbo Foods, the increased visibility has allowed them to operate better. It linked them to a critical part of their operation without actually being there. “We could remotely monitor and verify the hours being worked and make the appropriate decisions based on that data,” he says. ,” It has also increased trust among team members. Before switching to Tanda, employee attendance caused some friction. “The staff is now operating 24/7 so staff can come and go, and sometimes it was not being noticed. It was causing issues between team members as some were showing up later and leaving earlier than others,” he notes. Now, they can look at the Tanda timesheets and resolve these conflicts easily. Growing with workforce technology In 2017, Palumbo Foods opened a facility in San Antonio, Texas, with 7 employees. They also service Pennsylvania, Ohio, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Georgia, and Florida. Now Shawn and his team are looking to open more distribution spaces and employ more staff. There’s room to grow for this small family business, and Tanda is helping them make sense of their operations. “Knowing that, at any time, we can look at these reports, from anywhere has been a big, big help for us,” he says. Pennsylvania continues to lead the mushroom production industry in the United States. Contributing to this boom is Palumbo Foods, a company that continues to flourish through its talented staff and loyal customers. As Shawn notes, “It kind of really grew this into something that no one ever expected it could be.” And with their investment in workforce technology that lets them track employees and operations accurately, they’re all set to keep providing quality produce to more customers in the years to come.