Outsource Support manages staff hours and latest HR legislation using SmartTask

Benefits at a glance

• POA and lone worker safety can be managed across cleaning, security and pest control business divisions using one system
• Enhanced unsocial hours feature automates pay calculations, saving admin time
• SmartTask on-boarding and vetting module makes recruitment and background checks faster
• Staff certifications and qualifications renewals easily managed with automated alerts
• Built-in notifications for missed check-ins ensures safety of staff and reduces admin for managers
• Complete visibility of staff locations provides overall management control.

“SmartTask is just so simple to use – it has everything we need ‘under one roof’ to manage our workforce and interactions with customers. As our business has grown, so too has SmartTask and the range of services they are able to offer.” Graham Hughes, Managing Director, Outsource Support.

Outsource Support is a leading company in Ireland providing facility and support services to over 700 clients across Ireland, from its national support office in Drogheda Co Louth. Established in 2007, it delivers services for small business owners and large organisations across a range of sectors. The company invests in its staff and long-term relationships with clients resulting in some of the highest customer and employee retention rates in the industry.

Complete visibility over different business divisions

Outsource has been successfully using SmartTask for over ten years to manage staff across its business divisions that provide cleaning, security and environmental pest control services. In the cleaning division, SmartTask is used for proof of attendance and shift planning for 200 cleaning operatives that work at around 120 customer sites located across Ireland.

For both the pest control and security divisions the software is especially key to manage lone worker safety, since the officers and technicians are often working alone on customer locations. The pest control technicians also have precautionary measures that need to be taken to ensure safety when using hazardous chemicals while carrying out duties on site.

Easy check-ins keep staff safe

SmartTask’s software combines intelligent rostering, live monitoring and integrated proof of attendance which significantly benefits the company’s mobile team operations. The cloud-based nature of SmartTask enables Outsource Support managers to access the system from its sites across all of Ireland. Operatives check in using the SmartTask app on their phone, while built-in alerts notify managers if they forget or fail to check in at designated times.

Real time information helps manage operations efficiently

The flexibility of the software means that the notifications can be set up to specific site and duty requirements. It gives managers and cleaning site supervisors complete visibility of employees to ensure the safety and wellbeing of staff - and saves administration time.

According to Graham Hughes, Managing Director of Outsource Support: “The Proof of Attendance and automated alerts to our managers and supervisors means they are dealing with real time information. It enables us to react quickly for changes, ensure that staff are safe and that we provide the best possible customer service. Managers are not waiting for staff phone calls and can monitor activity as it happens.”

Accurate data means correct pay

Accurate data ensures that the correct pay for staff holidays and sick leave is calculated, based on company policies and relevant regulations. In addition, holiday and sickness management can be fully integrated with the rostering process. This allows staff to be removed from a shift and another employee inserted and notified of their new schedule. SmartTask has built-in intelligence that uses records of employee certifications to suggest the best fit employee for client sites.

“We also use SmartTask to manage certifications and qualifications for each employee. Again, this is alert driven, which means that we are notified in good time of renewals giving us time to plan training and refresher courses,” said Graham Hughes.

New enhancements save administration time

When new legislation in Ireland was introduced regarding payments for working unsocial hours, Outsource Support turned to SmartTask for help. The new HR directive mandated fixed payments to shifts that extend into the unsocial period from 9pm until 7am, once the length of unsocial time worked is over the qualifying time of 3 hours.

This change was presenting a challenge to the accounts team, who were finding the administration involved very time-consuming as they reconciled the hours worked with the different payments.

By developing enhancements to the software’s existing unsocial hours features, the SmartTask team helped to simplify and automate the calculation of when unsocial hours payment should be made and how much it should be. The straightforward implementation of the enhancements has significantly reduced the admin time that the team was spending calculating and paying unsocial compensation.

Graham Hughes commented: “SmartTask meets all of our workforce management and scheduling needs. It is easy to use and highly accurate, so we are using the data to verify timesheets for payroll as well as support our invoicing procedures.

“SmartTask responded to our request to help with the new legislation and quickly developed some changes to the system that has significantly reduced admin time calculating unsocial hours payments. We are saving money by streamlining administrative requirements, and the online portal provides valuable performance information to our customers. The team at SmartTask really listened to our needs to ensure their software possesses the right levels of functionality and simplicity.”

Paul Ridden, CEO of SmartTask said: “SmartTask enables companies such as Outsource Support to better plan and manage their workforce, making it an effective way of improving operational control, enhancing customer satisfaction and winning new business. This is just one instance where we have listened to our customers and found a way to help them tailor SmartTask software to their business. Our knowledge of the facilities management marketplace, unrivalled expertise in mobile computing, and best possible customer care, means we are best placed to deliver advanced software solutions that can achieve measurable results.”