Workforce Management by Luc Steensels, Randstad

Accurate salary calculations require meticulous recording of absences. But this is exactly where Randstad sometimes lacked efficiency and accuracy. Records were paper-based, which sometimes resulted in salary calculation errors. The hours worked by staff were not recorded systematically, and as a result the HR department had to enter the data (including holidays, which were requested on a form) into the salary processing package itself. Sylvie Robyn, Personnel & Salary Administration Manager, explains: “The administrative paper-pushing was extremely time-consuming and the manual data entry involved in the salary calculations increased the likelihood of errors. In 2006, our department employed three staff members to process the data for the 1,300-strong workforce. The work pressure was enormous.”

Fast growth makes flexibility a necessity

Furthermore, staff did not have any insight into their own personnel files, such as the number of holidays remaining. Sylvie Robyn states: “Requesting holidays on a form was not only a nuisance for us, but also for the staff. Sometimes the form would get lost and the person had to contact the personnel department directly, which further increased our work pressure.” Randstad was also experiencing strong growth in those years. The number of employees increased from 1,300 to 1,700 and the number of branches was on the up (in Belgium there are currently 250 branches). Naturally, fast growth in a competitive market requires that an organisation be flexible. Randstad needed a transparent solution to record absences. Protime's workforce management system very much appealed to the Randstad management. The project plan put forward by Protime strengthened Randstad management's belief in Protime's Software as a Service (SaaS) approach.

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