Beekeeper, the 2018 TechOvation award-winning team communication app, is excited to announce our latest application integration with Gustaf, an intelligent shift management solution by When Labs. Leveraging the best in AI technology, Gustaf revolutionizes staff management, acting as a virtual assistant to HR and shift managers.
Gustaf handles all aspects of virtual shift management, contacting staff on behalf of managers to find coverage for open work shifts in real-time, all while ensuring consistency and compliance in both union and non-union environments. This matters especially when it comes to staff management because different properties under the same company brand could have distinct shift rules based on their location, union affiliation, and other case-by-case factors.
Gustaf App Transforms Staff Management
Gustaf addresses a major issue affecting staff management in every industry today: absenteeism. The Gustaf application integration alleviates the following most common, and costly, staff management pain points related to call-outs:
- Frontline staff attrition. Employee turnover is a common staff management issue, and can create challenges to adequately covering shifts and meeting staffing needs.
- Shift management. Traditionally, HR or shift managers have to spend significant time finding subs for uncovered shifts, involving complicated schedule cross-checking to ensure union compliance with mandatory breaks, overtime, and seniority.
- Payouts for scheduling mistakes. Human error in shift management can be costly. If a worker is told to come in and it turns out they aren’t needed, for example, the company is accountable to pay the employee for that shift regardless of whether or not those hours are worked.
How the Gustaf Application Integration with Beekeeper Works
One of the key transformative aspects of the Gustaf application integration is that the full lifecycle of shift coverage decisions are completely managed, and all from within Beekeeper’s team communication app. If an employee cannot work a scheduled shift, they simply message the Gustaf chatbot in Beekeeper. The system understands variations of language – such as “Drop,” or “I can’t work my shift”– making this communication even easier. Gustaf then reviews workforce availability according to union and labor laws, automatically factoring in seniority, appropriate breaks, and overtime considerations.
Once Gustaf determines available and compliant shift replacements, the app contacts these workers according to their communication preferences by phone, text or email, and in their preferred language. When coverage is found, the schedule is automatically updated and managers receive a notification of the final shift changes made. Importantly, Gustaf keeps a complete log of all actions and communications taken for the shift management lifecycle for future reference and union compliance.
The benefits of using Beekeeper chat to message Gustaf include:
- 24/7 availability to employees and management alike for up-to-the-minute shift changes
- Information exchange directly within your company’s team app
- Depending on the nature of shift coverage, chatbot communication means no phone call is required
Gustaf Application Integration: Key Staff Management Benefits
Several features of the Gustaf application integration with Beekeeper are game-changing differentiators when it comes to other team communication apps for staff management:
- Intuitive, responsive management and frontline worker-friendly app interface.
- Customizable employee contact preferences (i.e. home phone, mobile phone, text, or email).
- Contact multiple users simultaneously and in their preferred language.
- Clearly visible workforce sorting by seniority.
- An online, non-threatening system of harassment, drug-use, and other relevant HR reporting.
- Automated decisions with a complete time-and-date-stamped record of every decision made in the Gustaf app.
- AI technology facilitates continuous improvement of shift coverage process; can be used to predict costs and suggest management alternatives.
- The ability for managers to see all available shifts for the day and notify those who are working with one-click.
The Gustaf partnership between Beekeeper and When Labs signals a paradigm-shift in internal communications for staff management in any industry, and a continued commitment to a vibrant Beekeeper application integration marketplace. With Gustaf, staff management processes are streamlined so that both managers and employees can spend more time engaging with guests and less on these essential but time-consuming administrative tasks.
