Adecco Amsterdam: I discovered how simple a planning tool could be

The temp agency Adecco Amsterdam serves as planning expert in the Amsterdam area. They handle planning issues and do the planning for about ten clients, of which they schedule the collaborators on a weekly basis. Ivanka Wijtman, Planner Poolservices, is responsible for all planning questions that companies address to Adecco Amsterdam.

The solution for complex planning

At Adecco Amsterdam, the planning soon got too big and complex to continue to work in Excel. Every interim job has its own variables, including diverse workplaces, different qualifications, cost centres and so on. Moreover, there are rules from the flex law that have to be applied in the right way. Things that could only be entered manually in Excel. That pushed Adecco Amsterdam to internally submit a request for a planning tool about five years ago.

“Excel simply wasn’t an option anymore. It was too error sensitive and outdated. I had to enter everything manually and got no warning when I overwrote something. It resulted in a backlog and that begins to gnaw at you. There had to be a more efficient way of working,” Ivanka clarifies.

Why say goodbye to Excel?

In their search for a planning tool, Adecco Amsterdam tested different competitive software. That software presented flaws each time: too high costs, complex implementation and/or not user-friendly. Ivanka finally got to know Beeple two years ago. It proved to be the solution for Adecco Amsterdam to better facilitate their customers with different branch backgrounds.

“The Beeple Customer Success Manager, Wouter, took us through the system. When he told about the different possibilities, I discovered how simple a planning tool could be. I can manage all sorts of tasks on my own in just ten minutes. What I had to enter manually in Excel, happens automatically in Beeple. The costs of Beeple versus the time savings that it would bring, made us take the plunge immediately.”

Want to say goodbye to wasting time on flex work planning?

Better connection with customers

Adecco Amsterdam weekly creates schedules for their customers. Those customers are active in diverse sectors like production, logistics and transport, industry and security, but also education. When there’s a new customer, Ivanka sits down with them to listen to their expectations and show them how Adecco Amsterdam works.

“Based on their story, we show the customers the different options. While doing so, we use our own experience of why we are so enthusiastic about Beeple. In preparation for the conversation, I already create some projects and subprojects and add managers and collaborators as well. This takes up half an hour at the most. The default templates in Beeple make that preparation all the easier. Because the customers see their own data (for example their logo) in our system, we have a better connection with them.”

Every customer gains access to Beeple, but within a limited role. Each role can execute different operations, like modifying collaborators’ profiles or adding new teams. That way, their customers have a certain influence in Beeple, but Adecco stays in control of the pools from an employer point of view. “At the moment, we have two different roles in Beeple, in which our current ten customers fit. Maybe we will add another role in the future, but for the present, it is unnecessary.”

When Ivanka introduced Beeple to the customers, the opinions were divided. ”For some customers, it caused a few difficulties, because they were not yet ready for a new system. Others were by contrast happy with the renewal that Beeple brought. It was an exciting period in all respects.”

Availabilities procedure to save time

The new planning system was not only taking some getting used to by the customers, but also by the temps . Many among them were initially not pleased according to Ivanka. “They were used to being able to call us all the time, so in their eyes, Beeple enlarged the distance between us. In the long run, that was not the case, because the gain in time gave us even more time for them. The communication now happens slightly different: via email and SMS. It took some time before all temps from our pools got wise to the system, but that’s just normal.”

Adecco Amsterdam used to have a procedure in which the collaborators weekly needed to transmit their availabilities via email or Whatsapp before a fixed point in time. The fact that this was also possible in Beeple, via the website or the Beeple app, was an asset for Ivanka. “Occasionally, people forget it, but in general, it works well. We are severe when it comes to transmitting the availability on time: people who don’t fill in their availabilities, are not scheduled. In the beginning, many temps were bothered by the switch to Beeple. By being used to it in the meantime, they are satisfied with it.”

Want to live in the moment?