How do activity management and workforce management differ?
The terms "activity management" and "workforce management" are often used to define resource management. But while both solutions involve managing and optimising time and people, they come from different starting points and employ different approaches. Workforce management is based on an HR culture and is used to optimise work schedules: it schedules the right number of people at the right time. Activity management, on the other hand, is operational in nature and focuses on the work to be done and how to use the available resources to do it. In other words, it involves assigning tasks (and the time needed to complete them) to the right people, at the right time of day, and in the right order of priority. These are two separate approaches with subtle yet noticeable differences.
5 reasons to set up an activity management tool in your points of sale
How can you offer a modern, enchanting customer experience and improve shop performance, while absorbing this transformation, adapting to the digitalisation of shops and, of course, continuing to carry out your usual tasks? There's only one solution: manage your business on a day-to-day basis!
What is the workload simulation tool used for at the point of sale?
A loss of work values, a lack of faith in authority, management’s failure to assume responsibility … the breakdown in a store’s chain of command is increasingly noticeable. However, the ‘distribution management’ battle is not lost. It is through the notions linked to the art of leadership that we suggest you consider the best way to restore all the manager’s legitimacy in order to take their employees with them on the path of collective improvement.
Distribution management: the art of leadership
A loss of work values, a lack of faith in authority, management’s failure to assume responsibility … the breakdown in a store’s chain of command is increasingly noticeable. However, the ‘distribution management’ battle is not lost. It is through the notions linked to the art of leadership that we suggest you consider the best way to restore all the manager’s legitimacy in order to take their employees with them on the path of collective improvement.
Improving the commitment and know-how of retail managers
Has managerial know-how in the retail sector been overtaken by the evolution of the new generations and their relationship with work? Today, it is very difficult to recruit and retain staff. There is also a lack of motivation when it comes to taking on responsibilities and becoming a manager. Widespread disinterest in work, lack of know-how, loss of reference points: managers are running out of steam and teams no longer have any real confidence in their superiors.
It would seem that our contemporaries have forgotten the intrinsic meaning of the manager's job, and the values associated with his or her supervisory functions. We're talking here about the manager's commitment to serving his teams, customers and the shop. It's a real constraint, but it's also the key to winning the support and involvement of your staff and legitimising your role as manager.
We offer you our tips for improving the commitment and know-how of your managers.
Three key factors to improve operational excellence in retail
Crisis management within retail
Against a backdrop of intense competitive pressure, the sector is experiencing considerable organisational constraints linked to its transformation in recent years as well as unprecedented difficulties in recruiting and retaining staff. An unstable situation that is blithely complicating the current economic environment, which includes price increases in energy, raw materials and random supplies at the same time as galloping inflation on goods.
In this context, it is difficult for the various players to maintain any profitability.
What levers can be used to fight the effects of inflation on store organization and profitability?
Inflation erodes store profitability and requires teams to adjust their work organization:
- taking into account daily variations in volumes and supply uncertainties
- giving priority to value-added tasks
- by assigning these tasks to the right person at the right time.
To achieve this, a workload calculation and management tool is necessary.
The significant challenges that tomorrow’s pharmacies will face
Just four years ago, we discussed the pharmaceutical ecosystem’s transformation and the complexity of the economic environment in which it was taking place. Although the evolution is undeniable, structural restrictions are still present, and specific difficulties are more evident.
What are the new challenges for sporting goods distributors, and what are the impacts on their business?
Amid an economic and geopolitical slump, sporting goods retailers face significant constraints like all other retail players. Indeed, they have to juggle between logistic uncertainties, supply difficulties, disruptions, and shortage of manpower while containing the increase in the price of products and energy ... a rather complicated situation that degrades the profitability of the players. Moreover, the short-term outlook needs to improve and will undoubtedly significantly impact the evolution of volumes.
And to spice things up, let's add that within this environment, guaranteeing a high level of service and the assurance of an ultra-quality image are not options!
Despite this high level of instability, sporting goods distributors can still count on exploiting growth drivers: major sporting events, opportunities linked to societal trends, investment capacities, innovation in customer experience, etc.
Nevertheless, the context impacts the activity of the points of sale and the organization generally: what are the stakes, and how to respond to them by seizing development opportunities?
The point with Timeskipper ...
In 2023, let’s save margins!
Maintaining activity by controlling costs while continuing to invest will enable us to limit the decline in profitability for 2023 and emerge stronger from this crisis. - let's be lucid but remain positive - is that levers exist and that stores can capture them thanks to activity management and implementing innovations.
It remains now to know and follow the proper steps rigorously. Details by Timeskipper ...
Do-it-yourself stores: how to balance the workload/capacity ratio fairly?
The DIY sector has experienced a real upturn over the last two years. However, there have been some signs of weakness: inflation, supply difficulties, delivery delays linked to the Covid crisis and the conflict in Ukraine, and volume drops in certain market segments... An environment that makes it too difficult to win market shares is in full swing on all fronts! In other words, it's a tough challenge you're your teams!
Timekeeping in the retail industry: the winning asset to optimise your activities
In the retail industry, proper use of working hours has become essential to provide the best possible service to customers and guarantee the store's profitability. Managing this "good use of working hours" means ensuring that each employee is busy doing the right task, in the right way, at the right time and for the right length of time! This is a vast programme, the starting point of which is to have a repository of time-worth tasks based on in-store operation expertise, know-how and timekeeping techniques!
Drive-ins: how to manage order preparation teams better?
In recent years, the rise of drive-in food retail has been a genuine growth factor for points of sale, but it does not cost them any less! Indeed, the staff costs linked to preparing and delivering orders are high, and there's no way this cost can be billed to the final customer. This is a major blow to profitability!
The answer to this economic model's fragility lies in the ability to synchronise order preparation with the time slots dedicated to making products available to customers (slotting) while respecting the promise to have ordered items delivered on time. To achieve this, it's essential to manage the workload correctly and guarantee an optimal employee occupancy rate. We're talking about task management... the trick is to know how to do it when it comes to drive-in activities!
Timeskipper presents its new feature dedicated to forecasting and prioritising drive-in tasks to manage your point of sale better. Explanations...
How does Timeskipper support retail players in a turnaround situation?
Business turnaround refers to a set of practices aimed at reversing the trend of a situation that is not going well, with a view to revitalising the business and safeguarding jobs.
Recognised as THE solution for optimising the organisation of work in retail, the TimeSkipper platform is a major asset for supporting restructuring. This is particularly true when the risk of imminent bankruptcy requires an in-depth transformation of the organisation, work methods and consequently the allocation of resources. These situations have been particularly frequent over the last twenty months, with certain brands and formats suffering the full impact of the health crisis.
It is therefore quite natural that companies should turn to Timeskipper when they need to "do things quickly and well" in order to restore the fundamentals of their performance.
Food retailing: 3 ways to optimise self-service operational teams’ activities
While business volumes in food retailing are encouraging, the economic equation is not entirely rosy. Indeed, price inflation is looming, competition is increasing, and the multiplication of distribution channels is causing the operational costs of the brands to soar. In addition, the human environment within the teams is complex. To overcome this multi-faceted problem, three levers must be activated simultaneously in order to find new sources of efficiency. Here are some explanations.
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