Trees Organic Coffee - Franchise Scheduling & Management - Case Study

Case Study: Trees Organic Coffee in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Business Overview

Trees organic started with one cafe in 1996. The idea was to provide Vancouverites with organic & fair trade coffee, freshly roasted on site. We operated the one location in downtown Vancouver until we started franchising in 2005. We now operate 4 locations.

Scheduling Overview

We started with about 15 employees were there to start and now we have just under 50 employees in total. In the service industry you need to schedule around the needs of the business. Each day and even day part requires a different level of staffing. Building a schedule around the ever-changing volume of business is the most difficult part. As well with many employees who have a variety of skills and availabilities, we also need to think carefully about each and every shift.

Previous Scheduling Method

Our previous employee schedule maker scheduling method was a draft containing the required shifts was drawn up, then staff names matched to each shift. The final draft was printed from an Excel spreadsheet and posted on a bulletin board.

Since ShiftPlanning

Having the ability for staff to check their schedule from anywhere, as well as reminder notifications means less of the excuse "I didn't realize I was scheduled to work today." I would recommend work scheduler ShiftPlanning to others. I signed up just after the initial launch and found Ryan to be very receptive to suggestions and questions. Also updates are well communicated.

With ShiftPlanning it's much easier to manage availabilities and day off requests. - Chris Hannah - Trees Organic Coffee