A world bursting with ideas – Butlers

The BUTLERS lifestyle brand has become a firm favorite among the 40 million people who walk through its doors every year. With 800 staff, 120 stores in Germany and overseas, an online shop and whole worlds of inspiring decor to explore, the cross-channel retailer has something to brighten up every home. The brand, whose motto translates as “finding happiness in beauty,” has already won multiple awards for its online and offline concept centered on hospitality. The success of the BUTLERS brand is built on innovative strength, quality at the best possible price and sustainable management – and this includes the consistent optimizing of its business processes. After analyzing the management of working time and holidays, the company realized it could save itself a six-figure sum every year: Such a handsome return on investment made the workforce management project a no-brainer. The ATOSS Retail Solution was rolled out smoothly across the 85 German and Austrian stores in under 30 days, which included managing country-specific collective agreements. BUTLERS had picked five modules: Workplace Time Recording, Time and Attendance Management, Workforce Scheduling, Task Management and the Staff Center. The aim is to minimize the amount of admin that working time generates across the company, introduce qualifying periods for leave into the sales teams and ensure that there are enough staff on the shop floor at all times.

The solution is also designed to enable the 200 or so temporary workers taken on over Christmas to be managed flexibly. Working times are transmitted seamlessly and error-free to the DATEV payroll accounting system, while current figures can be compared against target values at the touch of a button. All requests, such as changes to holidays or working times are now handled digitally. The intuitive Staff Center gives employees transparent access to all their personal information, such as working hour balances and duty plans, at any time of the day or night. Task Management sends out an automatic warning if someone forgets to book working time or is at risk of exceeding their ten-hour limit, making life a lot easier for HR and line managers. The company's head office intends to use the Planning Quality module to review the deployment of staff in each store and fine-tune the process over the long term, with the solution already slated for launch in Switzerland. In this way, BUTLERS is giving itself the necessary scope to focus on what really matters – inspiring its customers and wowing them with creative ideas for their homes.

Source: ATOSS Customer Butlers | Annual Report 2019