“We can post today and we'll get applicants within eight, ten hours.”
The operation
KnitWell Group's distribution center in Pataskala, Ohio, runs receiving, e-commerce and retail on two shifts. All three departments staff with Upshift, and have for about two years.
The challenge
Thomas plans headcount every three months and checks the forecast every week. But trucks get held at a port and then arrive together, and some projects land with a week's notice. Hiring for those weeks makes no sense, and overtime wears the crew out.
“We do like a three-month plan… And then we also look at, are there a lot of spikes or peaks within those months that we don't really need to hire full-time.”
Four things, each in their own words.
“We can have trucks get held up at port, on the West Coast or East Coast, and next thing you know we've got all these trucks we've got to unload and process on a Thursday or Friday. So we've got to get some extra people in next week to get through this.”
Thomas Murray · Operations ManagerThomas posts the shifts the day he knows about the volume. Vetted local workers on W-2 payroll apply within hours, and his favorites see the shift first.
+4“It's not worth us to hire, you know, ten people for one week's shift out of a month. So if we can supplement with Upshift and get the people in here and still get through the volume without spending a lot of overtime, then that works really well for us.”
Thomas Murray · Operations ManagerThe center plans headcount every three months. Upshift covers the weeks the plan cannot predict, and the center pays only for the shifts people work.
“Getting that message ahead of time … gives us a lot of flexibility, and we can kind of change our game plan each day. So I think that's huge for us.”
Thomas Murray · Operations ManagerUpshift sends a roster before every shift, and supervisors and group leads see the same live dashboard. When the plan changes, they know early and set up the day around it. Across Upshift, more than 98% of booked workers show up or let the client know ahead of time.
“We also have our favorites list on your site, so we always post favorites first. So that way we know anybody that's worked here before will come back, or is able to come back, right away. So that kind of helps us with not training, which is really good.”
Thomas Murray · Operations ManagerFavorites are the people Thomas has marked as his regulars. 86% of last year's shifts went to someone who had worked at the center before.
We've used Upshift for probably the past two years pretty consistently. So it's definitely made a difference for us, and we don't really have a reason to look anywhere else at this point.
On a 15-minute call we look at your shifts and show you how posting works. Vetted local workers on W-2 payroll, applying the same day.
