How Happy Are Your Employees? Want to Know?

Posted on March 15, 2016 by Stephen Jagger

How happy are your employees? Do you know? Do you think it matters?

employee happiness report What if you could tell how happy your employees are. Would that change how you make decisions? Would you adjust your operating procedures?

Today we are pleased to announce the Employee Happiness Reports.

“Optimizing Work Productivity with Happiness!” is the core ideal that drives PayrollHero. We’re always looking for ways to measure, track and help clients improve productivity, performance and happiness across their organizations.

We have begun a deep analysis of thousands and thousands of clock photos to analyze the sentiment of the photos. We can then correlate the happiness ratings across other metrics like commute distance, wage, location, plus much more.

Some clients have begun receiving their beta Employee Happiness Reports and we will continue to work with them to understand what data is useful, how it can be actioned and what else should be included.

Some of the questions we are working to answer are;

Are my happiest employees the highest paid?
Which of my retail locations are happiest?
Do my employees commute times effect their happiness?
Are my happiest locations my top revenue generators?

Already a PayrollHero client? Want to know the answers as they pertain you your business? Contact us and we’ll get you your first report free.

employee happiness matters

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44% of Small Business Owners Are Not Financially Literate

Posted on October 14, 2015 by

Modern day entrepreneurs and small business owners are touted as the new Renaissance men.

For one, Examiner.com hailed Elon Musk as the next Leonardo da Vinci. Meanwhile, serial entrepreneur Creel Price, considered one of the most brilliant business minds of our times, founded what he referred to as the Entreprenaissance movement. He believes that we are in the throes of a similar renaissance or revival of the entrepreneurial spirit, with small businesses thriving more than their corporate counterparts.

The unfortunate reality is that many of these modern Renaissance men have a flimsy foundation in terms of financial literacy.

Weak Financial Literacy Among Entrepreneurs

Small business owners and solopreneurs of the 21st century may have the most profitable idea or even the grit to persist after multiple setbacks and failure. Yet, weak financial literacy is one of the top reasons why small businesses don’t make it during the first couple of years.

Last year, The Financial Post reported the findings of an Intuit Canada survey on small business owners and their knowledge of financial basics. Below are the main points of the survey:

44% of small business owners have below average financial literacy skills and only 18% could be considered above average.

Statistics Canada data shows that 85% of startups make it through their first year but only 51% survived for five years.

8% of entrepreneurs make their debut with less than $5,000, mostly funded out of their own pocket in the form of personal savings, credit cards, and lines of credit.

In the same vein, the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants have the following key findings in their 2014 report on financial literacy among entrepreneurs worldwide:

Small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs), and particularly informal businesses or SMEs in emerging markets, face significant financing constraints that undermine their contribution to employment, productivity growth and innovation.

At 8–14% per annum, business mortality rates are substantial even in the developed world and were still on the rise until recently (OECD 2013b). An entrepreneur’s’ lack of financial capability is often portrayed as part of the reason for the substantial churn in the sector (New Vision 2011), even though many business exits are arguably not ‘failures.’

After controlling for other relevant variables, self-employed individuals in a sample of developing countries (Armenia, Colombia, Lebanon, Mexico, Nigeria, Turkey and Uruguay) performed worse than the general population on standardized assessments of their ability to monitor expenses, to budget, and to live within their means.

Expert – Approved Financial Advice for Small Business Owners

Sure, there are hundreds of financial tips out there to help small business owners navigate the treacherous financial waves.

In a recent study by IGF Invoice Finance, it was found out that a third of the businesses they surveyed rely solely on Google and social media for sound financial advice instead of talking to experts. “Without (expert) advice, SMEs simply cannot make an informed decisions, and in business an uninformed decision is often a wrong decision,” said Tracy Ewen, managing director of IGF Invoice Finance.

The main takeaway of the report is to seek guidance from organizations and licensed professionals who know exactly what they’re talking about when dispensing financial advice, such as investment tactics or how to identify permanent assets.

Once you have set up an appointment with a financial advisor, you can also count on the following practical and expert-approved tips that we have curated from highly reliable sources:

Get to know the basics. Start with the basics to understand your accountant or financial advisor’s language. Learn how to read balance sheets, income statements, and inventories. Understand the cash flow and supply chain process.

Stop treating your enterprise as your personal piggy bank. This is one of the most common pitfalls of new small business owners. Often, they overlook the fact that what they have in the bank has nothing to do with their own spending power. Several experts recommend paying yourself a fixed monthly salary and to learn to live within those figures.

Have a separate business account. Aside from resisting the temptation to spend your business finances for personal matters, this will help prevent confusion once tax season kicks in.

Obtain disability insurance. Many small business owners believe that “it won’t happen to them” because their occupational hazards are extremely low. Yet did you know that 1 in 4 of today’s 20 year-olds will become disabled before they retire? In hindsight, you are your most valuable asset. All the more reason to protect yourself.

Practice the lean methodology. Here’s what financial advisor Barry Glassman has to say about it in The Forbes:

Companies like Starbucks or Proctor and Gamble test new concepts on smaller markets before launching their products worldwide. Small companies can learn from this approach. Develop a prototype to get the product out, launch it in smaller markets, test it, get feedback, pivot, and then refine it. By using this cost-effective process, you’ll have a refined product or service designed to the taste and needs of potential clients because they told you what they liked and wanted along the way.

Determine your business priorities. Growth happens when you have direction. What do you want to accomplish in the next 12 months? Do you want to expand with franchises? Or maintain the existing company size but come up with new products? Identifying your specific goals will also help you set a clear-cut business budget.

Embrace (rather than resist) technology. Financial management tools and payroll inventory software can make your life easier as a business owner. These technological advancements have even made it possible for both employees and employers to work effectively and be location-independent at the same time.

The aforementioned list is just the tip of the iceberg! We’re eager to hear your opinion and thoughts about advancing financial literacy among small business owners too.

SME Business Conference: 19th and 20th of August

Posted on July 14, 2015 by Pragya Gupta

The Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce & Industry is organizing a 3 day bilingual SME Business Conference on the 19th and 20th of August in the Exhibition Halls of Suntec Singapore. The event is co-organized by iDA Singapore and Lianhe Zaobao. The theme of the event is “Think Creatively, Act Innovatively”.

The SME community in Singapore gathers every year to share ideas about how to boost productivity, cut down costs and more. This year, the conference caters towards transforming businesses in Singapore through innovations in productivity.

With that theme in mind, the event will feature speakers from all facets of the business world, from startups to large corporations. They will speak about why businesses need to be agile in order to keep up with ever-changing global trends. One of the interesting sessions is on integrating technology like cloud computing, business analytics, social media and customer relationship management so that small businesses can scale smartly.

Now here is the awesome part. In an event like this, you can’t expect PayrollHero to be left behind, can you? Steve Jagger from PayrollHero will be speaking in a forum on “Innovation and Value Creation from Buzzwords to Actions for Business”. Steve will be joined by a panel comprising Dr Christopher Holmes, managing director of IDC Insights Asia Pacific, Ms Jenny Jang, manager of Jiransoft, Mr Law Chee Keong, director of Asia Pacific Partner Sales in Apigee. The discussion will focus on how Singapore businesses can transform their business plan into a reality by adopting technology.

The forum will be between 2.15pm to 5pm. in Hall 404. Mr Stephen Lim, CEO of SQL View will be moderating the discussion. Mr. Lim has a wealth of experience behind him: he is a member of the board of SPRING Singapore and NTUC Fairprice. He has 25 years of experience in the IT industry and is the perfect person to host this forum.

We’re excited about the event and hope to see many business personalities participating and networking over the two days of the programme. It will be interesting to see academics, notable members of the government and business people discuss the way forward for small and medium enterprises in Singapore. We look forward to the event and wish the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce & Industry good luck for hosting the conference!

The World of Restaurant Technology in Singapore

Posted on July 10, 2015 by Pragya Gupta

The tiny red dot, as Singapore is often called, is an interesting testing ground for restaurant technology. Singapore is famous for its awesome food. From hawker stalls to gourmet dining, the restaurant scene in Singapore is vibrant and diverse.

At PayrollHero, a huge part of being ridiculously client focused is in understanding what our clients need and use on a regular basis. What do Singaporean restaurants do for point of sale systems, for reservations, for creating menus or for scheduling shifts for their employees? There are a ton of apps out there that are especially designed for this industry. We looked at some apps that piqued our interest.

Reserving Tables: Chope

Asia’s answer to OpenTable and SeatMe: Chope helps diners reserve tables at restaurants in Singapore, Shanghai, Beijing, Bangkok and Hong Kong, free of cost. Restaurants can manage reservations through Chope. The company is expanding and adding new restaurants to its list every week.

Point of Sales Systems: PCS

Prima Computer Systems tackles the problem of inefficient POS systems. The cloud based solution makes it easier for a multi-location restaurant franchises to integrate POS systems. The app allows you to create and change menus in iPads, therefore reducing manpower costs. Considering the labour crunch in the F&B industry in Singapore, this helps restaurants focus their employees towards providing better service.

Digital Wallets

Singapore was one of the first countries in Southeast Asia to adopt digital wallets, back in 2012. Many restaurants have adopted mobile payment options. In terms of consumer readiness, Singapore comes second only to the Philippines at 17%. It beats all other countries for electronic payments at 42%. Local and international banks are a part of this movement towards mobile payments. OCBC’s Pay Anyone, DBS’s PayLah! and Standard Chartered Bank’s Dash are all useful options that restaurateurs should look at to integrate their POS systems with.

An interesting thing to note for restaurants and for businesses that are building easier payment methods is that the demographics on who is using mobile payments is revealing of whom the target market should be. Unsurprisingly, millennials lead the move towards mobile payments. More importantly, data shows that men are twice as likely to adopt the new technology compared to women. CEO of Harbourtouch (company that did the survey on the demographics of mobile and electronic payments), Jared Isaacman, said that there is a void when it comes to mobile payment in restaurants. Retail stores use this technology far more frequently, which indicates a potential opportunity in the F&B industry.

Loyalty Apps: Perx

Perx says that customers spend 7 times more using Perx than without. Loyalty apps remove the hassle of printing loyalty cards and trying to measure how effective the cards are. Perx offers a CRM solutions and a platform for businesses. Restaurant owners have access to how effective the loyalty app is in increasing revenue.

Inventory Management: TradeGecko

TradeGecko is racing through Asia. The Enterprise Resource Planning software is integrated with Xero, Quickbooks and Shopify among other companies. It offers analytics reports on inventory and stock. From the perspective of the F&B industry, TradeGecko helps a chef or a restaurant keep tabs on supplies. All this is done using the cloud, which simplifies the entire process for a restaurant chain.

There are two similarities that link all these apps together:

They are all cloud based
They all complement scalability.

Our research into Southeast Asia led us to an interesting observation. A single restaurant franchise owner may operate across multiple countries. Apps like these are useful for the kind of owner that needs to keep tabs on all his outlets, across different countries. It helps the restaurant owner that currently owns one café and is looking for a way to open 25 more within two years.

We also noticed that in Southeast Asia, consumption trends suggest that fast food chains are going to excel in the next five years. For example, the compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) for fast food chains in the Philippines is 8.1% between 2013 and 2017. The potential that this poses for cloud based solutions is both exciting and massive.

Over the last few weeks, we have been looking deeply into the F&B industry. We focused on the Philippines and Singapore, with the idea of comparing and contrasting a nascent economy versus a mature one to figure out the potential that this region poses. We also compared what kind of employee compensation and benefits are provided by these countries with the perspective of figuring out what our client – a restaurant owner – is most concerned about.

While the data supported some assumptions or destroyed preconceived notions, we found out that there was more to this research than just raw data. We spoke to restaurant owners on the ground to listen to their stories and build a clearer picture.

Finally, we compiled all of it into a nice little package that we call the PayrollHero Knowledge Kit. It provides snippets into our research with statistics on the F&B industry in Singapore and the Philippines. We are super excited about sharing it with you because we want to know how it helps startups that are catering to the F&B industry. We also want to hear about the insight that you have gained from working in this part of the world.

The pictures below link you to the PH and SG Knowledge Kits. Open it, browse through it and shoot us with questions. We want to know what you think.

New Feature on the PayrollHero App!

Posted on July 9, 2015 by Pragya Gupta

We have a new feature on the PayrollHero app!

Our Devs (developers) are constantly working towards improving functionality of the app. To that end, we have a new feature to enhance a human resource manager’s tools. It’s a simple addition to the app that allows the HR manager or payroll administrator to:

check the GPS coordinates of employees who are clocking in.
record which device they are clocking in from

The feature sits in the Employees tab and under the Rollcall Days section. You can see the list of days that the employee has clocked in, their IP address, GPS coordinates linking to Google maps and the device that they used: TeamClock or #MyClock. If there are any issues with clocking in with a particular device, the HR admin can point out what specific device the problem arose from. This information can also be used as Business Intelligence to make decision on staffing and installing the best devices in your outlets.

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The feature is already live for all PayrollHero users!

Giving credit to the ‘little guy’ in your company

Posted on May 28, 2015 by

The PayrollHero Way
Giving credit where credit is due is an important task for managers to keep the morale of their employees up. Employees like to be noticed and praised for a job well done.

Why are managers not giving enough praise? Besides the fact that you are busy running around, taking care of daily operations; making sure everything is running as it should, finding out which employee did well for the last 4 weeks will take more effort. Most of the time, this task is not on the top of the priority list and so easily overlooked.

PayrollHero can help you look good to your employees!

Surely there are times where you wish you would have remembered to at least say ‘Good Job’ to Bob the cashier for working 8 hours and being the most helpful. Human errors like this can be avoided by using a simple app, where you can monitor your employees day to day work and track how they are performing accurately.

By using the employee feedback app, Daily Pulse, employees are able to ‘like’ their colleagues that was the most helpful at the end of the shift. Another plus, your customer can give their feedback using the Customer Feedback app too- by voting for the employee that was the most helpful to them.

You, the manager, will receive the data in real time via Xray Insights app. The app will show a clearer view of each employee performance and tracks the employee who is getting the most ‘likes’ on that particular shift. Information is readily available for you at a touch of a button. This makes your job so much easier! It also eliminate subjectivity in your decision as it is based on figures- not hearsay.

Work Place Transparency

At PayrollHero, we want to break the conventional workplace hierarchy by making information more transparent within the company. Using mobile or web apps, all managers can readily access whatever information required anytime, anywhere. We recognize that being on the ball is important when running a business- so time should not be wasted on you waiting for information from other managers.

The Data Might Even Surprise You!

You may be glad to find out that the employee that is actually doing great is the person you least expect. It could very well be the person who is clearing the dishes- that is the most helpful employee among the rest and the most ‘likeable’ to your customers.

The app works by making sure every employee is acknowledged, from the chef to the janitor. You can be the best manager who knows exactly the deserving employees to give credit to at the end of the day.

Read our post on Scheduling Best Practices for Managers.

Want to learn how to be a better manager?

Join our next Meetup on 10th Jun 2015 @ 4pm in Singapore.

We will be focusing on tips and tools you can use to better optimize HR and payroll processes, while cutting costs on time and creating a happier work culture.

To register >>>

What is the future of POS for retail?

Posted on May 25, 2015 by

Image by squareup.com

The mobile point of sale system seems to be the buzzword circling around today’s retail industry. But the real question is if the mobile POS system is going to take over the traditional hardware?

We have notice recently that there is a movement towards the mobile POS option, however most retailers still find comfort with the traditional hardwired POS system for their business. Probably for this simple reason- business owners find the traditional machine more familiar to manage, secure and it comes with all the bells and whistles (eg, bar code scanner, receipt printer) at one price.

But do small businesses need to invest a large sum of money to get an all-in-one POS system from the get go? Or would it be wiser to have software that grows with your business, and add to the hardware as they need it?

Let’s think about the concerns of a business owner when choosing the right POS system.

The most common concern shared by most owners is that the traditional hardware gives them the sense of security and familiarity. The POS machine itself is built to withstand the daily grind of business. The POS is plug-in to a power point and does not require charging. The mobile POS system option can only last up to 3-4 hours on the phone or tablet, after which an hour downtime to charge. For a restaurant, this arrangement might not be suitable because POS system must be up and running from start to finish.

Next, a report by the Federal Reserve reveals that security concerns is another main reason why traditional POS system triumphs over mobile systems. Identity theft has been the top complaint on the Federal Trade Commission’s list of complaints for 13 years in a row. This shows that when it comes to credit card transactions, owners have more trust in POS systems than the mobile systems.

Additionally, the mobile system depends completely on the signal strength from wireless provider or a Wi-Fi connection which isn’t as reliable and secure compared to a hardwired connection. While some owners are skeptical about mobile POS not having security to protect cardholders data, business owners can be assured that mobile apps like Square adhere to the PCI Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS).

Another worry with mobile devices being small, it can be easily misplaced or stolen. Comparable to the bulky POS system- it is definitely harder to run out the door with that.

But, owners might not need to choose after all.

Although POS systems might be the better option for retail businesses, it doesn’t mean that the mobile software should be disregarded. The smart business owner would see these 2 systems as mutually exclusive and use both methods to provide better service and enhance customer experience. One does not need to replace the other.

Take for example, a restaurant having their waitresses carry personal tablets to ring up food orders at the table within seconds, that information is also automatically reflected on the main POS system. By cancelling out the time they would usually take to key every order at the machine- this saves time on service and improves workflow. The customer can then physically pay for their meal using the traditional POS system at the cashier once they are done.

Retail outlets in Singapore are doing just that! Taking customer experience to another level through an integrated POS system. Restaurants like Sakae Sushi improves efficiency and flow by installing iPad Minis at the table for customers to ring up orders on their own, without waiting for a waitress. The central POS system at the cashiers handles all the payments after customers are ready to pay for their meal.

iPad Mini for food orders at Sakae Sushi

Central POS system at Sakae Sushi

Saving costs with technology. The integrated POS system at your restaurant or retail outlet, would mean that business will need less employees to wait on customers. Service has become self-sufficient.

Last words. It makes sense for business owners to combine the familiarity and security of traditional POS system with the added features from the mobile system to enhance efficiency and customer experience. Although it is important to consider when integrating software into your service; and depending on the nature of the business, reducing the number of staff in place of machines could also mean you will lose the human touch in your service.

Was this post useful? Comment on our blog, let us hear your thoughts.

Current Analytics Available via PayrollHero

Posted on April 27, 2015 by Stephen Jagger

Editors Note: This is another post by Kieran Peppiatt, Head of Client Success at PayrollHero. Due to the overwhelming interest in our new Xray Insight pages he put together this post that explains the business intelligence that you can glean from PayrollHero.

With the launch of our new Xray Insights app we get a lot of customers asking us about what analytics we currently have on offer so I thought I share what is currently available. That said, we’d love to hear what you want to know about your employees. We are constantly looking at ways to improve this area of PayrollHero and would welcome your thoughts and suggestions in the comments below.

Attendance Analytics

My Attendance

Here individual employees can see their own attendance for the current month. They can also view their overall ranking in the company and their correlation on specific dates against the company averages.

time and attendance analytics

Company Attendance Leaderboard

On this page you can see your employees overall ranking within the company. This is done by early, lates and absences.

You can also see a leaderboard of the employees with perfect attendance.

absence attendance stats early birds attendance stats lates attendance stats

Summaries

Here you can see how things like the weather and commute distance affect your company’s attendance. Do more people come in late when it’s cloudy, or do people call in sick when it’s raining? Here you can see if weather has any correlation with your employee’s attendance

You can also see how the commute distance of your employees affects their punctuality.

weather effect time and attendance

Xray Insights

Xray insights is available for iOS devices. It is designed for company leaders who need a quick snapshot or insight into how their company is performing. The app is currently in beta and the reason for this is because we are looking for feedback from our clients on what snapshots they would like to view. If you’re management, leader or company owner please tell us the sort of information you would like to be able to view from your company in the comments below.

Overview

We speak to a lot of HR people and business owners and one thing they want to know is what their average employee looks like. With the overview page of Xray insights you can see that in an instant. It tells you what percentage of your company is male/female, the average gender, age and tenure of your employees.
phone-overview ios stats

Staffing Levels

Ever wondered who is working at your worksites right now? Sometimes it’s good to know where your people are. Being able to get quick insight to if one of your branches is under or overstaffed is invaluable. With the staffing levels page on Xray Insights you can do exactly that.
phone-staff

Attendance Analytics

Just like the attendance feed in the app you can get the same information straight from your phone. We really appreciate that running a business can lead to a hectic lifestyle and your not always in front of a computer. We wanted to make sure that you can access the information that is important to you where ever you are.
phone-attendance

iPad Only

Customer Feedback

Ever wanted to know which of your employees were doing a great job? Customer feedback lets your customers give a thumbs up any employee who wows them. You can then view the leaderboards to see who your customers love or who you might need help get ridiculously customer focussed! The rankings for this are viewable via the Xray Insights app.

Daily Pulse

Ever wanted to get real feedback from your employees that isn’t biased or based any single employees opinion. Daily Pulse allows you to take measurements from your “crowd” of employees. Currently you can find out which employees are rated well by their peers. We will be introducing the ability to ask your own custom questions shortly.

daily-pulse

For more information please contact us at support at payrollhero.com

New Xray Insights iOS App Now Available

Posted on April 23, 2015 by Stephen Jagger

business intelligence payroll software

Do you want to learn more about your company?
Do you want to have real time business intelligence in the palm of your hand?
Who was late today?
Who is currently at a certain location?
Which employee gets the most “likes” from customers?

There is so much to see about your business using PayrollHero’s Xray Insights iOS app. You can download the newest version here and sign into your PayrollHero account. It is an awesome way to get real time data from your payroll software.

PayrollHero’s New Customer Feedback Tool (Beta)

Posted on September 22, 2014 by Stephen Jagger

Collect customer feedback in real time and get the results in the palm of your hand. Screen Shot 2014-09-21 at 12.50.15 PM We are launching the newest tool to the TeamClock, Customer Feedback. Now within your TeamClock iOS your employees can not only clock in and out for work, view their schedules and give feedback to management via the Daily Pulse but customers can get involved too.

Introducing Customer Feedback within the kiosk mode of PayrollHero’s TeamClock. We have launched the beta version of the Customer Feedback tool within Krispy Kreme, a PayrollHero Lab and will continue to roll out the product across their stores in the Philippines.

Customer Feedback lets your customers quickly and easily “like” a specific employee or the whole team right through the TeamClock iOS app. And in turn, those “likes” show up in the Xray Insights app in real time. It’s time to rethink your punch clock!

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Want to see it in action? I shot a quick video that shows the Customer Feedback tool in action and how the data shows up in real time within the Xray Insights app.

Below is what the kiosk homepage looks like within Customer Feedback. It can be designed for any retail or restaurant brand.

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Did you notice the “Apply For A Job” button? More details on that soon…