Nobody loves labour's lost cost

Managing labour can be tricky – so we thought we would share our experiences. One of the most common problems when managing labour in industries where an hourly wage is earned, is ensuring that employees are only paid for the hours that have been worked and authorised.

Many of PXtech’s customers have identified thousands of pounds of additional labour cost when comparing rotas to actual hours worked but have found the administrative effort in reviewing this on an ongoing basis too onerous. So as a result, we recognised the potential savings that could be delivered through software that could automate this and developed their Plan & Pay solution.

Additional labour issues, such as being able to accurately schedule staff and inform them about their rotas, were also identified for business owners to have better organisation and clarity between both parties.

This is particularly prevalent amongst multi-unit retailers says PXtech’s director Malcolm Mailer, who has experienced such issues first-hand throughout his 30-year tenure in the retail, leisure and fast food industries.

“The only way to control your payroll is to actively monitor the hours claimed by staff,” Malcolm commented. “This is virtually impossible to carry out if you have multiple stores, unless you are prepared to spend many valuable hours manually collating the information!”

With new developments in PXtech’s labour management software Plan & Pay, these problems have been addressed, so that senior management can instantly reduce time-consuming administration tasks and costs, react quickly to any payroll discrepancies, provide a consistent and fair way of payment for staff, and ultimately increase labour productivity.

“Some applications can be bolted onto existing infrastructures for very little outlay, providing a long-term, cost-effective solution,” continued Malcolm. “I have even heard of business owners reporting savings of more than £2,400 each month, having only initially invested a small sum of around £500 for such software – this is certainly a lucrative return on investment that retailers should investigate in 2010.”

In addition to utilising specialist labour management software, business owners should also follow a few more obvious, but necessary pointers of advice:

1. Staff training is crucial in any environment where customer service is key. It must be updated and carried out on a regular basis, particularly in the retail sector and when new EPoS technology is at play.

2. Alert employees to the fact that a labour management software tool is being used to organise payroll and workload, as monitoring activity will save on any staff discrepancies on wages and hours worked.

3. Internal processes must be clear and precise before any employees are approached regarding such discrepancies, so the HR manager must keep up-to-date with ongoing HR changes and regulations.

4. Make sure that the software is scaleable and that it works with the existing hardware, so there is no need for any great upheaval and it will be flexible enough for the future of your business.

5. Finally, whatever steps business owners take to labour management, they must be sure that the financial cost of the solution is viable, updated when necessary, and brings a quick return on investment that will reap rewards for years to come.

Exporting Success for PXtech’s Portal

PXtech are proud to announce they have been awarded the prestigious “Midlands Exporter of the Year” title at the 2010 Midlands Business Awards.

The IT Solutions Company, who employ 25 people at their new offices on Pride Park in Derby, were presented with the trophy at the competition’s Gala Dinner held at The Hilton Birmingham Metropole in front of 600 business people from around the Midlands region.

Reflecting on a demanding and extremely busy twelve months, Richard Dorf (Managing Director) enthused about how quickly the company had progressed with their export business during 2009.

“I was pleased to accept the Award on behalf of PXtech. It is a great honour for everyone in the Company and a true reflection of all the hard work that our team has put in during a difficult economic period. To deliver a strong export performance when the climate is tough shows a real strength not only in our product range, that delivers tangible financial benefits, but in our people who have met the challenge and delivered outstanding levels of customer service.”

The growth in their export business has been spread evenly throughout the Euro Zone, providing on line Business Intelligence and Fraud Management solutions for customers in France, Spain, Ireland, Italy, Germany, Netherlands & Belgium. The company now supports over 1400 locations on a 24/7 basis and has big plans for the future.

2010 promises to be another fast moving year, with development and partner contracts already signed with UK and overseas companies, who are looking to maximise their profits by integrating PXtech’s innovative solutions into their daily operating procedures.


PXtech – IT Solutions that deliver a clear view of your business.

For more information please contact our Customer Services team on 01332 921300