Optimizing Work Schedule Management for Glowi

Background

Glowi is Belgium’s largest service company. Glowi is a group of 3 ‘sub-companies’ that operate in 3 different sectors. The largest and best-known sub-company is ‘Het Poetsbureau’, which provides housekeeping tasks to private households (B2C) via service vouchers (subsidized by the Belgian government). Next to ‘Het Poetsbureau’ are ‘Glowi Facilities’, which provides professional cleaning services to companies (B2B), and’ Glowi Jobs’, a recruitment company for temporary workers.

With 75 offices in the Flanders region and over 10,000 employees, Het Poetsbureau faced challenges in efficiently managing work schedules for its customer service staff. The reliance on traditional communication methods for scheduling led to resource-intensive processes, prompting the need for a digital solution.

Challenges

Het Poetsbureau’s primary challenge was managing work schedules through direct communication between consultants and employees, which was manual and time-consuming. The inefficiencies in this process not only consumed considerable resources but also posed a hindrance to the company’s scalability. The critical goal was to transition from face-to-face or phone-based methods to a digital solution that streamlined processes, reduced resource costs, and ensured efficiency in the face of future growth.

Features

To address Het Poetsbureau’s challenges, a comprehensive solution was designed and developed by the Reenbit team. The key features of the solution included:

Notification Service: 

• Variable communication methods (SMS/WhatsApp) with third-party integration.
• Generic and specific notifications.
• Notification builder for customized communication.

Work Calendar:

• Schedule viewing and monitoring.
• Performance reporting with third-party integration.

User Management:

• User profiles for individualized access.
• Consultant’s portal for schedule management (assistance in 3d party development).

Leave Management:

• Leave requests with further management.

Multilingual Support:

• More than 10 languages of system localization options to cater to the multinational staff.

Document Management:

• Document Storage with the ability to review documents directly in the App.
• Ability to sign the documents.

Solution

The chosen solution involved developing an application for executive staff to interact with the company’s ERP system to leverage existing data. Users can receive messages about schedule changes through SMS or WhatsApp thanks to the implementation of a notification service. The application covered schedule viewing, monitoring, performance reporting, user management, leave requests, document storage, and multilingual support. The team successfully navigated tight deadlines and dynamic changes in team composition.

Outcome

Implementing the solution resulted in significant positive outcomes for end-users and back-office staff. More than 86% of Het Poetsbureau employees actively use the application, exceeding initial expectations. This widespread adoption has streamlined processes, reduced the workload on the back office, and saved time for all involved employees.

Analytics and Success Metrics:

• 86% of total potential users actively use the application.
• Daily active users account for 75% of the total user base.

The current PWA for the cleaners is the first step towards an all-encompassing PWA:
Fase 1: Cleaner app
Fase 2: Extend cleaner app + development consultant portal
Fase 3: Extend consultant portal + develop client app

The major goal is to integrate the three applications (cleaner app, consultant portal, and client app) to facilitate direct stakeholder communication.
The project brought about complex challenges, requiring innovative solutions and adaptation to dynamic team changes. The successful outcome has strengthened the team’s capabilities and positioned Het Poetsbureau for future advancements in automation and efficiency.