The Spica solution saves hotels hundreds of work hours for their highest-paid employees

About Plaza Hotels: from the jewellery sector to the hospitality industry

Radisson Blu Plaza Hotel and Grand Plaza Hotel & Congress Center, both situated in Ljubljana, are owned by Zlatarna Celje, a jewellery company owned by Bojan Albreht. Both prestigious hotels use two of Spica solutions: SPICA All Hours, time and attendance solution in the cloud, and Door Cloud, a modern access control solution.  

The Radisson Blu Plaza Hotel, located in the commercial district of the city, is part of the Radisson hotel chain, whereas the Grand Plaza Hotel, situated in the heart of the capital, operates independently. Both hotels, led by CEO Marina Nagy, have convention centres, which generate a large part of their revenue. 

Challenges: Time-consuming data collection  

Spica solutions were introduced in both hotels approximately two years ago. Prior to that, the company used a different solution.  

"At first, I was hesitant to switch providers because I was accustomed to the solution offered by our previous one, so I was reluctant to change it. However, when our owner sought a superior system for the new hotel, we decided to give the Spica solution a try. Upon exploring the Spica product, I was convinced that we shouldn't look any further," says Marina Nagy, adding that a friend who works at a different hotel company also played a part in persuading her. 

Before the introduction of the new solution, HR had to dedicate at least two days to gather the data required for payroll processing. Marina Nagy has also done this task herself, so she remembers the time-consuming process well. However, with the new solution in place, the person in charge can now download all necessary data with just a few clicks.  

"We are also pleased with the Door Cloud solution. With the previous solution, I couldn't keep track of all the data like I can now. This used to take at least half an hour of my workday. With Door Cloud, we can now access all the necessary data at any time. And with using All Hours I no longer have to manually check whether all managers have corrected inaccuracies or whether someone has clocked in or out incorrectly," explains Marina Nagy. 

Tallying up the time saved across all departments, the new solutions by Spica have collectively saved the company three hours of work per day, translating to a minimum of 600 hours of work for their highest-paid employees annually.  

"Upon exploring the Spica product, I was convinced that we shouldn't look any further," says Marina Nagy, CEO of Radisson Blu Plaza Hotel and Grand Plaza Hotel & Congress Center. 

Solution: Increased trust in the system and fewer complaints

Why did Marina Nagy change her mind? "The Spica solution provides a great overview. We're meticulous about managing every work hour, because in our industry, the labor costs are the highest. That's where we can make big savings by being well organised," she explains, adding that the easy and quick overview of events provided by the Spica solution allows them to distribute employees between the two hotels more efficiently, among other benefits.

The system allows the company to monitor different work arrangements, including split shifts, diverse forms of part-time work, and overtime. Both hotels have a significant number of employees with disabilities, some working 6 and others working 4 hours a day. 

They operate several distinct pay structures, accommodating both 5-day and 6-day working weeks. Besides regular employees, the system is also used by students, trainees, and occasionally external staff. Spica solutions can easily be adapted to these diverse needs, facilitating monitoring and data collection.

All data is overseen by the Heads of Department, who are the only ones authorized to register via mobile phones, while other employees use fobs. Given the diverse educational backgrounds of their employees, they have opted for this conventional method of clocking in and out. 

Most employees are engaged in tasks such as room cleaning and kitchen duties, and for them, this method proves to be the most straightforward. They receive weekly reports on their hours worked, and they can also check this data when they register at the terminals, or verify it with their managers, who also have access. The system also shows errors in time recordings.

 "We can monitor absences very effectively. The graphic display makes discrepancies immediately apparent; everything is laid out clearly. Even if an employee complains about not receiving a weekend off, for example, we can immediately verify this in the system. Often, such complaints turn out to be unfounded. Concurrently, employee confidence has increased because everyone knows how well the system keeps track. Consequently, there are significantly fewer complaints than in the past," says Marina Nagy.

A fantastic tool for planning and cost savings

The data is also used for analysis and planning purposes. Every month, the hours worked in each department are assessed in relation to turnover. This analysis helps managers in discussing and devising plans accordingly. This systematic approach has significantly enhanced streamlining and productivity. Now, considerably less time is spent analyzing the data required for planning.

This enables the company to focus on more pressing challenges instead of mundane administrative tasks. Additionally, the data from the two hotels can be compared on a weekly basis. This comparison allows for significant savings by optimizing work across both establishments. Without the Spica solution facilitating such analysis, additional employees would be required to manage these tasks. 

The most significant savings were achieved in housekeeping, i.e. cleaning and tidying. With the Spica solution, they can now quickly access data comparing the number of rooms cleaned to the number of hours worked by maids. This increased accessibility allows for more frequent analysis, significantly aiding in streamlining the work processes.  

The Spica solution even played a crucial role in organizing work when the hotel in the center of Ljubljana was under construction. At that time, some of the employees were on site, and using mobile phones to clock in and out made recording their working time incredibly easy. The company set parameters such as the earliest possible registration time and the work area. "This way, the challenge was solved," says Marina Nagy. 

"We work with quite extensive IT systems in our hotels, such as the booking system. No other IT provider's support service can provide me with solutions to my issues within five or ten minutes like they do at Spica. They are extremely patient, even if I frequently ask what might seem like a silly question. I haven't encountered this anywhere else," Marina Nagy praises Spica support service with a touch of humour.  

Key advantages  

• Saved:
  • At least 600 hours per year for the highest paid employees.
  • Instead of time-consuming data collection, managers can now focus on more important challenges.
• Managing presences and absences:
  • Clear functioning and excellent graphic data display have bolstered employee confidence and minimized complaints.
  • The system can easily be adapted to various types of employees and work arrangements.
  • The solution allowed the company to easily record time for employees when they were working in the field during the construction of the new hotel.
• Analysis and planning:
  • The solutions allow for streamlining and productivity comparisons between departments and across hotels.
  • Consequently, staff can be efficiently allocated to either hotel based on the analysis.