The more uncertain economic climate of 2023 has proven to us, once again, that our organization and our team are very solid.
First, let’s take a look back at the company’s progress over the last few years.
In 2021, in addition to being the leader of employee scheduling software in Quebec, Agendrix positioned itself as a leader in best HR practices.
In 2022, the company entered a phase of change and took a significant step towards a new direction. That of HR management for front-line employees. 2022 was also the year we launched various HR modules.
After so much movement, 2023 was a year of consolidation. To go even further, we felt it was crucial to strengthen our internal practices, in order to operate as a world-class company.
An internal structure that’s stronger than ever
With a goal as ambitious as that of operating as a world-class company, we could pull no punches. 😛 As a result, the year comes to and end with a well-thought-out internal structure, stronger than ever before.
Departments that are more aligned
Having a team that is on the same page is the foundation of any successful business. As we grow, we must regularly revisit our practices, and this year was no exception.
We have taken our strategic management to a new level, with greater rigor around OKRs (Objective and Key Results) across all teams.
A new element that’s both relevant and fun: a strategic offsite
Our annual strategic planning was prepared in advance, with several axes (voice of employees, voice of customers, product, etc.). Following these preliminary steps, we organized our first offsite, a 48-hour meeting of the management team at a local hotel.
These two days were intensively invested in finalizing our 2024 strategy. They also enabled us to align our vision with what lies ahead for the organization in the coming years.
🌟We presented the outcome of the work accomplished over these 2 days to the team. It will be our North Star to kick off 2024 the right way.
Top priority: data and privacy protection
In 2023, Agendrix achieved the certification for two ISO data security and privacy standards: ISO/CEI 27001:2013 et ISO/IEC 27701:2019.
We take security very seriously. And we always have. But this year, we’ve taken security to the next level and made our product even more reliable and secure. In fact, we have a team of four developers who are dedicated to ensuring our software’s infrastructure robustness, performance and security.
We became one of the first providers of employee management and scheduling software in Canada to obtain these ISO certifications. 🚀
A sustained, reasonable growth
For the 3rd year running, Agendrix has been ranked among Canada’s fastest-growing companies. This year, we are ranked 175th, with a growth of 274% over 3 years. We also ranked as one of Quebec’s fastest-growing companies (35th place) by L’actualité magazine.
As you may have guessed, 2023 is once again a year we’re happy with. Nevertheless, it’s a year in which we’re beginning to feel a considerable economic slowdown, which is having an impact on small and medium-sized businesses, who are carefully calculating every dollar they spend.
Assessing benefits for our customers: a must
The more difficult economic situation has made us want to gather precise figures on the time and money saved by managers who are using Agendrix.
So, in 2023, we surveyed our customers. And we had an excellent response rate: almost 700 Canadian managers who use Agendrix responded to our survey. This significant sample enabled us to draw some very interesting conclusions.
Our goal was to collect insights that would enable us to put a price tag on time savings. We also wanted to gain a better understanding of the other benefits of scheduling and employee management software.
– Samuel Roy, VP Marketing and co-founder
Product updates that focus on our users’ needs
Our Customer Success department is in contact with users of the application on a daily basis, be they managers or employees. As a result, we frequently receive feedback from our customers in a variety of ways.
Comments from our users greatly influence, even determine, the improvements we develop in the application.
We end our 8th year of existence with almost 180,000 active users in 15,000 workplaces. And it’s thanks to all these users that our product is what it is today.
An ever evolving product
2023 is no exception: our team of almost 25 developers has been working in synergy to further enhance the application in a number of ways.
Results:
- The HR modules launched in 2022 are increasingly sophisticated
- The Agendrix app is easier to use, more intuitive, more useful and more secure than ever🔥
- Our schedule planner, used by approximately 50,000 users every day, received a facelift
Here’s an overview of new features we launched in 2023.
The emergence of a new dashboard
Since Agendrix now has several modules, we have designed a dashboard that enables managers to see at a glance a variety of important information from several separate modules. This new feature represents a gain in efficiency, as well as an excellent way of preventing oversights and errors. Managers can react more quickly to requests and unforeseen events.
Audio messages for faster communication
Several platforms, such as Facebook Messenger, have long offered audio messaging. Knowing that it’s a very quick and convenient way to communicate, especially when on the go, we developed this option. Audio messaging enhances the Agendrix messenger offering.
A much-awaited addition for managers: day view for worked hours
A convenient new view has been developed, enabling daily approval of worked hours. Previously, managers had to go from employee to employee to do this. Now, the main advantage of the daily view is the ability to review clocked hours at the end of each day.
Agendrix mobile: shift templates and time off requests
The mobile application has gone from strength to strength this year. Creating shifts from templates previously created in the web version of Agendrix is now possible. Creating and sharing time off requests in the mobile app is also available.
An improved schedule planner
A great source of pride for the team in 2023: developing a modern employee scheduling interface that offers a better user experience.😍 This launch was the fruit of several years of reflection and customer feedback.
Enhanced employee surveys
Our Surveys module has considerably improved this year. Managers can schedule the date they’d like to send a survey, send reminders to complete a survey in progress, and much more. What’s more, we developed multiple survey templates that are available to managers, enabling them to collect feedback from their teams on a variety of themes: job satisfaction, mental health and stress, quality of internal communications, etc.
Sharing and keeping HR documents directly in employee records
The Employee Records module has become much more complete, to the delight of our customers. Employee file management is now simpler: managers can record, receive and share HR documents directly in employee records.
Weekly schedule templates to save even more time
Weekly templates were highly anticipated by managers, as they simplify and accelerate the creation of work schedules in Agendrix. Users can save a typical week as a template, and then reuse it as often as needed.
The essential ingredient to our success: the team
Without our team, Agendrix wouldn’t exist. And without such a talented, stable and committed team, neither the product or the company would shine as they have for many years.
It’s for this simple but important reason that we care deeply about our employees.
Before working on our strategic planning for 2024, we sent out an anonymous satisfaction survey called Voice of Employees. The answers have guided us in many of our strategic decisions. Ultimately, employees are the main stakeholders affected by these choices.
A world-class company means competitive compensation and benefits
Since 2023, our salary grids have been available to the entire team. We previously had developed them based on our own intuition and on existing public data for the various positions in the company.
This year, we hired 2 external firms to help us review our benefit grids and, at the same time, our fringe benefits. Why? To confirm that our offer is competitive.
Although only a few adjustments were necessary, we did revisit our salary grids, which are now 100% aligned with the information technology job market and Quebec-based companies with fewer than 100 employees.
As staff well-being is always a priority for us, we have also decided to continue to focus on it. In terms of benefits and total compensation, we have improved:
- The employer contribution to employee RRSPs, which increased from 4% to 5%
- The sports allowance, which went from $300 to $500 per year, per employee
- The insurance limit for psychotherapy consultation, which raised from $300 to $4,000 per year, per employee
Team-building, a tool we use without moderation
When it comes to team cohesion, commitment and good work relationships, team-building is a tool that cannot be neglected.
At Agendrix, if one thing’s for sure: it’s a core practice!
From our classic Christmas party, to the family barbecue or our much-anticipated summer party, the turnout at our events is always excellent. And the strong relationships that team members have developed over time are proof of the value that team-building brings us. 👯
Agendrix, certified Great Place to Work
We were awarded the Great Place to Work certification again in 2023, which confirms that we are still aligned with our team’s well-being objectives. We were also listed as one of the best technology companies to work for.
Over the past few years, we’ve worked hard to create one of the greatest tech company cultures in Quebec. We greatly appreciate the objective assessment the Great Place to Work certification offers.
A little bit of recognition
2023 has been very much alive, especially when it comes to the various forms of recognition we received. Growth awards aside, our organization has been recognized in a variety of ways:
- Gala reconnaissance Estrie 2023: Digital company of the year
- Arista Competition of the “Jeune Chambre de commerce de Montréal” in the category of Quebec’s Young and Growing Entrepreneur
- COOP Inspiration de l’Université de Sherbrooke: Leadership Award
Université de Sherbrooke’s Coop program has been an important ally for me from the beginning of my entrepreneurial journey. Their internship program supported us when we had the somewhat crazy idea of doing one of our final internships in our own company.
– Mathieu Allaire, CEO and cofounder
Our must-read articles
If you haven’t visited our blog much this year, here are the top 5 articles we believe will have the greatest impact on your management practices. After all, our aim is to help you simplify and optimize your management. 🙂
- 12 Tips from Our CEO
- Employer Brand and Employee Experience: Are You Selling a Pipe Dream?
- The Collaborative Employee Handbook
- Special Feature on Employee Engagement
- Discover Caring Leadership
Agendrix, well-known for its passion
The Agendrix Care Committee celebrated its 4th anniversary in 2023 and still shines boldly! 🥳
In 2023, we received the “Coup de cœur,” award at the Centraide Estrie Gala. An award that recognizes the passion and motivation that reflects in our team’s commitment. 😀
A variety of causes, for a greater impact
This year, we maintained number of activities that have been a favorite of the team: the “Chaudronnée” lunch, the Rock Guertin Foundation’s Paniers de l’espoir and the Course des Millepattes are just a few examples.
We also introduced a bit of novelty, inviting the team to prepare care bags for the homeless.
2024: what lies ahead
2024 promises to be just as economically fragile, if not more so. On the other hand, we are objectively convinced that we have what it takes to cope. And we’re not planning on slowing down the pace.
Our goal over the past few years has been to become the number 1 employee scheduling software in Quebec. Having achieved this target, we now aspire to become Canada’s number one front-line employee management software for SMEs.
Our best wishes for the New Year, from the entire team!
#MakeTimeCount
