Retail

The very first Les Moulins La Fayette branch opened in Mirabel in 1994. The bakery chain, which offers a variety of pastries and other culinary delights, can now be found across Canada.

Inspired, Nadhir Martin decided to make history by opening his own branch in Magog. A passionate cook with 25 years’ experience in the restaurant business, he wanted to take on new challenges.

Lots of Work Setting the Table

Nadhir’s former employers often used in-house software and manuscripts to create the work schedules. The task proved exhausting, as there were hundreds of papers to sort through to manage the numerous shift changes and leave requests. A huge amount of time was wasted simply tidying up the schedule after every little change. Nadhir knew he’d need a high-performance tool as soon as his store opened.

He discovered Agendrix very organically, through word-of-mouth. A friend in his network, who swears by the software, strongly influenced him. It was only after hearing about it a second time, during a training session, that Agendrix finally came into play.

A Modern Touch

Nadhir goes to work every day with a little more peace of mind, because creating schedules for him is never a source of stress. Half an hour is all he needs to create his weekly schedule, and communications take no more than 5 minutes. Every morning, he can quickly see the shift distribution of all his employees, see who’s coming in to work, and establish whether he needs to offer training. If necessary, he can then make changes in less than 10 minutes, or even in a matter of seconds.

It saves a lot of time compared to what we used to do manually. As soon as I modify the schedule, impacted employees are instantly notified.

What’s more, since Nadhir’s young employees already use several applications in their daily lives, having a similar platform for their work schedule is very relevant. It’s a way of centralizing all the information on their smartphones, which they carry with them at all times. Nadhir asks them to download the application, log in, and that’s it.

Leaving his Mark

Before Agendrix, Nadhir simply had to rely on employees’ honesty to calculate the hours they worked. Keeping an eye on every little change is difficult, and sometimes leaves room for error. As the sole supervisor, he simply can’t keep an eye on everything all the time.

One of Nadhir’s favorite features is the ability to geolocate when an employee punches in their time. According to him, it’s a good way of empowering his young employees and encouraging autonomy. Everyone arrives earlier or later than the scheduled time. If the time clock doesn’t match their schedule, he lets them take responsibility. After all, their workplace is a learning ground.

Easy App, Easy Communication

Disorganized management is often reflected in communications. In the past, Nadhir would verbally communicate every small change to ensure that impacted employees were well informed. With over 12 employees, making sure everyone was on the same page could be complicated. In fact, chasing everyone down could take as much time as asking the employee to change shifts or coming in early.

That’s why he really appreciates that employees are now notified of any changes immediately on their phones. Agendrix’s messaging tool also allows Nadhir to see when his employees have seen their messages; if instructions are not followed, it becomes a learning opportunity for the employee. Having all work-related correspondence and schedules on the same application avoids unnecessary emails and calls.

All About Balance

Maintaining a good face-to-face relationship with his employees is always at the heart of Nadhir’s priorities. It’s also important for him to be on site, so that he can help his employees quickly.

However, he likes communication to continue even when he’s not by their side. Agendrix enables him to be a good employer, who is available and attentive to his employees’ needs.