Archived Branch Messenger: New system coming for shift swaps

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HRZone said:
This couldn't be further from the truth. They have a sreadsheet and at the stores that have it anywhere from 50 to 85 percent of stores use it. About 70 percent of posted shifts get filled.

It actually works great with mytime. Your HR, uses nytime to create an excel sheet of everyone's schedule and uploads that to branch it takes literally 3 minutes.

Yes once a shift is grabbed the HR has to manually key it in mytime but that s the only issue with it
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I did some research with my manager and he said this is a failing pilot. Other managers hate it. People got fired for no shows. You sound like a sales person for this company. Do you work for them. You seem to talk with the ceo often enough.
 
HRZone is an hrtm, not a shill but it's no secret that corp combs this site & sometimes implements processes talked about on here.
User Rock Lobster seems to be pretty close to corp sources when it comes to proposals & ideas put into play.
 
StoweAway said:
I did some research with my manager and he said this is a failing pilot. Other managers hate it. People got fired for no shows. You sound like a sales person for this company. Do you work for them. You seem to talk with the ceo often enough.
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If I made good money as a tech money do you think I would work for Target for peanuts?
 
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Formina Sage said:
Interesting. Branch Messenger is a Minneapolis startup that went came to prominence through the Techstars Retail Accelerator, whose primary sponsor is Target!

Also, I wonder if this particular feature is going to make its way into Target-world:

View attachment 3196

What if stores from different municipalities start sharing TMs more regularly?
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If they allowed that and could handle paying different taxes that's a cool idea.
 
Has anyone that uses Branch found a way to swap shifts with someone with just both of you posting at the same time and claiming the posted shift right away? We have had Branch for a long time, but we could always just ask an ETL to swap a shift between two people manually and they would take care of it. Now everything *has* to be done through Branch and some of the TMs are struggling to figure it out. There really is no *swap* option of any kind, is there? Other than, as I said, standing next to the person you are swapping with and doing it at exactly the same time so no one else swipes the shift(s)?
 
StockerAce said:
Has anyone that uses Branch found a way to swap shifts with someone with just both of you posting at the same time and claiming the posted shift right away? We have had Branch for a long time, but we could always just ask an ETL to swap a shift between two people manually and they would take care of it. Now everything *has* to be done through Branch and some of the TMs are struggling to figure it out. There really is no *swap* option of any kind, is there? Other than, as I said, standing next to the person you are swapping with and doing it at exactly the same time so no one else swipes the shift(s)?
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Call your hrtm and let them know what's happening. I immediately deny other people trying to grab the swap.

It would be a nice feature for them to add to branch. Realistically though the majority of swap shifts are not actual swaps but someone dropping a shift and someone random grabbing it.
 
Thanks HRZ...at least I know there is no actual option to do a swap. I agree that not many are actual swaps...although on our o/n flow team a majority of them are since hours are pretty tight. We rarely have someone giving up a shift (less than once a week on average, probably less once per 2 weeks actually) but we do often swap shifts.
 
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We have Branch at my store and it seems to be quite useful. I'll sometimes get a ping on my phone (have the app installed) when a shift in my availability is available. Gives me a heads-up when it's going to be a rough night haha.

I'm not HR but I could see how this would benefit easy compliance with our specific new legal regulations concerning scheduling (No extending, et etc etc): Call-out? Add the open shift. Anyone could then grab it without all the messy required paperwork. The problem: *anyone* could grab it including those that walk slower than molasses and take 4 minutes per case to push. Learn to read a pic label! *sheeeesh*
 
Been about a month since the last post but can provide feedback on Branch Messenger at my location: it's been extremely helpful. Myself, I've used it frequently to pick up odd shifts here and there or to trade out shifts without having to manually read through all the schedules to figure out who is working and then go begging. I simply post my shift I wish to rid myself of and wait. Still, I ask around and if someone is interested I tell them to go grab it off Branch. Bam .. it's done. When looking for a shift (we have plenty of 4 to 5 hour shifts available) I can scroll through on my phone/tablet or at the tablet in the TMSC and grab the shift. If I wish to organize a specific trade with a TM I post then they immediately grab it.

I always let an ETL know so they can hit the "approve" button straight away - have yet to have one single issue with it. It looks to have the ability to capture your schedule so you can tell at a glance how many hours you have for the week - useful to prevent inadvertently taking a shift that would put you into OT - but it doesn't seem to yet be implemented so, you kinda have to watch out for that on your own ... or perhaps I haven't figured that portion out yet. Our TLs are even using it to swap around a bit.

Also, we've been a bit short staffed lately in certain areas so it has given HR the opportunity to post open shifts up for grabs.

We now have certain legal requirements in my city/county/state regarding scheduling, changes to schedules, etc and Branch has enabled our HR to be able to more easily comply with the regulations. Sounds a bit like a commercial and all but, really it has become an asset at my location.

I can't speak to the management side of Branch and whether or not it integrates with our scheduling system or how easy it is to manage change requests. Hopefully it is as smooth as the end-user side.
 
HRZone said:
Sadly I am at a store that doesn't use it for now. Miss it dearly.

It was a NCNS killer since it sent you a phone notification when you had a shift.
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Yes ... forgot to mention that. I get a ping on my phone a few hours prior to my scheduled shift. Definitely useful for those Branch users that NCNS then say "I had a shift??"
 
Doglover89 said:
I'm not in HR, but I know that there are only select people my store even calls in. Sometimes they've called me and I've said no and then they've stopped calling people. Had a coworker who was willing to pick up shifts but they never called her in.
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And that is what this is 'supposed to' end
 
HRZone said:
In case any of you were wondering, it is possible to use branch even if you aren't a pilot store. All you need is an HR to download it and load everyone's schedule and start signing up.

The only difference is the pilot stores have a tablet that allows those without the app or a smartphone to post or grab shifts while they work..
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which sounds like what happened with the stores its not really working at.
 
StoweAway said:
I did some research with my manager and he said this is a failing pilot. Other managers hate it. People got fired for no shows. You sound like a sales person for this company. Do you work for them. You seem to talk with the ceo often enough.
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I have learned in over 20 yrs of retail that some people call something a failure when it takes too much control away from them. Remember some ETLs etc are smart enough to realize that this will bypass their preferential list of TMs.

I would love to have this in my store, However our current HR etl (i think she is still that *shrug*) is a fool who likes specific people. Now the lady who is the HR TL who has been there longer than I have would love it because it would save her tons of work calling everyone. She is well liked because she just does HR and nothing else.
 
StoweAway said:
I did some research with my manager and he said this is a failing pilot. Other managers hate it. People got fired for no shows. You sound like a sales person for this company. Do you work for them. You seem to talk with the ceo often enough.
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Also if people get fired for no shows and the system shows they swapped thats grounds for unemployment. In certain states thats slam dunk. You know who gets their ass chewed for that? HR
 
Thankfully I wouldn't consider this a failed pilot at my store. It has made swapping shifts around much easier, made checking my schedule from home easier since myTime loves to go down all the time. And it also adds another layer of protection for you giving up shifts. If you post a shift and someone takes it, them a HRTM approves the swap but forgets to change it in myTime, you're not at fault the responsibility lies on the TM who took the shift.
 
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