Established in 2002 as a fresh food specialist, Delifresh today has five facilities across the UK, supplying a full range of food products to events, hospitality businesses, schools and other organisations.
By partnering with UKG, Delifresh has achieved remarkable results, including:
Challenges
Delifresh had no in-house HR function, outsourcing this activity to a consultant. Payroll was managed using spreadsheets, with employee files held on paper.
The only source of employee information was the payroll system. Employee files were stored in unlocked filing cabinets in each department, and the Finance Manager typically spent an entire working week on payroll.
The payroll challenge was complicated further by the company’s banked hours approach to warehouse operatives and the drivers’ four-day, five-day, six-day weekly rotation, with fixed pay each week.
The paper-based storing of data caused issues for HR when communicating with employees. “I found I had no access to any information at all,” Helen Cobb, Head of HR recalls. “It was very difficult to see where individuals worked, and much of the contact and address detail was out of date. We had no way to communicate with people, no visibility at all.”
Solutions
Cobb began searching for a suitable HR solution and soon found that many didn’t have a time and attendance module, a key requirement with Delifresh running 24-hour shifts.
At this point, a colleague suggested UKG. Among the many different vendors, UKG stood out in several ways. “When I looked at the UKG solution I thought it looked like something that could grow with Delifresh,” she notes, “and it looked pretty easy for staff to use.”
She also liked the integrations and APIs that would eliminate much of the duplication in Delifresh’s processes, and the fact that the payroll would be simple and straightforward to operate. Other attractive features included quick and easy timesheet management, and checklists for new members of staff, making onboarding data collection easier and more accurate.
UKG forged an excellent working relationship with Delifresh, which was maintained throughout the project. “UKG were really patient with us, really understanding.” Said Cobb. “UKG made lots of suggestions and recommendations on aspects of the platform and the implementation. They worked really hard with us to find the best way to set up the solution for Delifresh.”
“We can now examine patterns and trends in the reasons why people leave, giving us a clear view of issues that need to be tackled, and allowing us to measure the effects of changes we make.”
Head of HR
Results
The UKG solution has significantly improved Delifresh’s recruitment journey, payroll processing, and employee and manager experiences.
“The recruitment module is great,” Cobb enthuses. “It’s so easy to use and all the information is in one place – how many applicants you’ve had for a job, where each one is in the journey – and it links with Indeed, our primary recruitment channel.”
This information is proving invaluable, particularly with the current shortness of the labour market. Knowing the average time needed to replace a departing employee makes planning much easier. Identifying when it is taking undue time to fill a particular position facilitates remedial action, as well as allowing Delifresh to look strategically at why issues arise with specific roles or at specific branches.
On the time and attendance module, Cobb likes the fact that, because the UKG platform links directly with Delifresh’s payroll system, handling exceptions is so much quicker and easier. “It's so easy to know if someone's not done both punches, they're early or late, or if they've not been in at all,” she notes. “In the past people might swap shifts and not update the rota – UKG now reminds them to do so.”
One of the most significant improvements has been in payroll processing time. With the old system, Delifresh’s weekly payroll was taking the entire week to process. The UKG platform has reduced that to around half a day.
Significant time savings have also been realised for site managers. Cobb explains: “Before UKG, managers would be filling in timesheets for seven operations shifts each day. Now they’re just dealing with the exceptions. That’s cut each manager’s daily workload from around an hour and a half to about 15 minutes. Across the company that works out to a saving of about 80 person-hours every week.”
UKG has also given Delifresh access to enhanced intelligence on various issues. For example, previously, when an employee left the company, they would simply be recorded as a leaver, with no information on why they left. Now Cobb and her colleagues can access much deeper insights. “We can examine patterns and trends in people’s reasons for leaving, giving us a clear view of issues that need to be tackled, and allowing us to measure the effects of changes we make,” she says.
Delifresh has also found that cross-referencing statistics can pay dividends, for example revealing that at some sites, absence and staff turnover were high, and productivity low. “We just didn’t have this kind of intelligence before,” notes Cobb. “It’s invaluable, showing clearly where intervention is needed.”
For site managers, UKG has reduced human error and workload, and improved visibility into key metrics. They no longer need to search through spreadsheets for information, often only to find that they can’t access the spreadsheet because someone else has it open. Managers are provided with a weekly absence report, with suggested actions to rectify any issues. “We don't have to work through 52 spreadsheets to provide the information,” she observes. “We just run a report for the week.”
Cobb is also pleased with the improvements UKG’s solution has brought to the job application and onboarding process. “In the past, there was a huge amount of paperwork in applying for and starting a job with Delifresh,” she recalls. “Now, instead of spending their first day filling in paperwork, new starters are already on the system and can get straight on with doing useful work.”
Delifresh’s employees are happy to have more agency and control over their working lives through the self-service features of the UK platform. “UKG gives staff more responsibility, ownership and accountability,” Cobb says, “and it gives a good impression of a modern company.”
Insights from the UKG solution have changed Cobb’s work life, too. “I can now prepare board reports with proper qualitative data and real understanding of the issues at hand,” she notes. “Instead of saying our turnover was this much last month but having no insight as to why, I can now comment on accurate, up to date KPIs, and propose appropriate actions.” She is also now able to direct the company’s finite HR resources more effectively.
Similarly, payroll has been simplified, in particular management of banked hours for the warehouse staff, and the drivers’ four-day, five-day, six-day weekly rotation. Managers previously had to manually create the drivers’ shift rotas for each week – a substantial task with more than 50 drivers on the rotating shift pattern and the inevitable sickness and holiday absences.
The UKG solution automates the shift patterns, so managers only need to address any gaps arising. The drivers can view the rotas on their smartphones for a year ahead, and request time off. Previously drivers might not know what their shifts would be for the coming week until the Friday immediately before. This has made life significantly easier for both managers and workers.
Looking to the future, Cobb wants to get performance reviews up and running on the UKG platform, as well as setting up a central hub for items like announcements and videos from the board, to keep employees up to date with important information. She also wants to develop Delifresh’s onboarding programme, to make it more of a welcome and provision of useful information than a plethora of forms to fill in, to provide a better experience for new employees.bility. They no longer need to search through spreadsheets for information, often only to find that they can’t access the spreadsheet they need because someone else has it open. Managers are provided with a weekly absence report, with suggested actions to rectify any issues. “We don't have to work through 52 spreadsheets to provide the information,” she observes. “We just run a report for the week.”
Cobb is also pleased with the improvements UKG’s solution has brought to the job application and onboarding process. “In the past, there was a huge amount of paperwork in applying for and starting a job with Delifresh,” she recalls. “Now, instead of spending their first day filling in paperwork, new starters are already on the system and can get straight on with doing useful work.”
Delifresh’s employees are happy to have more agency and control over their working lives through the self-service features of the UK platform. “UKG gives staff more responsibility, ownership and accountability,” Cobb says, “and it gives a good impression of a modern company.”
Insights from the UKG solution have changed Cobb’s work life, too. “I can now prepare board reports with proper qualitative data and real understanding of the issues at hand,” she notes. “Instead of saying our turnover was this much last month but having no insight as to why, I can now comment on accurate, up to date KPIs, and propose appropriate actions.” She is also now able to direct the company’s finite HR resources more effectively.
Similarly, payroll has been simplified, in particular management of banked hours for the warehouse staff, and the drivers’ four-day, five-day, six-day weekly rotation. Managers previously had to manually create the drivers’ shift rotas for each week – a substantial task with more than 50 drivers on the rotating shift pattern and the inevitable sickness and holiday absences.
The UKG solution automates the shift patterns, so managers only need to address any gaps arising. The drivers can view the rotas on their smartphones for a year ahead, and request time off. Previously drivers might not know what their shifts would be for the coming week until the Friday immediately before. This has made life significantly easier for both mangers and workers.
Looking to the future, Cobb wants to get performance reviews up and running on the UKG platform, as well as setting up a central hub for items like announcements and videos from the board, to keep employees up to date with important information. She also wants to develop Delifresh’s onboarding programme, to make it more of a welcome and provision of useful information than a plethora of forms to fill in, to provide a better experience for new employees.
