A major U.S. airline known for its vibrant planes and exceptional service has carved out a unique niche in the airline industry. As a hybrid low-cost carrier, this airline isn’t just focused on getting passengers from point A to point B. Instead, they’ve mastered the art of flexibility, shifting resources to meet demand and ensuring that families and leisure travelers can enjoy seamless journeys across North America, Central America, and the Caribbean.

As the airline continued to expand, managing its workforce of over 1,500 hourly employees became increasingly challenging. The existing processes, which had once been sufficient, began to struggle under the demands of a growing company. Outdated systems and manual labor in areas like payroll and scheduling led to inefficiencies, making it challenging to keep pace with the airline’s growth.

Navigating the Challenges

Before partnering with Zaddons, the airline faced multiple challenges in managing their scheduling needs, impacting their operational growth.

The Overwhelming Paper Trail

With more than 1,500 hourly employees, the staff was swimming in time cards at the end of every two weeks. The manual nature of payroll and schedule tracking ensured the process was extremely labor-intensive and error-prone. With a small team of 3-4 members manually inputting time cards, there was significant room for error with every click of the keyboard. The lack of an auditing system made it difficult to address issues when they arose, leading to frustration across the organization.

Endless Bidding Cycles

A significant challenge was the process of awarding schedules to employees based on a bidding process without a formal platform. The existing process was tedious, requiring managers to spend days manually assigning schedules based on requests from employees. With no centralized platform, this process occurred entirely through phone calls and emails, sometimes taking days to complete. In one instance, a department took nearly six months to complete one schedule bid. This deficiency wasted valuable time and, similar to payroll, had the potential for manual error, leading to further grievances.

Resistance to Change

As with any technology change, there is always some resistance, and this airline was no exception. Some departments welcomed changes with open arms, while others hesitated to diverge from the current processes. Without a system in place, actions such as shift swaps took place in private conversations over Microsoft Teams, reducing management visibility. Reassuring employees and managers that the learning curve was not unreasonably steep became an additional challenge.

Charting a New Course with UKG and Zaddons

Seeing the need for a more efficient scheduling system, the airline partnered with UKG to implement the Pro WFM platform. Zaddons, a key partner of UKG, played a crucial role in this transition by providing solutions that addressed specific gaps in the existing platform. With the introduction of Pro WFM, the airline integrated Employee Billboard and Schedule Bidding, completing the overhaul needed to streamline and automate their scheduling processes.

A Unified System

The previous management system relied on varying platforms, with information floating between paper and digital versions. The lack of centralization contributed to a fragmented approach. The integration of UKG’s Pro WFM with Zaddons’ advanced solutions offered a comprehensive platform where all workforce management needs could be met in one place. As a Senior Project Manager at the airline stated, "[Employee Billboard] definitely offers us one thing we can’t natively do [in Pro WFM], which is to allow shift overlap, and that’s really why we use it.”

Elevating Employee Satisfaction

As the airline began to implement UKG and Zaddons, there was naturally some pushback from employees embedded in past processes. Once they started using the service, the feedback quickly turned overwhelmingly positive. This is shown by the fact that the airline experienced a 77% increase in active users on Employee Billboard over the past ten months. With Zaddons’ solutions deeply integrated, employees were able to take care of all shift-related issues in one platform, an improvement over lengthy waits for approval and reliance on external platforms.

Streamlining the Bidding Process

Zaddons’ Schedule Bidding product provided the solution the airline had been seeking. Moving from a manual and time-consuming process, they adopted an automated platform, allowing employees to easily bid on schedules from anywhere. This significantly shortened the time spent on a schedule bid and ensured that all shifts were covered adequately.

This efficiency helped employees who were initially resistant to visualize the value brought by these solutions. The Senior Project Manager added, “When you save yourself weeks or months in the end, and you make an entire schedule bid in a day or two, employees start to see the advantage.”

Administrative Relief

One of the most measurable impacts Zaddons had was reducing the administrative burden experienced by management. Across various scheduling functions, staff had been logging all data manually, and with the addition of Zaddons, this process was automated, saving significant time and allowing managers to focus on more strategic activities. Automation also reduced errors; when grievances arose, an audit trail existed for reference.

Cleared for Takeoff

The partnership between this major U.S. airline and Zaddons is a key example of the massive impact that improvements to workforce management systems can have within an organization. While some changes can seem daunting, the airline demonstrated the benefits of embracing them. Zaddons not only helped them overcome operational challenges but also ensured a smooth implementation. "A lot of expertise there, definitely a lot of benefits working with your team," said the Senior Project Manager. Zaddons played a crucial role in overcoming operational challenges, ensuring the airline could continue its growth.

The change doesn’t end here. At Zaddons, a culture of constant improvement remains, ensuring that your HR never becomes a bottleneck to growth. As the Senior Project Manager said, “It’s been a successful implementation and if anything, we are going to be realizing more benefits as we go forward.”

Join the Journey

For companies looking to streamline operations and enhance workforce management, Zaddons stands ready to guide you on a path to transformation. Just as this airline has reached new heights, you too can embark on a journey to operational excellence.