For pet owners, knowing the operating hours of their favorite pet store is essential. Mud Bay, a well-loved pet store, understands this need for consistent and reliable service. Behind the scenes, ensuring these dependable Mud Bay Pet Store Hours requires efficient staff scheduling and operations. In 2019, Mud Bay sought to optimize this crucial aspect of their business and implemented Deputy, a scheduling software solution. This move revolutionized their employee management and indirectly, but significantly, contributed to the reliable mud bay pet store hours customers depend on.
Streamlined Scheduling and Real-Time Updates
One of the immediate benefits Mud Bay experienced with Deputy was the accessibility of up-to-date schedules for their employees, affectionately known as “Muddies.” Maggie from Mud Bay recalls the initial excitement, stating, “We did hear a lot of excitement from staff at the time when we were going through training about the concept that the schedules were current.”
This feature proved particularly invaluable during the challenging COVID-19 pandemic. Previously, employees had to physically visit the store to view their schedules, often taking pictures of printed versions which could quickly become outdated. Deputy’s mobile app eliminated this inefficiency. Maggie explains, “Prior to Deputy, staff would have to call their store location to get the schedule and take a picture of the schedule. But the schedule might get updated and reprinted. So with social distancing during the pandemic, it was very convenient for staff to say, ‘I can look at a current up-to-date schedule right here from this app.’” This real-time access ensured that staff were always informed, contributing to the smooth operation during mud bay pet store hours.
Saving Time and Ensuring Compliance
Deputy’s user-friendly schedule templates significantly reduced the time spent on schedule creation. Schedule writers at Mud Bay reported time savings of 25% to 50%. Catherine from Mud Bay notes, “It does make scheduling really quick, really easy. You can actually make one or two changes on a template and resave it, which is much simpler than in the past.” This efficiency not only saved valuable time but also allowed for more agile management of staff availability during mud bay pet store hours.
Beyond efficiency, Deputy played a crucial role in simplifying compliance with secure scheduling laws. The software provided clear visibility into schedule publication times and break adherence, offering peace of mind and reducing administrative burden. Catherine emphasizes, “The biggest goal it’s helped us meet is being able to track the secure scheduling rules. That’s probably our biggest win business-wise.” This compliance is vital for maintaining consistent and legally sound mud bay pet store hours.
Maintaining Consistent Store Operations
Perhaps one of the most impactful benefits of Deputy was its contribution to minimizing disruptions to mud bay pet store hours. Managers utilized Deputy to gain a comprehensive view of staff schedules across different locations. This allowed them to identify staffing gaps and strategically move employees to ensure all stores could remain open, even with unexpected staff absences, especially crucial during the pandemic.
Catherine elaborates, “We look at scheduling every day to see who’s working, who’s actually on a shift, who might have an extra person. We look at who’s on shift at our nearby stores to see if there are individuals we can move around from store A to store B so that we can keep both stores open.” This proactive approach, facilitated by Deputy’s real-time visibility of staff availability, dramatically decreased instances of stores opening late, closing early, or being unable to open at all, ensuring reliable mud bay pet store hours for customers. Specifically, incidents of store disruptions decreased significantly from 72 to just 11 between November 2020 and March 2021.
Enhanced Management and Employee Experience
The adoption of Deputy has led to a better overall experience for Mud Bay’s managers and employees. Managers gained a macro-level view of scheduling, enabling them to effectively monitor absences and shift work patterns through reporting features. Catherine highlights, “The biggest benefits for managers are looking at scheduling at a more macro level. With the reporting features, they can look at it and see things like absences or people working a portion of their shift.”
Employees also benefited from Deputy’s ease of use and transparency. It simplified shift management and provided clarity on their work schedules, especially important as Mud Bay continued to expand. Catherine and Maggie summarize the overall impact: “Ease of use, transparency, expediency for our users, and Muddies being able to see their shifts and their schedules, that’s been a big win for us.” Ultimately, efficient scheduling through Deputy supports Mud Bay in consistently delivering the reliable mud bay pet store hours their customers expect, alongside a positive working environment for their staff.
