Case Studies
Detailed information from a selection of our successful client projects
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CASE STUDY: Constructive Resources Ltd
Build of a fully integrated timesheet management system to streamline construction recruitment.
Vital statistics:
- Project: Timesheet Management System
- Client: Constructive Resources
- Sector: Construction Recruitment Specialist
- Services Delivered: Bespoke software design and development
- Location: Milton Keynes, UK
- Project Date/timescale: 6 months
- Project value: £25k
The Constructive Resources project in brief...
Specialist construction recruitment consultants, Constructive Resources, connect temporary workers with a range of roles from nationwide building and construction sector clients.
Regularly recruiting over 500 temporary workers per week, its job placements range from labourers, site managers, civil engineers, heavy plant and equipment operators to 360 excavator and dump truck drivers and muck shifting crews.
Manually capturing data from hundreds of timesheets each week in Excel spreadsheets and manipulating the data to create hours and billing reports was putting an administrative burden on the team and allowing manual errors to creep in.
The Constructive Resources team was looking for a secure solution that would streamline the data entry process, improve accuracy and provide an audit trail for data compliance. They turned to CodeHub 200 for a bespoke software solution.
Building the foundations
Having previously worked with CodeHub 200’s graphic design and marketing division, 4FX, on its new website, Constructive Resources knew the team had the necessary in-depth knowledge of building complex data systems, as well as particular recruitment sector expertise.
The admin and payroll teams were already working with an off-the-shelf recruitment software package, Colleague, which records timesheets, allocates cost centres and billing amounts. However this was too in-depth with too much private data to be accessed by the whole team.
They needed an interim system which provided data security and the ability for data capture, while replacing the manual entry of hundreds Excel spreadsheets. This would prevent access to personal or commercially sensitive information in the backend, while streamlining data entry and providing real time data of the status of the business.
Delving into the data
CodeHub 200 undertook a full workflow planning exercise of the existing process to understand the requirements for building a secure system that would log and track workers weekly timesheets and create billing files.
Previously every recruitment consultant had an individual worker list in Excel, which mirrored the backend system for compliance purposes. This detailed who they were, what job they were assigned to, how they got paid and hours worked.
Recruitment consultants can work with one to 30 people per day. Each individual worker’s details were being cut and pasted into a new spreadsheet every time by consultants copying an Excel sheet, manually deleting rows and adding the new data, even if they were repeat workers.
This information was then fed into 10 different spreadsheets to be merged by payroll into multiple new spreadsheets to create weekly invoices and HMRC information, which was very labour intensive. It also created significant opportunities for error with multiple versions of people’s names, spellings or payment information.
The CodeHub200 team looked at the ways recruitment consultants used the data to add new worker details, enter client data and timesheet information such as hours worked, pay rate and payment method. It also examined repeat details, search functionality for existing data and identified validation criteria for improving data accuracy.
Developing a database
The new system has created a large worker database where basic details can be entered or received, without access to personal information held in the backend.
The new online dashboard with user friendly interface has been designed and developed using a combination of C# and AngularJS. The portal gives recruitment consultants, resourcers and administrative staff access to timesheet forms through a secure intranet browser, enabling worker data to be entered directly into a MySQL database.
Each of the data fields from the Excel timesheets have been replicated on the dashboard with tolerance checking and data validation parameters added to verify data accuracy and reduce manual checking time. There is a built-in a level of validation +/- X% of an expected value in each data field, so any irregularities are flagged up as they occur and reviewed immediately.
The new system offers multi-level functionality with user ID level permissions. The team is able to assign physical timesheets from employees and sites directly though an uploader with a tick box to automatically update on the system. These were previously emailed and scanned in. Now data is only seen by users with relevant permissions, is more accurate, secure and it is easier to identify any missing timesheets.
Streamlining new starters
The system now enables the recruitment consultant to select information such as worker name, client and previous work history from the database, rather than re-keying all the information again, sometimes incorrectly. Keying in of data can now be done by the resourcer as well as the consultants, so more time is available to focus on sales.
Software success
Four months in the making and with two months rigorous user testing, the CodeHub 200 team has successfully built and implemented a secure, bespoke system that consultants, administrative staff and management can use easily with minimal training. It has removed repetitive administrative tasks, reduced administration time and improved accuracy.
Since the system has been implemented Constructive Resource has saved approximately:
- 1 day per week on data entry
- 1/2 day per week on data interrogation and analysis for reporting and data sharing
- 1/2 day per week in recruitment consultant time, as resource can support and consultant has time freed up to focus on sales activities
Bespoke benefits
In addition to the time saved, the system has delivered a number of other benefits, including:
- Speeding up data entry for registering new workers and logging time worked
- Giving recruitment consultants more time to sell and fill roles
- Providing an audit trail for all data entry and amendments
- Reducing the:
- number of keystrokes
- number of manual keying errors
- duplication of administrative tasks
- duplication of worker data
- manual manipulation of data into multiple excel sheets
- Improving accuracy and validity of data in the database
- Releasing more time for finance to track clients, chase debtors, manage insurance obligations and minimise business risk
- Automatically removing, combining and extracting relevant payroll data for payment processing to different systems such as an Umbrella provider, CIS Self employed, PAYE, or Limited Company owners
- Making invoicing and payments more accurate and efficient
- Automating reporting and data extraction
Mike King, Managing Director, Constructive Resources
“The system Code Hub 200 built for us delivers a cleaner and smoother process all round. The dashboard and real time reports give us full visibility of our business - it’s overall performance, timesheets, pay rates, hours worked, commission, margins and worker placement. It has transformed our administration time, saving us around two days per week. We’ve replaced an outdated Excel timesheet system with secure, straightforward software that enables our recruitment consultants to focus more of their time on sales and finding jobs for candidates.”
Chris Coomber, Director, CodeHub 200
“Constructive Resources is typical of many of our clients who use multiple Excel sheets on a day to day basis to run their businesses. From timesheet management systems to feeding cows, they all want to find a way to make data collection more streamlined, accurate and secure.”
“A software development project should give you something you didn’t have before. Usually this is a saving of time and money. For Constructive Resources we were able to build a database and real time dashboard which sat between their main Colleague system and the Excel data capture. This has freed up the consultants time to match candidates rather than deal with administration.”