StaffAny develops mobile app, CICO Global, to help regional businesses reopen safely and efficiently

SINGAPORE, June 23, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Singapore start-up StaffAny, which offers workforce management tech solutions, has developed and launched a new mobile app, called CICO Global (Clock-in, Clock-out). As many regional economies are slowly emerging from lockdowns, businesses are carefully reopening. The app helps regional businesses and their employees reopen in an efficient and safe manner by leveraging digital solutions to encourage businesses to easily employ safety measures, such as contact tracing, safe distancing and staggered employee hours. CICO Global is ideal for businesses that require the recording of staff attendance (in particular, part-timers or hourly workers), such as F&B outlets, convenience shops, and retailers like supermarkets.

To help the Asia Pacific business community fight against COVID-19, StaffAny is waiving CICO's download fees for regional businesses until the end of 2020^[1]. CICO is also in line with Singapore's recently announced Fortitude Budget as it helps businesses use digital solutions to reopen in a safe manner and encourages workers to comply with post-Circuit Breaker measures.

"We first developed CICO as the 'lite' version of our original StaffAny solution and launched it in Singapore to help businesses here reopen, providing employers with a peace of mind that their staff was complying with our local Circuit Breaker measures. We were greatly heartened by the number of sign-ups – hundreds in just a short period of time. We wanted to find a way to extend CICO and help the regional community to continue operations smoothly and safely, as we know many companies – especially SMEs – have been badly hit by COVID-19," said Janson Seah, co-founder, StaffAny.

CICO Global is a workforce management mobile application that employees and their managers can use in the following ways: 

• Automated timesheets – Employees use CICO Global to verify when they enter and leave the business. After downloading CICO Global on their mobile phones, employees use the app to scan a QR code based at the work premise. CICO Global verifies the individual, time of arrival and departure, as well as the geo-location of their mobile. CICO Global then automatically tabulates the number of hours registered at work, including overtime. This removes the need for manual clock-ins (which can be easily mis-recorded) or outdated punch-cards. The contactless system also reduces the chances of any virus transmission. When employees clock in, they can also make a health declaration to confirm they have not travelled abroad recently or been in contact with a COVID-19 patient^[2].
• Dashboard for visibility – Managers no longer need to visit each outlet to verify staff have clocked in for work. Using the CICO Global dashboard, they can easily verify attendance and clock-in/out times. By tracking staff properly, managers can ensure staggered hours and that employees are not being cross-deployed to different outlets.
• Notifications – When assigned staff does not clock-in, CICO Global notifies the manager so that necessary action can be taken. Notifications are also provided to employees to remind them of an upcoming shift. This helps prevent lateness and no-shows.
• Record keeping – All records are within the app and can be easily exported. This eliminates time-consuming paperwork for multiple records, such as health declaration, temperature taking, or clock-in/out times.

"Clocking in for work was previously quite tedious – multiple clock-ins, signing many health declaration forms, and all the messy paperwork that comes with it. A couple of times, an employee would accidentally miss out on something and my team would need to constantly check. Now with CICO, things are simpler, faster, and neater. I have more time to focus on managing operations, in particular, sorting out deliveries and our new take-away initiative," said Walden Ting, Operations Manager Brotzeit, a German bar and restaurant in Singapore.

See Annex A for details on some of CICO's pioneering users.

Setting up CICO Global is simple, instant, and does not require any hardware. Businesses simply log on to CICO Global (https://www.staffany.com/cicoglobal) and sign up. Regional businesses that sign up by 31 July can access CICO for free till the end of this year (with StaffAny waiving the regular fee of S$39 per month). After signing up, businesses can start instantly by adding/importing their employees' details in bulk. Employees will then receive an invitation from their employer via SMS to download the StaffAny CICO app and they would be able to clock in immediately. Businesses that continue using the app will pay the regular fee after the end of this year.

"As economies ease their lockdowns and businesses resume, we want to minimise chances of a surge in the number of cases of COVID-19. Because of this, it makes sense that some measures stay in place, including safe distancing, staggered working hours, no cross-deployment of staff, and contact tracing. This is why StaffAny will keep providing CICO Global for free to regional businesses until the end of the year. Hopefully, this will help everyone to stay safe and efficient at the workplace, as regional economies start to open up for business again," explained Janson Seah.

Set up in 2018, StaffAny is a Singapore start-up company that aims to connect human resources and operations within organisations, for greater efficiency, productivity, and better communications among staff. The company is supported by NUS Enterprise, the entrepreneurial arm of the National University of Singapore, incubated at BLOCK71 Singapore, and founded by a team of alumni from the NUS Overseas Colleges programme.

To download photos of Janson Seah and his team at StaffAny, please click here (https://drive.google.com/drive/u/1/folders/1cwBaljV5WYOoAoEzkEYkbTsoQjKcL0b8)

About StaffAny

StaffAny is a workforce management solution for companies who engage hourly workers. The most common way to manage hourly workers today is to do it via clunky spreadsheets. The process is time-consuming and tedious and we believe more needs to be done.

At StaffAny, we make time for businesses to do what matters. We empower today's connected workforce with a data-driven approach to managing hourly workers. We have brought smiles to hundreds of paying locations via our integrated scheduling and time tracking Software as a Service (SaaS).

Our job today is to connect HR and ops internally within organisations, and our vision is to enable businesses to be connected to the leaner workforce of tomorrow. For more information, please visit  https://www.staffany.com/. 

Annex A: Pioneering businesses using CICO

Juan Valdez Cafe

Juan Valdez Cafe, a global coffeehouse chain originally from Colombia, South America, has seven outlets with 30 employees in Kuala Lumpur (KL), Malaysia. Since Malaysia's Movement Control Order (MCO) was imposed on 18 March 2020 to curb the country's COVID-19 transmission, it has been tough on F&B businesses as they could only do takeaways and deliveries. Although Juan Valdez Cafe's revenue took a hit, the restaurant adapted its business and took the opportunity to give back to the community. It swiftly got on food delivery mobile apps like Beepit, foodpanda, and GrabFood, expanded its menu offerings, and started its own initiative called "Support Our Local Heroes" to distribute free drinks to frontliners such as healthcare workers, delivery riders, and news reporters. It also launched local favourites at affordable prices to let Malaysians continue enjoying these dishes while supporting local businesses and micro-entrepreneurs during this period of social distancing.

"It is crucial to make sure that our employees comply with all safety measures and come to work healthily, as this in turn helps us fulfill our responsibility towards our customers whose safety is our top concern. Originally, we were using a manual clock-in system where employees had to record attendance, take and log their temperature on a separate form and declare health status manually  on paper upon arriving at work. This was time-consuming, inefficient and not hygienic with unavoidable surface contact made. Keeping these paper records was bulky and in order to  have full sight of employees' attendance, we needed to visit each outlet. CICO Global has helped in consolidating real-time data logged from all seven outlets onto a single platform, and gives me full visibility over employees' attendance and overtime. Furthermore, it digitalises temperature and attendance logs in a contactless manner. CICO Global has saved us time, allowed us to become more efficient and have better control over operations and staff allocation. Although COVID-19 has affected our business, being adaptable and open to innovation has allowed us to improve and keep operations smooth, even with the additional measures that we have to comply with, due to the lifting of the conditional MCO," said Mr Khalip Latif, Director, Juan Valdez Cafe, Klang Valley, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

To download a photo of Khalip Latif at Juan Valdez Cafe, please click here (https://drive.google.com/drive/u/1/folders/1Hz90oLpuKZPlddTodIBY5lqu1YMIS13P).

Foreword Coffee Roasters

Starting in 2017 as a cafe based at the National University of Singapore (NUS), Foreword Coffee Roasters had grown to three outlets staffed by a team of 20. The company is a social enterprise, hiring individuals with disabilities and special needs, as the company recognises their potential and provides inclusive employment and training opportunities within the F&B industry. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit Singapore, Foreword Coffee Roasters was forced to close two of its outlets. The remaining cafe only handles take-away orders and is located at the Centre for Healthcare Innovation in Tan Tock Seng Hospital. To boost its business, Foreword Coffee Roasters has expanded its online shop which offers handcrafted bottled coffee and other products. 

"Healthcare safety has always been paramount for the F&B sector. Previously, employees had to perform SafeEntry whenever they passed any of the entry points at Tan Tock Seng Hospital, log in again later when they reached work, and then log into SafeEntry which was a hassle. Because of this, using CICO was convenient in helping to save time and reduce stress. We have seen a significant increase in our online sales since Circuit Breaker measures came into effect. Due to the popular demand of our bottled coffees, we have just launched a new subscription model, which offers customers discounts when they purchase in bulk. So, using CICO has been a great help for me, as it allows me to monitor who is on-site preparing the drinks, even when I'm not at the cafe," said Lim Wei Jie, Founder and Director, Foreword Coffee Roasters.

To download a photo of Lim Wei Jie at Foreword Coffee Roasters, please click here (https://drive.google.com/drive/u/1/folders/1Z4y829bB_hp4qgBJyFKHx2Fn_usICUjZ).

Good Luck Beerhouse

The COVID-19 pandemic has upended the F&B sector, and many companies have had to adapt quickly to the digital era to engage with their customers. Good Luck Beerhouse developed an online website, to allow customers to order take-aways from them, in particular their craft beers, which they sell in a 640ml take-away container. Owner Kevin Ngan realised that many of his F&B neighbours along Haji Lane would be in a similar predicament. He invited them onboard his online platform, and together they provide joint deliveries under the 'Solidarity on Haji Lane' campaign, so customers can enjoy a range of food items – from gourmet burgers to oysters, dim sum, and prawn mee - paired with their favourite craft beer.

"We've had to completely change our understanding of how the F&B environment operates. We kept our team lean, refined operations and spent hours designing new campaigns and fine-tuning our propositions, so the company could survive. And while the additional revenue generated from our 'Solidarity on Haji Lane' campaign has been marginal, the solidarity and support for one another is absolutely priceless! Because of this extra work required to keep the business running, we're definitely grateful for the time saved with the integration of CICO and SafeEntry. Not only is this time saved, but there is greater peace of mind that we are complying with the various measures to stay safe, as we stay open," said Kevin Ngan, Owner, Good Luck Beerhouse.

To download a photo of GoodLuck Beerhouse's craft beers, as part of its Solidarity on Haji Lane campaign, please click here (https://drive.google.com/file/d/17gecLAoQ9iY2TMRkz9QTG2X4h-7L9hcb/view).

Phoon Huat

Like most businesses, Phoon Huat – a company that provides baking ingredients and supplies - has been impacted by COVID-19. However, in an unusual turn of events, it has actually led to an increase in B2C sales, as more people are choosing to bake as they stay at home. This has resulted in long queues for certain outlets, and Phoon Huat has had to deploy manpower to help out with queue management. The company currently has 380 employees and began using StaffAny's enterprise solution mid- 2019 at one of their new outlets, to better manage staff rostering.

"Our employees – in particular their health and safety – are our utmost priority. When Singapore raised our risk assessment to DORSCON Orange, we rolled out StaffAny's contactless time and attendance taking functions to our headquarters, which also includes our production and logistics operations, to reduce the need for staff to make physical contact when clocking in or out. StaffAny's solution has been great - we can access all reports, and plan shifts more efficiently. Our original plan was to use StaffAny to get accurate timesheet data, but we are now using StaffAny for data analytics. This is especially useful, as we've had to adapt to a change in our business model, after seeing a significant increase in retail sales, and at the same time a drop in B2B sales. In addition, we've also had to put in place two teams working at different times in our production and logistics operations, as one of the safe distancing measures in the workplace. And because StaffAny integrates with SafeEntry, it has definitely made checking-in and out much more convenient for our staff. Together with StaffAny, we are doing our best to coordinate efforts, together with the whole nation, to combat COVID-19 together," said Mr Lee Tjen Chew, CFO, Phoon Huat.

To download a photo of a Phoon Huat employee using CICO to clock-in, please click here (https://drive.google.com/drive/u/1/folders/1ZK6vlNPqsiuBsmzY5p6zbQq2s3WzZJkq).

Photo - https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20200623/2837257-1

SOURCE StaffAny

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