“We now have a much better overview of the staff’s work”

Retendo Academic is a tool for staff planning that is custom-built for the academic world. They have been using the system at the Department of Science and Mathematics Education at Umeå University since 2011. Anna-Karin Persson, Director of Studies at the Department, was asked a number of questions about their experience of Retendo Academic.

How do you use Retendo Academic?

“We enter all our staff’s assignments into the system. The amount of time for which they are allocated to each assignment, in hours or as a percentage. Then each employee can log in and see their work tasks, who the course coordinator is, who they will be working with and how many hours they are scheduled for.”

How has it helped you become more efficient?

“We don’t have to double check different Excel files that we used before. Now we can also be confident that the totals in the system are correct. It’s also easier for us to get a better overview of the staff’s work, how the hours are distributed over the year and the workload. It also feels more secure when everything is stored in a cloud-based tool.

What are the three main benefits?

“You can log in from anywhere. I can access it as long as I can get online. And I don’t have to think about the backup part. That’s all taken care of by Retendo. It also makes things easier if you can trust the totals and if everything is linked. If I change the staffing in a course, it changes automatically throughout the system. It’s simple and secure when you access it. We also have a very good relationship with Retendo, who have been extremely responsive in the development of the tool.”

How did you come to choose Retendo?

“The university management, the human resources unit and the trade union had all identified a need for a joint staffing tool for all staff. At that time, there was an incredible number of different planning methods, from note pads and Excel files to more or less sophisticated self-developed systems that were bound to an individual person and therefore vulnerable. They began looking for a staffing tool for the university both in Sweden and abroad, but didn’t find anything suitable. Retendo saw the opportunity to extend its system, which resulted in Retendo Academic.

Umeå University is one of the largest higher education institutions in the country. Students are offered a wide range of attractive programmes and courses in an excellent study environment.

Employees4,300
Students32,000
Planning units63
Customer since2010