”The system becomes a work environment tool for managers”

When you work in a team with the same system, you also express yourself as a team. Or as a duo in this case, since the university lecturers at the Department of Health and Caring Sciences at the University of Gävle, Maria Radeskog and Madelene Klockervold, collaborate on staff planning using Retendo Academic.

The University of Gävle started using Retendo Academic in its staff planning work in 2013, but the system was only launched in the Department of Health and Caring Sciences in 2020. Madelene Klockervold was not involved from the beginning, but is now responsible for the system in the department along with Maria Radeskog.

“We’ve been developing the work all the time and we aim to hold regular meetings, depending on the workload,” says Maria. On average, we work with the system for eight hours a week.

The university has three faculties and Maria and Madelene work in the Department of Health and Caring Sciences at the Faculty of Health and Occupational Studies. The department has 70–80 employees.

“We have the highest number of employees in our department and the fact that there are two of us responsible for the planning tool makes us feel more secure. It feels less vulnerable than if one person has sole responsibility. The other departments have also realised the benefits of the system and we’ve become something of an ‘internal trainer’ here,” say both Maria and Madelene.

The planning can easily be delegated to course coordinators

Each course coordinator in the department manages the planning in Retendo Academic for their respective course. And because the study programme in nursing has 14 courses and between 85 and 120 students on each course, Madelene and Maria see great advantages in the fact that the course coordinators are responsible for their own courses and budgets.

Maria and Madelene think that the method for delegating the planning to the course coordinators in Retendo Academic works very well. When it’s time for staff planning, Maria and Madelene notify the course coordinators, who then plan their respective courses in Retendo Academic. As the people responsible for planning, Maria and Madelene can then complete the staff planning for the entire department. The process is simple, clear and uniform, thanks to the fact that everyone uses the same system. Everyone knows their role and what they have to do.

Maria and Madelene support all employees, produce quick reference guides, make sure that materials are easily accessible and exchange experiences with the employees. The two colleagues have also created documents with joint procedures for the course coordinators, which have since become joint faculty documents.

A clear overview saves both time and money

Maria and Madelene find that Retendo Academic helps them gain an accurate, comprehensive view of how the staff work throughout the year. Previously, they experienced planning as more arbitrary, whereas now everything is more specific and easier to compare.

“We’ve saved a lot of time and money with Retendo Academic. We have a good overview of all the courses and full insight into most of what’s going on. One specific example where we benefit greatly from the system is when you have a course subject that you want to develop over several terms and you therefore want to keep the same teacher throughout the course. That’s when the system gives us a good overview of the resources and makes it easy for us to plan for the right person in the right place,” says Maria.

Easier for the employer to fulfil its work environment responsibilities

As an employer, the higher education institution has extensive responsibility for the staff working environment and one important aspect of that work consists of ensuring that staff are not over-allocated for long periods with the associated risk of suffering from fatigue syndrome.

“Retendo’s staff planning system serves as a work environment tool for managers with responsibility for staff,” explains Maria. An employee may be adversely affected due to a 120 per cent allocation one month, even though it’s only 80 per cent the following month. In Retendo Academic, it’s clear when someone has been allocated a large workload.

The ability to gain an overview and distribute tasks in Retendo Academic makes it easier for managers to avert the workload before it becomes a work environment problem.

It’s easier for employees to plan their work situation

The staff also find that Retendo Academic is a valuable tool for planning their work situation. Thanks to the system, they know in advance when the peaks and troughs are coming and are able to plan accordingly.

“I notice this in my own work as a specialist in paediatric care. Sometimes I myself see that I don’t have time for everything that’s been planned and then I have to remove something in order to balance it out. Retendo Academic is a tool that’s easy to grasp, which can be useful when an employee has a large workload because they’ve taken on too much – now and in the future, says Maria.

The staff can take more responsibility for their work situation

Retendo Academic has also helped to enable staff to take more responsibility for their work situation, which is appreciated by the staff.

“We hold meetings with all new employees so they become familiar with the system and learn to take responsibility for their own working time. Many employees have a lot of confidence in us because they realise that previous working methods involving Excel are now history. Our goal is for everything in the system to be transparent for individual members of staff, who’ll be able to access Retendo Academic regularly and make sure everything’s correct. The system is clear, comprehensible and transparent for everyone. We think it’s great fun to work with this,” says Madelene.

In general, Madelene and Maria are highly satisfied with Retendo Academic. The system is continually being developed in line with customer needs and any bugs are quickly fixed. Some updates take place quickly and informing the employees in time is an important part of Madelene’s and Maria’s job. However, there are quick reference guides to use and the planners have a lot of help available from Retendo’s support services.