Bring at Work: lower error margin and more shifts with clevergig

Bring at Work is one of our clients collaborating with a wide variety of companies and freelancers. From childcare to security and finance, the agency provides them all with the right match. Those matches are made by a number of inspiring people, including Britt and her mother Ingrid, who founded the company together 11 years ago. We were fortunate to speak with Britt and her colleague Elles, a planner for childcare within the company, to ask how clevergig helps them bring supply and demand together in the freelance world.

About Bring at Work

Bring at Work is a staffing, recruitment, and selection agency active in various sectors. The name is inspired by the two founders, Britt and Ingrid. 'Bri' plus 'Ing' became 'Bring,' and 'at Work' because the company gets people working. What makes the company special is their ability to look beyond organizations and resumes. They aim to get to know every company and freelancer better before a final match can be made. We started the interview with one of the founders, Britt. She told us more about her role at the agency and how things work at Bring at Work:

You founded Bring at Work with your mother. Can you tell us more about what Bring at Work does and what your role is?

I founded Bring at Work with my mother 11 years ago. We wanted to help people find work together. I am now the director, a major shareholder of the organisation. I feel more like a supporter of the people who work here. So that everyone can do their job well. We work a lot in healthcare, welfare, and childcare. You should think that we manage flex pools that can be deployed at 250 locations. Everyone works different hours and at different locations, all day long. clevergig makes it super easy to streamline communication regarding these services. You notice that there is much less miscommunication. We have been using clevergig for 3-4 years now. Before that, I had also spoken to Michel (CEO and former owner of clevergig) and thought about whether clevergig was the right system for us. But at that time, it didn't fully meet our needs. Nevertheless, we continued the conversation, sat down a few times, and were ultimately convinced to start using clevergig. The system was also ready to work with us at that time. It had enough features for us to recruit clients.

How did it work before you started using clevergig? What challenges did you face?

We always worked through Excel. I think like many agencies do before they start using a planning system. We had a few options for that. In the hospitality industry, we usually worked with Dropbox or Cloud to provide access to the up-to-date schedule. Everyone worked at one location, so it was clear for everyone. In healthcare, people received their shifts via email and WhatsApp. Confirmations always went through email. Planning with clevergig saves us a lot of time. Because you don't have to confirm 100 times, and you know for sure that flex workers know where and when they have to work. They accepted the shift themselves by clicking on it, so they can't say 'I didn't want to work there.'

Has clevergig also helped you grow?

I don't think the first year brought immediate growth. We initially started working with childcare in clevergig. And that was always a very large pool. I can't make a statement about the percentage of growth. Only when we decided to integrate healthcare as well did we notice that healthcare could be planned much faster, so we could handle a lot more work. We could respond so quickly that clients were amazed by our response time. So clients started requesting services from us earlier because we filled the shifts quickly. With clevergig, everything is fast, and we have very little error margin.

You mentioned that clevergig didn't have all the features at the beginning. What were these?

That was a long time ago, but we continued to have conversations with Michel, and he really listened to our wishes. He took a lot of tips on board, and I found it to be a good system. I eventually also referred people to him. At that time, it just wasn't the right choice for us.

You mentioned that clevergig really listened to the points you raised. When you saw that growth and how a company listens to you, what did you think?

If you're not a customer yet, you don't think much about it. But now that we are a customer, we think it's important that we are listened to. You indicate that something isn't working as it should, and after a conversation, you hear: 'We expect this to be integrated within 5-6 weeks.' Then you feel taken seriously by the company. You can easily indicate improvements through the platform or email the customer success team, it's nice that this option is available. For example, we have now also implemented invoicing from the start.

What are the unexpected benefits of switching from Excel and WhatsApp to clevergig?

There is a lower error margin. You notice that people are much less often at the wrong location. Also, less chance that they won't show up for a shift because they accepted the shift themselves. I notice that we can fulfill more shifts and therefore grow.

What was the reaction of the flex pool when you introduced clevergig to them?

90% found it super easy to work with. There are always people who are less adaptable, but those are often people who don't have a smartphone or even find it difficult to work with email. It takes a little longer to integrate those people properly. Now, 99% of the flex pool use the app.

We also wanted to speak to someone who works directly with clevergig on a daily basis. Elles made a career switch and applied for a manager position at Bring at Work after working in childcare for 23 years. Since the role was within childcare management, Elles was immediately a match. We asked her a few questions about the work of a planner who works with clevergig every day:

What did you think when you saw what a planner's day looks like?

I thought 'Wow, how great.' Because I had worked in childcare for so long and also knew what childcare organisations deal with, I wanted to solve those issues for them. Working with clevergig also seemed so easy that I had to be able to do it. If kids can, then I can too.

What has clevergig done to lighten your workload?

It's easy to work with. I don't have to click 10 times; after two clicks, I've already completed a task. It's very easy to figure things out and find out. We have also started with invoicing now. I also see it in the invoicing: you click on a name and immediately see what comes out. That works best for all parties. It also works well for childcare workers, who can see everything immediately. I'm happy with it.

Britt mentioned that there has been growth since clevergig. What growth have you experienced?

That we went from fewer to more childcare workers. We had posted vacancies, and many more childcare workers responded. It's nice that you can see in clevergig how many shifts you have filled per week. It's kind of like a sport to go over the last shifts. We really have a lot more childcare workers on staff.

Do you have a personal record? For example, how many shifts you have filled per week?

My record is currently 109. I hope to break that record one or two more times. It's just a fun puzzle to try to solve. I also like about clevergig that you can look ahead, but also back if something needs to be checked regarding invoicing or if a childcare worker has a question.

It's great that you keep challenging yourself. I understand why they chose you for the childcare manager role, that's the spirit. After your own experience with clevergig, would you recommend clevergig?

Yes, definitely. It's very accessible. It's very easy, very doable. At the moment, if I didn't understand something, I could always ask my other colleague. You can't really do anything wrong. And if you do something wrong, it doesn't really have consequences. For example, if I schedule a shift and the times are wrong, a childcare worker also sees that. They can then alert me that the times are incorrect and ask me to adjust them. We always send an overview of the schedule for the following week to the childcare center, they check that, and they can also alert me to any potential errors. I find it very pleasant to work with.

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Thank you, Britt and Elles, for allowing us to interview you, and thanks to the entire Bring at Work team for the invitation to your office. We always enjoy seeing our clients face-to-face and hearing about their growth and developments with clevergig. Lower error margin, filling more shifts, shorter response time, leading to more services requested by clients… We are glad that clevergig continues to help you grow in so many different ways. We wish you success with your work and hope to see you again in a year for an interview about invoicing!

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