We interviewed Rex A. Clausager, CEO of TimePlan, regarding the recent partnership with Main. Main will support the Danish workforce management provider’s continued international expansion and select Buy-and-Build strategy.
TimePlan, founded in 1995 in Denmark by Henrik Baasch, will turn 28 this March and with its extensive history in workforce management and its fast growing operations within North-Western Europe, the company sees the need for a strategic partnership. The company provides a complete, all-round workforce management solution, which helps companies with digitalization. By providing employee scheduling, time & attendance and HR administration, TimePlan serves companies ranging from the retail, hospitality and leisure sector to the health, banking & finance and logistics & transport sectors in more than 25 countries across the world.
“In the early 90s, when TimePlan first appeared on the scene with its first spreadsheets in its pocket, workforce legislation in Denmark was changing drastically as businesses stayed open longer and employees worked longer hours. This also meant that, with the right workforce management solution, retailers could save a lot of money. This marked the start of a longstanding collaboration with Denmark’s service sector.”, Clausager mentions.
The increasing complexity of labor regulations and the need to accurately forecast and plan the workforce is an ongoing struggle for many large companies.
How does the TimePlan solution tackle this?
“The TimePlan solution helps companies optimize processes, streamline administration and reduce expenses. However, when it comes to tackling the complexity of increasing labor regulations, there’s more to it.
With our solution we encapsulate these complexities by offering a complete and efficient solution. We have been specific about what we’re trying to achieve. On the one hand, we want to integrate employee scheduling with time and attendance. On the other hand, we provide HR-administration because you need information on your employees and workforce agreements. What also helps encapsulate the complexities is the fact that we have maintained and thoroughly developed an all-encompassing solution that contains everything that is needed for workforce administration. So we don’t develop customized solutions, but we do continuously tailor them to fit of the wants and needs of all our clients.”, Clausager adds.
An All-In-One solution for everyone, everywhere.
The all-encompassing solution that TimePlan offers is developed with continuous evaluation and collaboration with their clients.
“Our strength is that we listen to our customers and implement the changes they suggest. These changes are implemented across the entire, unified platform so that they are available for everyone, everywhere. Consequently, we provide an all-in-one solution, which means that not everyone requires everything, but they use what they need. We make sure it’s all there, which in itself makes it easier to localize in different countries whose laws, rules, and obligations are less regulated. As a result, handling localization in the Nordics has been an excellent starting point for us. This is because the complexity there is higher than in other countries and we’ve already updated our solution to fit their legislation. We notice that no major changes need to be made to adhere to the legislation of other countries.”
How has TimePlan gained such a strong market position?
“The biggest part of this success is being the first mover.”
And indeed, with 28 years of experience, TimePlan was the first to enter the Danish market with its one-of-a-kind solution. As such, a first come first served principle can be applied here, since TimePlan was able to build strong fundamentals from the start, without much external pressure from competitors.
“We were able to really develop our solution thoroughly and adapt and grow alongside technological developments. Our solution evolved from a floppy disc that customers installed on their own systems to an on-premises solution that we hosted and updated for our customers, and now we are available in the cloud. With that being said, we always deliver the latest version. Yet again, maintaining close contact with customers is equally important. With this in mind, we have formed so-called ‘ERFA groups’, which facilitate the exchange of experience across sectors. This information is highly valuable for our solution to stay up-to-date and for us to succeed as a growing business.”
How does the TimePlan solution distinguish itself from its competitors?
“Our solution is quite similar to our competitors. However, where we make a difference is the eye for detail we have in terms of workforce agreements. We offer a comprehensive, remote and fully mobile platform for workforce management that works for both employees and managers. All information regarding time and attendance is registered and calculated accordingly and in one place. Additionally, we differentiate ourselves through our BI-module, where we create smart overviews and drill-downs to help business leaders take decisions and implement sensible changes.”
What do you think the partnership with Main will offer?
“We have grown fast over the years. However, the real questions are: have we grown enough to compete efficiently in the market in ten years time? Can we sustain growth? That key aspect of sustainability and growth is why Main is so important to us.
There is so much knowledge to be gained from everything that Main has done for the past 20 years. The newly formed partnership between a day-to-day business and a strategic investor is a great cocktail and we know it’s the right move.”, Clausager adds.
What are the most important pillars of your growth strategy?
“The two main pillars are organic growth and buy-and-build. We have already begun developing a Nordic-focused growth plan. However, in order to reach the two pillars, we need to continue to do more upselling, establish a share of wallet, and find effective strategies for growth within North-Western Europe, as well as adding new logo’s to our portfolio. Ultimately, we want to grow as quickly and efficiently as possible without actually risking our integrity, customer-focus and innovation. I mean, some businesses want to be everywhere at the same time and if you try to be everything for everyone you can sometimes be nothing for anyone.”
It’s a step-by-step process, right?
“Yes, but now that we’ve partnered with Main, we’ll get things done a lot faster. I could already tell that there is a great synergy here.”, Clausager concludes.
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