Rostering Redesigned: How Watchdog Security Streamlined Scheduling with Guardhouse
Watchdog Security, a trusted security provider in New Zealand, dealt with several challenges in managing its workforce efficiently before Guardhouse. Before speaking with us, they spent hours and hours on scheduling and rostering processes that involved multiple spreadsheets and manual oversight. By adopting our security workforce management system, Watchdog was able to automate and streamline these labour-intensive processes, improve compliance, and enhance communication across the company.
The Client
Watchdog Security is a New Zealand-based security company, which has been serving the communities of Rotorua and Tauranga for the last 20 years with dedication and integrity. With a range of professional security services including guards, mobile patrols, and alarm monitoring, Watchdog is on a mission to provide tailored security solutions to their clients – helping them feel safe and have peace of mind. When Watchdog first approached Guardhouse, their time-consuming manual rostering processes were a top concern.
Watchdog Security’s Challenges
- Hours spent each week manually coordinating staff schedules and ensuring compliance
- Inefficient payroll processing, invoicing, and communication
- Reliance on outdated, cumbersome methods to ensure the right guards were deployed at the right sites
The Solution
After turning to Guardhouse, the team at Watchdog was able to completely modernise how they manage their workforce.
They utilised Guardhouse’s rostering system to automate scheduling, significantly reducing the time spent organising shifts, and integrated the leave application system so staff could submit past leave directly.
“When we required the ability to submit leave in the past for use cases like submitting sick leave for the last pay week, Guardhouse was able to provide this functionality to us with some changes at their end.”
Watchdog now uses our Reminders/Compliance system to track required staff licenses for compliance, certificates, site inductions, and training. Our invoicing system was also implemented, creating end-of-month invoicing that allows Watchdog to provide easy breakdowns of all hours spent at a site and the associated costs.
On top of the streamlined automations we introduced, Watchdog’s team uses the Guardhouse team messaging platform to send out company-wide or guard-specific messaging. They also opted for the HR-specific capabilities of Guardhouse, storing employee information in Guardhouse so it’s easily accessible to management via the app.
The Results
By choosing Guardhouse, Watchdog Security was able to transform its rostering system from a manual, time-consuming process to an automated, efficient operation. This has saved their management team countless hours each week, allowing them to focus on more critical tasks.
The payroll integration and compliance checks have significantly reduced administrative labour, and we continue to work with Watchdog to improve the automation around their timesheet approval system, tailoring it specifically to their needs. Improved HR management and company communication have also given managers better control and visibility over operations.
“Guardhouse has streamlined our rostering internally at Watchdog Security. It used to be done manually through the use of several spreadsheets and would often take hours and hours, but with the ease of use of Guardhouse it has cut our rostering time down to almost nothing.”
In the end, Guardhouse has been instrumental in streamlining Watchdog Security’s workforce management system, saving their team hours of painstaking admin work, improving workplace communication, and making their entire operation more efficient.
