How technology brought the Oxford and
Cambridge Club into the 21st century
Steve Drozdiak, Financial Controller at 186-year-old Oxford and
Cambridge Club, discusses how he uses new technology for a better
business overview and employee morale.
The problem
The systems and processes when I started here
were somewhat old-school. For example, as recent-
ly as five years ago, the then-Financial Controller
was doing accounts in a handwritten ledger book,
and payroll was done on an elaborate Excel spread-
sheet.
What are the biggest improvements since
you started using Planday?
As a Financial Controller, everything is about ac-
countability and managers taking ownership of
their areas. I can ask managers questions like, “why
do you have three people on tonight with only ten
bookings?”. We didn’t have nearly as much informa-
tion in our old systems to make decisions, so Plan-
day has been a huge help in that area.
Planday has also been very good for morale. Staff
are communicated to directly and they are getting
information on their own. They can see how many
vacation days they have at any time, and ask for
time off from the app. It tells them, if you work eight
hours extra this week, you can flex it next week. In
the past they didn’t really know.
How has technology changed the way
you work?
In the past, a manager may have managed staff and
payroll with a notebook. Today, we use Planday’s
online staff management software, which allows
us to connect with our staff and control our payroll
costs. We can also react faster to changes, which is
critical these days.
How do you use Planday?
We use Planday for payroll and various HR elements.
The Planday app has also been especially helpful as
a communications tool. 100% of our staff are glued
to Planday. It’s a great way to communicate.
The system lets you sort documents and payslips
as they come through the app. The information is
there in their hands, and they can also see every-
body else’s schedule, which is very useful. If the em-
ployee has transparency and can see what’s going
on, that will increase their morale.
“
As a communications tool,
100% of our staff members are
glued to Planday. It’s a great
way to communicate.