Organization
Ordway Center for the Performing Arts
The Ordway, recognized as one of the U.S.’s leading not-for-profit performing arts centers, is home to a 1,900 seat music theatre, two rehearsal halls, and a beautiful new concert hall currently under construction.
The Ordway’s mission is to be a community magnet that attracts artists and audiences, creating unforgettable shared experiences.
Location: Saint Paul, MN
Industry: Events/Venues, Non-Profit
Size: 50-200 employees
Challenges
Ordway struggled daily with operating their extremely outdated scheduling system. Creating and communicating schedules were unnecessarily complicated and inefficient. Simple tasks like changing screens and printing out a schedule for the week were time-consuming and slowed down operations considerably. Scheduling a department of 90 people for a month took nearly 5 days, causing frustration for both administrative staff and scheduled employees.
They were looking for a new system that could be customized to their needs and could grow with their business.
Solution
Celayix’s implementation team helped Ordway create a rules-based system for scheduling to support operations. The Ordway offers a variety of services to the community, including venue rentals, performances, and classes. Efficiently scheduling employees is crucial to the delivery of these services, and maximizing their budget.
“Everybody was amazing to work with; they helped us see how simple and powerful the system was. Once you understand how it works, there is nothing it can’t do.”
Kasey Tunell, House and Hospitality Department
Results
After implementation, scheduling time was cut by more than half. Scheduling for the month used to take them five days – with Celayix, it only takes 2 days.
Reduced scheduling time
The additional days spent on scheduling and fielding phone calls to staff could now be spent on focusing on other areas of operations. Employees can easily access their schedules online and get notified of any shift changes through the app. The staff enjoy using features like templates to ensure they had the right staff coverage for their program delivery. With the autofill feature, the system automatically assigns the best-fit employee to the shifts. All the scheduler has to do is review and accept the assignments.
“I really like working with the system. We find new tools in the system all the time that make our jobs easier and even more fun.”
Kasey Tunell, House and Hospitality Department
Updated system with reporting features that scales with organizational growth
The main goal for the Ordway was simply to move away from their old system. With an up-to-date system like Celayix, the Ordway has an array of reporting options to analyze their scheduling processes. This ultimately helps them plan and allocate budgets accordingly. The system will also scale and be able to accommodate changes as the organization continues to grow.
