WHY an employee app?
After having worked at two different Chipotles for two years, I noticed that the scheduling system needed a serious update. Employees constantly had trouble keeping track of their shifts, had difficulty finding coverage for their shifts, and grew animosity towards store management due to "their" scheduling system, when all they were doing was following the structure that their company created for them.
USER Research
Three primary user groups identified through research were:
1. High school and college aged people who want a flexible, part-time schedule to allow time for their extracurricular activities
2. Adults who want to work full time and want consistent scheduling and pay to pay for their bills
3. Managers who want to keep their employees happy by trying to be accommodating toward all of their employees’ requests as best as possible.
Crew Member
Tyler
Tyler is a high school student who needs an up-to-date schedule so that he can enjoy his other extracurricular activities without conflict. He also wants to make sure his time off requests are honored so that he can go to important events such as his football games and homecoming.
Crew Member
Carla
Carla is a young mom of three who needs a consistent work schedule to be able to support her family and pay for bills. She wants to know when there are ant extra shifts available that she can pick up so that she can get extra hours.
General Manager
Sheri
Sheri is a general manager at Chipotle who needs an easy way to keep track of her employees’ schedules because she wants to keep everyone happy and meet her employees’ needs.
Our Services
User research - MAin Problems
1
Inability to find coworkers to cover a shift
Employees have to message each coworker individually to ask if they want to cover a shift. This app will have an “available shifts” feature that all staff can see and use to pick up others’ shifts.
2
Manager doesn’t honor time off requests
Employees request PTO on a paper calendar but the managers will forget to look at the calendar when making the schedule. This app will remind the managers of the PTO requests as they make the schedule.
3
Lack of notice when there is a schedule change
When schedules are changed, managers expect employees to check the paper print out and “spot the difference”. This app will send a push notification to the employee as soon as there is a change.
4
Disorganization among managers when an employee requests off
Employees will request off weeks in advance but since there is no time stamp, if other employees request off the same day, managers will arbitrarily give whoever they choose that day off.
SOLUTIons
Mockups of my design
Homepage
- employee's schedule is all on one page
- schedule is updated as soon as manager updates it -- employees don't have to wait to go into work to see updated paper schedule
- employee's can see general monthly view AND more specific daily view of their shifts
"Chips" page
- Chipotle is very big on employees knowing safety protocols, weekly announcements, and position-specific information -- here is an "Everything about Chipotle" page that employees can reference in their free time instead of trying to stressfully learn this information while serving customers
My Shifts Page
- employees can view all of their upcoming shifts in an easily processable fashion
- users can click any of these shifts which will lead them to a page that allows them to request to drop their shift; once a manager approves this request, other team members have the ability to pick up the shift
Shifts to pick up page
- employees can browse through all available shifts to pick up
- employees don't have to beg managers for more hours or bother coworkers by constantly asking them if they need coverage
Time off Request page
- this is one page out of a multi-step process of requesting off
- this feature allows employees to see what type of PTO they have
- when a request is made, it'll leave a timestamp in case another employee requests off on the same day -- managers can then honor those who made the request first
Messages page
- messaging section in the same app so that managers and employees don't have to use various forms of messaging (e.g. text message, Group Me, Line) to keep in touch with one another
IMPACT
Over the last three years (2021-2023), Chipotle's hourly employee turnover rate averaged out to 190%. When I talked to old coworkers, some of the reasons they listed for why they disliked working at Chipotle is because of the disorganized management and for getting scheduled for shifts that weren't in their availability or that they had previously requested off, which made them feel that their time and boundaries were not being respected.
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While management has a lot to do with the wellbeing of its team, it is very difficult for management to stay on top of everything when the tools that their company gives to them aren't the greatest. They have to manage the schedules of 30-40 employees all on paper, have employees messaging them on several different platforms, and in addition to that, they are tired and overworked themselves.
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While I have not pitched this app to Chipotle the corporation, I have shown this design to Chipotle employees and they believe that an app like this for employees would be beneficial at their restaurant and would help improve the employee-manager experience. Managers will have an app that aids in keeping an organized schedule, with their entire team on the same page; employees will have an app that helps them stay informed about their shifts and give them a sense of control over their scheduling boundaries.