S Group is Finland’s largest private employer with over 40,000 staff across 19 cooperatives. Its central service company, SOK, was managing last‑minute staffing within strict labor rules. With ORTEC Workforce Scheduling, it moved from manual processes to one integrated system.
The challenge: ad hoc staffing under strict labor law
SOK had to fulfill ad hoc staffing demand across the cooperative group while complying with strict labor law. Under local regulations, every employee eligible must have the opportunity to bid on an open shift. This means SOK needed a reliable way to communicate, monitor, and assign shift offers. Its existing homegrown tool relied on SMS notifications and manual effort, and their portal had become outdated. SOK was therefore looking for a fully integrated, scalable process that could support both regulatory requirements and daily operations.
Created value: integrated shift offering and ad hoc planning
Working with ORTEC, SOK expanded its workforce management process with Shift Offering and Ad Hoc Planning in ORTEC Workforce Scheduling. These now run as a single, integrated system across all companies. It gives them central governance, calculations, and reporting, while still allowing flexibility for local business needs. Ad Hoc Planning helps planners fill last-minute gaps, such as sick leave, by quickly allocating replacement staff through a mobile app. Employee Self Service notifies employees on their phones when a shift becomes available, allowing them to request it directly.
PROVEN RESULTS
Our impact in workforce scheduling in numbers
of the schedule completed before schedulers step in
Employees build their own roster across two rounds, so schedulers enter at round three with most of the work already done.
Fewer scheduled hours
More efficient staffing through improved schedule quality. Smarter schedules mean less slack — without compromising service levels.
Reduction in overtime costs
Better capacity alignment means overtime becomes the exception, not the default.
Integrated reporting for better decisions
SOK also worked with ORTEC to add a Business Intelligence (BI) module that brings data from separate HR databases into a single reporting environment. This makes it possible to run reports across the entire organization and export data without putting pressure on the operational system. With consolidated insights available in one place, SOK can support more informed workforce decisions across more than 40,000 employees.
The benefits: Flexible, response workforce planning at scale
SOK chose ORTEC Workforce Scheduling for its high configurability, which supports many local labor agreements alongside overarching regulations. With Shift Offering, Ad Hoc Planning, Employee Self Service, and integrated reporting in place, SOK can respond to last-minute changes, support employee preferences, and lower the pressure on its planning team.
One integrated system across 23 company plans and 40,000+ employees
Support for planning methods from fully centralized to decentralized
Greater employee engagement through self-service
Accurate payroll calculation
Transparent handling of shift offers
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