“Sona has made a massive difference, staff have been picking up extra shifts — it's cut our agency hours by half!”
The Challenge
Advinia Healthcare operates 36 care homes across the UK with 3,500 staff, but keeping shifts filled was a constant battle. They were leaning heavily on temp agencies, bank staff weren't sticking around, and there was no easy way for employees who wanted extra hours to actually get them. Engagement was low, and too much time was disappearing into the admin of just keeping rotas covered.
“The system is now in all our homes with great results, with not just financial benefits seen but colleague morale having increased as they can easily see their rotas and also pick up extra shifts as they want to.”
The Solution
After a successful pilot, Advinia Healthcare rolled out Sona across all 36 homes. Within weeks, staff were actively picking up extra shifts through the app, including night shifts that had previously been the hardest to fill, cutting agency hours by half at some sites. Staff gained fair, transparent access to shifts, plus the ability to earn more through incentives, and rotas went live on mobile across the whole organisation.
| Before Sona | After Sona |
|---|---|
| Rising agency dependency with uncontrolled costs | 40% reduction in temp agency usage |
| Manual shift management and slow scheduling processes | 49% of available shifts filled automatically through Sona |
| Low team morale and poor staff retention | Noticeable improvements in engagement, morale, and bank staff retention |
The platform automated the shift filling process that had previously relied on manual scheduling and costly agency cover, giving staff mobile rota visibility and the ability to claim shifts instantly through the app, including the night shifts that had historically been the hardest to fill.
“It's great to be able to easily see what extra shifts are available, it's a much fairer way to pick up overtime as it's available to everyone”
The Results
Following rollout across all 36 homes, Advinia Healthcare achieved:
- 40% reduction in temp agency usage
- 49% of available shifts filled automatically through the app
- Noticeable improvements in staff engagement, morale, and bank staff retention
- Mobile rota visibility rolled out across the entire organisation
“Being able to see my rota in the app is so much easier! It's nice to just have it on my phone so I can quickly see when I'm working so I can make plans”
