How CODE Catering Made Event Staffing Predictable With Connecteam

Key Results

• Event staffing without unpredictable per-person costs – temporary workers can be added when demand spikes without making managers reluctant to keep the roster accurate
• Scheduling and time tracking managed in one platform – CODE Catering no longer needs to pay for or manage those core workflows separately
• Managers run their own teams – front-of-house, back-of-house, and admin leaders can manage schedules independently instead of routing every decision through Andrew
• Payroll-ready hours flow into Xero – employee time data can be exported from Connecteam instead of being rebuilt from paper schedules or disconnected records

The Challenge: Staffing Costs Spiked Whenever the Team Did

CODE Catering provides corporate café and catering services for New South Wales government facilities. Its staffing needs can change quickly, especially when events at Sydney Olympic Park require the team to scale from around 10 employees to 20 almost overnight.

That flexibility became expensive under the company’s previous workforce management setup. Adding temporary workers increased software costs, while scheduling required an additional paid feature. When the cost became difficult to justify, managers fell back on paper rosters and text messages.

• Temporary staffing came with a cost penalty: adding workers for a single event could increase the software bill even when those employees were only needed briefly
• Scheduling and time tracking were priced separately: Andrew could not justify paying extra to add rostering to a system he was already using for time tracking
• Manual workarounds crept back in: paper schedules and text messages filled the gaps when using the software for every employee became too costly

How CODE Catering Built a More Flexible Staffing System With Connecteam

CODE Catering brought scheduling, time tracking, and payroll data into Connecteam, giving managers one system they could use whether the team was running at normal headcount or expanding for an event.

• Managers build rosters ahead of time: front-of-house, back-of-house, and admin teams can be scheduled independently while remaining visible in the same platform
• Employees track their hours in the same app: time records can then be exported to Xero for payroll processing
• Temporary workers can be archived when an event ends: CODE Catering can bring staff into the system when needed without permanently keeping occasional workers active
• Managers take ownership of their own teams: Andrew can oversee the operation without building every roster or handling every staffing decision himself

The Results: Flexible Staffing Without the Manual Workarounds

Event Headcount Can Change Without Breaking the System

• Temporary staff can be added when demand increases: managers do not have to avoid putting occasional workers into the system because of immediate per-person cost concerns
• Archived workers can be removed when no longer needed: the active employee list can reflect the team currently working
• The roster stays closer to operational reality: managers can schedule the people actually working instead of maintaining separate paper or text-based workarounds

Managers Run Their Own Rosters

• Each team can manage its own scheduling: front-of-house, back-of-house, and admin managers handle the employees they know best
• Andrew spends less time in day-to-day rostering: responsibility can sit with managers instead of remaining centralized with the owner
• Schedules remain visible across the operation: separate teams can work independently without creating disconnected scheduling systems

The Team Adopted the System Without a Heavy Training Burden

• Employees familiar with workforce apps picked it up quickly: the interface reduced the learning curve for staff moving from Deputy
• Managers can train other employees: Andrew no longer needs to personally onboard every person into the platform
• Scheduling and time tracking live together: employees do not have to learn separate systems for two workflows they use throughout the workweek

Before vs. After Connecteam

Why Connecteam Worked for CODE Catering

CODE Catering needed workforce software that could handle a team whose size changes with demand. A system becomes difficult to rely on when managers hesitate to add temporary staff because every extra employee immediately changes the cost.

Connecteam gave Andrew a more predictable structure while bringing scheduling and time tracking together. Managers can add the people they need, build their own rosters, track employee hours, and send time data to Xero without maintaining paper schedules alongside the software.

The result is a staffing process that better matches how catering actually works: stable enough for everyday operations and flexible enough to expand quickly when an event requires a larger team.