We've hit every target
How the Styrian family business Hubmann has been managing workforce scheduling and time tracking across two locations with SEAK since 2016 – fashion, food, stationery, books, toys, and café.
Hubmann at a Glance
Hubmann is a family-owned business based in Styria, Austria, operating two retail locations — a department store with a broad product range in Stainz (population approx. 9,000) and a fashion boutique in Eibiswald (population approx. 7,000). Both stores share the same defining qualities: personalized, attentive customer service and an unwavering commitment to the customer experience.
Locations
Two stores: Stainz (multi-format department store) and Eibiswald (apparel)
Market Segment Stainz:
Department store featuring fashion, groceries, stationery, books, toys, and a café with its own in-house coffee roastery
Market Segment Eibiswald:
Fashion Boutique – Clothing Only
Market
Styria (Austria)
Management
The Hubmann Family – Speaker: Florian Hubmann (Junior Director)
Brand Promise
Curated fashion, authentic living spaces, uncompromising service — with personalized consultation at the heart of every experience
Customer since
2016
Deployed SEAK Modules
Time and attendance management and workforce scheduling – also used across food, paper, toys, and café departments
Numbers, Data, Facts
Locations – Stainz (Department Store) and Eibiswald (Fashion)
Product categories at the main Stainz location – Fashion, Groceries, Stationery, Books, Toys, Café with in-house coffee roastery
Hubmann Manages Time Tracking and Workforce Scheduling with SEAK
The Challenge
Manual Planning, Person-Dependent — and Inconsistent Results Based on Who Was Doing the Work
Before 2016, all workforce scheduling at Hubmann was done by hand. The process was time-consuming — and the quality of results varied significantly depending on which employee happened to be handling the planning at any given time. Concentrating this responsibility in a single person also created a dangerous dependency, one that Hubmann wanted to eliminate by introducing a system anyone could quickly learn to use.
Four specific pain points were holding them back:
Manual Planning
Time tracking and shift planning were entirely manual — resulting in significant time investment with every planning cycle.
Inconsistent Results
Different employees were reaching different conclusions when billing for deployment times — with no single source of truth.
Single Point of Failure
Scheduling was managed by a single person — when that person was unavailable, the entire planning process came to a standstill. Hubmann needed a solution that multiple team members could use.
Lack of Transparency
Clear, well-structured data on personnel costs, hour budgets, and plan-vs.-actual comparisons was simply not available.
Florian Hubmann – Junior Director – Hubmann
"Our planning processes were entirely manual before. The time investment was enormous. On top of that, we found that different staff members would consistently arrive at different results when processing shift billing. We needed a solution that was less dependent on individual knowledge and judgment."
The Decision: A Recommendation From the Professional Network
Hubmann discovered SEAK through recommendations from his professional network. Those referrals ultimately led to the decision to adopt the platform, driven by two clear requirements: faster planning and a system that staff could use without deep IT expertise.
The Execution: Plan with Day-Level Precision, Department Heads in the Driver's Seat
With SEAK, Hubmann now plans staffing for every day of the year — based on projected revenue figures from their merchandise management system. This approach delivers significantly more precise demand forecasting, particularly across fashion departments. Planning responsibilities are no longer centralized but distributed across department heads — spanning every area of the business, from fashion and food to stationery and the in-store café.
Plans can be adjusted at any time, with all changes automatically documented in the system. The result is a complete, transparent, and fully traceable planning history.
What the software actually covers
Annual Rough Planning with Merchandise Management
Forecast staffing hours and headcount requirements throughout the year — powered by data from your inventory system, seasonal trends, public holidays, school breaks, and promotional campaigns.
Daily Planning Based on Target Revenue
In fashion departments, planning is carried out on a day-by-day basis using predefined target revenue figures.
Qualifications & Features
Required qualifications and employee roles are automatically factored into every scheduling decision.
Contract & Preferences
Contractual hours and personal preferences are built into the scheduling process.
Justice Factors
Tailored scheduling — with workloads distributed fairly across the entire team.
Multiple Planners
Planning is owned by department heads — eliminating single points of failure and central bottlenecks.
Multi-Format Logic
Fashion, food, paper, books, toys, and café — all planned in one unified platform.
Readjustment with Documentation
Plan adjustments are simple to make – every change is automatically documented in the system.
Florian Hubmann – Junior Director – Hubmann
"Implementing this software prompted us to overhaul our entire scheduling process. For the first time, we could actually measure our staffing needs — and gut-feel decision-making became a thing of the past."
The Result: What Has Changed Since Then
Higher Productivity, Better Consulting, Data-Driven Decisions Instead of Gut Feeling
Business Management
Control
Employee Satisfaction
Customer Perception
Florian Hubmann – Junior Director – Hubmann
"We implemented the software in 2016. Since then, we've seen consistent gains across our productivity metrics. We've achieved every goal we set out to reach."
Which Hubmann modules are in use
Florian Hubmann – Junior Director – Hubmann
"By far the most responsive support team I've ever worked with. The onboarding training deserves top marks as well — afterwards, we were fully self-sufficient and didn't need any further consulting."
Let's talk about whether SEAK is the right fit for your business
In a 30-minute introductory call, we'll assess where your business stands today, identify which modules are the right priority for your situation, and outline a realistic implementation roadmap.
Alternatively, you're welcome to reach out via our contact form — we'll get back to you promptly. Or give us a call at: +49 40 238 348 – 000
The Trade Trusts SEAK
From fashion and food retail to building materials and specialist trade: retailers across Germany rely on SEAK to manage their workforce.
Family-Owned Business in Styria
Hubmann is a family-owned business based in Styria, Austria, operating two retail locations in Stainz and Eibiswald. The Stainz store — serving a community of approximately 9,000 residents — is positioned as a full-service department store with a strong focus on fashion, complemented by offerings in food, stationery, books, and toys, as well as an in-house café with its own coffee roastery. The Eibiswald location, serving around 7,000 residents, focuses exclusively on clothing and apparel.