While scanning is a critical part of a convenience store’s electronic accounting system, the system has the potential to do much more, including contributions in the area of human resources.
According to Greg Gilkerson, president of Professional Datasolutions Inc. (PDI), a McLane-owned software and service provider to convenience stores and petroleum wholesalers, the system can be used as a time clock to keep track of employee performance in an indirect way.
“Electronic journals allow you to identify a lot of information about employee performance,” he said, referring to no sales, open cash drawers and other store activities that used to be recorded on long, cumbersome, paper cash register tapes.
In addition, computer-based training (CBT) applications can be added to the system so employees can study and be tested in numerous locations, while grading and recordkeeping are managed from a central location.