“BioEnterprise has been very helpful in introducing us to venture capital firms that led to approximately $25 million of the capital OnShift has raised.”
Mark Woodka is CEO of OnShift, delivering cloud-based human capital management software for hiring, scheduling and employee engagement in the post-acute care and senior living markets.
OnShift is about to reach a major milestone – it will hire its 200th employee by the end of 2017.
In 2016, OnShift was ranked No. 326 on Deloitte’s Technology Fast 500™, a list of the 500 fastest growing technology, media, telecommunications, life sciences and energy tech companies in North America.
The company was founded in 2007 by two gentlemen from American Greetings who built a mobile communications platform. One of the founders had a friend who ran nursing homes and thought “Wow, if I could use the application to fill shifts that would be fantastic.”
Mark Woodka initially joined OnShift as an angel investor and then helped launch the company as CEO in 2008, bringing with him over twenty-five years of experience in sales and marketing for technology start-ups. Woodka introduced OnShift to the long-term care market, initially to help nursing homes more efficiently fill shifts.
“If a caregiver at a facility calls off at 1 o’clock for a 3 o’clock shift they generally have to replace that person. Without our software, it’s a very laborious process – they’d pick up the phone and spend two or three hours calling people to come to work or asking people to work a double shift,” said Woodka.
OnShift’s software helps solve this problem, enabling nursing homes and assisted living communities to fill shifts by alerting their staff through text messaging, email, automated phone call, or mobile push notification.
In 2009, OnShift added full staff scheduling capabilities to its solution, as many communities were relying on pen and paper to manage employee schedules. “We combined communications and scheduling and built an automated solution that is very easy to use,” said Woodka. “We try to do a lot for our customers and have them do less. We pride ourselves on how little time our customers spend in our software. That means we’re being efficient, and they can spend more time taking care of their residents.”
OnShift recently introduced two new products. OnShift Engage is a platform for retaining employees with real-time pulse surveys, new hire onboarding, and a points-based rewards and recognition system. Most recently, OnShift launched OnShift Wallet, which gives employees timely access to earned, but unpaid income and helps them better manage their finances when unexpected expenses arise.
Helming such a fast-growing company doesn’t leave Mark Woodka time for his favorite hobbies of golf and photography. When asked to name his main activity outside of work, he quickly replied: “Sleeping!”
