What is Employee Scheduling Software And How to Do Scheduling for Employees?
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Creating a schedule that works for all of your employees and shift needs is difficult and time-consuming. Small, medium, and large-scale businesses all lose time and resources dealing with the confusion and potential human error that comes with doing it manually. Implementing employee scheduling software is a cost-effective and dependable solution for this. But first, what is employee scheduling software?
In this guide, we will define the key pieces of information needed to fully comprehend the scheduling software.
What is employee scheduling software?
Employee scheduling software is a workforce and scheduling management platform that assists business owners and managers in managing employees who work on hourly basis. Automating the scheduling process yields consistent results, reduces labour costs, boosts productivity, and employee satisfaction. Its core functionality includes shift auto-assignment, automated notifications for new schedules and shift changes, clock-in and clock-out features, timecard creation, and payroll file importation.
Employee Scheduling Techniques
Source- https://financesonline.com/employee-scheduling-software-analysis-features-benefits-pricing/
Here’s a list of employee scheduling tips to help you figure out which practices you should put in place to create a better schedule.
Allow Your Employees to Make Contribution To Schedules
It’s great to respond to some events by allowing your employees to request changes. However, the burden of work should not always fall on your shoulders. Some of the work can also be delegated to your employees. Implement a system that allows your employees to find their own coverage for shifts, if they are unable to work. This will be another occasion when effective communication will be required.
If you’re thinking about implementing scheduling software, this is another area where you’ll benefit. Some systems include a feature that allows employees to post shifts they are unable to work so that they can find their own coverage. This type of assistance makes it simple for every team member to see an updated schedule and increases the likelihood that you will be able to complete your tasks.
Ensure that the schedule is both predictable and adaptable
Your employees will value consistency in their work schedule. When creating weekly schedules, try to avoid giving your employees wildly different schedules from week to week. Giving your employees a level of consistency in their schedule from week to week will allow them to have a better work-life balance, which is essential for all employees.
However, your employees have lives outside of work, and things will come up that will necessitate some flexibility in your schedule. You’ll want to consider the best way to meet your company’s needs and how to balance predictability and flexibility in your schedule. According to Forbes, 84 percent of parents said that flexibility is their top priority in a job – allowing for some wiggle room in your schedule will increase your chances of retaining skilled workers.
Make the schedule easily accessible
Giving your employees easy access to the current schedule is the best way to ensure they don’t miss their shifts. You should ensure that your employees have access to the schedule prior to their shifts. Consider posting the schedule a couple of weeks in advance so that every team member has enough time to review it and plan ahead if they need to cover a shift. You’ll also want to make sure that the schedule is easily accessible to everyone and that it is always available.
This can be helped by using a tool with an automated scheduling feature. Because automated scheduling generates the schedule for you, you never have to worry about putting together a plan for the next week at the last minute. Some systems also enable you and the rest of your team to access the schedule remotely, allowing everyone to see the most recent version at any time.
Source- https://dataintelo.com/report/global-employee-scheduling-software-market/
How To Do Scheduling For Employees
Let’s look at employee scheduling and discover effective strategies for better workforce management.
Make a Comprehensive Employee List
Begin by compiling a detailed list of all of your current employees. This will be your reference sheet when you start assigning work hours. Input as much information as possible to assist you in creating the best schedule, such as employee names, job titles, and shift preferences (night vs. day).
Also Read: ProHance – the Missing Piece of Your IT Puzzle!
Make use of a calendar
Using a calendar for scheduling allows you to mark important dates and track employee hours to ensure they do not go over during a pay week. Make a note of important considerations such as upcoming employee vacations, holidays when the entire team is off, pay dates, and high sales volume weeks on specific days or weeks.
You can also schedule your employees using a calendar, though this method is not fullproof and may necessitate extra work when schedules need to be changed.
Consider the Company’s Scheduling Requirements
To create a successful employee schedule, you must consider your company’s needs. Is it true that some days are busier than others? Are there any weeks that seem to be slower than others (for example, around the holidays)? Are there certain products or services that you sell, that necessitate scheduling more workers in a specific position?
You may believe you can use your intuition to determine which trends to consider when scheduling, but we recommend using data or reports from your systems or software, if possible, as they are more objective and precise. If you have them, go over your company’s sales reports from year to year. If you notice significant increases in business during specific months or weeks over the course of several years, you can confidently increase the number of employees scheduled for that time period.
Assign Shifts
You can begin assigning shifts once you have finished organising and reviewing the information required to schedule your employees for the upcoming period.
Always begin the scheduling process with an understanding of which and how many positions you need to fill each day. Determine your company’s typical staffing needs on a daily basis (e.g., 10 waitstaff, four cooks, and five hosts) to ensure success. Use this as a baseline each time you create an employee schedule – on days with higher sales volume, increase the number, and vice versa on days with lower sales volume.
Then, proceed to each individual’s availability. You can quickly begin populating a schedule based on the information on your employee reference list and calendar.
Obtain Employee Feedback
Soliciting feedback after you finish the first draft of your schedule is an important part of employee management. Certain situations are unavoidable, such as a sick child, a forgotten doctor’s appointment, or an upcoming family event. Meeting your employees’ needs increases their job satisfaction and decreases the likelihood of no-shows.
Once you’ve received all of the employee feedback, go over it to see if any changes to the schedule are necessary. If you need to change the staffing lineup, use your employee detail list to determine which employees are more likely to be available on the specified date and time. You can also empower your employees to find their own replacements ahead of time; they can include that information with their feedback, leaving you with only the schedule to update.
Complete and publish your schedule
You can finalise and publish your schedule after incorporating and/or responding to all schedule change requests. Consider publishing your draft to PDF and sending it to your team if it is in Excel. They won’t be able to change it, and it will keep the final version from being confused with the draft. It’s also a good idea, if possible, to post the schedule somewhere in the workplace, such as the breakroom. If your team is more tech-savvy and/or dispersed, Google Drive may be a better option.
Conclusion
Employee scheduling software is a useful tool that makes it easier to create work schedules for employees. It assists businesses in saving time, reducing scheduling errors, and increasing overall productivity. It simplifies the scheduling process with features such as automated shift assignments, availability tracking, and instant communication. Unlock efficiency with ProHance to transform your workforce management today!
Frequently Asked Questions
Q1: How do I know if my company requires appointment scheduling software?
If you or your employees are constantly looking at calendars, searching for appointment details, or wasting time scheduling and organising, rather than actually preparing for the meeting and focusing on sales, then switching to an online booking system is a good idea.
Q2: What are the advantages of appointment scheduling software?
There are numerous advantages to using appointment scheduling software:
- Reduces double bookings and no-shows.
- Saves time by eliminating the need for manual scheduling.
- Enables you and your employees to concentrate on growing your company.
- Synchronises both your personal and team calendars.
- Sends you and your customers automated notifications and reminders via email/SMS.
- Enables you to collect payments without difficulty.
