In today’s world, most of us are operating in fast-paced environments. Businesses strive to improve work efficiency and time management. Once they understand which tasks are the most time-consuming a simplifying solution must be found. This can be challenging since the solutions must meet the need of their dynamic nature.
A question frequently asked among businesses is: ‘’How can we improve the employee scheduling process’’? Bad scheduling skills can affect both business and employees. 75% of workers have confirmed they’d like more stable and predictable schedules. It’s a daunting task undoubtedly, but we can finally say there’s a way for it to be easily managed.
Thanks to advanced technology managing employee scheduling manually is a thing of the past! To understand this better, this article is going to focus on nine key benefits of using employee scheduling software at work and understanding its importance!
9 Benefits of employee scheduling software
Managing tasks automatically nowadays is common and much needed for businesses. The employee scheduling software can make that happen. The software is actually cloud-based and helps companies to effortlessly create a working schedule. Let’s see how beneficial it can be when implemented at work:
1. Create a work schedule online
This might sound like the usual thing to do for some, but you’d be surprised to hear that many companies still hold onto traditional ways. Imagine having to print a new spreadsheet every time you make a change. It can be so time-consuming and can just cause confusion.
Employee scheduling software allows you to create a work schedule online. This helps you to timely make all kinds of changes to an already existing schedule, without causing confusion among employees.
You also have the chance of downloading a phone app, so you can even manage employee scheduling on the go! This can be extremely helpful when a replacement needs to be found. If an employee suddenly goes sick you immediately have to fill his place.
Companies relying on traditional ways will start calling other coworkers, but this can be tiresome and may not even bring results. By having access to the software at any time, you can immediately notify everyone and increase the chances of getting a fast response.
2. Improved time management
It’s hard to develop strong time management skills when we all feel like we’re drowning in responsibilities. Twenty-four hours a day seem to not be enough. Still, businesses are not giving up and are constantly implementing new stuff to make that happen.
Managing employee scheduling can take up a great deal of time. Since employee scheduling software can do this automatically, the task can be finished in a few minutes compared to manual scheduling which can take up to a few hours!
It can be tiring creating a new schedule starting from zero every week. The software enables you to copy it and save valuable time in the process.
2. No more unsatisfied employees
Keeping employees satisfied is a must! If employees’ needs are not met, they’ll have to deal with a lack of motivation and feel negative about the job. It doesn’t affect only them, but the overall business progress.
Employees also have things to do outside of work. This is why most job seekers want to work in a flexible environment. Employees have to be timely informed about schedule changes! The employee scheduling software will inform you if:
- Someone has too many overtime shifts
- Vacations are not properly administered
- Scheduling changes aren’t timely
By having access to this information, scheduling improvements can be immediately made you’ll help employees maintain a positive mood.
4. Automated time off
Instead of employees stressing about asking managers if they can take time off, the scheduling software allows them to do this online. They can easily request time off whenever they feel they need a vacation, or they’re on sick leave.
With the help of the software, you’ll be informed in real-time about every attendance. It makes it easier to keep track of the schedules. When you’re timely informed about an issue, it makes it easier to immediately address it.
5. Prevent scheduling conflicts
Understaffed and overstaffed shifts can be a huge problem, but they’re likely to happen. While manually creating a schedule it’s possible to make a mistake. Automated software won’t allow that to happen. You’ll be timely informed about every scheduling issue.
This makes it so much easier for managers to deal with shifts. If a mistake has been made, by timely being informed, it can be prevented before it even happened. Scheduling conflicts will be significantly reduced and you’ll know your schedule works in your and everyones’ favor.
6. Improved communication
Maintaining good communication with your employees means a lot. Keeping them informed on time about every change shouldn’t be a problem. Still, managing 100+ employees can be challenging. Not everyone opens their emails regularly and managers can sometimes forget to inform them on time. This leads to last-minute changes which can be stressful and exhausting.
The employee scheduling software is really helpful regarding this. If a new schedule is on the way or changes have been made to the old one it immediately alerts them by sending them a notification. As mentioned above, employees will be grateful they were timely informed and managers will be calm knowing communication conflicts are prevented from happening!
7. Payroll strategy
Employees expect to be paid what they’re owed. Nobody wants to receive less and that’s why companies should know exactly how much they have to compensate. Calculating everything can be tricky and requires a lot of patience.
A good idea is to start using employee scheduling software to help you with payroll activities. The software gives an overview of how many working hours an employee has or whether they took paid vacation or were on sick leave. It calculates the exact amount of compensation, saving you valuable time!
The software can also serve as a salary reminder. That way you’ll always give salaries on time, which helps keep employees satisfied.
8. Strategic scheduling
Every person has different abilities. Managers should be aware of this and have to know which task to assign to which employee. It’s a great strategy to improve business progress and efficiency.
Some employee scheduling software can help you strategically organize schedules. The schedule adapts based on the employee’s skills and experience. When busy days are coming your top employees will surely be there!
If your business is a place where you care for constant improvement, you’re surely used to training your employees from time to time. The software can help you by informing you when there’s downtime or your employees find themselves doing monotonous tasks. That’s going to be a great time for you to motivate employees and receive some feedback at the same time!
9. Allows employees to make swaps on their own
Don’t get me wrong, this doesn’t mean employees will manage their own schedules. They will just be able to trade shifts. This is extremely helpful, especially for bigger companies. If an employee has an emergency, they can swap shifts with a coworker with the help of employee scheduling software.
This can significantly improve team collaboration and employee satisfaction! It can also be beneficial for managers since they won’t have to find replacements on their own. You’ll understand how flexibility pays off!
Choosing the right employee scheduling software
Different businesses have different needs. Even though some software may work for one company, it doesn’t mean it’s going to work for another as well. That’s why it’s important to know how to choose the right employee scheduling software. Here’s what you have to keep in mind:
- Simplicity. Not everyone has good computer skills. Keeping that in mind, while choosing the right software you have to understand its complexity. If you’re new to this automated process, try choosing a tool that’s easy to use and is considered beginners friendly!
- Determine your needs and challenges. Try understanding first what you want to achieve. You decided it’s time for a change, so what do you wish to improve? Once you know what you want to achieve, you can choose software based on your needs.
- Independence. You definitely want to choose software that’s not dependent. If you make the right choice, you won’t have to download other programs in order to make the software work.
Employee scheduling made easy
Employee scheduling is one of the most important processes in a business and it has to be treated as such! It’s more than obvious that by implementing employee scheduling software businesses have bigger chances of growing.
By paying attention to your employees’ needs they’ll feel heard and more appreciated. Motivated and satisfied employees are crucial for every business. Employee scheduling software makes struggling with employee scheduling a thing of the past!
