Taking A New Look At Employee Scheduling

Many companies are looking at new ways to manage employee’s scheduling tasks. For any company that has part-time employees, rotating schedules or ones that are subject to change frequently, using some of the newer web-based systems can be a good option.

Why web-based?
Putting the schedule online has many advantages over trying to put one out in traditional ways. Many companies create a plan for the week or month, print it out and post it in a central location. Some will give copies out to employees. This creates a static system that is not easily changed. If one or two changes are made to the system, not everyone is likely to be made aware of them. This can sometimes result in not having enough coverage. Employees that forget to check printed schedules, or loose them may not show up for work when they are supposed to. Having an online system makes the entire schedule fluid. Anyone can look at it from a variety of devices, whether they are at home or outside the home to see when they are supposed to work.

What features are included?
Many of the systems that have this design are fairly robust as to features. The software allows managers to make changes but it can also be set up to allow employees to make some changes if needed. One of the best of these is the ability to be able to swap shifts with other employees. People often have a need to change a shift due to an illness or family emergency. Putting this into the hands of employees can take one more task off the manager’s usually overflowing plate of duties.

Communication is better
Most of these systems are compatible with smart phones, which make “getting the word out” a lot easier. If needed, emails or text messages can be sent out to employees advising them about changes, emergencies or other details. In some areas of the country, this can be very helpful during extreme weather such as winter storms. Managers can also use it to ask for extra workers if there is a short notice need for more help.
Reports are easier
Many of these systems can provide a wide range of reports for users. This can help managers to develop better scheduling methods in general. It can help with forecasting to get the right amount of coverage during the busiest times or cut back if things are slow.

This also eliminates the need for any by hand entries for payroll. Data is taken directly from the systems to show which employees worked on specific days and hours. This helps reduce transposed numbers or other problems that create the wrong data.