Schedule building is an art that lives in managers’ heads… and it can be a pain. So many managers still do it the old-fashioned way – completely manually. They’re still using spreadsheets and good old-fashioned pen and paper to figure out who's working when.
Scheduling is not an easy task. Schedulers have to balance the needs of the business with the availability and needs of each employee. It can be a complicated and time-consuming duty that requires careful consideration of so many factors including employee availability, skills, preferences and more.
Schedule builders are always juggling multiple requests for time off and dealing with unexpected absences. It can be tough to keep track of what feels like a million little things.
So much anxiety can stem from meeting all these factors, not to mention the worries that come from ensuring all labor laws and regulations are being followed.
It’s a big responsibility, and even a small mistake can have big impacts for the business.
The good news is there are some secrets to building a schedule that keeps everyone happy and the business running smoothly.
Issues with schedule building
There are common issues that stem from schedule building that can cause issues for managers.
A lot of the time managers don’t have updated, current information on each employee to know when and where they need to staff. It can become even tougher when you need to include factors like employee skills, availability and interests.
It can also be unclear who the right people are to put where if managers are unaware of their competencies, skills and training.
It can be difficult for managers to know if they’re meeting minimum shift requirements, and on the flipside, ensuring they’re not overstaffing.
If a scheduled employee turns out to be unavailable, sometimes managers just don’t know how to find the the best employee to fill the open position.
What if an employee shows up late? What if they clock in early but you know they weren’t actually working?
And how about these last-minute changes managers make to the schedule? Often, it’s not easy for employees to see these changes in real time, which can lead to issues for everyone involved.
How you can make schedule building easier
If schedules are created far in advance to the actual shift dates, it could help avoid last-minute confusion and scheduling conflicts. This can also give employees more notice and could lead to better shift attendance.
When managers consider employee preferences for the shifts and times they work, that can also increase employee satisfaction and reduce turnover.
Cross-training employees can also be a huge help for managers. If employees are trained on multiple different roles and tasks, they can be more flexible in scheduling. Even better, this helps employees develop new skills and increase their job satisfaction.
How Workzoom helps
Using software to help streamline schedule building can make the process not only faster, but more efficient and effective.
Workzoom helps managers consider all the above requirements and help relieve these common pain points.
Our system can be fine-tuned to your needs, like including multiple scheduling options from daily, weekly, biweekly, and more.
Workzoom consolidates the schedule building process. It shows all qualified employees available based on the required skills to schedule builders.
The system automates the process--changes to schedules can be sent to everyone that is impacted. Employees can easily see scheduling gaps and request to fill the openings, making the process easier for managers.
With Workzoom, everyone can access their own and their teams’ schedules to see who is working when, meaning the process is standardized. If employees request to fill open slots, managers can see all requests and equally disperse the open slots.
A key to ensuring smooth schedule building is visibility. Workzoom makes the process transparent, meaning everyone can see their schedules and request to swap shifts with others if desired.
The solution to your schedule building headaches is a click away.
With Workzoom, you can improve communications, increase efficiency and understand costs with your all-in-one people management platform.
See it in action and book a free demo now!