Can your business benefit from using a staff scheduling software? Odds are, it can. This software offers a number of powerful options, and it even gives your employees more control of the hours that they work. In the past, companies used paper calendars and other means of keeping their schedules organized. While it was easy for employees to copy these calendars and see which hours they had to work, there were a number of downsides.
For example, the schedules could get lost easily, and switching around someone’s hours became a complicated task. The new forms of staff scheduling software are quite simple. Here are five major benefits that you’ll gain from using one of these programs.
1) Shift Changes Are Easy
What happens when one of your employees needs to change their shift? Surely you have rules in place for this, but how does the process work? Do they just need to inform their boss that they are switching with someone? And how does the supervisor proceed? If you do things the old fashioned way, you’ll be using a lot of correction fluid! The schedule needs to be physically changed, both on paper and on the computer.
And what happens when other employees need to be notified? This can cause quite a headache. However, staff scheduling software can solve the problem as well as having many advantages and benefits. With these computer-based programs, you just need to make one change in the system – literally, swap one employee for the other – and your work is done. Everyone is notified. It’s that simple.
2) HR Can Access the Schedules from Anywhere
Another problem can arise when your HR people are out of their offices and are ambushed by employees. For example, the employee asks to have their shift changed while the HR person is out on the sales floor. What happens next? Well, with a paper-based system, the HR employee would have to remember the request (maybe even writing it down). When they get back to their office, they then need to make the change. However, a lot can happen in that time frame. The HR person might get sidetracked.
As a result, the change never takes place. This isn’t the case with a staff scheduling software. The HR employee can pull the program up on their phone and make the adjustment right then and there.
3) Approving Time Off Is Simple to Do
If you end up with a lot of time off requests and have a hard time juggling all of them, then you definitely need a staff scheduling software for your business. These programs really simplify things. While you still have to find a way to approve the vacation and time off requests, these systems do make it easier.
All that you need to do is punch in the time off request under the employee’s name, and you’ll see several different things. This includes whether or not someone else has already requested that day off. You’ll also be able to see how many accrued vacation and personal days that the employee has to use. If you have a lot of employees and are having a hard time tracking everything, then this is the best solution for you. It really does make things easier.
4) Your Employees Have More Power
While some might say that they don’t want their employees to have scheduling power, most workplace consultants will tell you the opposite. You want your employees to have a little autonomy. This is the best way to give them some power. Staff scheduling software allows your employees to make any changes to their schedules that they need to.
You just need to set a few ground rules, such as having a certain number of workers in each department at a set time. From there, the rest is up to your employees, and they can change shifts as they need to, swapping with each other. The end result is that you have a lot of happy employees, while you have fewer things to worry about. They took care of their own scheduling issues. Why wouldn’t you be happy about that?
5) You Won’t Have Any Understaffing Issues
Understaffing can be a major problem. No one wants their business to operate with fewer people than they need. Tasks get backed up, and customers get cranky. Thanks to the many online review places this day and age, that is a very bad thing.
Instead, use staff scheduling software to make sure that someone is on duty during your busy times. You can note when these times occur in the system, and then you’ll be reminded to schedule staff members accordingly. You can’t risk making mistakes that could seriously impact your business. Instead, use a scheduling program to make things easier and ensure that you have the right people on the job at all times.
