One of the common reasons people leave their jobs is not because of money. It’s because their schedule is not flexible enough. During the pandemic, more people got used to working from home. In addition, employees felt they had more flexibility in their schedule. According to Gallup, 37% would change to a job that allowed them to work remotely for some of the time.
Therefore, managers need to ensure they’re creating an effective, flexible schedule that works for everyone. This is where the top employee scheduling app helps! An employee schedule app can help you create a flexible schedule. To ensure your business runs smoothly and employees are happy, it begins with scheduling.
Scheduling shouldn’t be a chore. Online scheduling apps help ensure that scheduling is accurate and gives you a few hours of your day back. Instead of working with multiple papers and making loads of phone calls while you’re trying to figure out who can and can’t work. Modern scheduling software is a must! It will save you on resources, and most of all time!
When it comes to features to make scheduling simple, scheduling apps are mostly the same. Features include an app-chat, notes, GPS locator, workflows, clocking in and clocking out. You can even use drag-and-drop templates, so you won’t need to create a new one every time. Here are our three best practices for creating an effective work schedule using an app.
1. Easy scheduling
Your employees want to be able to make changes to their schedule without all the questioning. If employees have access to their schedule, they can swap and talk to fellow employees, allowing them to feel more comfortable.
To avoid issues with scheduling, hold a meeting to discuss any concerns. When employees understand how to make necessary changes, they are less likely to be upset or frustrated. You can always highlight it in your employee handbook, explaining the process and step-by-step instructions.
If you are still running things with pen and paper, it can be hard to ensure shifts that have been swapped are correct. With a specific program or scheduling app, shift swapping is easy, and you’re not using a whole bottle of white-out per week! You can also track all the changes on a scheduling app, meaning you open it once a day and see all the changes. There is no need to make phone calls trying to find out which employee is working that day. Your workflows will also see an improvement as people will enjoy the flexibility.
2. Plan ahead
To have the most effective schedule, provide your employees with their schedules ahead of time. This can do so much for your employees. You give them the time to make alterations. In addition, they can plan their home life around their work, as they can view their schedule to know which days they will be working late.
Allowing employees the time they need can also reduce stress company-wide. People aren’t wondering what tomorrow will bring. Workers already know where they should be.
Having a system in place where employees can reject or accept certain schedules also makes employees feel happier. It provides them with a sense of control over their work life. They also know that it will be rare for a last-minute change to happen.
Scheduling via an app saves you tons of time and more hours to work on other elements of your business. Furthermore, employees can enjoy their life outside of work as they can plan for their futures too.
Courtesy of Flexjobs
3. Offer Scheduling Options
If you are offering additional shifts, ensure employees can pick and choose from the ones they would like. Taking on extra shifts for employees shouldn’t be difficult. They will need to fit it in with their life outside of work.
Extra shifts are exactly that, only for those employees who want to take on a couple of additional hours. Employees who only want to work their regular schedule should never be put on these shifts, as this can create a hostile work environment. The vibe can spiral down the company and could even affect your customer service.
When offering extra hours, you need to ensure they can commit to those hours and that it won’t be difficult for them to complete their schedules. By offering an open calendar, employees will have a clear view of when the shift ends and when they start the next day.
Lastly, make certain that the worker taking on the shift has the right skills for those hours. You wouldn’t want a non-skilled worker to be taking on something they can’t complete. They will leave feeling very dissatisfied with themselves.
Finding the perfect schedule means that all employees are happy with their hours overall. Once you have schedule issues, it can result in angry employees, which could lead to unhappy customers and so on.
Move to the Modern Era
Keeping a happy employee is crucial for business success. By offering a schedule that suits them can be the difference between them staying or leaving. Communicating with your employees can assist you in achieving that. You can ask questions regarding what they would like in their schedule. A scheduling app could help you have that open communication, as they can write to you over the app. An app reduces the stress when scheduling and can also provide your employees with the flexibility they require. The right scheduling solution can benefit you, your business and most of all, your employees.
