Scheduling employee shifts can be seem like a complicated task, but it doesn’t have to be. Our team at honeybeeBase has combed through years of successful experiences from our clients to come up with the top 5 tips to help make your scheduling process easy and effective
Have a clear process in place before starting
This might seem like an obvious one, but it’s important to have a clear process in place before you start scheduling shifts. Make sure you know who is responsible for what tasks throughout the process. This includes knowing who will be involved in the hiring process, who will be involved in scheduling, who will be involved with manager approvals, etc. You also want to make sure everyone who is involved in the process is on the same page. For example, if one person is responsible for scheduling shifts and hiring employees, but another person is responsible for manager approvals, there needs to be a clear understanding of when a shift will be scheduled and when it will be sent for manager approval.
Communicate with your employees
It’s important to communicate with your employees throughout the scheduling process. You want to make sure everyone knows what their expectations are, what the process is, and when they can expect certain things to take place. Communication is also important when it comes to informing employees of their scheduled shifts. It’s important to let employees know when their scheduled shifts are, how many hours they are scheduled for, and what kind of shift they are scheduled for. This will help employees stay on top of their schedule and know when they are working.
Find the best scheduling tool for your business
One of the first steps you need to take is finding the best employee scheduling app for your business. You want to look for a tool that allows you to enter the details of each shift, whether it’s a full-time or part-time employee, the details of each employee, and the details of the coverage for each shift.
You also want to make sure the scheduling tool has:
- Templates available so that you don’t have the make the same schedule multiple times
- Allows employees to be selected based on availability
- Has easy tools to find shift coverage
- Notifications so that you can keep your employees informed
Automate as much as you can
Scheduling employees’ shifts can be time-consuming, which is why it’s important to automate as much as you can. It’s best to pick an employee scheduling app that allows you to create recurring schedules or templates. This keeps you from having to do the same task multiple times.
Track employee availability and productivity
Another key part of your shift scheduling process is tracking employee availability and productivity. Make sure you are tracking employee availability so you know who is available to work certain shifts. This will help you stay on top of who is working and who is not working. Make sure you are tracking employee productivity so you can keep track of how much time individual employees are spending on different tasks. This will help you stay on top of the time employees spend on specific tasks and will help you see if employees are staying productive throughout the day.
Conclusion
Scheduling shifts can be a complicated task, but it doesn’t have to be. Follow these top 5 tips to help ensure your scheduling process is easy and effective. You want to make sure you have a clear process in place before scheduling shifts, communicate with your employees, find the best scheduling tool for your business, automate as much as you can, and track employee availability and productivity. Using a tool such as honeybeeBase Employee scheduling will help you with the automation process. Click here to learn more!