Don't want to deal with a full-blown employee revolt? Follow these simple steps for more effective employee scheduling.
Employee scheduling makes up only a tiny fraction what a manager has to deal with on a weekly and monthly basis, but the importance of that one task is key to managing a successful workforce. Without effective staff scheduling, you could end up with a full-blown employee revolt on your hands - and we can all agree those are best avoided.
At Orbital Shift, we care about effective employee scheduling, which is why we’ve created a foolproof guide to managing your staff more efficiently.
1. Have backup
This doesn’t necessarily mean you should have a list of employees on call to fill in for a shift. In fact on-call scheduling is on a downward trend in recent years because there’s nothing worse than having to block out time for work without receiving full pay. Also because in April of last year, nine attorneys general launched inquiries into 15 retail stores about the practice.
With that being said, it is important to have a big enough staff so that if one person can’t make a shift, you at least have a couple others who could cover without hitting overtime.
2. Schedule shift teams appropriately
It’s best practice to be aware of the relationships your co workers have with one another. For example, don’t schedule the creepy guy with the new girl. In fact, what’s the deal with that creepy guy? Someone should probably have a talk with him.
If you know two people don’t work well together, don’t put them or the customers through the torture of being around that negative energy, and instead schedule them on opposite days. Or if you know two people are such good friends that they don’t get anything done when they’re together, don’t schedule them in the same location or position during busy hours.
3. Stop scheduling clopens
Yeah, it’s a weird word. But a ‘clopen’ is when an employee works a closing shift and then works the opening shift the next morning. Sounds awful right? Because it is. And the cutesy word mash doesn’t make it any better.
Giving staff enough time to sleep between shifts will help prevent employees from looking and acting like zombies at work. Create a regular scheduling pattern so that employees can trust they’ll never be hit by the Attack of the Clopen (movie deal coming soon).
4. Quit it with the pen and paper, already
It’s 2017, and it’s time to face the software. Tech doesn’t belong everywhere, but it does have a valuable place in workforce management. Pen and paper scheduling is just as inefficient and tedious as it sounds. And using Excel or Word isn’t any better.
One study found that workforce management software saves businesses $1,600 per employee within a year of implementation. (Shameless plug: our cloud-based employee scheduling and time clock software includes team messaging features you can’t find anywhere else, and it’s the most bang for your buck - that’s right, just think of all the dough you’ll save).
5. Be considerate
Even your quietest, most reserved employees have lives outside of work (probably, we’re assuming), and remembering that will go a long way in improving workplace morale. Get your butt in gear and publish the schedule more than a few days in advance - we promise your employees will thank you. Or at least won’t stage a revolt.
If you haven’t switched to online employee scheduling and time clock software yet (first of all, what are you waiting for?), following these simple steps will get you on the right path toward a happier and more effective workforce.