Employee scheduling software can be helpful for many different business purposes. It can help streamline the scheduling process, improve accountability and productivity, and ensure that you’re scheduling based on demand and employee preferences.
Every scheduling tool comes with different features, so it’s essential to find a solution that meets your basic requirements. In addition to your needs, the solution you choose should come equipped with most, if not all, of the following features:
Communication Options
When making schedules, it’s necessary to communicate with your team. Using multiple channels of communication will ensure that all staff members are aware of any changes in the schedule and can respond quickly and appropriately.
If you need to make changes to shift details, the best employee scheduling software will notify employees immediately. This will allow them to better plan their personal lives and come to work ready to take on the tasks at hand.
Easy-To-Use
Another feature to consider is the flexibility and the ease of use of the employee scheduling tool. If the software is difficult to use, it will limit its benefits, and your ROI won’t be as robust.
Choosing an application that’s easy to use, both by employees and management, is essential, but you should also look for a flexible and adaptable system to your business’s needs. The best software will allow you to manage your employees’ schedules without much trouble.
Time Tracking Capabilities
While employee scheduling software can help you manage shifts, it can also help you manage tasks, timesheets, and more. With scheduling and time clock software, you can track the number of time employees spend at different locations or on specific tasks.
You can then run reports on this information to determine budgetary needs, workforce requirements, and productivity levels.
Compliance With Labor Laws
Many employers fail to comply with labor laws, which can land them in trouble with the federal government. Numerous labor law violations can demoralize your workers and impact your business operations.
Luckily, an employee scheduling system has features to ensure compliance with federal and state labor laws and regulations, such as minimum wage and overtime rules. Many solutions can even alert management when an employee has been scheduled for too many hours or has not been given proper time between shifts to rest.
Flexible Modifications
Many employee scheduling solutions allow managers to create multiple schedules and modify them as necessary. Some offer simple tools to create and maintain schedules, while others include advanced features, such as automated scheduling and security and compliance functions.
Effective scheduling software will allow management to adjust schedules on the fly. Many even offer the ability to enable employees to request trades or covers for the shift, putting the entire process in the worker’s hands.
Integration
Another vital feature to look for when choosing efficient employee scheduling software is connecting with other essential business systems. These integrations could include a human resource management system, time and attendance software, payroll tools, workforce management software, and a business intelligence platform.
Most scheduling solutions can connect with other systems through streamlined integration abilities. These capabilities are often enabled by open APIs and embedded data processing tools.
If you have employees who are not on the same page as you or are struggling to adhere to their work schedules, scheduling software can help you resolve any discrepancies. These programs allow you to easily create shifts for your workers, makeshift swaps, and manually approve shift changes.
Additionally, they can provide you with valuable data about your workforce. This data includes employee attendance records, customer compliments, and professional development training. New workforce management solutions, like those offered by CommunityWFM, get and keep all stakeholders involved to leverage analytics and forecasting to improve the scheduling process. If you’re looking for a solution to improve your company’s overall business operations, consider employee scheduling software.
