Before spreadsheets came into existence, most businesses would depend on board and marker to create and manage workforce scheduleS. However, spreadsheets changed all that and schedule became easier. But, not anymore! According to online reports, small-business managers spend up to 8 hours scheduling shifts, every single week. Now, as organizations become more concerned about employee engagement, flexible schedules, and work/life balance – scheduling can become a lot more complicated.
Luckily, there’s a solution. A few software companies have come with something called a scheduling software. There’s a Calendly alternative scheduling softwar
Build Schedule in Minutes
Understaffing, overstaffing, double-staffing – you name it! Spreadsheets can be terrible at complex tasks, especially when multiple people are involved. Enter, scheduling software, the boon of the 21st century. This software comes with an employee dashboard from where managers can automatically create schedules, in a matter of minutes. The software is such that it can decrease the workload of the manager and help in anticipating demand, and assigning only the right number of people, never less and never more. Apart from the obvious benefits, the tool helps you accommodate flexible-working hours and can turn your business into a great place to work.
Accommodate Shift Changes Efficiently
When you’re using an online database to manage your workforce, you give your employees more freedom over their time. Instead of having multiple employees wait on call for anticipated shifts, you can post an open shift anytime and have someone come in. In fact, managers can post open shifts that employees can fill themselves or swap with other staff members when required. If you have a shift-based organization, using a scheduling database is a no-brainer – you’ll save money while keeping both customers and employees happy.
Enjoy Seamless Communication
Every time you create a schedule, you can send out a notification to all your employees! Using a schedule builder that comes integrated with collaboration features allows you to communicate with your staff easily. Using the tool, you can message individual members or entire teams and ensure that no communication is ever lost. Tasks can be assigned on a daily basis via the scheduler and company-wide posts can easily be sent out. Apart from that, you can also notify your staff regarding shift changes or open shifts. With the dashboard, you can ensure that your employees are in the loop and on the same page.
Monitor Breaks, Attendance & Overtime
Unless you have a clock in and out system, you may have to rely on pen and paper to note down breaks, attendance, and overtime. However, recording hours is not an easy task, especially if you have to later convert those hours into correct pay. With scheduling software, you can have your employees clock in through their dashboard every time they come to work. The dashboard also comes with functionality to record break hours, both occurred and missed. Recording breaks on a tool also allows your business to comply with regulations.
Make Payroll a Breeze
With software that offers end-to-end workforce management support, you can expect the payroll to be seamless. While the Finance and HR teams take a break, the scheduler can automatically calculate employee working hours, breaks missed, over time, earned leaves, etc. Many software tools can also accommodate payroll requests that rely on employees’ sales figures. The dashboard can easily be integrated with payroll software like Gusto, QuickBooks, Wagepoint and more. In fact, in today’s world, a scheduler is vital to any business as it can save employee hours and wages while increasing sales.
Manage Workforce from Anywhere
If you use a spreadsheet, you would need your workstation to accommodate changes. However, the same is not true for online scheduling databases. These tools tend to come with their mobile applications, both for managers and employees. While a manager can use his app to create schedules and send notifications, employees can use their app dashboard to clock in and out, request leaves, swap shifts, message other employees, and do much more!
Apart from all the great things that the software offers, there’s one that you can’t beat – it makes life easier for you and for your employees. An added benefit is that it also leaves your customers happy. If that’s not motive enough to invest in an online scheduling database, we don’t know what is!
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