Driving profits and gaining market share comes down to delivering high-quality products and services in the most efficient and scalable way possible. However, many companies can be hesitant to embrace change and adopt new software, even if it will make them more efficient and scalable in the long run.
The reality is that modern tech is disrupting just about every industry, and doing things “the way we’ve always done them” isn’t going to cut it anymore. When it comes to employee scheduling, many companies are stuck in the past using Excel sheets, or worse, keeping a paper log. Not only are these methods inefficient, but they’re also far from scalable.
Thankfully, employee scheduling software is within reach of companies of all sizes. With it, you can gain a real competitive advantage by automating processes, reducing errors, and maximizing payroll efficiency. If you’re looking to scale your business and focus more time on activities that matter, consider the following reasons you should invest in employee scheduling software:
Improve Staff Accountability
Nobody likes micromanaging their staff, and when it comes to scheduling, this can mean constantly checking up on people to make sure they’re showing up when they’re supposed to and getting shifts covered when they can’t.
No shows and late arrivals create a snowball effect that slows everyone down and adds unnecessary pressure to the rest of the staff. This can end up affecting the customer experience and can lead to losing repeat business or bad reviews – not to mention lower morale among the employees who are picking up the slack due to inadequate staffing.
Employee scheduling software helps tackle these issues by taking day-to-day tasks off your shoulders and enabling everyone to have access to work schedules and shifts – you can share schedules via text, push notifications, and email so that everyone is on the same page at all times.
Scheduling software can also automatically remind team members before their shift starts to help prevent no shows and remind employees to swap shifts or give advance notice if they won’t be able to make it. This leads to greater staff accountability as it eliminates common excuses and ensures that team members won’t simply forget their shifts.
Enhance Team Communication
Team communication is another area ripe for automation. Beyond automatic shift reminders, you can also keep your team up-to-date with group chats, direct messages, and event schedules. Employee scheduling software allows you to ditch spreadsheets and take scheduling mobile so everyone can see it on the go. It’s all there online, 24 hours a day, and 7 days a week.
With everything in-app, you’re also able to recognize scheduling conflicts before they become an issue. That means no more endless, back-and-forth chains of texts, emails, and calls. As a result, you can count on fewer errors and greater accountability.
Shift swapping is a never-ending reality, and with employee scheduling software, you can remove yourself as the mediator. Staff can request to swap shifts or take PTO in the app where you can approve them all in one go.
It also empowers your team to swap shifts with mass messaging, so nobody has to call down an employee list when you’re in need of more help. The software even drills a layer deeper and filters by who’s available based on their position and their location making covering shifts a breeze.
Boost Productivity
Having everything you need packed into one convenient app is arguably the biggest pro of employee scheduling software. Teams can view their schedules, set availability preferences, pick up open shifts, and request time off – all tasks that previously needed to be overseen and managed.
With all that freed up bandwidth, you can focus more time and effort on training staff, optimizing other processes to cut costs, and improving the customer experience. When you do sit down to use the software, you can leverage templates to make schedules in minutes versus starting from scratch every time.
Make minor tweaks on the fly and easily drag-and-drop shifts on a calendar instead of entering by hand to further speed things up. You can also provide different tiers of permissions so other managers can make shift changes and respond to time-off requests.
Reduce Labor Costs
Investing in employee scheduling software will not only alleviate internal efficiencies but can save you money as well. A thriving business finds a balance with its labor costs, and scheduling software can keep you on top of your payroll costs.
You can keep closer tabs on who’s showing up early and who’s often late, making it easier to detect coaching opportunities sooner as a result. The same goes for tracking overtime and comparing labor to sales figures. All the data you need can be customized and exported to satisfy your payroll reporting needs.
Antiquated scheduling systems spawn disastrous results on a business’s productivity. They fall short because of their inability to integrate with other software, as well as their lack of mobility and automation. All those components keep you bogged down in the minutia of the day-to-day and operating a step behind the competition.
Thankfully, there’s a better way. Investing in a smart employee scheduling software is an absolute game-changer. The right platform will integrate seamlessly into your operation, reduce labor costs, ensure high customer satisfaction, curb absenteeism, and above all else, will allow your employees to reach their full potential.
Author Profile –
Sam Molony is the marketing strategist at Zoomshift, the leading employee scheduling software. When Sam’s not publishing or promoting new content you can find him playing his guitar or baking.