Managers are some of the busiest people in an institution, especially when it comes to scheduling. They have to ensure they develop a fair working schedule for all their employees and on time. A good schedule affects productivity and labor turnover in a company significantly. Therefore managers need to be careful when designing one for their employees.
If employees are not satisfied with their routine jobs, they will likely hop into the next available opportunity that gives them better satisfaction. Therefore, employers should invest in automated scheduling software that can match every employee with the right job post and with proper timing. Investing in a scope of work template for contract jobs is also a wise idea.
Below are some of the pitfalls observed in employee scheduling and how to avoid them.
1. Uneven Distribution of Duties
Employee scheduling is a very tricky exercise, and if the person in charge is not careful, they can either miss or over-allocate an individual. For instance, in shift jobs with two different managers, an employee might not get enough time to rest. They probably worked the last session of the night shift, and they have a shift allocation in the first-morning session.
In such a case, the employee does not get enough time to rest, which affects their productivity. In other cases, when scheduling, managers might forget to allocate enough employees for specific shifts. To avoid such cases, both managers need to collaborate during scheduling. They can use automated software that points out such errors in advance before providing the schedule to employees.
2. Last-minute Scheduling
When things are done in a hurry, the results are mostly messy. If managers do not provide employees with the work schedules on time, there will be limited time to make adjustments. It could slow down the business activities as the management try to sort out the corrections, which could slow productivity.
Last-minute scheduling also causes confusion within the system, as each employee tries to align their duties with their availability quickly. Managers can avoid this by using something like this Australian local rostering software to help them identify staff availability and pick up and fill shift gaps quickly. They can then make the schedules available to employees at least two weeks before starting the specific tasks. If they are weekly schedules, then some days before the start of the actual task would be great. Doing so ensures there is coordination and proper planning ahead of time.
3. Unequal Access to Favorable Shifts
It is hard to deny that there are people who are better at something than others in every department. When scheduling, managers might be tempted to only assign certain shifts to specific individuals they believe perform best. Doing that denies those who are still learning the tasks a chance to grow their skills to become the best.
Such inconveniences are avoidable when using automated scheduling software. Managers can identify when a particular person has more shifts than others, which might deny others a chance for growth. Some of the best scheduling software provides a system to rate employees’ performance, and that way, managers can spot those that require further training to improve their skills.
4. Failure to Balance Skills in Shifts
For employees to perform best, managers need to couple their posts with their relevant skills. For instance, when an accountant is posted as a bartender, they may not do the job to satisfaction. Therefore the accountant deserves an accounting job that matches their skills.
Sometimes the mismatching might be caused by uncontrolled swapping of duties for employees when they are absent. Automated scheduling software is necessary to avoid such incidents. It can easily match skills with job posts, and they also have system employees can report when they are not available. When not available, the manager gets a notification early enough to find the next available and qualified employee.
5. Uncontrolled Overtime
Paying overtime is an extra cost for any business. If not controlled, it could cost the company a lot more than actual employment for an extra shift. Also, if a particular employee gets overtime every other day, they might be denying others the chance to come in and make money to meet their financial needs.
Each state has different regulations on overtime, so managers should check with their state laws to ensure they adhere to the set guidelines. Automated scheduling software is suitable for establishing when an employee works overtime which might even affect their productivity and is avoidable.
Conclusion
As an employer or a manager in charge of scheduling, the above pitfalls are essential to note and avoid. Because scheduling is sometimes a tedious activity that consumes a lot of time, managers can take advantage of technology. Automated scheduling software would be a great asset to every company to ensure all activities run smoothly and with the right personnel. Scheduling has a significant impact on employees’ performance and their productivity, so managers should invest wisely in it.
