It can be challenging to be in charge of scheduling your employees. To schedule effectively, you must anticipate workload, adhere to employee demands or requests, and ensure there’s balanced coverage, especially during shift changes.
What’s more, effective employee scheduling contributes to a positive work environment and even employee retention. Studies have shown that unpredictable and poor scheduling from management can lead to employee dissatisfaction.
3 Best Practices When Scheduling Employees
Here are a few considerations to make shift scheduling more effective for your organization (and employees!).
Analyze Your Current Staffing Needs & Availability
The first part is determining how many employees you need to be clocked in during each part of the day. Having the appropriate number of workers will allow customer demands and productivity to be met.
Next, you’ll need to know who can work and when. You can let your employees sign up for their preferred shifts. While this may have been determined upon hiring, you can also allow your employees to sign up for open changes using scheduling software. A supportive boss will adhere to their employees’ scheduling choices since people have several obligations and considerations, like childcare.
Create a List of Employees Who Want to Work Extra Hours
You have a base for an effective schedule by understanding who can work which shifts. In addition to that, gathering a list of employees who are interested in working extra shifts is also helpful. This can help with last-minute scheduling adjustments or extra hands for a hectic time.
Adhere to Labor Laws & Guidelines
Even though you’re listening to your employees’ preferences regarding scheduling, don’t forget to pay attention to how the balance of the schedule according to labor laws. Ensure no one is working longer hours or shifts than labor laws or unions allow. You’ll also have to compensate correctly, especially regarding overtime pay.
Add Top Talent to Your Team
If you require filling open positions, contact Expert Staffing.