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5 Mistakes to Avoid When Creating Schedules in Modern Workplace

Creating schedules in modern workplaces can be a challenging task for HR managers and business owners. Derek Jones from Deputy is here to point out some mistakes that can happen and offer solutions for them.

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought a lot of changes into the modern workplace. Companies globally are shifting to remote work due to the social distancing norms and for the better management of the operational costs in the middle of the crisis. Companies have no choice but to revamp their work culture to something that satisfies the modern workforce’s requirements.

The market is increasingly becoming more candidate-driven. It demands the businesses have the best-in-class hiring process, employee management, incentives, benefits – you name it. Before considering any new incentive and promotion schemes to keep these modern workers working with you, how about working on the employee scheduling process? Neither of those schemes will work if the employees have already started feeling aversion towards the workplace and the competitors are getting successful at poaching your employees.

Your scheduling approach and methodologies determine the employees’ work efficiency and productivity. Mistakes in creating the schedules in today’s modern workplace are not something you can afford to have while you’re already enduring the market uncertainty and the cut-throat business competition. We are listing some mistakes below and offering alternatives.

  1.       Last-minute Scheduling

Last-minute employee schedules can be stressful and frustrating for you as well as the staff members. Not only can it create confusion for the employees, but it also creates unnecessary scheduling headaches for the staffing managers. Updating the shifts for multiple workers at the last minute when you’re already juggling multiple responsibilities simultaneously can be a daunting task.

Time-management is pivotal in the modern work environment. Today’s blended modern workforce works around the world in real-time and is very less tied down to conventional and physical workplaces. Schedules that are planned in advance provide enough time for these employees to plan their other job responsibilities as well as personal life accordingly.

It also shows your workers that you value their time and are focused to maintain a modern collaborative workplace.

  1.       Conventional Approaches

Gone are the days of creating and managing employee schedules through manual documentation. Creating and managing the schedules through piles of paperwork offers limited scope for last-minute changes, customizations, and collaborative working. It can also create complications for a workplace that is growing and expanding its presence globally.

50% of US business owners spend at least 2 hours every week on creating the employee schedule.

A smart and easy-to-use employee shift scheduling template offers digital scheduling that allows you to create employee schedules seamlessly without spending hours. For the growing remote culture, it offers flexibility in updating the schedules anytime and anywhere with little chance for human error.

In addition to that, an efficient solution promotes collaborative working through smart communication tools that might not be possible with conventional methods.

  1.       Ignorance toward Employee Requirements

Paying little to no attention and value to your employees’ schedule requirements results in employee burnout and business unprofitability. Money is no more the only driving force for employees to continue working for an employer for a longer duration. Modern workers expect to receive the feeling of being valued and cared for.

One of the best ways to make it possible is to take worker’s requirements into consideration for specific shifts. While it’s certainly not possible to consider each and every employee’s preferences every time, you can at least accommodate their requirements sometimes. For particular shifts, vacation days, and sick leaves you can consider their needs and adjust the plans. It will show them you are a caring employer and develop a better sense of belonging in them.

That, of course, doesn’t mean for businesses to accommodate all shift swapping requests while they struggle to manage tasks and fill the shifts. A robust back-up plan and shift swapping policy need to be in place. These will help the staff scheduling managers efficiently manage these time-off requests or unavailability slots without any last-minute chaos and stress.

  1.       Inefficient Schedule Monitoring

Creating schedules successfully doesn’t automatically ensure the effectiveness of the overall work processes and employee productivity. Employees in the modern work setup work on rotating shifts or hourly basis. Some employees work better in the morning, while others prefer night shifts.

This means that regular monitoring of how productive the employee has been for each shift should be encouraged. It will help ensure the effectiveness of the schedule approaches and patterns.

Most companies pay more than the required time to create and manage schedules rightly. That gives lesser to no importance to workers’ performance monitoring during their designated shift hours. Timely measurement and monitoring of the schedule efficiency and employee performance are inevitable to learn whether the schedules work the best for your workplace.

These insights on the employee workflows can help the businesses measure the employee’s schedule efficiency during the different shifts. Also, they can utilize the insightful historical data to learn present flaws and do better future scheduling.

Rather than dealing with employee burnout that could lead to deteriorating employer brand, why not evaluate their level of satisfaction through regular monitoring? Well, better late than never!

  1.       Absence of a Review System

To ensure that the workers are fully satisfied with the way the organization creates and manages the schedules, regular review sessions are crucial. Monitoring employee performance will only offer insights on how productive the employee has been for a particular shift. But, a systematic review system will ensure that you’re well aware of their expectations and inputs about the current process.

Regularly reviewing the employee performance through monthly or weekly review sessions provides better insights regarding their scheduling expectations and challenges. It also offers clues about what aspects you can work on in your current scheduling approach.

Understanding their preferences and offering them support in settling better in the present schedule system can boost employee morale and improve employee retention.

Today’s modern workplace demands powerful and contemporary scheduling solutions that traditional methodologies cannot accomplish without any digital support. Embracing digital transformation and implementing shift scheduling policies promotes transparent communication between the manager and the workers. It also provides a better outlook on employee work patterns. This can be the key to successful scheduling and management.

Companies globally are slowly incorporating innovative smart sheets and digital solutions for better planning and handling. Such innovative scheduling software that requires minimal human intervention can potentially increase employee productivity, and can as well as support in improving employee productivity and work efficiency.

Thinking about what tool to use to avoid all of these mistakes? Try Deputy staff scheduling software for free.

 

Derek Jones  (VP Enterprise Strategy, Americas)

Derek spearheads key initiatives at Deputy, a global workforce management platform for employee scheduling, timesheets and communication.  With a focus on Healthcare, Derek helps business owners and workforce leaders simplify employment law compliance, keep labor cost in line and build award-winning workplaces. Derek has over 16 years’ experience in delivering data-driven sales and marketing strategies to SaaS companies like MarketSource and Griswold Home Care.

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