Advancements in technology have made virtually every aspect of our lives easier. In both our work and personal lives, we wield smartphones to do things faster and more efficiently, from ordering shopping to scheduling appointments, paying bills and creating invoices. It’s become so easy to manage our affairs in the digital realm that we rarely stop to appreciate just how easy it is.
Smart scheduling software for employees is a terrific example of modern tech that refines and upgrades a traditional workplace process – in this case, staff rostering. While large organizations tend to embrace such software, a surprising number of small- and medium-sized businesses continue to manually manage their rostering on programs like Microsoft Excel, creating a substantial time and cost burden.
It doesn’t have to be this way: much of the hassle of organizing staff rotas can be eliminated by deploying dedicated software such as Deputy. By overhauling your existing staff scheduling process, you can empower your employees, reactively respond to staff shortages and bring about a world of improvements. Here are just a few features, using Deputy as an example, that promise to increase your productivity.
Skill-Based Scheduling.
Just as a football manager picks the best team to win the game, an employer must pick the best employees for the shift. With staff scheduling software, there’s no guesswork involved: employees can be rostered according to their qualifications, skills and experience, and it’s easy to get an overview of exactly who’s on shift and when.
Simplified Shift Swaps and Leave Requests.
Excel has no facility for employees to swap shifts. In fact, oftentimes only a line manager will retain edit privileges on the Excel document in question. Deputy allows staffers to arrange shift swaps with an appropriate colleague, saving managers the trouble of organizing cover. Managers, meanwhile, can opt to activate “management approval” over all swap requests, so there’s no surprises on the day.
The same principle applies for leave requests: employees can use the interface to block-book days or weeks as leave, with the manager then able to review leave requests at a glance and make a call on whether the requests should be approved.
Access Anywhere.
With Deputy, you can build AI-optimized staff rotas in a matter of minutes, then share them with team members via desktop, tablet and mobile. And if you’re worried that staff members might not see the updates in time, you can request a read confirmation to make sure. Doesn’t that sound a lot better than sharing an Excel doc by email?
Compliance Made Easy.
There’s beauty in organization. Which is why, as an employer, it’s nice to know who is taking their break and when. With scheduling software in place, managers can schedule employee breaks and create an ongoing record, thereby meeting their compliance obligations. Custom break enforcement can also ensure that employees only take breaks when eligible, and don’t commence work early or skip breaks to which they are entitled.
With a greater emphasis on mental health these days, employers can also use Deputy to avoid employee fatigue by capping how many hours they can work within a certain timeframe. The schedules of part-timers can be tailored to avoid unnecessary overtime, too.
Customized Pay Rates.
Any employer familiar with Excel will know just how much of a headache it can be to calculate overtime and salaries, particularly when members of the workforce have different rates of pay. Staff scheduling software does the legwork for you, calculating overtime, bonuses and salaries according to your specifications.
No Steep Learning Curve.
Ordinarily, the introduction of a new process takes time for staff to get accustomed to. That’s not the case with scheduling software such as Deputy: it’s so intuitive, it can be picked up incredibly quickly, meaning there’s no lag between the software being implemented and employees learning how to navigate it.
Staff scheduling software makes life easier for everyone and can even be integrated with PoS and HR systems. The result? A joined-up tech suite that saves time, effort and money. The blueprint for a better business.
