4 Tips for Building Quality Employee Schedules

41336059_s.jpgWhile creating your employee schedule, sometimes it takes a lot of juggling to make everyone happy, while also maintaining efficiency. Building an effective schedule can make or break a business. Here are some tips for building out your next employee schedule.

Know What Needs to Be Done

Managers need to how their store operates to run it effectively. This includes knowing what days are the busiest, what tasks need to be done on what days, and how your employees perform at each task. Once you have this information, creating a schedule becomes much easier. If you know what employees to schedule on what days and what task they should be performing, managing workflow is a lot easier. An effective schedule will help the business run like a well-oiled machine.

Consider Your Team

Even though you might not be able to grant all employee day-off requests, keep your employees happy by granting requests when you can and within reason. Consider their needs, while also the needs of the company. If you require someone to work late, ask them ahead of time. If the schedule needs to be changed after it’s been posted, talk to your team. Try also to create the schedules a month in advance. Treating your employees with respect will keep them feeling valued. This keeps morale up and a happy employee is one who’ll likely pick up extra shifts or stay later if needed.

Have A Backup Plan

Sometimes employees call in and can’t work the days you schedule them. This is where a backup plan comes in handy. Keep a chart of available employees updated. Knowing who you can schedule on what day is proactive and ensures your company won’t be understaffed.

Utilize The Right Tool

These days there’s an abundance of digital tools at your disposal. This includes tools to help you create an effective employee schedule. If you have a small staff, you probably won’t need a specialized scheduling tool. However, if you have a larger team you might want to consider moving to an online tool. Scheduling software helps you see the hours you need covered and the availability of each employee, instantly. It also shows the number of hours you must schedule so you won’t go over budget. This kind of software can create an effective employee schedule every time.

While scheduling in employees, it’s always good to keep the employee and company needs in mind. Having a good gauge on what everyone’s strengths and weaknesses are allows you to utilize employee talents, offer training and build schedules that optimize your entire staff.

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