Business owners and office managers know that creating employee schedules and work rotas are one of the most complicated tasks in office management. Not only do you have to make sure that every shift or task is covered, but you also have to take into account individual preferences, requests for time off, and budgetary constraints, among other factors. In fact, preparing the weekly employee rota with just pen and paper can be a testing time, when pens are chewed, sheets of paper are crumpled and tossed in the wastebasket, and tempers get frazzled.
Luckily for besieged and frazzled office managers, there is now software that can do this challenging task for you, week after week, month after month. In fact, it can do it a lot better. For example, employee tracking software from Hubstaff combines an easy-to-use interface with powerful features like scheduling, tracking employees when they clock in and clock out, and managing timesheets and budgets. Such software makes it easy to create the perfect employee rota time after time.
What are Some Advantages of Using Scheduling Software?
Once upon a time, spreadsheets were considered a major advance over pen and paperwork schedules. Then along came Google Docs and made it possible to share the spreadsheets online with multiple users, so workers could see and even edit their schedules in real time. The next step in this evolution is employee scheduling software. It goes all the way from scheduling to tracking working hours and budgets to generating timesheets.
In fact, some software like employee scheduling software from Hubstaff even lets you integrate automatically generated timesheets with payroll, for seamless office management. These SaaS (Software as a Service) solutions for employee scheduling are suitable for businesses of all sizes, from small businesses that have just five employees to large companies with hundreds of workers to manage and track.
Creating the Perfect Employee Rota
Scheduling is a major concern for both employers and workers. Employee time scheduling software works for human resources managers as well as employees. Most software can also be customized to let employees pick and modify their shifts. In fact, when workers have more control over their schedules, they are more productive. Once a rota has been created, it can be shared online with everyone.
Online scheduling software lets employees access their schedules on computers as well as mobile devices. So, they always know when they are due to work. Many apps can also let you specify which projects each employee should work on.
Here are the top six ways in which scheduling software helps you create the perfect employee rota that will keep everyone happy.
#1. Easy-to-use Interfaces
Employee scheduling software like When I Work and Hubstaff have easy-to-use interfaces. That make it easy for both managers and workers to keep track of schedules. Best of all, you can create a template from which to organize each week’s rota. So, you don’t have to start from scratch each time.
#2. Customizable for Each Business
Most employee scheduling software can easily be configured to suit the needs of each business. It can be customized to take into account the preferences of each employee rota. For example, some may only be able to work daytime shifts while others prefer evenings or the overnight shift. Once these preferences are recorded in the scheduling software, they will be taken into account each time that worker’s name is entered into a time slot. The software can also handle special requests for time off.
#3. Employees Can Modify Schedules
Most employee tracking software can be configured so that workers can modify their schedules by adding or dropping shifts. Giving your employees control over their schedules is a major step that contributes to job satisfaction, helping your business retain talented staff.
#4. Track Employees
Once a schedule is created, it can be easily shared with workers. They can look up their shifts on their computers and mobile devices. Taking it one step further, new employee scheduling software lets you track employees when they clock in and clock out of their shifts.
#5. Generate Timesheets and Payroll
Another powerful feature of scheduling software is that it integrates seamlessly with payroll and record-keeping. Timesheets are automatically generated based on actual hours clocked by each employee. The software also lets you track overtime and overall payments.
#6. Reduce the Amount of Paper Used
This is an important concern for today’s environmentally-conscious workforce. By replacing your paper schedules with online scheduling, you’re reducing the amount of paper used, leaving a patch of rainforest standing somewhere to carry on its essential natural functions.
Scheduling is a task that managers typically dread because it involves juggling so many variables. Scheduling software handles this difficult and important task with ease and comes with many bonus features. By integrating scheduling with timesheets, payroll, and record-keeping, it gives you greater control over every aspect of your human resources operations.