As soon as your business gets off the ground, you will realize that your employees are the biggest asset you have. Keeping them happy, motivated and preventing burnout syndrome should be your top priority. You will also note that pay raises or the ability to advance isn’t always the most important motivational factor. Freedom is.
Your employees will want to feel free to plan their personal lives in advance and not to be forced to organize them around work. This is why mundane task such as scheduling can become the most important aspect of your business.
Getting the data
Shifting around your schedule allows you to understand their work is being done, a little better. Have different employees and different teams on the same task and you will be able to see how long does it actually takes to do the job and what teams are having difficulties with. If you divide the teams, so that people with most expertise are equally distributed – younger employees will be able to learn on the job. Data you gather this way will help you improve your business in numerous ways.
Employees’ preferences
Workers are more productive (and more safe) if they’re satisfied with their job. Your work schedule generator needs to have as many collaborative options as possible. This means employees can swap shifts between themselves and participate in creating the schedule as much as the managers do. It’s even better if they can do it via their smartphones, tablets or computers at home, so you don’t have to organize a meeting every time there is a change. And if there is one, it should be known to everyone in real time.
Prioritize
Creating a schedule is about more than just knowing who works when. It’s also a way to prioritize certain tasks. Every manager knows which employee can complete task especially quickly. After a while you figure out who is an expert within which area and scheduling is a way to utilize their expertise. Put your best workers on the tasks you find the most important. Just don’t forget that this goes both ways – don’t forget to reward them by being flexible with their shifts when it’s necessary. In a similar fashion, scheduling can be used as a teaching tool.
Think about the customers
This is especially important if you work in retailing. The customers form a bond with the employees. Sometimes it’s actually based on the level of service and sometimes it’s just a personal preference. This may seem strange, but it is something to have in mind while organizing shifts. Customers will leave your business if they are not satisfied with the service. This is often more important than the products itself. If you know that one of your employees is popular with the afternoon crowd and if that doesn’t interfere with their plans – keep them in the afternoon shift for a while.
Human resources management is one of the most important parts of running a business. The way you schedule shifts can affect how you’re perceived by your customers and what kind of corporate culture you’re going to have.
