HR managers in India spend an average of 3 to 4 hours per week on employee shift scheduling. If you think that's not a big deal, or believe that HR professionals should be willing to spend that much time or even longer hours to do their job, we can't help you. But the fact is, we're living in 2024. Shift scheduling shouldn't take that long given the level of automation available in HR technology today like innovative shift management systems.

So, how can you minimize the effort put into staff roster planning while increasing speed and accuracy, and reducing HR time spent on it? Trust me, this blog has some interesting tips to help you master shift planning.

8 Smart Scheduling Practices with Shift Management Systems

If you still face shift management challenges despite using a shift management software—such as frequent employee conflicts, complaints about scheduling, and last-minute no-shows—these smart scheduling practices will help you address these issues.

Take into account employee input:

In our efforts to understand what caused troubles in employee scheduling, we researched several industries in the Ahmedabad area during the years around the pandemic period. We found that in the majority of cases, roughly 60%, the HR teams or the respective team managers had to make adjustments to shifts they had already prepared. Had there been employee input in the roster planning process, things would have been different.

What prevented companies from incorporating employee input in the shift-making process? If you ask the managers, you will hear answers like "it takes more time." They say that if their employee shift management system provided space for collaborative scheduling, they could arrange the schedules while accommodating everyone's shift preferences.

Always ensure fair shift rotation:

If your company has multiple shifts – morning, evening, and midnight – which is common in companies that operate 24/7, consider bringing fairness by rotating shifts periodically. This rotation ensures everyone works both convenient and challenging shifts, so employees don't feel forced to work shifts they dislike. This approach also serves as a crucial step in preventing employee burnout.

Limit the use of on-call scheduling:

In extremely unavoidable situations, you might have to arrange on-call shifts for some employees. Particularly in industries like healthcare, emergency staffing requirements occur from time to time. On-call duties are part and parcel of the job.

However, just because your employees have agreed to work on-call duty requests doesn't mean you need to utilize this option frequently. With modern online shift management systems allowing you to fetch historical data from your previous shifts—for instance, in the healthcare sector, higher staffing requirements on weekends—it is wise to use such data to plan shifts accordingly. It is best to let your employees rest when they are off duty and have them work at full capacity when they are on the job.

Watch out for overtime costs:

The significance of efficient shift scheduling extends across all industries. One prevalent misconception about scheduling is the notion of permitting overtime. Overtime contributes to the company's operating expenses, even though it is often perceived as part of overhead costs.

When arranging overtime schedules, two crucial factors must be considered - the cost of the work and employee productivity. Only when these two elements are managed effectively can you conclude that the overtime decision was sound. In other words, overtime will prove cost-effective in getting the work done, but only when the scheduling is thoughtfully executed using employee shift scheduling software and productivity is prioritized.

Use predictive analytics for efficient operations:

The role of data is unparalleled when it comes to effective shift management. How else would you plan shifts for your employees next week without risking over or understaffing? You simply cannot afford either scenario. We all know the consequences - if you don't have enough staff to run key operations, it can cripple your business. Imagine you're a software development company - if a quality tester is unavailable for a week, it will disrupt your entire workflow. You can't make excuses for your clients.

On the flip side, overstaffing is equally challenging. Take a supermarket, for example. If a Monday, which is typically a slow shopping day, has low foot traffic, having too many salespeople wandering aimlessly is just a waste of resources and drives up your operational costs.

The best remedy in both cases is to leverage the power of analytics and historical data - which is best achieved through a robust shift management system. Predictive analytics in shift scheduling can help you ensure proper staffing by forecasting busy and slow periods. This way, you can accurately predict job costs and revenues, and even evaluate employee performance. With these insights at hand, planning for business growth and profitability becomes a much more streamlined process.

Empower employees to handle different tasks:

While multitasking generally doesn't help with performance optimization, it can work wonders in dire situations. Even with a well-planned shift schedule prepared in advance with employee consensus, you should be ready to deal with unplanned disruptions.

For instance, when someone falls sick, you can't help the situation, right? That's why maintaining a cross-trained team that can step in and handle key roles in a teammate's absence can really help. Even the most advanced shift management systems can benefit from this basic approach.

Teach to use shift swapping options effectively:

Shift swapping works well in companies that use rotational shifts. Employees can swap shifts with teammates if they face scheduling conflicts. They must inform their HR or team manager about the change, but this process requires minimal managerial involvement. This arrangement offers two key benefits: HR doesn't need to modify the existing shift plan, and employees can address their personal needs without compromising work commitments.

Modern shift management systems offer convenient self-service options for making these adjustments. However, all employees must know how to use these features correctly to maintain smooth shift scheduling. Companies should provide proper training on system functionality along with implementing the shift management system.

Make the most of advanced shift management systems:

Modern shift management systems make the shift scheduling process easier and more accurate. Without such systems, you might spend 3 to 4 hours daily on shift planning. With them, this time gets reduced to just a few minutes. This saves 15 to 20 hours monthly and 180 to 220 HR hours yearly—a significant time savings. So, the advantages of these systems outweigh the investment costs.

And that is not just limited to monetary savings but beyond that. For instance, better employee satisfaction due to reduced or zero scheduling conflicts, more productivity, and more operational efficiency.

The Bottom Line

Shift planning is a time-consuming process. Having a shift management system alone cannot make the work easier or faster. You must use it effectively by optimizing all its features. We hope the tips and strategies shared in this blog will help make your work easier.

Mewurk offers a simple-to-use shift management system in its all-in-one HR management software. Whether you want to arrange flexible fixed or rotating shifts for your selected employees or ensure your shift aligns with your attendance and leave policies, it works effectively and gives you complete peace of mind. Discover how Mewurk's shift management system can optimize your employee management!