According to a poll by Gallup, 38% of U.S. workers feel their organizations are understaffed, 52% say their company has the right number of employees, and 8% say their organization is overstaffed.
What do understaffing and overstaffing have in common? They both cost your company plenty of money. Being too fat results in unnecessary payroll expenses, while being too lean has a negative impact on productivity, quality, and ultimately profits.
Yet finding the right staffing balance can be a real challenge, employee scheduling software can help! Markets fluctuate, demand changes, and sudden booms can be followed by unexpected declines. In other situations, scheduling errors result in too many or too few workers, or in workers who don’t have the correct skill sets for the job. All of these scenarios have a negative impact on your organization.
Instead of riding the roller coaster of scheduling, take control of it!
These six tips will show you how:
Tip #1: Analyze past data.
Use your automated time and attendance system to look at past trends, and make note of demand increases and decreases in the past. This historical data can give you plenty of insight on why and when demand fluctuates, so you can make smart staffing decisions in the figure.
Tip #2: Ensure a balanced allocation of skills
In order for a shift to operate efficiently, it must be staffed by those with the correct skills. Software that allows you to see at a glance who is scheduled, and what their skills are, will allow you to fill in gaps before they become an issue.
Tip #3: Reduce absenteeism
Unscheduled absenteeism is one of the most common reasons for understaffing. Unscheduled absences result in either lean shifts or in overtime, both of which are less than ideal for your organization. Take control of unscheduled absences by tracking trends with automatic workforce management software. Tracking absences with employee attendance management software will help you deal with issues before they become costly problems.
Tip #4: Put employees in the driver’s seat
Give employees access to time and attendance software with self-service functionality. This feature allows employees to check the amount of sick and vacation time they have, and to request time off directly through the system. It also allows them to manage and report their own shift swaps. When employees are empowered in this way, fewer scheduling mistakes occur.
Tip #5: Track overtime
If data shows that you are consistently scheduling overtime, your organization is too lean. Not only is overtime costly, it results in tired
