Ultimate Guide to an Employee Scheduling App- Easily Manage Your Staff

What is an Employee Scheduling App?

Employee scheduling is more than just a timetable. It must anticipate labor demand, accommodate employee requests, swap shift coverage, and be cost-efficient. This not only improves business efficiency, but also improves customer and employee satisfaction.

Determining what works for your team and the business is a difficult task. Errors have serious consequences.

Companies that still use outdated scheduling methods lose time, money, and employee engagement. Last but not least, modernizing your rota system can mean the difference between survival and success.

So employee scheduling software is vital. The employee scheduling app automates the process of creating a staff work schedule. The system generates a perfectly optimized schedule in seconds by following predictive analysis rules. It reduces labor costs by efficiently managing employee schedules and provides more value by streamlining daily employee shifts. Managers can manage their team on the go from their mobile devices and maintain flawless communication with team members in real time.

What Are the Advantages of an Employee Scheduling App?

The advantages of an Employee Scheduling App are listed beow-

• The employee scheduling app can be used to create a schedule for your employees by using a drag and drop easy to use user interface.
• The app will sync the employee's calendars, so they know what the schedule for the day will be. There are a lot of advantages to using an employee scheduling app.
• A scheduling app allows multiple employees to work on a single schedule, with one person acting as the "scheduler".
  
• Employees can swap shifts and the manager will receive a notification of the same. So allotting schedules becomes quicker and can be managed according to one's convenience.
• Labor cost is reduced with better payroll management as the scheduling app can be integrated with any payroll system and generate accurate time and attendance of your employees.
• Most scheduling apps send alerts to managers when employees are about to complete their shifts so that overtime costs can be saved.
• This scheduling software tool works on a variety of operating systems, with the most commonly used being Android, iOS, and Windows.
  

What Are the Drawbacks of Using Mobile Apps for Scheduling?

Labor scheduling software beats basic spreadsheets for restaurants. It saves the operator time and gives managers and employees more control over scheduling. While this technology appears to solve labor issues in some cases, it may also create new ones. Let's go through some of the prevalent problems faced by employees when they use mobile apps for scheduling-

• Continuity of Service- While managers enjoy unrestricted access to their mobile app, they must be ready to support it. Assisting after-hours inquiries may require scheduling adjustments. Enable an automatically generated response with a timeline of when a member of the team will reach out to them. Employees are often connected during non-working hours, leading to a loss of work-life balance.

• App-Building Costs- There are numerous ways to create a mobile app. Even though there are cheaper DIY options, you may need to hire professional app developers, depending on your app's needs. Even after your app is built, it will likely require ongoing maintenance to meet software requirements.

• Dishonest work practices- Many newspapers cite scheduling software as the cause of erratic scheduling for low-wage service workers. Employers use scheduling analytics to treat employees like commodities, increasing turnover.

Where Can You Find a Free Easy to Use App?

Scheduling software has evolved into a highly competitive market in recent years. Using such a service has the benefit of automatically adding meetings to your calendar and reminding all parties involved. Because many of us now work from home, using a scheduling service allows you to set up different time blocks for meetings and keep other times free for deep work.

There are several free scheduling apps available in the market. These benefit small businesses that are hesitant to spend on technology. Popular ones include Zoho Bookings, Calendly and Time Tap. The features of these scheduling apps include-

• Managing every employee calendar intuitively.
• Predicting schedules while maintaining communication through chatbots.
• Managing multiple locations.
• Processing swap shift requests and analyzing labor budgets on the go.

Paid Vs. Free Employee Scheduling Software

Several employee scheduling software solutions are offered for free. In order to use them, users must download the app from the company's website and install it on their computers. Paid employee scheduling software usually comes at a fixed monthly subscription or yearly cost.

Businesses looking for a scheduling solution that offers excellent scalability, flexibility, and reliability can choose from a variety of paid options in the market. A popular paid employee scheduling software for restaurants is Zip Schedules from Hubworks.

How an App Helps With a Work Schedule

Even if you have a great team that meets deadlines and produces quality work, you will still need the best employee scheduling app. Your team will be less stressed if they know their schedules and you know their total hours worked. Using scheduling software has several advantages-

1. It's easier to plan vacations as employees can update time off requests and even block days off from work. This means fewer no-shows and happier employees who can work according to their convenience.

2. Apps make it easier to communicate within the team and with higher management. They allow information to be quickly and easily shared among staff.

3. App-based interactions can streamline communications with staff and contractors. You can stop using paper-based reporting altogether. Time Clocks are also synced with scheduling apps.

4. For the user, clicking an app is far easier than visiting a website, even if bookmarked.

5. When a user opens an app on their device, they receive in-app notifications. Without opening an app, users receive push notifications. Push Notifications are the daily updates and promotions you receive on your devices.

Which Are the Top Employee Scheduling Mobile Apps to Have?

Here are the top 5 best employee scheduling apps to look out for-

1. Zip Schedules- Zip Schedules help restaurant businesses create clear, manageable employee schedules. Scheduling is simple, with easy-to-use tablet and mobile apps for iOS and Android platforms. Time tracking of remote workers can be done through geofencing, which shows employee availability at a given location in real time.

2. Homebase- The Homebase app can save up to five hours per week of labor costs and employee time. The app can schedule, manage shifts, and control labor costs. Managers can easily create and communicate schedules to employees using both, desktop and mobile apps. Homebase's automated work time calculation helps managers forecast labor costs and compares them to budgeted figures.

Using spreadsheets for leave management is a cumbersome task. The time spent requesting and approving leaves can be reduced by up to 14000 minutes per year for a team of 200 employees with this software.

3. HotSchedules- Hot Schedules is a cloud-based scheduler for shift-based teams. It saves managers and regular employees time by simplifying scheduling through predictive technology. Clients say Hot Schedules makes it easy to save money on labor costs and forecast future possibilities.

4. 7shifts- 7shifts has been in business since 2014 and is a popular brand in the restaurant industry. Its drag and drop schedule builder and mobile functionality make it ideal for restaurants.

7shifts has four plans, one of which is free. Its features include-

• Time clock
• Managing Employee Time schedules and alerts
• Engagement dashboard
• Apps for iPhone/iPad