When it comes to being more efficient and productive, having a schedule which delivers for your business, your employees and your customers is the single biggest factor to get right. And now, thanks to the combination of cloud computing, mobile technology and big data, workforce management solutions are automating labour intensive processes like scheduling, absence management and budgeting.
Good schedules are like a good motor oil. When they work well they keep everything running smoothly, helping your business control labour costs, provide a better service to your customers and keep your staff happy. When they aren’t working effectively the business will grind to a halt. A good schedule will make sure the right people are in the right place at the right time, will be within budget and will always ensure you have the right staffing levels. It will also keep your customers happy, your staff engaged and your business profitable.
Here’s how more efficient workforce scheduling can turbocharge your business growth:
It will save time
Automating your scheduling process can save your business a huge amount of time week in and week out. HR airside business partner for London City Airport, Michelle Truss, says using the workforce management solution, Quinyx, saves the airport hours of time that would have been spent creating the schedules.
“Manual rostering used to take each department at least a couple of days a week and that was without the ongoing upkeep of managing leave requests and shift swaps,” she said. “Since we’ve started using Quinyx it’s increased the speed it takes to process our rosters and reduced the time it takes us to do them by 50%.”
It will reduce labour costs
Alongside making your business more efficient, it will also help control and reduce labour costs. According to Matthew Down, operations support and training manager at Papa John’s UK, they saw a 3% reduction in labour cost in three of their stores that used Quinyx in a trial last summer. In industries like hospitality and retail, failure to schedule well, by even a few percentage points, can destroy profit margins.
It will make your employees happier
It’s not just your business that will benefit from better scheduling, your employees will too. Belynda Maquis-Mondesir, is a aviation security officer at London City Airport and she say the new system has had a massive impact on her life: “Since we’ve started using it I haven’t missed a birthday, an anniversary or family time. It’s impossible to put a price on how valuable that is.” Happier employees are more engaged and as result perform better in the workplace.
It will make sure the right people are in the right place
The most important element of any schedule is getting the right people, in the right place at the right time. It also needs to ensure they’re doing the right thing. Matthew Down of Papa John’s added that having the ability to easily create schedules to adapt to peak periods of demand not only ensures the right number of staff are in place but also means the quality and levels of service stay high, leading to happier customers.
Schedules are now much more than just a rota. They are key to keeping employees happy and a business lean and successful.
By automating the process involved in creating and managing a schedule, businesses are able to more effectively control costs, keep their employees happy and provide a better service to their customers.
