Customers are looking for instant satisfaction with their requirements. Customers could call at 3 am to inquire about your products and services. They could be on the other side of the world. Some businesses are open longer than the traditional 9 to 5 hours, but your employees can’t work more than 12 or 18 hours. At least not at a stretch! There is an increasing demand for extended hours or round-the-clock services. That’s where employee shift management can help bring peace to the world.
A lot of employees are opting to work shifts. Employees perform the shift work in a different schedule than the traditional 9-5 workday. The availability of shifts in your business is vital to ensure that you promptly cater to your clients. In addition, it will ensure that there are no service or communication gaps.
How important and effective is shift work? Furthermore, how can managers develop a culture of shift management within the company without causing unnecessary stress for their employees? First, let’s look at how important shifts are. Then, what can you do to create an employee-based shift management system that is effective?
Are you willing to enhance the efficiency of your employees’ scheduling and shift management?
1. Make a monthly inventory of the most important details before determining the shifts
Find out when they would like to take their leave. Also, ask them if they are open to working at night. Or on weekends.
Employees should be notified before any preferred leave. For example, it could be family obligations, religious holidays or vacations. This helps to plan out the timetables and shifts well.
2. Request employees to punch in and out for attendance management
The bot compiles the information for you to allow you to keep track of any delays or absences.
3. A consistent shift schedule for all employees
For instance, if you have employees who work from 9 pm to 5 am. It is best to keep the same schedule for your employees instead of changing them every few weeks. They can create a consistent schedule that is suited to their needs.
4. Make a backup plan for unexpected sick days
It’s impossible to predict the time when your employees will fall ill or take an unexpected vacation. However, you can prepare for a replacement in case it happens. Plan B with employees who are willing to work extra hours and come in as backups and note down when they’ll be available. In this way, if an employee takes an unexpected leave, you won’t need to scramble around for the replacement.
5. Reduce the number of shifts to ensure that employees don’t become exhausted quickly
This is especially important for the weekend and night-time workers who might have difficulty working for extended hours. So instead, break down their working hours into two shifts.
6. Weekly or fortnightly check-ins with your shift workers
With a routine check-in, you can ensure that your employees aren’t burned out, tired or experiencing any other issues. It is possible to ensure that your staff is informed by taking a look at their performance. It is possible to stop burning out from happening.
7. Rotate shifts clockwise so employees can transition to new shifts easily
It can be hard to adjust to shifting shifts. First, you need to reset your routine. This is why it’s important to allow your team time to get used to it. Then, instead of switching shifts in a flash, rotate them slowly. For instance, change day shifts to afternoons and afternoons to nights and not day to night immediately.
8. Check that your workplace is flexible to shifts
Even for employees working late, ensure you are equipped with snacks and coffee. Make sure the environment is well-lit and cool to make sure that employees remain awake.
9. You could offer additional incentives depending on their performance.
The shift work can be difficult, and employees must reschedule how they live for the work schedule. With incentives in place to motivate your employees to perform better and produce better performance. You could even offer benefits, like food allowances or travel reimbursements. This will let your employees know that you care and make them feel secure.
Conclusion:
The management of employees’ shifts isn’t easy, but you can simplify the process with the best scheduling software and software for managing shifts. Also, you can ensure that your business grows.
With cloud computing on prior, many of the HR processes that include a lot of data can be automated and stored. Examples include timesheet submission, performance reviews, and leave requests. Employees can even update their own employee data forms like having a self-portal service. Ultimate Business System (UBS) offers highly scalable cloud HR software solutions that avoid paperwork.
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