Sometimes businesses and organizations resist or delay the adoption of a scheduling system due to thinking that their staff is too small or that it doesn’t apply to their industry. Others may not be aware of the powerful benefits of incorporating an employee scheduling component into their business management model. Yet another common obstacle to those who want to proceed with scheduling automation is to obtain agreement amongst various departments that this is an essential investment.

The Proof Is In The Scheduling

A study on Workforce Scheduling conducted by the Aberdeen Group surveyed a variety of companies and businesses to get relevant information on their scheduling practices. One of the groups of organizations surveyed employed “Best-in-Class” practices which are significantly superior to the Industry Average and result in top industry performance. Their results showed that out of the Best-In-Class companies:

Aberdeen Group summarized: “An effective and well-managed workforce scheduling process allows an organization to address two competing forces: 1) the need to contain operational costs via efficient planning and staffing; and 2) the need to capture and retain customers via appropriate allocation and alignment of skills with job requirements and customer needs. These forces become increasingly more pronounced during a down economy as organizations compete intensely with fewer resources and are forced to do more with less.”

Conversely they found that organizations that DO NOT utilize “Best-In-Class” practices are:

Aberdeen Group stated: “These companies with lower than average performance were unable to provide sufficient lead-time to workers regarding schedules or schedule changes. In addition, these organizations lack the ability to plan appropriately for future needs, all of which can negatively impact worker satisfaction and productivity, and leads to decreased customer satisfaction based on negative experiences.”

The ROI Trifecta

The plain fact of the matter is that very few products can boast such a high Return on Investment (ROI) as scheduling software automation can. It is a technology that organizes and improves upon the three main components of a business: (1) Employees; (2) Customers; and (3) Revenue.

Employees. Proactively scheduling your workforce puts you in control of where your staff is and how they’re spending their time. It matches qualified employees with the right hours and job responsibilities so that they are able to work efficiently. Those employees know when they’re coming to work and what is expected of them so they are much happier with their job and, consequently, absent a lot less.

Customers. Guess what happens when the right employees are working at the right time? That’s right! The customers are well taken care of. Managers and supervisors – who used to spend more time on manual scheduling - are now able to develop their staff’s skills and work directly with customers. Scheduling for busy sales cycles enables the proper staff-customer ratio at all times and directly impacts client satisfaction rates.

Revenue. Organizing a schedule properly eliminates the need for a reactive environment where costly overtime must be hired to fill vacancies that weren’t anticipated. Precisely calculated hours guarantee accurate payrolls from which a 5% annual savings can be obtained. And the happier clients are buying more because their needs are being met immediately.

If business scheduling software is not a part of your company’s business model, consider having a discussion with your team regarding the benefits. Solicit demonstrations from various scheduling/time & attendance companies to learn more about the technology. Implementing a solution and reaping the ROI trifecta of increased revenue, client satisfaction and employee morale may become one of your biggest contributions to your company’s bottom line.