Proactively managing your workforce today is essential for controlling costs and elevating profits tomorrow. Gone are the days where decisions on staffing and scheduling can be made on the fly. Creating an ideally productive workforce comes from planning, data, and automation. This article discusses four of many ways scheduling automation can help your company be prepared, properly staffed, and ready for business every single day of the year.

Respond to Time Off Requests Immediately

Scheduling automation that gives employees the online capability to request time off will help minimize the need for shift callouts, as well as eliminate the confusion caused by multiple phone calls or time off slips. Employees can enter time off requests at any time and managers are instantly notified through their device such as their smartphone or computer. Managers can immediately determine whether or not they are able to grant the request or if they need the employee for that shift. The real-time data enables managers to make decisions quickly and fairly.

Receive Automatic Staff Shortage Alerts

An important quality to proactively manage your workforce is to receive immediate alerts when a shift falls below minimum staffing requirements. This gives managers plenty of time to call employees in or adjust the schedule early, as opposed to scrambling to do it at the last minute. A scheduling automation sends these alerts based upon workforce requirements and skill set rules. Locating the employees that are best qualified to fill the shift shortage becomes easy with all of the data in one system.

Empower employees To Participate

Empowering employees to manage their own schedules, request time off, view overtime, participate in shift bidding leads to a happier, more productive workforce. Online workforce management systems provide the ability to create that perfect schedule for both company and employee. The instant communication that occurs electronically alleviates the all-too-common confusion surrounding schedule updates and changes. Large and small businesses can dramatically increase profitability just by having managers redirect their efforts into serving the customer instead of the schedule.

Manage Overtime With Data

Traditionally, managing overtime is done reactively and with little planning. Using scheduling software, companies can manage overtime proactively with automatically-generated employee lists based on fair overtime rules and policies. Awarding overtime properly guarantees that positions are filled with the best employees available and reduces the possibility of grievances. The ability to quickly forecast an annual overtime budget is also possible when data drives staff scheduling scenarios.

Take a look at the guide below for more information on the importance of proactive scheduling.