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Benefits of Scheduling Software for Enhancing Employee Productivity

Natasa Djalovic
Last update on:
March 8, 2024 9:00 AM
Published on:

Many employers do not know how to properly improve their employees' productivity, pushing them over the edge. 


There are several valuable tools to help employers make long-term improvements in employee performance and efficiently deal with productivity problems. 


Employee scheduling software is undoubtedly one of the most efficient solutions to drive your business to success.

 

But how are scheduling and productivity related? And what are the benefits of scheduling software regarding productivity in your company? This article will give you the answers and offer possible solutions.

Want to Improve Your Scheduling and Boost Your Productivity?

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‍Why Scheduling the Workforce Is Important


Scheduling your workforce creates order and enables the uninterrupted flow of your business processes. 


If you manage the process properly, you will ensure that your company can cover all the essential tasks at appropriate times


At the same time, your employees will know when they're supposed to work, and they will be able to better prepare for and focus on their duties. 


All the above enables your company to perform to the highest possible standards, keeping the business thriving and your customers satisfied.

But, What Does Scheduling Software Do?


An employee scheduling software can help you automate and streamline the following business activities:

  • creating employee schedules,
  • tracking hours,
  • managing shift changes,
  • controlling labor costs.


Employee scheduling software helps businesses manage recurring problems, such as constant shift switching requests or employee absenteeism. At the same time, it allows them to cut labor costs and enhance performance within the company.‍ 


Companies can keep track of their employees by monitoring their activities, including when they come in and the hours they spend at their workplace. 


The benefits of scheduling software are invaluable for organizations with an hourly workforce that needs to reallocate their resources.


Specific scheduling solutions, such as Timeero, come with GPS and geofencing capabilities, making them a perfect choice for managing mobile and field employees.

Timeero scheduling feature
Timeero is a simple and reliable employee scheduling software

Benefits Of Scheduling Software

So, let us move on to the key benefits of scheduling software that, together with effective scheduling practices, can increase your business productivity.

Better Time Management

We will begin with one of the most apparent advantages of scheduling software - better time management.

No More Multitasking

One of the crucial benefits of scheduling software is significantly decreasing your managers' workload. It allows them to be more productive at work and gives them more time to deal with critical tasks. 


If your managers are still using traditional, manual scheduling, the odds are high that they have to update the employees' schedules weekly, maybe even daily. Often, they are forced to multitask, as they have to handle this chore while juggling several others simultaneously. 


And in contrast to the common belief that multitasking increases performance, it actually leads to a mental overload and takes a toll on productivity. 


Transparent Communication

Transparent scheduling communication is another one of the key benefits of scheduling software related to better time management and, thus, improved productivity. 


If your employees work rotating or variable shifts, any schedule changes can contribute to a ton of lost productivity.


Last-minute changes can lead to schedule conflicts, and your employees can easily misunderstand when they should come to work so that they arrive late or even miss a shift. 


Scheduling software can automatically solve potential schedule conflicts and send notifications of schedule changes to employees. 


As your employees will be timely notified of their shifts and clearly understand when they are scheduled to work, tardiness and absenteeism will decrease.


Improved Planning

A precise schedule will enhance your employees' ability to plan on both their professional and personal levels.


Professionally, your employees will be able to prioritize their crucial working tasks and perform them more productively. 


A clear idea of the scheduled workweek will help your staff plan their lives and enjoy a better work-life balance.

Better Use of Resources

Besides time management, one of the critical benefits of scheduling software is the better use of your other crucial resources - your employees and your company's budget.  


Reducing Overtime Hours

While having your employees work overtime hours can come in handy as an option, there are some specific disadvantages associated with regular overtime. 


Working longer hours can adversely affect employees' physical and mental well-being, contributing to work stress, anxiety, depression, and occupational injury


As employees tire and lose concentration, their engagement and productivity also decrease. Eventually, so does their morale, leading to a higher turnover rate


If you rely on the overtime hours of your employees, you also have to deal with the increased labor costs, as the overtime pay rate is at least 1.5 times the standard rate.


Effective scheduling software can help you identify which employees are overworked and which are not. This way, you can distribute the workload for maximum efficiency and minimum cost

Getting Rid of Unproductive Hours

One of the most prominent issues many employers face is having to pay for the time at work that has been wasted with unproductive tasks. 


While this is a common problem you have already come to terms with, you should understand how costly it can be for your business in the long run.

Employee scheduling software will allow you to identify and solve these problems quickly.

Prevent Employee Churn

According to a Deloitte study, constantly working long hours or on weekends is one of the main burnout drivers, right behind having no support from the leadership and unrealistic expectations and deadlines. 


Furthermore, an employee survey has determined that schedule predictability significantly impacts employee well-being and work-life outcomes. Employees with less predictable work schedules show higher stress levels, more work-to-family conflicts, and more interference with non-work activities. 


Burnout is a growing concern as it causes employees to feel disengaged from work, often leading to absenteeism and churn. The consequences of ignoring this issue are significant, including lost productivity and increased staff turnover costs.


One of the essential benefits of scheduling software is transparent and flexible communication between staff and managers regarding available shifts, preventing employees from getting overworked while still allowing additional hours.


With a scheduling system in place, you can allow your employees to choose shifts that meet their needs, helping them maintain a positive work-life balance.


Improve Employee Accountability

Time and attendance accountability is critical to productivity, no matter the industry your business is in. 


Organizations with mobile employees, or employees working in different locations, can encounter problems when attempting to track the time and attendance of their employees. 


With robust scheduling software, you can improve your employees' accountability regarding their attendance and reduce time theft at the workplace, significantly increasing productivity.


Here are some key benefits of scheduling software when it comes to tracking time and attendance.


Prevent Time Theft

There are numerous ways employees can commit time theft and be paid for the hours they didn't spend working.  


One of the infamous fraudulent activities employees engage in to steal time is buddy punching - clocking in for a colleague who is not physically present, annually costing US employers around $373 million


Besides buddy punching, taking longer breaks or unreasonable personal time off, and rounding time card fraud are just a few other time theft schemes you can prevent using the benefits of scheduling software..


You can learn more about employee time theft and download a free write-up sample in our Guide to Prevent Employee Time Theft.

Reduce No Show / No Calls

More often than not, some employees fail to show up to work without informing you. To make matters worse, you may even end up paying for these absent workers for their absence.

You can effectively monitor your employees and note all absences with employee scheduling software. This way, you can take action to ensure that these actions are not repeated.

Discouraging Tardiness Among Employees

Although tardy employees are better than absent employees, you still need to manage them. If you keep letting them off the hook, you will have to keep paying for the time they did not spend working.

When using employee scheduling software, you can easily record late arrivals and take disciplinary action to ensure that this pattern of behavior does not occur again. As a result, your staff will make more effort to arrive at the site on time.


To learn more about this matter and improve your employee attendance practice, check out our blog on creating an effective employee attendance policy

Improved Reporting

Finally, one of the benefits of scheduling software with advanced features and integrations is that it makes payroll and other essential HR functions pretty straightforward. 


Scheduling software with time tracking capabilities can help you streamline the entire payroll process and greatly benefit your company's productivity. Automating your payroll saves you money and time that your company would otherwise spend dealing with the most common payroll problems.


To learn more about the issue, read our Common Payroll Problems (And How to Avoid Them) article in the Blog section.


Scheduling reports can help companies understand business needs better and plan their resolution. For example, they can determine when the peak hours are and prevent staff shortages. 


Using these reports, managers can also gain insight into the behavior of their employees and take appropriate action. For example, they can identify which employees are chronically late or absent or the employees who are consistently coming in early. Or they can use data to determine the effect of longer shifts on employee productivity.


Staying Compliant

Scheduling your employees is regulated by a variety of complex, ever-changing laws at the Federal, state, and local levels. Staying compliant with all these laws, regulations, and requirements can be challenging.


However, one of the key benefits of scheduling software is that it usually provides built-in tools to help you stay under:


  • The Fair Labor Standards Act
  • Meal and break regulations
  • Overtime rules
  • Other state and local requirements 
  • Union agreements


Furthermore, FLSA requires companies to keep specific records of their employees. These records must include employees' data, hours, and earnings.


The most significant record an employer must keep to ensure compliance with FLSA when it comes to scheduling is the time and day a worker's work week begins, hours worked per day, and total hours worked each week.


With a tool like Timeero, a mobile workforce management solution, you won't have to worry about compliance. This scheduling and time tracking software stores all the relevant data related to payroll, attendance, and schedules for four years. 


So, How Do You Improve Employee Scheduling?

While the peak productivity of every single employee in your company can be impossible to achieve, reaping the benefits of employee scheduling software can still be a great start. 


Over time, you will see apparent improvements in all areas of employee performance.


Employee scheduling software usually comes with other functional applications and tools for a complete workforce management platform. In addition to keeping track of your employees' activities, you can process payrolls accurately and efficiently.


‍‍Looking for an Employee Scheduling Software with Employee Management Features Built-in?

Start your free trial today and see how Timeero can help.
AUTHOR
Natasa Djalovic

Natasa is a writer specializing in the IT and software industry with 6+ years of experience in content writing and online marketing. During that period, she wrote more than 1,000 articles and several ebooks. She majored in English language and literature and loves cats, sneakers, and candy. When she's not working, she's probably binge-watching Netflix.

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