Anyone running a business with multiple employees needs robust shift management software. Not only can it save time, but it can also increase communication and productivity.
A study of retail businesses with more than 100 stores found that employee scheduling software could save around 40,000 hours in labour per year. It is not just retail, but all types of industries that can utilise these software packages. Imagine being able to recall a previously used rota for the month, instead of having to cross-check papers and use your time complying with labour laws, then determining who is available. Shift management systems can do it for you.
The Joy of AI and Rota Automation
How much of your time, and that of your workforce, is taken up by routine tasks? Automation in HR has been estimated to save up to 25 hours of time per week, especially when paired with modern HR software solutions, allowing your staff to concentrate on more pressing matters. Add this to the statistic that around 32% of employees believe the work they do has no impact on company or team goals, and you have a recipe for poor morale.
In the modern era, these tasks can easily be automated, particularly in the area of scheduling and staff rotas. Yet 43% of workers believe their companies have not yet installed the correct automation tools to make their work easier. Luckily, most software management systems now come with AI automation tools that make your job easier.
While each system works differently, AI generally generates a rota from your workforce management software. You just have to keep working times and hours up to date, along with absences, leave and other factors. Most systems will also have facilities for employees to input these themselves, taking the strain off your HR staff.
It will take into account your prioritisation needs, such as sticking to budgets. It will also consider compliance, so you don’t break any working guidelines, such as minimum staff requirements. All you need to do is check it over and address any conflicts which the AI will flag, and you have rotas done in an instant.
The Best All Round – Factorial
One of the most in-depth business management suites available, Factorial is surprisingly easy to use for a range of HR areas, including talent management, finance, and can just as easily be tailored to deal with the shift management system alone. According to their website factorialhr.com, there are now more than 14,000 global businesses using it. The company has also been awarded an OCA Global Security Certification for its safety and compliance.
The whole system has been designed with ease of use in mind. You can plan schedules with the handy one-month calendar view. Changes can be undone with a single click, and you can delete shifts easily from the same cell. Time can be saved by storing 20 pre-existing shift plans. Think of the time you can save by simply using this feature alone, quickly calling up a bank of recent rotas.
Communicating these to staff is also easy from within the system itself. You can assign shifts remotely, designating them to individuals, teams, offices and locations. Changes to these will notify individuals in real time, preventing any miscommunication and ensuring you are not left making last-minute changes.
From the employees’ side, this is also easy to see. They are notified of any holidays, absences, or scheduled time off. As the whole team can access it, it increases transparency. With filters to allow searches by shifts, office, location and employee, it is perfect for managing your office-based and remote teams.
What really makes it stand out is a simple but highly effective tool: The ability to detect conflicting schedules. It will reflect the hours worked, and also warn you when a shift is already assigned. Absence and shifts cleverly sit on the same calendar, all of which minimises the risk of human error.
Factorial is also easy to manage from its app. This provides an even higher degree of flexibility. You can manage shifts easily and still have the same overview of absence, documents, expenses and time tracking you would from a desktop.
Great for Large Corporations – Oracle
Oracle is a shift scheduling system that is designed to align rotas with changing demands. Imagine you want different staffing in the run-up to Christmas, and less in the January and February downtime. Oracle can provide it, slicing labour costs.
There are some extremely detailed analytics in Oracle, often more than you may need. Once you have mastered them, it is helpful to make decisions on cost control and staffing levels. Even your employees will find it easy to use, supporting scalability and accessibility. This can drastically boost employee engagement.
You do have the option to integrate it with other Oracle products. This can include their finance systems, HR and payroll. With it being a cloud-based solution, it is also easy to scale. It is here that Oracle really comes into its own. You can employ workplace analytics and use it for succession planning to pick out high-performing individuals who may be perfect for promotion. You will even find it has labour forecasting, allowing you to predict how many staff members you may need when increases in demand are on the way.
The Starters Choice – Microsoft Teams (Shifts)
Microsoft Teams is more widely used as a video communication tool. Yet it does have other features, one of which is its rota management tool, known as Shifts. It has all the features you would expect, including the ability to schedule based on worker availability, preferences and even through compliance with labour laws.
One of its best features is the ability to allow staff ownership. This means they can schedule their own shifts or input when they are unavailable. It is also user-friendly on mobile, allowing people to adapt and change on the move. Staff can also clock in and out on Teams, allowing you to track hours worked and see who is available at any given time. This is also improved with the addition of tags, providing you with a way to communicate with anyone currently on a shift.
There is a demo available so you can trial it. However, compared to other software packages from its competitors, Shifts always feels like an add-on. It is not as comprehensive, and thus is best for small, remote teams to work with before moving on to a bigger software suite. You will also find that it updates infrequently, and there are not enough updates to make it a genuinely useful tool.
For Those Using SuccessFactors – SAP
The SAP business suite is a comprehensive, high-end fleet of products for use in HR and general business. The company really has something for every eventuality, from supply chain management to finance. Thus, it is suitable for large businesses or those which plan on expanding significantly in the future. You need to be using SuccessFactor by SAP in the first place to add this.
Planning shifts on its Successfactors programme works well for those with different staffing requirements. You can then easily assign these different shifts to employees. It has an easy-to-view, colour-coded calendar so you can see who is working, across multiple days and weeks, laid out in one easy screen. A nice touch is that you can even add on-call workers. It is also user-friendly on both Android and IOS, meaning your staff won’t have any issues keeping track of what is assigned.
The downside to it is that it can be overly complex. This means you may need to give your HR staff some time to get to grips with the system and train your staff on its use. Many people also report that it can sometimes be glitchy and freeze, which is always a boundary to productivity and can be frustrating.
For Those Seeking Flexibility – Zoho Shifts
What makes Zoho Shifts so popular is that it is affordable when it comes to entry-level solutions. Thus, many small to medium-sized enterprises choose it.
With an easy-to-use system, all the tools you need to get started right away are there. This includes shift templates, recurring shifts and drag-and-drop functions. It is also great when it comes to providing schedule ownership to your employees. They can take every shift, turn them down and even swap them.
Real-time updates are also another key feature. This can alert you to conflicts long before they begin to cause problems. Like most of these packages, it uses a handy calendar overview so you can see what is going on during different days, weeks and even months.
The downside is that it misses out on the most advanced features. There have also been reports online about some issues with lagging in the mobile application, but this is not something that occurred during testing.
Our overall pick for the best shift management system comes out as Factorial. It is excellently priced and has a fast onboarding process that can get you up and running straight away. With scalability, it can grow with your business, both in its components and pricing. It also has an easy-to-use interface, making scheduling an easy process for both you and your staff.
