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How to Automate Workforce Scheduling and Management

Written by Thinkcurity Articles | 2/16/23 2:00 PM

Are you looking for a more efficient way to manage your security officer workforce scheduling? Are you tired of manually managing guard shifts and trying to keep up with the ever-changing demands of your business? In this blog post, we will discuss how automating workforce scheduling and management can help streamline your operations. 

Understanding What Automated Workforce Scheduling Is 

Automated workforce scheduling is the process of using technology to create and maintain employee schedules to optimize output, minimize labor costs, and improve employee satisfaction. This process involves gathering requirements, researching automation solutions, establishing automation rules and parameters, testing, and reviewing the automation system, and finalizing the automation system.  

By automating workforce scheduling, businesses can reduce labor costs while improving accuracy in scheduling, employee satisfaction, and compliance with regulations. It is important to understand your workforce and their needs when creating an accurate schedule that meets your needs. Automated workforce scheduling can help managers make better decisions when it comes to allocating resources and ensuring smooth operations. 

The Key Steps to Auto-Scheduling 

Gather Requirements 

Conduct internal meetings with your teams to understand the requirements needed in an automation system. Do you need to produce split-shifts? Do members of your team have certain requirements for scheduling? Make a list of all the required capabilities of your automated scheduling system.  

Research Automation Solutions 

Next, research automation solutions that can help to generate accurate employee schedules. It is important to consider various features such as the ability to generate conflict-free schedules, track employee hours and payroll, and predict demand. By researching a variety of solutions, managers can find one that fits their needs, budget, and goals. 

Establish Automation Rules and Parameters 

You will want to determine which tasks you want to automate, what data you need to collect, and how you want to prioritize tasks. Also, you should define any employee preferences or job restrictions that should be considered when creating the schedule.  

Test and Review the Automation System 

The testing phase should involve a thorough review of the system, including a test of all the functions and features. This will help ensure that the automation system is working as expected and meets all your requirements. Once any necessary adjustments or modifications have been made, the system should then be tested again to ensure that everything is functioning correctly. 

Finalize the Automation System 

After testing is complete, any necessary tweaks should be made before officially finalizing the automated workforce scheduling system. With the system finalized, managers can begin creating accurate schedules that meet their needs, those of their security professionals, and their clients.  

Creating the Best, Most Accurate Schedule 

Creating the Best, Most Accurate Schedule involves understanding your workforce and their needs, and creating an accurate schedule that meets those needs. Automated Staff Scheduling Software can help you do this, by providing insights into labor costs, scheduling accuracy, employee satisfaction, and compliance with regulations.  

Automated notifications and GPS functionality can help streamline the scheduling process, while synchronizing employee data with an HRIS simplifies the distribution of accurate work schedules. With the right data at hand, forecasting upcoming demand and creating the best schedule automatically becomes easier. Book a call to learn more about how to maximize efficiency with automated workforce scheduling and management. 

Benefits of Automated Staff Scheduling 

Reduced labor costs 

Reduced labor costs are one of the most significant benefits of automated staff scheduling. Automation can help companies eliminate labor-intensive manual scheduling, which leads to a reduction in administrative costs and time theft. Automated technology also helps employers better manage employee related schedules and costs, resulting in fewer overtime hours and greater efficiency.  

Additionally, automated systems can adjust high-capacity scheduling requests quickly and accurately, giving employers more control over their workforce. With an automated system in place, employers can create an accurate schedule that meets their needs while ensuring employee satisfaction is considered. 

Improved accuracy in scheduling 

Automated staff scheduling offers improved accuracy in scheduling, as it helps create, modify, and track employee schedules with up to 95% accuracy. Plus, the processes can consider labor spending goals and establish automation rules and parameters to ensure the best, most accurate schedule is created. Automating the process of employee scheduling also eliminates manual errors, which can save managers a lot of time while ensuring employees have more control over their work-life balance. 

Improved employee satisfaction 

Improved employee satisfaction is one of the most important benefits of automated staff scheduling. Automated scheduling not only reduces labor costs and improves accuracy in scheduling, but it also helps to create a better environment for employees. Automation eliminates the need for employees to notify their managers of shift changes, time off requests, and other scheduling concerns. By providing a digital way of managing a company’s workforce, automated staff scheduling helps to create, modify, and track employee schedules with ease. It also helps to provide a more consistent schedule that meets the needs of the workforce, while reducing employee turnover and increasing workers' satisfaction. 

Better compliance with regulations 

Automated workforce scheduling can also provide better compliance with regulations. By setting up parameters and rules based on compliance requirements, you can ensure that your organization is always in line with the law. This can reduce the risk of potential DOL (Department of Labor) penalties and class action lawsuits and make it easier to stay up to date on ever-changing regulations. 

Will you be implementing automated scheduling software in your organization?