If you have a medium to large workforce, you already know that there are many variables that can derail the operation and in this article, you will be able to take a look at workforce scheduling and the problems that can arise. Solutions to these problems are also suggested.
- Employee Leave & Absenteeism – Handling leave for 100 factory workers is no mean feat and forward planning is essential in order to cover every shift. You might need the help of a temp recruitment agency to fill in for employee leave and using state of the art analytics software can make it easier to schedule the entire year. If employees are leaving, there has to be a reason for this, which you should investigate.
- Employee Conflicts – This can quickly lead to a down tools scenario and it is crucial to address any employee issues promptly and with diplomacy. Fortunately, there is a UK employment law advice helpline that operates 24 hours, which is essential when any sort of conflict arises. The agency offering the service has a team of labour law experts, plus they can mediate a conflict, helping to find a solution. For those outside the UK, you can use Google search to locate a similar service in your area.
- Unnecessary Overtime Payments – The last thing you want is to be paying employees time and a half when the extra manpower is not required. This is the result of lack of forward planning or a string of no shows, or even double covering a shift, and these are unnecessary costs that your business can do without.
- Incomplete Workforce – If you are short of staff, it takes a lot of juggling to manage your HR. If your ads are not providing suitable candidates, positions will be unfilled and existing staff have to make up for the manpower shortage. The best solution is to engage the services of a leading HR agency that works within your sector and they can reach the right calibre of candidate and prepare an interview shortlist for you. For the best recruitment, choose one of the best HR outsourcing in the UK or in your country, one who have a great name within the industry.
- Not Using Available Technology – When planning your worker shifts, the days of magnetic whiteboards are well and truly behind us; rather, you should be using specific business software that is designed for your sector. Of course, the more employees you have, the greater the task of scheduling and by making best use of available tech, your job is much easier.
- Employee Misunderstandings – If you don’t have a good communication network, this can easily cause scheduling issues. Using an automated SMS system works for many companies, which ensures that all employees are kept up to date, but whatever works for you is good.
It can be a bit of a nightmare to schedule a large workforce. Hope that the above solutions help you to run a tight ship and always achieve your targets. There is always room for improvement when scheduling shift rotations and planning for employee leave, which should ensure all needs are met.
