Shift planning is not only a challenge in retail, but also for other service industries such as hospitality, logistics, healthcare and food service. On the one hand, companies have to ensure that they have sufficient staff at all times to handle the flow of customers, but on the other hand, a constantly changing and unpredictable shift schedule is a disaster for employees’ work-life balance.
Shift workers often have to work different shifts every week
They rarely have control over their working hours and often only find out about their shift schedule a few days in advance. Such models are referred to differently by . A different companies, for example as just-in-time planning or demand- or customer-oriented shift planning.
For example, this system was recently introduced by the American retailer Lowe’s . A the aim is to adjust the availability of staff in terms of time to the germany telegram data volume of customers in the stores. In theory, this sounds like a system that is good for business, but in practice it limits the number . A of consecutive days off for employees and reduces the . A transparency and flexibility of scheduling. The change made the daily lives of employees less plannable and predictable . A which had a negative impact on their work-life balance and reduced staff motivation.
While there is a common perception that unstable scheduling is the norm in today’s flexible business environments, companies like Nando’s and The Gap Inc. are showing that stable shift scheduling is not only possible, but can also increase sales and productivity.
Create a successful shift plan with 3 tips
Imagine the following situation: Markus works at the cash register in a clothing store. The Christmas holidays are just around the mark ralings corner and he wants to plan a few days off with his family.
Drag-and-drop shift planning in Findmyshift
Drag-and-drop shift planning in Findmyshift ( source )
Employers can easily avoid such situations by planning shifts well in advance, for example on paper Give employees ba leads calendars or attendance registers. Better still, use shift and scheduling software to create and share shift schedules and send reminders to staff before each shift.