How do I roster my staff? Follow
Introduction
A roster is crucial to the operations of your venue. Implementing efficient and effective processes to manage your roster early will reduce the number of resources spent managing it.
Staff roster
Whether you have a full-time, part-time or a mix of both workforce, you will need to manage a roster. A roster is a simple timetable informing staff when they are expected to work.
Due to the seasonal nature of the entertainment industry, it is important to have flexibility from your staff. Regular communication about their availability is key to minimise the resources spent managing a roster.
Having sufficient staff members for each shift is important for operating smoothly. Insufficient staff will lead to poor customer service, overworked staff and a potential loss in revenue, and too many staff will lead to unnecessarily overpaying staff and increased expenses. Finding the right balance will ensure efficient operations.
Roster programs
Using an online rostering program is effective, time-saving and easy to use. We recommend researching the rostering programs available in your region to find one that suits you best, but if When I Work is available in your region, then we recommend using it. We have many venues who use it successfully.
When I Work has different subscription tiers. We have found that premium access is not required for Zero Latency operations.
When I Work
The advantages of using an online rostering program such as When I Work (WIW) includes:
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Easy access - WIW is easily accessible online or on a phone application (app). Staff can use the WIW app to view their roster, manage their availability, clock in and out of shifts, swap shifts, claim open shifts and more.
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Publish rosters in advance - You can plan ahead and publish rosters in advance. It provides staff with plenty of notice to organise someone to cover their shifts if they are unavailable to work. You just have to ensure that everyone's availability in WIW is up to date.
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Repeat schedules - You can copy the current week’s roster to the following weeks. A feature which makes future scheduling easy!
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Requesting time off - If an employee is unable to work, they can request time off. Having visibility over everyone’s available will make it easier for you to manage your shifts.
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Shift swapping between staff - Staff can self-manage their shifts and swap shifts after you publish the roster. You can manage the settings so that shift swap requests must be first approved by you.
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Clocking in/out - There is an integrated clock-in/ clock-out function that makes it easy to track the hours your staff have worked. If they forget to clock-in or out, they can leave a note.
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Open shifts - You can create open shifts which means that you do not have to assign the shift to a staff member. The open shift is available to all staff to accept. They will receive an alert and if they would like the shift, then they can claim to work it. This means that you do not have to worry about contacting each employee to see if they would like the shift, it is self-managed.
- Data, analytics and reports - WIW provides helpful data and reports to help you manage and track your spend on wages. It also allows you to export timesheets for payroll. You can also use the data to manage staff performance e.g. you can check if staff are consistently clocking-in and out on time as per their shift start and end time.
Additional considerations
Developing processes and policies will make it easier for you to manage your roster in the long term. This includes:
- When rostering shifts, remember to check the work hours of an employee and ensure that you do not have to pay them overtime.
- Ensure that shifts times are reasonable and that staff are not being overworked.
- If you offer different hourly rates for weekday, weekend and public holiday shifts, ensure that staff are given a fair share of each shift.
- Check your roster regularly to ensure that you are on top of any staff updates or changes.
- Monitor staff clock-in and out times for any concerns e.g. an employee clock’s out 1-hour later than their scheduled finish time.
Staff roster policy
We recommend implementing a staff roster policy to set expectations and standards. Your policy should promote staff accountability for their shifts. As an example, if you have a small team, there will be more hours for each staff member but there will be less flexibility to find a replacement should someone need a shift covered. You must stress to the team that if they cannot find a replacement, that they will have to work as they have accepted the shift.
Article Keywords/Phrases:
Staff rostering
When I Work
Roster
Staffing
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