by Jess Castner
As with holidays, springtime and summer always seems to be demanding times of year for a manager building an employee schedule. With graduations, vacations, and other demands for time off, managers may feel overwhelmed by the number of requests. Of course, everyone wants off on the Saturday of the nearby university commencement ceremony or for that first warm weekend. How do you manage commonly-requested days off?
Black-Out Request Days
TimeForge is really good at taking availability requests. But, did you know that TimeForge can also refuse to accept requests on a particular day? When all of your employees wish to be off on the same day, it’s difficult to schedule fairly. Avoid the tough call. Sometimes it’s not possible to give any employee time off.
You may black-out requests on a certain day so that you can offer the time off as an incentive for a job well done. By reserving the day to be awarded at your discretion, you may inspire even more employee productivity. Aren’t these better options than the mutiny that may arise from randomly selecting who can have time off?
AutoSchedule Your Shifts
Most managers will accommodate employee requests whenever possible. A problem arises only when there are too many requests to keep track of! By containing the entire request approval process within TimeForge, you can be confident that TimeForge AutoScheduler can manage the schedule from there!
AutoScheduler uses a state-of-the-art algorithm that considers employee preference, availability, and fairness to build a schedule. If a schedule can be made that satisfies your employees and guarantees proper coverage, AutoScheduler will find it! Scheduling at the push of a button: What could be easier than that?
Open and Bid Shifts
Rather than decide who should receive time off, consider allowing employees to choose. When those days that many employees want to be off come up, be confident that TimeForge can manage the way you let your employees volunteer. Many of our customers find this works especially well if the shift carries incentive. But as a veteran manager-scheduler, we’re sure you know what to do. We’re just happy to offer the tools to help you build an employee schedule more efficiently.
