Use Schedules for Three Reasons:
Clarity of where everyone should be
Certainty that all jobs are covered
Capability to predict job costs
Let's talk about each of the reasons.
Clarity of Where Everyone Should Be
The schedule involves three parties:
The scheduler
The employee
The team manager
All three parties need clarity about who's doing the work and when. A good scheduling system satisfies all three.
Schedulers have the assurance that they schedule all jobs without conflicts and that employees aren't accidentally scheduled for overtime.
Employees view their schedules, and clocking into them is easy. Our data shows that 50% of time card edits result from employees clocking into the wrong jobs (which messes up job costing). Employees clock into schedules ensuring they choose the right job.
Team managers know who to hold accountable.
A good scheduling system keeps all parties informed and in harmony to meet your company's top goal - to keep your customer happy.
Certainty That All Jobs Are Covered
The scheduler makes a plan and has all shifts covered, but employees have to show up. "Man plans, God laughs," as the old Yiddish saying goes. A schedule is your fail-safe. We'll send a no-show alert to team managers when employees don't clock in by their scheduled times. Managers get the shift covered, and the crisis is averted.
Capability to Predict Job Costs
The first two reasons to use schedules protect your business and help it run efficiently. The capability to predict job costs is the lovely glass of port wine with dessert after a delicious meal. It will spoil you 😉
A schedule has everything you need for a job budget:
The employee's pay code (which could be a bonus pay code)
The number of hours to be scheduled
These two factors inform you how much you plan to spend on labor for a week, a month, and a year. Then we forecast your labor costs into the future and tell you when you're off-budget, which can happen for a variety of reasons:
higher-paid employees are put on the job
employees hit overtime on the job
travel routes change and increase travel pay
employees get raises
When we show you the job getting off-budget, make adjustments and set it right again. Using schedules shows you the future.
It All Begins with Schedules
Schedules are simply you telling your employees and us the plan you made with your customers to get the work done. We can keep all parties informed of its progress when we know the plan. The rabbit we pull out of the hat is showing you the future.
It's a nice trick. But it all begins with a schedule. 🐰
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