Workforce Management makes it easy to build and publish schedules for your team. Proactive scheduling helps reduce last-minute scrambles, ensures you always have the right people in the right place, and gives your team the visibility they need to plan ahead. Once a schedule is published, employees are notified instantly and can view their upcoming shifts directly from the mobile app.
This article walks you through the initial setup steps so you're ready to start scheduling as quickly as possible.
Step 1 — Set up your departments
Think of a department as a group of people who would be on the same schedule and managed by the same manager/s. For example, a restaurant may have two departments:
Front of House
Back of House
By default, you'll have one department set up already. Rename it to suit your business and create additional departments if needed.
Step 2 — Assign department managers
Managers need to be granted access to a department before they can create and manage schedules. Without this, they won't be able to see or schedule the employees in that department.
Assign at least one manager to each department to ensure the right people have the right access.
Step 3 — Add employees to departments
Before an employee can appear on the schedule, they need to be added to a department. An employee can belong to more than one department if needed.
Step 4 — Invite employees to the mobile app
Once your employees are set up, invite them to the Workforce Management mobile app. From the app, employees can view their upcoming shifts, submit time off requests, swap shifts, and message their team.
Invites are sent via text message — make sure each employee has a valid mobile number on their profile before sending.
Step 5 — Create and publish your first schedule
With your departments set up and employees added, you're ready to build your first schedule. Head to the Scheduler and create shifts in either day or week view — you can assign shifts to specific employees or leave them open for someone to claim.
When you're happy with the schedule, click Publish to send it out. Your team will be notified instantly via the mobile app.
What to do next
You're all set. Here are a few things worth exploring as you get more comfortable with Workforce Management:
Schedule templates — if your schedule follows a similar pattern each week, save it as a template and reuse it in future weeks
Shift opportunities — allow employees to pick up available shifts directly from the mobile app
Compliance warnings — understand how Workforce flags potential compliance issues on the schedule before you publish