What Is Workforce Scheduling?

Workforce scheduling is the process of developing schedules for a business's employees and team members. Workforce scheduling would typically take into account a range of variables, including staff availability, anticipated increases or decreases in workload, seasonal changes in work activities, and managing staff availability across timezones. In addition to manual customization to accommodate these variables, workforce scheduling software typically supports the scheduling process by performing a detailed running analysis of a company’s schedule history. Particularly in a complex environment such as a call center, the insights gained through these and similar software-generated reports can help HR managers optimize their approach to scheduling.

How Does Workforce Scheduling Work?

HR coordinators enter staff and scheduling variables into a workforce scheduling software. Drawing from a suite of workforce optimization reports on quality management, customer analytics, and task forecasting, your team can then configure your upcoming schedule and disseminate the information via hardcopy reports, a website, or a company intranet page.

Benefits of Workforce Scheduling

• Reduce scheduling inefficiencies: Workforce scheduling software can help your company build schedules that are neither under nor over-resourced. This saves money and ensures your team is working in optimal conditions.
• Better workforce decision-making: For any midsized or larger workforce, worker availability can be remarkably complex. Schedule complexity is compounded by seasonal fluctuations, timezone differences, and unexpected shifts in demand. Workforce scheduling analytics offer insights into this process that’d be unfeasible to acquire through manual analysis.
• Improved regulatory compliance: Workforce scheduling software can ensure your business is fully compliant with payroll and employee classification regulatory requirements, better positioning your business to scale its workforce alongside long-term growth.

Advanced Workforce Scheduling Features

Depending on the size and flexibility of your workforce, shift swapping is a useful feature that can allow team members to swap some or all allotted hours in a defined work period. The function can significantly reduce the administrative workload of your HR team. Particularly if your business incorporates a call center, skill-based routing is an advanced workforce scheduling feature whereby you can forward inbound calls to a call operator with the most appropriate skill-set for a particular inquiry. This feature can enhance your call center professionalism and responsiveness.