by Imed Bouchrika, Phd
Today, society works 24/7. Shift schedules keep global industries, such as healthcare, service, and manufacturing, awake and drudging night and day. To maximize employee working hours for cost reduction and revenue gains, many businesses utilize scheduling software solutions.
Notably, some level of human mediation in the automated scheduling process is still necessary to ensure fairness and to protect employee well-being. Scheduling software tools that allow employees to implement needed adjustments to their working hours may help boost their perceived control over their working time and enhance their sleep patterns and workability (Shiri et al., 2021), echoing a 2014 study on the United States-based department store, Belk and its 2% growth in gross profits when it allowed its internal teams to make approved edits to their schedules.
Recent industry trends may further inform companies in determining the right platform to enhance their current business software stacks. To provide organizations with a useful overview, the Research.com team compiled the best scheduling software solutions of today, their features, and their benefits.
The 40-hour workweek introduced by Henry Ford in 1914 is a system of a bygone era. Ours is a 24/7 society. Over the years, shift work has been supplementing the standard nine-to-five, dominating industries globally—from healthcare to service to manufacturing, even in the automotive industry.
On the macroscale, abrupt interruptions in employment structures may have negative effects on the economy. For instance, the business sector stood still with the rest of the world as COVID-19 lockdowns brought everything to a halt in 2020. However, inconsistent and unfair work arrangements may deeply harm workers psychologically, emotionally, and socially.
In 2021, the American Psychological Association (APA) reported in its Work and Well-being Survey (1,501 participants) that 79% of U.S. employees experienced workplace stress in the month before the survey. Work-related stress that is not appropriately dealt with may lead to burnout, which the World Health Organization characterizes by three dimensions: (1) feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion, (2) increased mental distance from one’s job, or feelings of negativism or cynicism related to one’s job, and (3) reduced professional efficacy.
As a result, stress and burnout may negatively impact an individual’s well-being and personal life. About three in five workers reported the detrimental effects of workplace stress, including lack of interest, motivation, or energy (26%); lack of effort at work (19%), cognitive weariness (36%), emotional exhaustion (32%), and physical fatigue (44%) (APA, 2021).
Source: American Psychological Association, 2021 Work and Well-being Survey
Fortunately, in 2022, many U.S. employers enhanced their mental health initiatives for their employees. The APA’s 2022 Work and Well-being Survey reported that 71% of workers felt that their employers are more concerned about workers’ psychological health than in the past, which may be backed by 81% of employees who reported satisfaction in the mental health services provided by their employers.
Notably, some workers also reported their preference for flexibility in terms of working hours and location to help ensure psychological wellness—41% wanted flexible work hours, 34% wanted a workplace culture that respects time off, 33% wanted to work remotely, and 31% wanted a four-day work week (APA, 2022).
Source: American Psychological Association, 2022 Work and Well-being Survey
Employers are responsible for cultivating a well-suited working environment for employee productivity and satisfaction. To uphold labor standards, take into account workers’ needs and preferences, and drive profits, many companies have adopted employee scheduling software solutions. The healthcare industry has also utilized appointment scheduling software to help improve patient care.
With the use of scheduling software, manual administrative tasks are cut down, data errors are reduced, and time for customers is increased. Because of these benefits, the global scheduling software market is expected to grow from $1.02 billion in 2018 to $2.06 billion by 2030 at a CAGR of 9.5%, according to 2021 scheduling software statistics.
When adopting scheduling software solutions, businesses must ensure that they avoid repeating the automated scheduling mishap that Starbucks had come under fire for in 2014. Back then, the coffee giant had mandated its employees to close at night and re-open in the morning and had given them less than a few day’s notice about their shift schedules.
Backlash compelled Starbucks to rectify the situation, the solution to which is included in the following scheduling software trends:
Supporting the 2014 Bernstein et al. research, a 2021 study titled “The Effect of Using Participatory Working Time Scheduling Software on Employee Well-Being and Workability: A Cohort Study Analysed as a Pseudo-Experiment” by Shiri et al. found that the utilization of self-scheduling software was linked to the increase in workers’ perceived control over shift scheduling and the improvement of their sleep and self-rated workability.
Source: American Psychological Association, 2022 Work and Well-being Survey
Exploring how these scheduling software trends may fit into current business operation systems can increase work-schedule satisfaction among employees. According to the APA’s 2022 survey, 38% of U.S. office workers said that their work schedules are better in comparison with 29% of customer and patient service workers and 27% of manual laborers.
In contrast, 5% of U.S. office workers reported that their work schedules are worse in comparison to 9% of customer and patient service workers, and 10% of manual laborers.
Source: American Psychological Association, 2022 Work and Well-being Survey
The implementation of an employee scheduling process that offers flexibility, automation, and analytics through technological and human means, while also considering scheduling software statistics in decision-making, may lead organizations to the trajectory of overall employee satisfaction, productivity, and, potentially, increased profitability. To get you started, you may learn more about the best scheduling software used by global businesses below.
TCP Humanity Scheduling is an employee-shift scheduling software catering to various essential industries, such as healthcare, food and beverage, education, manufacturing, hospitality, customer support, retail, fitness, and transportation delivery.
TCP optimizes work schedules while maintaining flexibility across industries by using data, such as employee availability, skills, and overtime or overlapping shifts, among others. The platform also allows employees to trade shifts and communicate with supervisors in real time. Additionally, TCP provides organizations with features that enable them to conveniently create and manage schedules that comply with company policies and industry regulations.
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When I Work offers an employee scheduling software solution for shift-based workplaces in different industries, such as customer support, entertainment, education, events, food service, and healthcare, among others. The platform also has a mobile scheduling option to manage time-off, fill and trade shifts, and monitor team tasks and availability.
Moreover, When I Work provides related business software solutions that manage employee attendance (Time Clock), support team communications (Team Messaging), and simplify payroll (Timesheets). Employee timesheets integrate with major payroll software providers such as ADP, Gusto, Paychex, and QuickBooks.
When I Work plans start at $2.50/user.
Skedulo is a comprehensive scheduling software that allows employers to match available and qualified employees with client needs. Using automation and the clear visualization of worker availability, calendars, and routes, among other important data, businesses may streamline shift and task management for fixed locations and mobile fieldwork.
Skedulo caters to the healthcare industry, nonprofit organizations, residential services, the real estate industry, the energy and utilities sector, and the public sector.
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WorkInSync is a business software solution enabling organizations to facilitate hybrid—in-office and remote—workplaces as workers return to their office setup. Aside from employee scheduling, the platform also allows employees to select their preferred sanitized seat within rooms honoring physical-distancing protocols with its Hot Desking feature.
WorkInSync also helps businesses manage meeting-room availability, employee commute (with automated routing, scheduling, and safety compliance, among others), and parking-space availability.
WorkInSync offers annual (starting at $2.50/user/month) and quarterly pricing plans (starting at $3/user/month).
Quinyx is a workforce management platform that caters to global industries such retail, hospitality, healthcare, logistics, and service management. It offers numerous features that support employee management, including scheduling, engagement, and attendance.
Quinyx’s scheduling software maximizes staffing through data analytics, enables employees to self-schedule to boost job satisfaction, and provides full visibility into scheduling costs to manage businesses’ labor budgets. The platform also allows internal teams to communicate in the app through Qmail.
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ClockShark is a business management software solution that allows organizations to digitally manage shift schedules, track employee working hours, and monitor jobs and customers. The platform caters to construction and field service trades, landscaping companies, cleaning services, accountants and bookkeepers, and healthcare providers, among others.
ClockShark’s employee scheduling app enables businesses to easily create work shifts and automatically notify staff about updates. Workers can clock in and out from their in-app calendar as well as view complete job details.
ClockShark’s regular pricing plans start at $16/month, plus, $7/month/user. New subscribers may avail of a 50% discount for 6 months and a 14-day free trial.
Planday is a workforce management software solution that caters to sectors such as retail, leisure, hospitality, healthcare, hotels, and test and vaccinations. The platform provides users with weekly, bi-weekly, and monthly views of employee schedules and their corresponding salaries.
Business and employee data, such as demand patterns, employee skills and contracts, and industry regulations, are taken into account by Planday to intelligently create staff schedules. The online solution also provides other business management features, such as staff management, communications, and reporting on payroll and costs, among others.
Planday pricing plans start at €2.49/user/month with a 30-day free trial.
Buddy Punch is an employee management software platform that provides organizations with scheduling, time-tracking, and payroll plans. The platform’s scheduling plans already include time-tracking features, a user-friendly dashboard, and seamless integrations, among others.
Buddy Punch enables managers to create employee schedules, save and update templates, and automate staff management in timesheets. The online solution also allows for shift swapping and notifies staff of upcoming shifts and changes.
Buddy Punch’s pricing plans start at $2.99/user/month if billed annually and $3.49/user/month if billed monthly, plus a $19 base fee each month. All pricing plans include a free trial.
Zoho Workerly is an end-to-end temporary worker lifecycle management software for staffing agencies. The online business solution enables managers to handle temp schedules with visibility and flexibility on both the employer’s and employees’ sides.
Organizations can create employee schedules and track time spent on each job. New jobs are matched with available and qualified temps, who may have the option to accept or reject assigned jobs. Meanwhile, the Temp Portal displays assigned jobs, task details, and customer information.
Zoho Workerly offers a monthly plan that starts at $59/25 temps/month and an annual plan that starts at $52/25 temps/month. The online solution also offers a Forever Free Plan, which can support up to five temps and two active jobs. It also includes temp scheduling features and timesheet management.
HotSchedules, which merged with Fourth in 2019 to establish Fourth Enterprises in 2020, is an employee scheduling software solution that allows users to conveniently create schedules based on sales forecasts and industry regulations. The platform claims to be the most widely adopted online scheduling and time management solution in the industry of hospitality.
HotSchedules allows managers to approve shift transactions easily, message teams and notify entire stores, and create schedules quickly with templates. Employees may trade, accept, and release shifts depending on their availability. The online solution also integrates schedules with Google Calendar and allows workers to punch in and out and view their salaries with Time & Attendance.
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Playvox WFM is an AI-powered workforce management software solution that offers capacity-planning, forecasting, and scheduling features. The platform may be fit for contact centers and customer service teams as it provides a centralized view of all agents and channels.
Playvox WFM enables businesses to create schedules, forecast, and maintain compliance with company and industry regulations. The online solution also supports integrations with other business software tools, including Zendesk, Salesforce, and Kustomer.
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Shiftboard is an employee scheduling software that offers features such as schedule automation, worker engagement, change engagement, coverage optimization, labor-demand planning, and leave and timesheet management.
Shiftboard provides secure web and mobile app access and integrates with other business solutions via flat-file, open API, and in-app packages. The platform also enables employees to trade, accept, and reject new shifts based on their availability and allows managers to distribute overtime work fairly based on past employee data.
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Avaza is a work management software that offers different solutions such as project resource scheduling, project management, team chat, online timesheets, and expense management, among others. The platform’s resource scheduling solution gives managers a single interactive view of employee availability and data.
Aside from schedule creation, Avaza also enables users to easily reschedule and reassign jobs with its drag-and-drop feature. The platform also includes employee management tools, such as the availability bar, the search bar, and the color coding of different project types.
Avaza offers a free plan while paid plans start at $11.95.
OpenSimSim is an employee scheduling and time clock solution that caters to healthcare, restaurants, education, security, and veterinary services, among others. The online solution provides a weekly view of employee schedules, which inform and optimize labor costs and budgets. Team communications are also maintained via group chats and staff are notified of upcoming shifts.
OpenSimSim can be accessed and viewed in a single platform on any device. It also integrates with other online business solutions, such as Heartland Payroll, Payroll Systems, and ADP Workforce Now, among other platforms. Businesses are also assured of compliance with internal policies and labor laws.
OpenSimSim offers a free plan with basic features and paid plans that are billed monthly and annually. Monthly plans start at $15.99/month/location while annual plans start at $12.99/month/location.
AttendanceBot is an employee management software solution that caters to software and IT, consulting, healthcare, agencies, law firms, and nonprofit organizations. The online solution includes employee scheduling, time-tracking, and absence management features.
AttendanceBot utilizes a user-friendly dashboard where managers may plan weekly, fortnightly, or monthly shifts. Users also get a view of employee availability and shift changes, which managers may handle on Slack or MS Teams. The online solution also produces payroll reports and downloadable timesheets based on employee schedules.
AttendanceBot offers a 14-day free trial with monthly plans starting at $6/user/month and annual plans starting at $4/user/month.
The employer-employee relationship must be strengthened to be able to consistently deliver quality products and services to clients and customers. One essential way to maintain a professional working relationship that benefits all stakeholders of an organization is by respecting everyone’s time.
Investing in elite online business solutions, such as project management software tools, will certainly pay off when coupled with ethical company standards and personal values. Deciding on the best scheduling software depends on the unique circumstances of businesses and, thus, rests in their hands.
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by Imed Bouchrika, Phd
