Top 5 Parenting Tips
by admin at 10:08 AM on February 6, 2012
parenting

How to Raise An App

As PeopleMatter anticipates the arrival of our third module (our first app, we are so excited!), PMI is taking the time to reflect upon the qualities we, as app-parents, would like to introduce in SCHEDULE.

Narrowing the list was difficult. As the company responsible for the app, we wish so many great things for SCHEDULE — success, efficiency, fame. But here are our Top 5 Parenting Tips for raising your app.

  1. Provide Great Content for Your App

    2. When raising a child, parents encourage education. In raising an app, app-parents are responsible for providing content. Good app-parents guarantee the information they provide is current, useful and relevant to the user. Equally important, great app content should be clear and concise — reducing the number of steps required to perform a task.

    In SCHEDULE, we provided the coding, the formulas and a foundation for greatness. Our app will learn from your input. Employees provide their availability, managers set constraints and it all comes together as SCHEDULE helps you build the most efficient schedules for your business.

  2. Raise Your App to be Easy-Going and Fun

    3. No one likes a difficult app. Being complicated, fickle and easy-to-break are real turn-offs. To ensure everyone wants to work with your app, make sure it’s user-friendly.

    SCHEDULE was designed as a download-and-go kind of app — simple, hassle-free and straightforward. As app parents, we want to raise SCHEDULE to be the kind of app that fits with anyone. We’re pretty sure it’s going to be the most popular app in the app store.

  3. Impress a Sense of Purpose on Your App

    4. It’s important to make sure your app gives back to its community. Each app is different and can contribute in its own individual way.

    As app-parents, we plan to guide SCHEDULE in helping service-industry businesses manage shifts more efficiently. SCHEDULE will quickly and easily create, share and manage schedules for today’s hourly workforce. We can’t wait for the day SCHEDULE enters the app store so we can tap our iPhones and say, “That’s our app.”

  4. Instill Good Time Management in Your App

    5. Time management is an important skill for anyone — or any app — to have. From planning ahead, to allocating, organizing and analyzing trends … your app should have the tools to make the workday flow more smoothly.

    SCHEDULE was developed to help hourly workforces manage shifts, stay connected and take control. Our app will help managers spend less time completing schedule-related tasks and more time focusing on customer service and operations.

  5. Inspire Personal Flair in Your App

    6. Never suppress individuality. What makes you stand out are the things that make you distinctive and innovative. So let your app reflect it’s own unique personality. Offer options to customize — add logos, change colors or create avatars.

    We know as app-parents it can be hard to let go. It’s scary to see your app get close to others and be influenced by outside sources. Sometimes you just have to step back and let users make your app their own. Giving your app space to grow lets it develop into a more productive, useful part of business.

    Proud Parents

    Having an app can shift the way you work forever. And in the end, the key to raising a good app is to believe in the app. We know that SCHEDULE is destined to make its mark in the service industry.

    Happy Parenting
    The PeopleMatter Institute
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Top 5 WORST Ways to Manage a Schedule
by admin at 11:33 AM on January 30, 2012
worst

A ‘What Not To Do’ Guide

Sure you know the basics of how to schedule, but no one’s perfect. According PMI’s “HR Technology in the Service Industry,” more than half of the companies surveyed find it challenging to match employee availability to shift coverage. There are good — and bad — methods to follow when building a schedule for your hourly workforce.

Here are some extreme examples of methods NOT to use when scheduling your employees.

The ‘Because I Said So’

If you build a schedule, look it over and prepare to tell someone on the team “to just deal with it” — there is a problem. This method is also known as the ‘Because I’m The Boss.’

Schedule flexibility is an important factor in recruiting today’s top talent; it also plays a key role in employee retention. Giving your team a voice in how their time is managed improves engagement, morale and your bottom line. Studies show companies whose employees are the most satisfied with scheduling flexibility, accessibility and technologies improve productivity 36 percent.

Not to imply that you can always build a schedule that makes everyone happy. However, with scheduling software you can respond to concerns by pulling data from online records. For example, “Well Bob, you didn’t turn in your availability for that week.” Or, “According to the system, if you have that shift you will be over your hours this pay period.” Step away from the ‘Because I Said So,’ and try an automated method.

The ‘Dart Method’

Running short on time, is not an excuse to throw some names on a piece of paper and call it a schedule. Sure, sorting through 12 team members’ availabilities and balancing it all out sounds tedious and dull. Just remember, mixing it up by putting names on a dartboard and throwing at random is frowned upon. (Not that you’d ever do that …. again.)

Lots of variables factor into a great schedule; from accurate coverage to balanced talent levels. Companies that are mindful of employees’ needs, worries and lives outside of work are more likely to build loyalty and increase retention — up to 120 percent for management-level staff.

So, quit tossing schedules together last-minute. Get an integrated scheduling program to help optimize your scheduling based on detailed analytics, like hour and labor-cost reports. Make the smart decision, and help your business save time and money.

The ‘Hide the Post’

Remember the time-honored game where you post the schedule on a bulletin board, then two days later it’s missing … or five people can’t seem to find it … or someone has made changes in pencil without telling you?

Paper schedule-distribution is like an inefficient guessing game. Did Bob come in and see it? Does Sue know that we posted it on the back wall this time? Has someone made changes they didn’t get cleared? Implementing an online scheduling system, that offers mobile accessibility, takes the guesswork out of distribution.

When the schedule posts, your team gets an automatic alert. Plus, mobile scheduling provides anytime, anywhere communication, so your employees can manage and coordinate changes on their own — and still keep you in the loop. Quit playing games and get the job done.

The ‘Favorites Game’

No one wants to be called ‘the teacher’s pet.’ But that doesn’t mean there isn’t one — and everyone resents the kid who gets preferential treatment. The same is true at work. You will always have stand-out employees, the type that stay late, always show up when you call and never complain about a tough day.

Wanting to do a favor for your top talent is natural … but it can build resentment in the team — toward you and that employee. TLNT’s John Hollon believes the top driver of strong employee engagement is the employee’s relationship with his/her supervisor. Damaging your relationship with your team at large is not worth making life a little easier for one team member.

Integrated talent management software helps managers create balanced schedules, ensuring employees see management in a positive light and feel more engaged. Which is good for your bottom line — according to a 2006 Conference Board study, highly engaged employees outperform disengaged colleagues by 20-28 percent.

The ‘What I’ve Always Done’

The service industry faces a generational disconnect between the executive, manager and frontline levels. The tech-savvy Gen Y and Millenials compose a large portion of service-industry employees. Service-industry management though, tends to consist of a more established generation that prefers manual methods.

How big is the generation gap? Pew Research foundMillennials engage in over 14 different internet activities, while those ages 65+ engage in mainly seven. Experienced service-industry managers and executives can become entrenched in manual methods that are adequate, but no longer the most efficient options.

It’s easy to say, “I’ve always had three people work that shift.” But, are you really looking at the facts? Are you sure that your business hasn’t grown beyond the past trends or that your busiest times haven’t shifted? Scheduling software can help you track current trends and plan around your most up-to-date business needs. Plus, according to Aberdeen research, automated scheduling systems increase management efficiency by more than 30 percent.

From WORST to BEST

Make the leap from ‘worst mistakes’ to ‘best practices’ in your business with automated scheduling solutions.

Happy ‘BEST’ing,
The PeopleMatter Institute
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Diary of …
by admin at 8:15 AM on January 23, 2012
Diaries

An Angry Service-Industry Employee

Ever wish you knew exactly what your employees were thinking? Wonder if your team is just as frustrated with paper scheduling processes as you are?

Read the following ‘diary’ entries for our first-hand account from the (disgruntled) frontline. From last-minute postings to last-minute no-shows, team members are just as fed-up with paper-process pitfalls as managers are. Then, take a page from our “Smiley Guy Solution Manual,” so your employees don’t have to fill one up with their frustrations.

Trading Shifts

Dear Diary,

I got to work for my lunch shift and *Jane* had called in sick. She hadn’t tried to fill the shift … she didn’t even tell us she wasn’t coming until 10 minutes after the shift started. My manager spent the next 15 minutes calling everyone to see who could fill her spot. No one could. Worst shift ever. If it happens again, I’m walking out.

Smiley Guy Solution: Two-thirds of companies surveyed in PMI’s 2011 “HR Technology in the Service Industry” found managing sick or absent employees a challenge — not surprising given 80 percent use paper or in-person processes to manage shift-change requests. Expecting sick employees to drag themselves out to your location to give you timely notice is unrealistic. And busy managers may not get a voicemail until it’s too late. Mobile scheduling allows employees to coordinate their own shift trades, so all managers have to do is approve the swaps. It’s faster, easier, and more efficient … and real-time mobile updates help eliminate last-minute surprises and no-shows.

Distribution

Yo Journal,

Totally forgot to check the schedule when *Frank* posted it last night. Which is BS — he scheduled me for Monday morning and posted it Sunday night. He knows I hate morning shifts. I didn’t know I was scheduled, so I didn’t go. He called and let me have it this morning, going on and on about how if I don’t make it when I’m scheduled, I’m fired. Forget that — I’ll quit before I let a jerk like *Frank* fire me when it’s his fault anyway.

Smiley Guy Solution: Eight out of 10 service-industry employers distribute schedules via BOH message boards or print-outs — requiring employees to come by or call in for their shifts. According to a PMI study, companies offering Web-based distribution report overall satisfaction levels one-third higher than those using notice boards and/or individual printouts methods. To increase efficiency, satisfaction and employee loyalty, push out schedules via a mobile app for real-time accessibility and control. Syncing schedules with smartphones means team members can connect their work lives to their everything-else lives — even when they’re on the go.

Availability

Monday, January 16, 2012:

*Jill* is targeting me because I’m the only middle-aged parent at this C-Store. She always manages to ‘not see’ my notes about needing to switch shifts until it’s too late. I’ve missed all of my daughter’s soccer games. My family comes first, so maybe it’s time I find an employer that better understands that balance.

Smiley Guy Solution: Work/life balance is an important factor in attracting top-notch talent. Most managers find matching shift coverage with employee availability to be a challenge. Availability issues can also be a touchy subject; employees may take them as a personal affront. Online solutions help ensure fair scheduling practices by automatically organizing time-off requests and controlling specific rules and preferences. Employees feel respected, and employers can take any accidental biasness and overlooks out of the equation. In fact, companies whose employees are satisfied with their schedule-flexibility report retention rates 9 percent higher than companies with dissatisfied teams.

Under and Over-Scheduled

*Sam’s* Blog

Sorry dudes — I’m broke. That’s right, I’m not making it out this weekend, because my manager can’t add up my hours. Last week she over-scheduled me then went all postal about the overtime. Guess this week she ‘fixed’ it, because I had half the hours I normally do. No hours = no money = no fun. Sucks. Once school starts back, I’m blowing this popsicle stand.

Smiley Guy Solution: Inefficient scheduling doesn’t just hurt your bottom line or customer service; it also hurts your workforce morale. According to Aberdeen research, automated scheduling systems can reduce unplanned overtime by 21 percent and increase management efficiency by more than 30 percent. Additionally, companies with the highest levels of scheduling accuracy experienced 31 percent greater engagement levels than those with lower accuracy rates. Stop the paper battle, and start the healing process with automated scheduling.

Under Lock and Key

Don’t become a dark page in your employees’ work histories — unlock the secrets to scheduling satisfaction with an online labor management system.

Happy Chronicling,
The PeopleMatter Institute
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8 Steps to Quitting Your Paper Habit
by admin at 9:42 AM on January 13, 2012
QuitPaper

How to Achieve a Healthy Scheduling Process

Ever had a bad habit you just couldn’t kick? From nail biting to cigarette smoking, we’ve all been there in some way. In the service industry some of the toughest habits to break include hiring based on ‘your gut,’ blaming turnover only on your team and managing your scheduling via paper.

An Industry Epidemic

Are you suffering from paper scheduling? Do you sometimes jot down employees’ availability on a napkin — and lose it? Do you find yourself scribbling out shift changes on the BOH board? You’re not alone. Studies show most service-industry businesses use paper processes at some stage in their operations.

In order to quit, you need to re-learn how to complete all of your scheduling tasks without paper. Kicking the habit might not be easy for life-long addicts — some managers use a pack of paper every week, but doing so will improve the health of your bottom line and will stop wasting your time, money and talent. (Don’t believe us? Just ask “No Go” Trader Jose.)

The 8-Step Program

It’s not a “paper-and-ink” patch, but we’re pretty sure our “8 Steps” can help you quit cold turkey.

  1. Admit you have a paper problem. Recognize that your desk has become unmanageable, your team is disgruntled with last minute calls and you’re losing the shift battle. The first step toward ROI recovery is admitting you have a problem.
  2. Make a list of reasons why you quit. I will save time and money. I will increase customer satisfaction. I will reduce turnover. Write down whatever your reasons are, and — until you’re automated — keep the list on you at all times.
  3. Accept that you can’t do this alone. Find the online scheduling solution for your specific needs. One that understands your hourly workforce and provides the support you need to remove paper methods.
  4. Admit your past shortcomings. Rebuild relationships with everyone your habit hurt. Let employees who were over-scheduled, under-scheduled or scheduled last-minute know it won’t happen again with your new online scheduling system. Share your regret and move forward.
  5. Set your quit date. Pick a day that doesn’t have additional stress — avoid the busy holidays or days managers are on vacation. Also, pick a day that’s not too that far away; don’t let automation become something you just keep putting off.
  6. Get rid of paper temptations. Eliminate the things in your life that encourage unhealthy behaviors or remind you of your addiction … goodbye paper calendars and time-off request sheets. Hello smartphones, tablets and laptops.
  7. Make the switch. Take a few minutes each day to work with your new processes. In no time, you’ll be creating schedules weeks in advance, running key-metrics reports automatically and approving shift swaps from your smartphone.
  8. Pass the knowledge along. Now that you’ve kicked the habit, share these steps to help fellow service-industry businesses that are suffering from paper processes.

    9. Still Pining for Paper?

    Not sure you’re ready to move forward? See the numbers paper companies don’t want you to see. Get the latest stats on service-industry scheduling and a comprehensive comparison of automated and manual methods from the trusted industry watchdog, PMI.

    And don’t forget the Smiley Guy’s warning, “Failure to eliminate or reduce paper processes can lead to severe service-industry side effects, including wasted time and increased costs. Long-term paper use can lead to turnover and workforce disengagement." Automating scheduling processes is the single most effective step managers can take toward improving the accuracy and quality of their operations.

    Happy Stepping,
    The PeopleMatter Institute
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