When temporary employees work varying hours, keeping track of their schedules can quickly become a challenge. Outdated scheduling tools can lead to missed shifts, too many bodies turning up for a shift or not enough, all of which can affect productivity and employee satisfaction. The solution lies in using a workshift appointments app that allows managers to track staff availability in real-time and streamline scheduling.
YouRecruit and the integrated WorkTracker mobile timesheet app provide a platform designed to make employee availability management simpler and more effective. By allowing employees to easily update their availability and submit timesheets on the spot, WorkTracker enables businesses to manage staffing needs more efficiently, improving both operational performance and employee engagement.
The Importance of Managing Employee Availability
For businesses that rely on flexible, part-time, or temporary staff, effective management of employee availability is essential to maintaining smooth operations. Inaccurate scheduling or poorly managed availability can lead to several issues:
- Overstaffing or Understaffing: As already discussed, if managers don’t have real-time access to availability, they may end up scheduling too many or too few employees for a shift, both of which impact service levels and profitability.
- Missed Shifts: Without proper visibility of who is available, businesses may experience employees not showing up for their scheduled shifts or being unable to quickly find replacements, thus impacting on client relationships.
- Employee Dissatisfaction: Employees are more likely to be engaged when their work schedules align with their personal preferences. Poor availability management can lead to frustration, lower job satisfaction, and higher turnover.
An employee availability management tool like WorkTracker can solve these issues by providing a centralised platform for both managers and employees to track, update, and manage availability efficiently.
Key Features of WorkTracker
WorkTracker offers several key features that make it ideal for enhancing employee availability management. From real-time updates to streamlined scheduling, WorkTracker helps organisations stay tuned and ensure that staffing levels match operational needs.
1. Real-Time Availability Tracking
One of the primary features of WorkTracker is the ability for employees to update their availability in real time. Rather than relying on outdated or manual scheduling methods, employees can instantly mark themselves as available or unavailable based on their schedules or personal needs.
- Employees can access the app anytime to make changes to their availability.
- Managers can view up-to-the-minute availability, allowing them to make timely decisions about scheduling.
- This real-time availability tracking reduces the chances of double-booking or missing critical shifts such as those found in healthcare.
With real-time updates, managers can ensure that shifts are always filled with the right people at the right time, optimising staffing without overburdening the team.
2. Mobile Timesheet Integration
WorkTracker integrates timesheet functionality with the employee availability management process. This means that after each shift, employees can submit their timesheets on the spot, reducing administrative errors and the potential for discrepancies.
- Employees no longer need to wait until the end of the week to log hours; they can submit them immediately after each shift.
- Timesheets are automatically synced with scheduling data, ensuring that hours worked match available shifts.
- The app also helps track overtime, breaks, and other compliance-related information, making it easier for businesses to align with mandatory employment laws.
With integrated timesheet and availability management, organisations can ensure that employee pay is accurate and on time while reducing manual data entry.
3. Pre-Assigned Shifts
Pre-assigning shifts in advance is another feature of WorkTracker that enhances employee availability management. Managers can allocate shifts based on employee preferences and availability, which helps prevent scheduling conflicts and improves overall workforce efficiency.
- Employees receive notifications about their assigned shifts ahead of time, allowing them to plan accordingly.
- This feature reduces the need for last-minute shift changes and ensures that staffing levels are appropriate for peak business hours.
- It also helps with workforce planning by ensuring the right number of employees are scheduled at the right time.
Pre-assigned shifts help streamline scheduling processes and reduce the stress of last-minute changes.
4. Customisable Notifications
Keeping employees informed is critical when managing their availability and schedules. WorkTracker allows managers to send customisable notifications to employees, providing real-time updates about their shifts, availability, and any changes to the schedule.
- Employees receive reminders about upcoming shifts and changes to their schedules as well any timesheet notifications.
- Notifications help employees stay on top of their work commitments and minimise the chances of missed shifts.
- Managers can also send out urgent notifications to alert staff about last-minute changes or open shifts.
With customisable notifications, WorkTracker ensures that communication between managers and staff remains clear and timely, which leads to better coordination and fewer scheduling issues.
5. In-App Calendar for Easy Scheduling
The WorkTracker app features an integrated calendar that helps both managers and employees track shifts and availability in a single place. The calendar provides a visual representation of timesheet status, scheduled shifts and employee availability making it easier to stay organised.
- Managers can see at a glance who is available and when, helping to quickly fill gaps in the schedule.
- Employees can view their upcoming shifts and mark their availability, ensuring there are no surprises.
This visual tool simplifies the scheduling process and ensures that employees’ availability is fully accounted for in shift planning.
6. Customisable Branding for Employee Engagement
WorkTracker allows businesses to customise the app with their own branding, making it more engaging for employees. By incorporating company logos and colours, businesses can create a seamless user experience that reinforces their brand identity.
- Custom branding adds a personal touch to the app, fostering a sense of pride and connection among employees.
- It also helps create a consistent brand experience across all platforms, improving engagement and increasing employee satisfaction.
Branded apps can increase employee buy-in and make using the platform a more cohesive experience.
Temp Manager: Streamlining Employee Availability Management
For businesses that rely on temporary or mobile employees, YouRecruit’s Temp Manager module provides an added layer of support for managing employee availability. Temp Manager allows consultants and administrators to monitor and adjust schedules, approve timesheets, and ensure workforce regulatory compliance.
1. Real-Time Staff Monitoring
Temp Manager provides real-time visibility into staff availability and scheduling across various teams or locations. With this tool, managers can easily track who is available, adjust schedules as needed, and ensure proper staffing levels for every shift.
2. Automated Timesheet Approvals
The Temp Manager module also simplifies timesheet management by automatically reviewing and approving timesheets submitted through WorkTracker. This feature ensures that timesheet data is accurate and complies with business rules before it’s sent for payroll processing.
3. Compliance Tracking
Temp Manager automatically tracks hours worked, breaks, overtime, training and certification, helping businesses stay aligned with legal requirements.
Why Employee Availability Management Matters
Efficient management of employee availability directly impacts business operations. By having accurate and up-to-date information on staff availability, managers can ensure that shifts are filled appropriately and avoid staffing shortages or surpluses. Properly managed availability improves workflow, increases productivity, and leads to higher employee satisfaction.
WorkTracker’s user-friendly interface, combined with real-time updates and mobile timesheet integration, makes employee availability management easier than ever. By ensuring that staff schedules are optimised, businesses can reduce costs, increase efficiency, and keep employees happy.
Conclusion
WorkTracker provides a comprehensive solution for managing employee availability and timesheet tracking. With its real-time updates, pre-assigned shifts, customisable notifications, and seamless integration with YouRecruit’s Temp Manager, WorkTracker streamlines the entire scheduling and availability process.
This integration not only enhances operational efficiency but also improves employee engagement and satisfaction. By empowering employees to manage their own availability and submit timesheets directly through the app, businesses can create a more organised, efficient, and responsive workforce.
As well as the WorkTracker branded timesheet app, the other YouRecruit core modules include Workforce compliance and Job board multiposting.
Temp Manager is the central administrative hub and contains many intuitive features perfect for employee availability management.
If you’re looking for a way to enhance employee availability management, improve scheduling accuracy, and simplify payroll, YouRecruit and WorkTracker, is an effective solution.
Contact us today to learn more about how YouRecruit and WorkTracker can transform the way you manage your workforce.