No matter what business you’re in, the holidays can be a real challenge. For some, such as those in retail, the holidays are the busiest time of the year, and the pressure to generate sales is fierce. Unfortunately, many employees aren’t enthusiastic about working during the holidays, and may ask for untimely days off. For other businesses, however, the holidays are generally a slow time with customers and clients taking time to spend time with family.
Whatever the industry, the end of year provides employers an opportunity to do some workforce management analysis, as well as valuable long-term planning.
Time tracking during the holiday season
If you don’t already have Timesheet Mobile in place, this Holiday season presents a great opportunity to get set up. Tracking employee hours over the next few weeks will give you a sense of the how much manpower you need during the slower times of the year. Managing erratic hours – at the Holidays and otherwise – becomes much less complicated with the employee scheduling app, included with our software. Plus, we now offer the option of scheduling paid time off for employees.
With a reliable employee timecard app, you can not only track employee hours, but also easily conduct long-term analysis of employee work trends. How much time did employees spend interacting with customers during the week before Christmas last year? Would it be advantageous to give them some of that time off this year? Establishing an accurate time tracking process takes the guesswork out of scheduling for these periods each year.
Encourage vacation
If the holidays are a slow time for your business, encourage your employees to that take time off. If it makes sense, employees may even want to incentivize workers to take time off during the holidays by offering them an extra day off – between Thanksgiving and New Year’s, for instance.
Plan ahead
Start thinking about holiday work schedules as early as possible. Hold a short meeting in early Fall to get a sense of employee availability around Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc. Use the Timesheet Mobile employee scheduling app to navigate these requests and staff accordingly.
Reward those who want to work
Depending on your budget and your workforce, offering time-and-a-half or double pay on Holidays might be very appealing to some employees. While most workers might prefer to be off, some look forward to the opportunity to make extra money during the Holidays. Monetary incentives may be the solution to staffing up during a time when many employees want to wind down.
Preparing for the new year
The end of the year is an ideal time to do a comprehensive review of employee hours. If you’ve already implemented an employee time tracking system, spend some time analyzing the hours and identify any patterns that suggest a need for change.
Which employees are consistently racking up more overtime and why? Why are some leaving the geofenced area multiple times throughout the day? These questions can lead to productive conversations with employees and create a better understanding of expectations in the year ahead. This is also a good time to discuss any proposed schedule changes. Use this opportunity to show workers the Timesheet Mobile employee scheduling app on their phone. Demonstrate how they can view their schedules at a glance and get reminders to punch in and out for their scheduled shifts.
Now is the time to reflect on the past year and make assessments – identity what worked and recognize what failed. Be open to change and willing to implement the necessary tools that will set up your business for a prosperous year ahead.
