None of us can argue that we do not live in a mobile-first world. From using our mobile devices for photo sharing at home to collaborating with colleagues via Slack in the workplace, we are all never far from our smartphones. In the workplace, mobile devices are greatly beneficial, and they are even changing the way we work. This is especially the case when considering shift work. Industries, such as hospitality, healthcare, and retail have seen the most change when considering the presence of mobile devices. However, they can also take the most benefit from them. Here are five ways that smartphones are reshaping shift work for the better through mobile workforce management software:
The Benefits of Mobile Devices When Managing Shift Work
Non-Exempt Employees May Benefit the Most
Perhaps the greatest benefit will go to non-exempt employees. These shift workers can use their mobile devices for everything from clocking in and out and accessing their schedules to swapping shifts. They can see their hours for the week, submit a time-off request, and even interact with management. This is done directly from an app on their mobile phone.
You will quickly see that employees love employee self-service features, no matter what type of industry you work in. For example, they can see their schedules in advance, which helps them to quickly plan personal time off. If you have ever worked as a non-exempt employee, yourself, you know that it can be frustrating to find out if you have to work on a particular day or time.
In this case, if an employee was interested in finding out their schedule, they had to call or wait until they go into work. With this, however, it only takes a moment for them to see the schedule, and they can do so from any mobile device.
Employee-Employer Communication is Also Greatly Improved
Speaking of interacting with management, mobile workforce software enables employees and employers to communicate. This is important with workers who work shifts because there are certainly times when a manager might not be working at the same time as their employee.
For instance, if a retail worker tends to work first shift and opens the store, the store manager, who might work nights, would rarely, if ever, fully have a chance to interact with that particular employee.
With this software, employers and employees can interact in a way that they have never been able to before.
HR Managers Also Benefit With This Software
As you might imagine, there are also great benefits to the HR department when introducing mobile management software. For instance, imagine that you are the HR manager of a construction company and there are several shifts of workers that you are managing. How do you do it?
In the old days, you might have kept spreadsheets or had to refer to your scheduling software to get a glance of an employee schedule. With this software, however, you not only have access to every schedule, you also have access to other information on the move. This saves time and productivity hours for you, too.
Easier Shift Scheduling
Another major benefit of using workforce management software is when scheduling shifts. If you have ever had the task of scheduling shifts for your staff, you know that there are certainly frustrations that come with it. Many of these frustrations are things of the past, however, when you begin to utilize new software.
There is no question that shift scheduling can be difficult. This is especially the case when you have employees who require time off, workers who can only work certain days, or when you anticipate that you need a larger workforce than normal. With this software, however, this information is already entered into the system by the employee or even yourself.
What does this mean? It means the end of the struggle to go back and forth from one program to another. It also means the end of the frustrations that often come with shift scheduling.
More Effective Mobile Workforce Management
Finally, you will find that this software makes mobile workforce management much more effective. Let’s imagine, for a moment, that you are the HR manager for a mobile workforce, such as a construction team. The employees that you manage don’t necessarily have a central location to go to when clocking in, clocking out, or checking the schedule.
Though, it’s possible that there is a trailer or other structure on site where staff can view schedules or make time-off requests, wouldn’t it be easier if they could do all of this from their mobile device? Also, it would be much easier for you and your management team to handle the administrative tasks that are associated with scheduling and other admin tasks.
As you can see, introducing smartphone apps into the way you manage your workforce can greatly benefit your organization at every level. This is especially the case when dealing with a mobile workforce or when managing non-exempt shift employees.
