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There are many reasons why some businesses end up in the red. Maybe the owner didn’t put in enough time managing his own business. Maybe there wasn’t a marketing plan to promote the business. Maybe the wrong employees were in charge. For the most part, the loss of profits tends to be the result of making wrong decisions and wasting time. What does good roster planning have to do with making your business better?
Productivity and efficiencies can significantly impact your business, and these are generally driven by the kind of workforce you’ve invested in. So you’ll want to hire the best people for the best jobs. But making good use of talented people on your staff requires knowing when to use them for which shifts. For instance, you can’t, in good conscience, keep using the same group of employees in consecutive shifts because then your best workers may experience fatigue-related illnesses.
When your best people can’t come in for work you risk crippling your staff, which could leave you understaffed during busy operational hours. For businesses involved in the hotel and restaurant industry, understaffed shifts can lead to substandard service, to customers complaining and, in the most extreme outcome, a damaged reputation for the establishment.
A good roster plan (or employee shift schedule) ensures that each shift has enough employees to keep things running smoothly and efficiently. A good employee schedule also prevents anyone from getting into an accident at work because of exhaustion, which means your roster plan can also be reinforced to keep your employees safe and healthy. A great employee shift schedule also prevents disorganisation and wastefulness.
Another good reason to create a good roster plan is to determine whether you’ve got underperforming employees, and whether such poor performances have anything to do at all with their skills and training or that it simply is a matter of poor scheduling. Some employees might be better suited for the night shift while others for day or mid shift. The ideal roster design can enable you to spot any issues that generate problems for certain shifts and, consequently, for your business.
When staff shifts meet the needs of your business, you maximise your resources and significantly improve your day-to-day operations, both of which will always translate into better profits. So what does a good roster plan have to do with making sure your business stays in the black? Everything.
