Whether your business operates in the real world or online, the chances are labor is your single biggest cost. If you can make your employee scheduling as efficient as possible, you can slash your company’s cost base — and boost your bottom line in the process.

Scheduling is always one of any manager’s most complex, time-consuming jobs. There are so many considerations to take into account, including employee preferences, contract information, the needs of the business and budgeting. Fortunately, employee scheduling software takes care of all this for you — helping your business to become more profitable in five different ways.

1. Maximizes Sales Opportunities

If your business is going to turn leads into sales, you’re going to need the right people in the right areas at the right time. The latest employee scheduling software assesses sales trends and forecasts future patterns. Using huge amounts of data, these sophisticated software packages can provide you with suggested schedules — ensuring you never miss out on business because of a lack of manpower.

2. Identifies Labor Overspend

Using projected sales data, scheduling software can identify times of the week where you’re using more labor than you need. While these instances may only last for an hour or two, overspending by just a few dollars every week can be very detrimental to your bottom line at the end of the financial year. Enter your scheduled hours into the system, and you’ll be able to see exactly where labor savings can be made without adversely affecting sales or customer service.

3. Saves Management Hours

Businesses that create staffing schedules manually are losing several management hours every week to the process. This is time that your senior team members should be spending with customers or devising sales strategies. Scheduling is an administrative job that involves math and data analysis, which is why sophisticated software packages are perfect for the job.

Scheduling involves lots of individual tasks, including forecasting sales, taking into account seasonal issues, managing budgets, staff preferences and much more. By switching to scheduling software, you can automate all of these processes and make better use of the key individuals in your team for driving both sales and various cost-cutting tasks.

4. Makes the Best Use of Available Resources

Your first priority when creating employee schedules is probably sticking to a budget. When things are tight, staff often get spread very thinly within a business. It is when labor is scarce that it needs to be used most effectively. Scheduling software considers many factors when creating schedules, including skill levels, geography, productivity and customer service. These functions are vital if your business is struggling to operate on its current labor budget.

5. Boosts Staff Morale

Employees often live complex lives — which can make scheduling even more complex. Medical appointments, family commitments, illness, vacation time and personal circumstances can dictate when and where employees can work. However, you can set scheduling software up to take care of all these issues. It’s also relatively easy to ensure that everyone gets the same treatment. All of these factors are crucial to maintaining a high level of morale among your employees.

Best of all, sophisticated shift scheduling software is free!

The post 5 Ways Shift Scheduling Software Can Grow Your Bottom Line appeared first on Homebase.