5 Best Employee Scheduling Software for Business in 2022

Work related to employee scheduling might be tough. How you schedule your employees is connected to issues such as overstaffing, understaffing, absenteeism, and burnout, all of which can have a significant influence on the bottom line of your company. To your relief, employee scheduling software may alleviate some of your burdens while simultaneously involving your workers in the scheduling process, so boosting morale and enhancing productivity.

Table of Contents

1 Which Software Do You Use for Labor Scheduling?
2 What is the Best Software to Make a Schedule?
3 How Do I Make an Employee Schedule?

Which Software Do You Use for Labor Scheduling?

The smooth operation of your firm is directly correlated to how well you organize the schedules of your employees. Nevertheless, regardless of how large or small your team is, it may be challenging to coordinate everyone’s schedules at the same time. However, you don’t have to do it by hand if you don’t want to.

You need to seek the assistance of software in order to schedule your employees. Work schedule conflicts can be avoided, and access to improved work processes can be gained, with the help of professional employee scheduling software.

What is the Best Software to Make a Schedule?

The most effective employee scheduling software ensures that you have the appropriate personnel present at the appropriate time and location. In addition to this, it ensures that your staff will have a more balanced work schedule, which will result in reduced employee burnout and turnover.

How Do I Make an Employee Schedule?

We have produced a list of the five finest employee scheduling software programs to make it easier for you to set schedules for your staff. You can identify the staff scheduling software that is most suitable for your needs based on the functions, features, and benefits it offers.

MakeShift

MakeShift is a cloud-based online and mobile employee scheduling software that enables businesses to create, maintain and communicate staff schedules in less time while eliminating the headaches associated with manual methods that are archaic and prone to error. The software can be accessed via the internet or mobile devices.

MakeShift was established in 2014 with the primary goal of resolving issues associated with the scheduling of nurses. It made it possible for managers to establish efficient schedules based on the availability of their employees, predicted budgets, and a template that was specifically designed for that purpose. The mobile app gave employees the ability to take ownership of their schedule by providing real-time updates, the ability to exchange shifts with one another and drop shifts, as well as the ability to manage their time off directly from their smartphone.

Since then, MakeShift has broadened its scope to include the provision of help for businesses of varying sizes operating in retail, hospitality, fitness and leisure, golf, healthcare, and other areas.

Key Features

MakeShift simplifies the process of hiring new employees and maintaining the ones you already have by granting them greater flexibility over their work hours. The following are some of the elements that we researched and found to be directly helpful in reducing absenteeism and employee turnover:

Accessible schedule anytime and anywhere: MakeShift is an app available for iOS and Android that maintains accurate schedules for your employees. It is an excellent way for employees to check their schedule and receive updates about adjustments as they fill unfilled shifts, subscribe to their preferred calendar app, and see who they will be working with on any given day. In addition, it allows employees to check who they will be collaborating with on any given day.
Availability and time-off: Employees are able to register their preferred availability, which will let you know when they are available to work, and make vacation requests directly from their mobile devices.
Available shifts: Because it is so simple for staff members to sign up for open shifts, the feature known as “availability shifts” makes it possible for you to avoid having any empty spots in your schedule.
Shift exchange: Because work/life balance is vital, MakeShift provides a few tools to help employees have greater control over their schedules. Shift exchange is a function that allows coworkers to trade and cover each other’s shifts rapidly.
Time and attendance: The time clock software provided by MakeShift comes with an app that enables geo-fenced clocking in and clocking out. This gives employees the ability to record their hours worked from the convenience of their own cellphones.
The experience of the Manager is the other side of the coin when it comes to scheduling. Creating timetables, frantically searching for replacements at the last minute, and keeping everyone updated on changes in real time can be very taxing. If not handled properly, this can have a significant negative effect on the profitability of a business. The capabilities that are available in the Manager section of MakeShift appear to have been developed expressly to meet the requirements of front-line managers and schedulers.
PeopleFirst scheduling: MakeShift’s PeopleFirst design philosophy makes the platform very user-friendly, which is something that we really like. Managers are able to develop schedules that are more realistic by taking into account factors such as the availability of the workforce, labor budgets, task needs, and so on, and by rapidly building their schedules using optimal schedule templates.
MakeShift Live app: The online scheduling software that is provided by MakeShift may now be accessed on your smartphone thanks to the MakeShift Live app for managers. On the go, you will always be able to know who is working, who is running late, and who is reachable thanks to this system.
Time, attendance, and payroll: Maintain accurate timekeeping by requiring employees to punch in and out at the beginning and end of each shift, as well as during breaks. You also have access to certain policies about holiday pay and overtime compensation. Timesheets may be approved quickly and easily, and then exported right away for payroll.
Flexible team communication: The online employee scheduling software provided by MakeShift ensures that all staff members and managers are utilizing the same information at the same time. The shifts that are scheduled, as well as availability and other information, are kept up to date in real-time and are accessible through the use of the online scheduling software and/or mobile app. You also have the option to configure individualized notifications, which will allow you to be informed whenever anything is updated.
Swift approvals: The MakeShift Live app notifies managers anytime employees make requests for time off, requests to pick up open hours, or requests to exchange shifts. It also allows managers to swiftly accept these requests from their mobile devices.

Pros

The MakeShift user interface makes it easier to set up, create schedules, switch shifts, and talk to each other.
By letting employees enter their availability, the Preferred Availability feature cuts down on the time it takes to fill open shifts.
Teams can work better when they can talk to each other right away.
Rules about fatigue help keep workers from getting too tired and let them know when they will be working extra hours.
Deep integration with HR and payroll providers like ADP, BambooHR, AllianceHCM, and
QuickBooks helps keep payroll free of mistakes.
It has great customer service, and you get a dedicated rep for as long as you keep your account, which is pretty rare in the business.
Simple per-employee pricing where you only pay for what you use. No bulk seat packages/license purchases or locked features. For the price you pay, you get everything you need.

Cons

No freemium version, but the pricing models are affordable

If you want to try out MakeShift, you can do so for free for 14 days. You don’t need a credit card to sign up.

ScheduleAnywhere

ScheduleAnywhere is a simple but all-inclusive software for scheduling employees. It automates the timing process, which saves time and money and improves teamwork and efficiency. ScheduleAnywhere is easy to use and has simple features that are easy to learn, so your work goes more smoothly.

This employee schedule software makes sure that all shifts are covered, prevents scheduling conflicts, estimates payroll costs, keeps track of certifications and training, and handles shift rotations, employee availability, overtime, and requests for time off.

You can also use the app or mobile site to see and manage employee requests and staff schedules no matter where you are. Or, you could check the schedule to see who is or isn’t there and make any last-minute changes.

The interface and tools for ScheduleAnywhere are so easy to use that you’ll be up and running in no time. Just sign in, and you can start making and managing your schedules right away. Make a schedule for each of your sites or teams by putting them in order by their roles, shifts, or areas of expertise.

It also makes it easy for workers to ask for time off, extra shifts, and other changes to the calendar. You could also get automatic notifications when workers make requests and when you accept or reject them.

Key Features and Benefits

Employees can make their own schedules.
Makes a report for your boss’s
Employee schedules are posted, moved, changed, or filled.
Made it possible for employees to communicate with self-scheduling
Accessible via app

WorkSchedule.Net

WorkSchedule.Net is one of the best ways to keep everyone on your team on the same platform. It’s easy for all staff to get to, and they can see changes as they happen. The app’s unique time block editor is the only one of its kind that can set up three layers of schedules at once.

The interface is simple but powerful, with automated tools that let you schedule around staff availability within maximum hours and much more. If you let them, employees can even switch shifts or sign up for shifts that are open. Your workers can get alerts and reminders when their schedules change.

WorkSchedule.Net can also keep track of how often your employees show up to work. A time clock lets people sign in and out. This lets them make their timesheets without using paper. Also, this employee scheduling software makes it easy to handle requests for paid time off because it lets you handle the requests. This makes sure that every time off request is put on the schedule.

Key Features and Benefits

Organizes the work of employees
Software for planning shifts
Automatically keeps track of attendance, edits calendar view, and makes notes about schedules to keep things from getting mixed up.
Plans for taking time off
Lets workers make their own schedules
It lets you and your employees know what’s going on.
Available in mobile app

Deputy

Deputy is one of the best pieces of software for managing a workforce. Its software for planning and keeping track of time is thorough and saves time. It’s also the best when it comes to connecting to other company systems, since it works with over 35 payroll, POS, and accounting programs.

You can put the right people in the right jobs and in the right places on the right shift. Fill shifts quickly, taking into account the cost, training, and availability of staff. With this software, you can say goodbye to paper timesheets that get all tangled up. Employees just punch in and out to make a digital timesheet that is correct.

You can make it easy for workers to keep track of their real hours and breaks. Employees just use a tablet, PC, or phone at work to clock in and out, which makes an automatic record. You also get compliance with wage and hour laws. With simple guardrails and automation, you can help protect your firm from regulatory concerns.

Deputy is also a software for scheduling retail employees that can predict when demand will be high and when it will be low so that the right number of people are working. It lets you keep the right level of service while keeping labor costs in check, whether you’re scheduling shop assistants or people who work in the order fulfillment department.

Key Features and Benefits

Schedules workers for each job and cuts down on manual work
Has a time clock app to make it easier to clock in and out. Keeps track of time and schedules shifts.
Works with third-party apps to help you get more done.
Fair labor regulations are followed

Workforce

Workforce scheduling software has a lot of useful features that can help your business reach new heights. Its 24-hour scheduling tool lets you make templates that you can use every time you make a work plan for your team. This can save you time because they won’t have to make a similar work schedule every week and month.

It also lets you see how much you are spending on labor, which lets you see how your cash flow is doing in real time. You can see how much you spend on labor per employee, team, or location every day or every week.

It also combines scheduling and attendance into a single system that operations, HR, and management can use. Frontline tools help managers make decisions about scheduling before they have to pay for staff, and real-time data shows executives how their operations are running.

The Workforce uses information about sales and shifts from the last few weeks to correctly predict future demand and make the best plan. It makes sure that the right person is on the schedule at the right time.

The Workforce is great software for making schedules for your employees because it sends information about them to your payroll system every 15 minutes. So, it’s easy to keep timesheets in sync every day.

Key Features and Benefits

Schedules workers based on urgent tasks and demands
It keeps track of who was there and helps managers get to operational processes.
Aids in making an effective work plan
Looks at how much money is spent on operations and what needs to be done and when.

To make your job more efficient, you need to be up-to-date. With employee scheduling software, you can save money and time by using just one app to schedule all of your workers.

If you use employee scheduling software like MakeShift, ScheduleAnywhere, Workschedule.Net, Deputy, and Workforce, you won’t have to worry about gaps in your business operations. You’re all set with these solutions, and they’re just a click away.