Is My Company Too Small For Online Employee Scheduling?

A month ago, I wrote a blog entry called "But Why ONLINE Employee Scheduling" which explored the many benefits cloud computing brought to your employee scheduling and workforce management. From dynamically updated data and virtually unlimited space, cloud computing provides convenient access to all of your information anywhere and anytime. 

For users of EMS Manager, FIRE Manager and Zanager, having their employee schedule and member database online means members can:

• submit availability
• trade or giveaway shifts
• submit time off requests
• sign up for open shifts 
• and even hold conversations over their own system-hosted forum 

whenever it is convenient for them and on nearly any Internet-enabled device.

Over 750 unique businesses and public safety agencies across the United States and Canada use an Aladtec system, ranging anywhere from 12 users to over 400 users, in one office or over 15 stations. I'm often asked what the typical size of our customer is and it's actually quite difficult to say. We have a diverse range of customers from volunteer services to large multi-location health providers who use our products in their own unique ways. 

As you're reading this, you may be saying to yourself, "it all sounds nice and it makes sense for large companies," but I'm here to say that you may be selling you and your business short. If your business has a flexible schedule and employees who work varied shift times, managing your employee scheduling online may make things as easy as they should be. If you find yourself spending more time than you can afford working on schedules, trying to get in contact with employees or juggling notes, emails and voicemails just to start putting together a schedule, consider managing all of that in one place. 

The obvious benefit of employee scheduling online is that you have access 24/7 and from anywhere. This means that even after you've left the office, you can work on the schedule from home without worrying about syncing files or any of that ancient nonsense. Or maybe you work multiple jobs. You'll now have the convenience of working on your other job's schedule from home - or during your lunch break ;-) 

But here's the more likely situation...you work at a small business where you're forced to wear many hats, one of which is putting the schedule together. By the time the work bell rings to go home, you haven't even begun to look at all the requests and notes to start working out the next schedule. So what do you do? Work late? Come in early? Bring everything with you and work on it at home? The question here you need to ask yourself is...

How much is your time worth to you?

Giving you and your employees a tool where everyone can help make this necessary evil easier is a better idea than you think. Imagine a system where your employees aren't emailing you, leaving you voicemail or random notes on your desk but rather submitting electronic requests in an easy to manage system. How much time is spent gathering information before you actually start working on the schedule? Having a system where all data is centralized and scheduling your staff can be as simple as clicking "approve" or "deny," not only saves time for you, it gets your staff involved. It makes for a better and more equitable work ecosystem complete with a digital paper trail. 

Why not give it a try? See how the time savings translates into cost savings. With Aladtec online employee scheduling systems, you get a satisfaction guarantee allowing you to cancel at any time during the first year. Don't keep telling yourself you can't afford it without really knowing how much a difference it will actually make in your operations. 

Three Weeks In...How Are Your New Year's Resolutions Coming Along?

Admit it. You're less than three whole weeks into 2012 and you've struggled with (if not completely failed) your new year's resolutions. You promised yourself you'd workout more but since everyone else has made the same promise to themselves, the gym you signed up for is overcapacity all the time. Healthy eating is another ambitious one...but when you're running late, drive-thru is just too convenient to pass up. And I know you promised yourself you'd spend more time with family, if even just a phone call to mom or dad, but admit it, nothing's on the calendar.

I'm not writing this to make you feel guilty or embarrassed but rather to encourage you. Most people pick challenging resolutions requiring a complete change in habit. Life changes take time but if you put in the hours, it'll pay dividends. 

Here's an idea...why not have team, group or department resolutions in the workplace? 

I had a great conversation with a friend the other day and he shared with me that his department at work decided to curb foul language and implement a "swear jar," which amassed wealth would benefit a yet to be determined charity. I wish them well - though I found it peculiar that if they were successful, there wouldn't be much to donate!

I thought about this wonderful idea further and wondered why departments don't (that I know of) set new year's goals for work efficiency? Instead of setting resolutions for things not to do, set things to do as a team. Here are some ideas I came up with relating a bit to what we do (online employee scheduling):

• Go for 100% online shift sign-ups, trades, time off requests, etc. No phone calls, no emails.
• Spelling! Maybe even go through your scheduling system and fix old typos.
• Keep employee data current.
• Start tracking time off accrual online.
• Take and upload employee photos for your employee database.
• Have every upcoming open shift filled by a set date of the month.
• Take two daily 15 minute breaks to do something team-building together.
• Utilize your system's online forum to have logged work discussion and conversation.
• Take advantage of the massive 200GB of online storage in your EMS Manager, FIRE Manager or Zanager system by putting all department files "in the cloud."
• Log in every day into your system.

Whatever system you use for employee scheduling, even if it's not one of our systems, decide as a team on how to be more productive. Challenge each other to stay organized and focused on work tasks. Warren Buffet once said, "Bad habits are like chains that are too light to feel until they are too heavy to carry." An effective system is a committed system, and a working system is a used system. 

Before cloud storage, I used to hear people say all the time that they lost their computer files and didn't have a backup. The idea of backing up your files has been around for a long time and some computer operating systems even have built-in software to back up your hard drive automatically. All you have to do is set it up. Point being, the system works - you just have to use it. 

Say it with me, the system works, I just need to use it. Encourage each other to take advantage of the tools you already have and develop good habits - you'll be surprised how much you can get done together.

*Special thanks to Big Thoughts from a Small Mind for the great picture.

Press Release: Ellington Volunteer Ambulance Corps Goes With EMS Manager For Their Employee Scheduling Needs

Ellington Volunteer Ambulance Corps (EVAC) Training Officer, Bruce Hoffman, shared a bit about how EVAC switched to EMS Manager from paper and spreadsheets for their employee scheduling. He felt it was a natural fit and said that:

“EMTs and paramedics lead dynamic lives and working around a static schedule just doesn’t work. We needed to make a switch from paper to electronic; as soon as we hit ‘print’ on a paper schedule, people started making changes and that schedule became obsolete. We needed one accessible schedule that remained up-to-date."

Only four months into using EMS Manager, EVAC, who started back in September 2011, is welcoming and embracing the switch. Hoffman said, "The initial setup [of EMS Manager] was easy and using it is a breeze. The program truly does what it is designed to do and we don’t know how we managed so long without it.”

Thanks to Bruce Hoffman and everyone at Ellington Volunteer Ambulance Corps for choosing EMS Manager for their workforce management. To read the entire press release, click here.

Tech Tip: Create and Save Member Database Layouts for Easy Access

When you use a productivity tool like EMS Manager, FIRE Manager or Zanager, you expect to do things faster, easier and on-demand. This tech tip may be for something you already use but if you don't, you're welcome!

The fully customizable member database allows you to catalog virtually any employee data you need. From contact information to certifications, time off accrual to equipment rental, and continuing education tracking to shift qualifications, the member database is your one stop shop for managing your employee information. And with access anywhere you have Internet, it's truly the only place you'd ever need to keep your valuable data.

But did you know that you can create and save different layouts for quick and rapid recall? 

Creating and saving layouts allows you to pull up only the data you want when you want it. Create a layout of just contact information or one of just continuing education. Whatever you need, pull up your saved displayed layout, and all data will be refreshed to reflect your most current data. Your information when you need it, as you need it.