Auto scheduling allows you to schedule shifts to match demand forecasts. During this scheduling process, we place shifts on the best days, during the best times, and assign those shifts to the best-suited performer to maximize the business. Save time and make more money!
How Auto Scheduling Works:
Shifts are automatically assigned to employees while taking into account all of the following;
Your store hours.
The time required to open and close the store.
How many hours each employee can work each week and each day.
The business pattern in this store throughout the week, and each hour.
Who your top performers are.
Employee unavailability and scheduled days off.
Any scheduling requirements like breaks or mandatory coverage rules.
From there, with just the click of a button, Shiftlab takes all of the above into consideration and builds the best possible performance and sales based schedule!
Frequently Asked Questions:
Q. Are store hours already accounted for in scheduling automation?
A. Yes, we take into consideration store hours when auto-generating a schedule.
Q. Will openers and closers be auto-scheduled to come in early and stay late?
A. Yes, not only do we take into consideration store hours, but we also factor in the amount of time needed for an opening and closing shift. This is a setting that is configured for each store (i.e., the opening shift comes in 15-minutes prior to a store opening, and a closer stays 30 minutes after a store closing).
Q. Will there always be someone scheduled in my store?
A. Yes, unless configured otherwise by company admin, we will always have at least one person working at all times while the store is open.
Q. How are breaks configured?
A. This is also a rule-based setting that is custom configured for each company (i.e., for all shifts over 6 hours, auto-apply a 30-minute break). The auto-scheduler will apply breaks during the slowest times of the day.
Q. Can I make changes to an automated schedule?
A. Yes, you are able to make changes to an automated schedule after it’s been built.
Q. How do I schedule floating employees?
A. For floating employees, we recommend completing their schedule in their primary store, or the store that needs them most. From there, when you head to their secondary location, auto-build will build around their existing shifts in other stores, finishing their schedule.
Q. Will the employee scheduling preferences be factored into auto scheduling?
A. Currently, Shiftlab will schedule around PTO and Days Off. If there is a specific window in the day, like the employee can't work after 3PM, we recommend auto-building and then just tweaking their shift once!
Q. How does automation account for vacation/time-off requests?
A. You’ll want to follow your internal process for employees to request time off, with the request and approval occurring outside of Shiftlab. You’ll then want to just place the requested PTO (Paid Time Off) shift(s) in the weekly schedule as needed. If an employee is out for an entire week, or you’d like to exclude them from that week's schedule, just deselect that employee for which you’d like to auto-schedule. The auto-scheduler will work around manually entered PTO shifts and Days Off
Q. How often are top performers reviewed and how quickly will these performers be placed on the best schedule?
A. Top performers are reviewed with every sale that we get from your Point of Sale. For every sale that comes through, employees are re-ranked, so technically we are evaluating this at all times.
Q. I have a question about automation, who should I reach out to?
A. As always, the Shiftlab support team can be reached in-app via the chat feature. Feel free to contact us, we’d love to hear from you!