Best Employee Scheduling Software

If you are seeking to invest in a smart and highly configurable Employee scheduling software that will help you with employee retention, controlling labor costs, optimizing the workforce, and transforming your business, then you are at the right place. Whether it is a workforce of 10 or 1000 employees, designing an optimal work schedule for all of them using the employee scheduling tool is very easy. The employee scheduling app comes power-packed with features such as employee schedule management, absence management, work shift management, time management, and payroll integration. Explore the following list of staff scheduling software, specially curated by GoodFirms that make creating, distributing, and implementing work schedules effortless.

Employee Scheduling Software

List of Best Employee Scheduling App | Best Staff Scheduling Software

  • QuickBooks Time

    Easily track time on the go

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    QuickBooks Time is proudly part of the QuickBooks family. Thousands of businesses use QuickBooks Time to track and manage employee time for payroll, invoicing, and scheduling. Millions of employees use QuickBooks Time for accurate timesheets and project tracking each day. QuickBooks Time is the best automated time tracking software for construction companies, landscaping businesses, small business... learn more about QuickBooks Time

    Entry Level Price
    $10 Per Month
    Free Trial
    30 Days
    20%

    Category Focus

    Employee Scheduling Software
  • HotSchedules

    The Right People, the Right Place, the Right Time

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    HotSchedules provides a cloud-based operating platform, as well as supporting solutions and services for the restaurant, retail, and hospitality industries. HotSchedules suite of products enables owners and operators to schedule employees across locations, track time and attendance, monitor business performance and manage day-to-day operations. With HotSchedules native mobile app, employees can ch... learn more about HotSchedules

    Entry Level Price
    Contact Vendor
    Free Trial
    30 Days
    25%

    Category Focus

    Employee Scheduling Software
  • Toggl Plan

    Simple work management for small teams

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    Easy-to-use visual planning tool for project management. Plan project steps on a colorful timeline and have a clear overview of when things need to be done. Use boards view to follow up on task statuses. Change of plans? The simple drag-and-drop interface makes flexible planning easy.... learn more about Toggl Plan

    Entry Level Price
    $9 Per Month
    Free Trial
    14 Days
    14%

    Category Focus

    Employee Scheduling Software
  • Connecteam

    Manage your employees from one place

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    Connecteam is the employee management app that connects everything a business needs from field to office, all in one place. In the click of a button, you can connect your staff, manage day-to-day operations, improve employee experience and engagement, and drive your business forward. ... learn more about Connecteam

    Entry Level Price
    Free version
    Free Trial
    Available
    25%

    Category Focus

    Employee Scheduling Software
  • Humanity

    The leading solution for cloud-based employee shift scheduling

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    Shift-based employees need to know where to be and when. They need to trade shifts. They need to request days off. And they need to do it all in real-time. Managers need an intuitive way to schedule employees and advise them of changes in real-time, and senior leaders need to keep an eye on labor costs and compliance risks. With Humanity, you’ll always have the right staff member—with the righ... learn more about Humanity

    Entry Level Price
    $3.5 Per Month
    Free Trial
    30 Days
    25%

    Category Focus

    Employee Scheduling Software
  • Ximble

    Flexible employee scheduling with precise time tracking.

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    Ximble is an online employee scheduling and time clocking software that can help you save money and time on reoccurring scheduling tasks. This solution is easy to use and versatile and can be used for both simple as well as complex tasks. ... learn more about Ximble

    Entry Level Price
    Contact Vendor
    Free Trial
    N/A
    50%

    Category Focus

    Employee Scheduling Software
  • When I Work

    Build the Work Schedule in Minutes.

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    When I Work was built to serve the employee scheduling and communication needs of workplaces across a wide range of industries. We make scheduling staff easy for coffee shops, restaurants, customer service departments, retail shops, colleges, healthcare organizations, nonprofits, and many, many other types of workplaces. If you have hourly employees, we can help make scheduling, communication, and... learn more about When I Work

    Entry Level Price
    $2.00 Per Month
    Free Trial
    14 Days
    20%

    Category Focus

    Employee Scheduling Software
  • Schedulefly

    Schedulefly is like a bottle opener for staff scheduling.

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    Like many restaurants we serve, we offer a simple product with just enough ingredients, incredible hospitality, and investment back into the community we serve. Amazing establishments like the ones below love Schedulefly. We'd be honored to serve you as well.We interview and record intimate conversations with our customers. These are amazing hospitality entrepreneurs that are the best at what they... learn more about Schedulefly

    Entry Level Price
    $30.00 Per Month
    Free Trial
    30 Days
    100%

    Category Focus

    Employee Scheduling Software
  • OptaPlanner

    Fast easy to use open source AI constraint solver for software developers

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    OptaPlanner is an open source AI constraint solver. It optimizes planning and scheduling problems, such as the Vehicle Routing Problem, Employee Rostering, Maintenance Scheduling, Task Assignment, School Timetabling, Cloud Optimization, Conference Scheduling, Job Shop Scheduling, Bin Packing and many more. Every organization faces such challenges: assign a limited set of constrained resources (emp... learn more about OptaPlanner

    Entry Level Price
    Free version
    Free Trial
    Available
    40%

    Category Focus

    Employee Scheduling Software
  • WorkSchedule.Net

    Employee Scheduling Software. Simplified.

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    The Leader in Online Employee Scheduling Software since 2000! Optimized Automatic Employee Scheduling, Availability, Time Tracking, Attendance & more! With our easy-to-use but powerful employee scheduling software, you can schedule all of your employees in the cloud with ease. Our best-in-class automation features can schedule around employee availability, within maximum hours, and much more. Emp... learn more about WorkSchedule.Net

    Entry Level Price
    $27 Per Month
    Free Trial
    30 Days
    100%

    Category Focus

    Employee Scheduling Software
  • UKG READY

    Flexible, seamless HR technology for smaller teams.

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    UKG Ready is a leading provider of HR, payroll, and workforce management solutions for all people. Flexible, seamless HR technology for smaller teams. Leverage the power of HR, talent, payroll, and time in a single solution to deliver a modern, personalized experience that increases efficiency and simplifies compliance. UKG Ready provides the features you need for powerful HR, talent, payroll, and... learn more about UKG READY

    Entry Level Price
    Contact Vendor
    Free Trial
    N/A
    25%

    Category Focus

    Employee Scheduling Software
  • Tanda

    Grow your business and engage your teams

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    Tanda is an all-in-one online workforce success platform that helps businesses manage rostering, timesheets, payroll, and employee onboarding. ... learn more about Tanda

    Entry Level Price
    Contact Vendor
    Free Trial
    14 Days
    50%

    Category Focus

    Employee Scheduling Software
  • ScheduleFlex

    Take the Complexity out of Employee Scheduling.

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    Shiftboard's ScheduleFlex is purpose-built for dynamic operations that frequently adjust staffing levels to support ever-changing business needs. ScheduleFlex helps front-line operations maintain high shift coverage, reduce labor costs, and control the daily chaos of workforce scheduling. Organizations in dynamic scheduling industries, such as manufacturing, healthcare, staffing, and public safety... learn more about ScheduleFlex

    Entry Level Price
    Contact Vendor
    Free Trial
    N/A
    100%

    Category Focus

    Employee Scheduling Software
  • Homebase

    Industry-leading scheduling and labor management.

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    Homebase helps the busiest businesses manage employee scheduling, time clocks, communication, and more. It makes managing hourly work easier for over 100,000 local businesses. With free employee scheduling, time tracking, team communication, and hiring, managers and employees can spend less time on paperwork and more time on growing their business. ... learn more about Homebase

    Entry Level Price
    Free version
    Free Trial
    Available
    50%

    Category Focus

    Employee Scheduling Software
  • OpenSimSim

    Build your work schedule in minutes

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    OpenSimSim is uniquely designed for establishments in the retail, restaurant, and hospitality industries, this product aims to help employers manage their workers by having access to employee schedules, knowing employee availability, assigning shifts, approving day-off requests, and other various features that will help employers in the management of their staff. ... learn more about OpenSimSim

    Entry Level Price
    $15.99 Per Month
    Free Trial
    N/A
    33%

    Category Focus

    Employee Scheduling Software
  • Mitrefinch

    Time and Attendance Tracking.

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    Time Clock Software Solutions best suited for companies with 100-10 000+ employees. Mitrefinch Inc. delivers the latest easy-to-use cutting-edge technology. This Intuitive and Powerful System is packed with Innovative features for your Time and Attendance, HR, Employee Self Service, Mobile Workforce, Automatic Scheduling and Clocking requirements. Real-Time analysis is enhanced with clever busines... learn more about Mitrefinch

    Entry Level Price
    Contact Vendor
    Free Trial
    N/A
    33%

    Category Focus

    Employee Scheduling Software
  • Ezzely

    Employee Engagement AppHelping businesses, recognize, retain, train, and reward staff.

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    Employee engagement app helps to maintain the positive work environment with the clear understanding of work and policies. Check out Ezzely to explore more about amazing features designed to facilitate employee engagement. Ezzely, brought to you by the folks at Coggno, is designed to be an engaging way for organizations and their employees to interact and succeed. Coggno has been facilitating e... learn more about Ezzely

    Entry Level Price
    Contact Vendor
    Free Trial
    7 Days
    20%

    Category Focus

    Employee Scheduling Software
  • Time Clock Wizard

    Your Best Choice For Employee Time Tracking Software.

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    Time Clock Wizard is a world-class, free online employee time tracking software, intuitive scheduling, free online time clock app, and payroll solution. A simple design helps you create regular individual work schedules for your employees. Empowering them to respond with their specific requests. Stay organized with smart color-coding for individual employee profiles, send schedules by SMS / email,... learn more about Time Clock Wizard

    Entry Level Price
    Free version
    Free Trial
    Available
    33%

    Category Focus

    Employee Scheduling Software
  • TimeTrex

    Makes it easy with workforce automation.

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    TimeTrex Workforce Management is a comprehensive workforce management software solution that provides even small organizations with the benefit of automation, that previously only large companies could afford. The extremely flexible rule engine can automate some of the most complex government regulations and business policies, in both Canada and US. Its mobile app can transform tablets and phones ... learn more about TimeTrex

    Entry Level Price
    Free version
    Free Trial
    Available
    20%

    Category Focus

    Employee Scheduling Software
  • ZoomShift

    Free time clock software and app designed for hourly employees.

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    Your employees are your most important resource, and many times your most expensive resource. Stop relying on clunky spreadsheet software to manage your workforce. Upgrade to ZoomShift to simplify your schedule and track employee time.... learn more about ZoomShift

    Entry Level Price
    Free version
    Free Trial
    Available
    33%

    Category Focus

    Employee Scheduling Software
  • Nowsta

    The easiest way to manage your hourly staff

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    Nowsta is a venture-backed technology company that sits at the intersection of financial wellness and workforce management. We’re building a platform that leverages advancements in machine learning and payments technology to reimagine the way companies communicate with, and pay their hourly wage employees.... learn more about Nowsta

    Entry Level Price
    $2.50 Per Month
    Free Trial
    N/A
    33%

    Category Focus

    Employee Scheduling Software
  • Worksuite

    Where Team Works Together

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    Worksuite creates a space for every team, department, or major project to share knowledge, and information and keep work organized. Keep a track of all your projects in the most simple way. The attendance module allows employees to clock in and clock outright from their dashboard. Reports section to analyze what's working and what's not for your business. Automate billing and revenue recognition t... learn more about Worksuite

    Entry Level Price
    $55 One-time
    Free Trial
    N/A
    10%

    Category Focus

    Employee Scheduling Software
  • Workzoom

    Workzoom automates your company data with HR administration, in-house payroll and workforce tools.

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    Workzoom automates your company data through hr administration, in-house payroll, workforce tools, and performance management. Consolidate and automate your people management into a single solution for a per-employee per-month price. Manage your people from hire to retirement. Establish an amazing company resource to access anytime, anywhere. Schedule, track, and review time worked. A streamlined ... learn more about Workzoom

    Entry Level Price
    $4 Per Month
    Free Trial
    N/A
    12%

    Category Focus

    Employee Scheduling Software
  • WhenToWork

    Eliminate Scheduling Headaches Forever

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    Assign employee schedules with a single click and get the best possible outcome due to our proprietary shift scheduler algorithm software. This eliminates scheduling conflicts and prevents human error.Securely access When To Work online from anywhere via computer or mobile device. No need to install any software. The simple interface and streamlined communication features save you time and let you... learn more about WhenToWork

    Entry Level Price
    Contact Vendor
    Free Trial
    30 Days
    100%

    Category Focus

    Employee Scheduling Software
  • 7Shifts

    Employee Scheduling for Restaurants

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    Employee scheduling for restaurants is simple with our drag-and-drop tool that factors in overtime, availability, and regional labor laws. Once the employee schedule is built, it can be published directly to your staff’s email or mobile device so they always know when they’re working.Employee scheduling for restaurants is simple with our drag-and-drop tool that factors in overtime, availabilit... learn more about 7Shifts

    Entry Level Price
    Free version
    Free Trial
    Available
    100%

    Category Focus

    Employee Scheduling Software
  • ShiftNote

    Build Schedules in Minutes. With Employee Scheduling Online, You Can Schedule Anywhere!

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    ShiftNote is a web based manager's logbook and employee scheduling tool for all industries. ShiftNote replaces paper logbooks and files with an easy-to-use online tool to help you better manage your workforce and grow your business.Improve communication using ShiftNote to keep your team on track and accountable. Make log entries, assign tasks and schedule meetings for multiple locations at once. Y... learn more about ShiftNote

    Entry Level Price
    $34.95 Per Month
    Free Trial
    30 Days
    100%

    Category Focus

    Employee Scheduling Software
  • Orbital Shift

    Easy-to-Use Employee Scheduling & Time Clock Software

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    Our online workforce management software makes managers'​ and employees'​ lives easier by saving them time and stress. Staff work schedules are generated and posted quickly with our online employee scheduling software and are accessible anywhere with an internet connection. No software to install or hardware to purchase because your online scheduling software is in the cloud.Our online Time Cl... learn more about Orbital Shift

    Entry Level Price
    $2.00 Per Month
    Free Trial
    14 Days
    100%

    Category Focus

    Employee Scheduling Software
  • Schedule Base

    Employee Scheduling Software Made Easy

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    Just add your people to ScheduleBase and invite them by entering their names and email addresses. You can designate people as staff, schedulers or administrators.Enter schedule information in any format you'd like. Enter shifts, notes, jobs or any information that you need you to communicate to your staff. When scheduling, you'll see a person’s regular availability and any requests. All of the ... learn more about Schedule Base

    Entry Level Price
    $10.00 Per Month
    Free Trial
    N/A
    100%

    Category Focus

    Employee Scheduling Software
  • Planday

    ADVANCED EMPLOYEE SCHEDULING SOFTWARE MADE SIMPLE

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    Planday helps you build an employee schedule faster by taking into account staff vacation, availability, payroll costs, and more. Sign up for a free 30 day trial below.Planday fundamentally restructures the workplace by creating a real-time platform where businesses and employees can collaborate using transparent shift planning, easy communication, streamlined HR processes, and online & mobile tim... learn more about Planday

    Entry Level Price
    $2.00 Per Month
    Free Trial
    30 Days
    50%

    Category Focus

    Employee Scheduling Software
  • Findmyshift

    Employee scheduling software made simple.

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    Create employee schedules, manage shift requests, track your labor costs and communicate with your employees.With 15 years of feedback from thousands of managers, we're constantly refining our software to meet the needs of real businesses. With over a decade of development, Findmyshift is a stable, reliable and scalable scheduling service for all types of organizations, no matter how large or smal... learn more about Findmyshift

    Entry Level Price
    Free version
    Free Trial
    Available
    50%

    Category Focus

    Employee Scheduling Software
  • Buddy Punch

    Create a schedule in minutes.

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    Buddy Punch offers businesses peace of mind with an online time clock that focuses on ease of use. Employees can punch in online or use our smartphone apps. Employers can view who's punched in, view their GPS position or even limit where they can punch in/out. When it's time to run payroll, reports are automatically ready for you to use.We integrate with QuickBooks and several payroll providers... learn more about Buddy Punch

    Entry Level Price
    Contact Vendor
    Free Trial
    30 Days
    33%

    Category Focus

    Employee Scheduling Software
  • Schedule Head

    Scheduling and Time Tracking for Catering Companies

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    Contact workers for work, automate scheduling, track worker performance, reduce costs, and increase payroll accuracy.Schedulehead is a perfect match for food and beverage catering.Schedulehead is the only scheduling and time tracking platform made by and for caterers. Special events have been part of our recipe since the very beginning. ... learn more about Schedule Head

    Entry Level Price
    $1.75 Per Month
    Free Trial
    14 Days
    100%

    Category Focus

    Employee Scheduling Software
  • Agendrix

    Smooth Scheduling, Awesome Workplace

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    Our passion for technology translates into exceptional software that eliminates day-to-day management problems. Every day, we show countless managers the power of better balancing their business needs with their employees’. This is how, little by little, we work toward our raison d’être: to inspire a more humane workplace management philosophy. ... learn more about Agendrix

    Entry Level Price
    $1.5 Per Month
    Free Trial
    14 Days
    100%

    Category Focus

    Employee Scheduling Software
  • SubItUp

    Spend Time managing staff,not schedules

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    As an industry leader in cloud-based workforce management, SubItUp simplifies scheduling for managers everywhere. SubItUp is a robust, intelligent, and customizable online employee scheduling solution that streamlines and improves the scheduling process while eliminating scheduling conflicts across your enterprise. With real-time visibility, managers have access to their staff schedules, no matte... learn more about SubItUp

    Entry Level Price
    Contact Vendor
    Free Trial
    N/A
    100%

    Category Focus

    Employee Scheduling Software
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Introduction to Buyer’s Guide For Employee Scheduling Software

Inefficiently used employee times can lead to a loss, both for the business and for the employee. Any gap in scheduling employees’ work can affect the business and reputation.  Effective scheduling on the other hand, guarantees increased productivity, synergy, and a balance.

The legacy system for employee scheduling can be applicable for an organization having few employees but is not effective when the employee’s number increases.  The system is also rigid in a way that it does not allow employees to take control over their shift timing, and generally, it is time-consuming. The legacy system for employee scheduling is prone to errors and lacks transparency.  The system proves to be not useful especially in the asynchronous work schedule during the remote working or work-from-home conditions.

In addition to that, continuously changing government compliances pose another challenge for the firms operating in various geographic locations.  To mitigate all these issues and manage employee scheduling efficiently, employee scheduling software can be an ideal solution. It makes the employee scheduling efficient and takes care of the necessary compliance that the organization should take into consideration.  However, selecting the right employee scheduling software could be a tricky job and requires thorough research to align software with the business requirements. 

This buyer guide on employee scheduling software is intended to help business owners to understand various aspects of the software such as future trends, benefits, cost, features, etc.  These insights could be helpful for customers in making the decision on selecting the best employee scheduling software.

Why Is Employee Schedule Management Critical For Any Organization?

Employees are valuable assets for an organization, and to accomplish any project or work; it is necessary they work as a unit.  It is only possible if an organization has implemented a robust employee management system.  The basic objective of an employee schedule management system is to increase worker motivation, performance, and productivity. With an employee schedule management system, organizations can gain complete visibility to employees availability, shift assignments, tasks, roles and takes away all the pressure and stress of managing them.

What Are the Challenges of a Manual Employee Scheduling System?

  • Costly, inaccurate and time-consuming: In a manual employee scheduling system organization generally uses a paper sheet or punching card to track employee attendance and shifts. But this system is arbitrary and time-consuming.  If any change has to be made in the employee schedule, it could become difficult to record.  The administrator has to go through all the sheets and need to make the necessary changes. Also, when the administrator has to process the payroll, they have to manually record the employee’s attendance data into the payroll sheet. It is inaccurate and time-consuming.
  • Non-compliance risks:  It is difficult to enforce compliance in a manual scheduling system. Organizations failing to meet compliance rules have to bear the financial loss in the form of penalties and fees.
  • High error rates: Manual system for employee scheduling does not give full visibility on employee’s shift timing. Employees often rely on verbal communication about their change in shift timing; any communication error can disturb the entire work order. 
  • Reduce productivity:  Organization can achieve higher productivity by placing the right person in the job at the right time.  For instance, if the employee is allocated two shifts continuously, he cannot perform the tasks at the same energy and affect his overall productivity.

What Is Employee Scheduling Software?

Employee scheduling software is a tool that helps business organizations to efficiently manage employee schedules based on work priorities and business needs. It streamlines the work orders and ensures that the allocated work gets accomplished at a given time. It also helps employees to make changes to their shift timing and swap their shift with other workers. Besides that, business owners or managers can track employees’ work hours, which helps them to identify the uneven distribution of work if any, and organize them to reduce the workload on employees.

Employee scheduling software can be used by a wide range of industries, including retail, manufacturing, service sector, health industry, restaurants, I.T industry, etc.

Why Should Businesses Invest In Employee Scheduling Software?

New generation technology is quite effective in making businesses more accountable to their investors. But besides financial benefits, it has made complex business processes simple and lean. Workforce management which is a critical component of any organization usually consumes more time and resources. Technology such as employee scheduling software can aid in overcoming these challenges and delivering employee satisfaction. Employee scheduling software can fast pace the business operations by quickly scheduling employee’s work and adjusting it to business requirements.  

Besides that, the centralized data storage system saves all previously scheduled tasks, which can be used as a template for organizing future tasks.  It takes away all the hassle of notifying employees personally about their work schedule and allows employees to see their schedule timing in real-time. The employee scheduling software gives employees a sense of control over their shift timing and encourages them to contribute more to their work. 

For managing remote workers, a business enterprise can also use online employee scheduling software. Employees can access online scheduling software through mobiles or tablets and inform managers about the progress and challenges they are facing on the field.  The biggest advantage of online scheduling software is that employees can access and view their schedules at any time and from anywhere.

The best staff scheduling software also enhances the organization’s overall efficiency by working with other departments or processes. For instance, managers can sync their employees’ work hours data with payroll systems to automatically process their wages. It reduces the error rate and time in processing the employees’ wages.

Modern workforce management demands technological innovation, and employee scheduling software can play a significant role in fine-tuning workforce management.  To know how it can be done, the business enterprises have to delve into the employee scheduling software benefits.

What Are the Benefits of Employee Scheduling Software?

  • Tracking labor costs: Employee task scheduling software assists in organizing the workforce and forecasting the demand for the current or future projects. Forecasting the workforce demand in advance helps to plan employee’s shifts and control unplanned overtime costs. It can track and calculate the labor costs against the allocated budget.
  • Increase efficiency:  The best staff scheduling software eliminates the paperwork from the process and automates the employee scheduling process faster.  It takes away all the time-consuming process of calling employees and asking about their shift timing or their availability.       
  • Data-driven decisions: An organization can have better visibility on the employee’s work with the right data in hand. For instance, they can collect the data about the payroll and labor costs based on which they can make decisions on their current or future expenses.
  • Reduce conflicts: Clarity on employee’s schedules facilitate smooth communication between the employees. They can coordinate better with each other and can give consideration to their needs. Not only between employees, but it can also enhance the relationship between employees and management.   
  • Auto-assign shift: Assigning shifts can take an ample amount of time. The best employee scheduling software solutions are capable of assigning shifts automatically.  It matches the employees’ role, and based on their expertise, the work shift can be allocated. It speeds up the process of assigning shifts as well as finding the right match for the job.
  • Data analytics:  Best staff scheduling software equips business owners with all the data that could be vital for optimizing employee productivity and enhancing the organization’s performance.  It gives insight on labor costs, time clock, financial reports, schedules, etc.  Data analytics and reports provide a clear picture of resource usage and allow an organization to make an essential decision on resource scheduling.
  • Easy access to documents:  Some employee task scheduling software provides employees easy access to company information, training material, policies, and knowledge base. Employees can enhance their job-specific knowledge through a task scheduling software interface.

There are endless benefits of employee scheduling software, and to leverage them all, it is essential to explore its important features.

Time-Saving Features of Employee Scheduling Software

  • Time and attendance
  • Payroll exports
  • Geolocation clock-in and Clock-out
  • API access
  • HCM integration
  • Technical support
  • Compliance
  • Mobile support
  • Notifications and alerts
  • Data analytics and reporting
  • Demand-based scheduling
  • Technical support
  • Third-party tool integrations

What Are the Factors to Consider In Employee Scheduling Software?

  • Pricing: Pricing is an important factor for any software buyer. There are employee scheduling software solutions that are expensive because of their long list of powerful features.  These tools can be a good choice but not necessary that all organizations require these features.  It is essential that business owners analyze their business needs and then choose the employee scheduling software.  Other than that, software users should verify if there are any hidden costs for the software, such as customization, training, security, and implementation costs.
  • Third-party tool integration: The best employee scheduling software supports third-party tool integration.  However, some employee scheduling software only supports the core functions and requires a third-party tool to leverage extra features. A comprehensive employee scheduling software should allow integration of external software such as accounting, payroll, reporting, etc.
  • User-friendly interface: Employee scheduling software involves making frequent changes and updates in the employee schedule. If the employee scheduling software for business is not user-friendly, then scheduling employee shifts could become challenging and confusing.  Such a system could add an additional cost to organization and minimize the software ROI. The best way to check the software interface is to enrol for a free trial version, or they can also opt for free employee scheduling software with basic features.
  • Flexibility: Employee scheduling tools that adapt according to the business requirements can help the organization to avoid the costs of boarding new software and training the staff. It is always an ideal approach to choose employee scheduling software that is easily scalable and aligns with the growing needs of an organization.
  • Technical support: Employee scheduling software with excellent technical support could be an advantage as there are few features such as auto-assign shift and third-party tool integration that need expert guidance. It can enhance the software usability and adoption rate.
  • Check SLA (Service Level Agreement):  Before purchasing the employee work scheduling software or signing a contract with software vendors, it is always recommended that customers check the SLA (Service Level Agreement). SLA clearly defines the services that vendors will provide and the risks it covers.

How Effective Is Employee Scheduling Software For Small Businesses?

Employee scheduling software for small businesses are equally effective and helpful as it is for large organizations.

Employee work scheduling software can bring a gamut of benefits to small businesses, and it largely depends on the business’s priorities. Generally, large-scale enterprises need to handle more employees, and their software choice could be different from small-scale businesses. Small scale businesses usually prefer a low-budget tool with limited features; as such, they don’t have to deal with a large number of employees.  It means they can take all the advantages of employee task scheduling software but to leverage the benefits of exclusive features such as live customer support, advanced reporting tools, free third-party tool integration, etc.,they need to go for a high-end employee scheduling software.

To get the maximum benefit of employee scheduling software, it is recommended that users perform thorough research on employee scheduling software. There are many employee scheduling software that offers a range of features at a minimum price, which can be an ideal solution for small businesses.

Future Trends In Employee Scheduling

  • AI driven employee scheduling: AI technology is crafting the next-generation workplace and fuels the business processes to perform better. One of the processes that AI has bolstered is employee scheduling.  It is facilitating organizations to schedule employees more efficiently and reduce the time in managing them. There is more anticipation about AI in the field of employee scheduling, and in collaboration with other technology such as predictive analytics, employee scheduling can become more autonomous and intelligent in decision-making.  In the future, most of the employee scheduling software would be laced with advanced AI capabilities.
  • Self-servicing employee scheduling app: Self-servicing scheduling app can give employees more power in scheduling their shift, especially for employees working on an hourly basis.  Instead of bothering the management for shift adjustment, the employee can use the self-servicing scheduling app to view the empty slot and adjust shifts by themselves.  The use of self-servicing employee scheduling apps can enhance employee experience and help the organization retain their employees. It can even send alerts to employees if there are any shifts available to their preferences. In the coming days, the self-servicing employee scheduling app can take charge of the employee’s scheduling process and give employees more freedom to select their shifts.  
  • Chatbots: Chatbots are no more limited to mere customer service.  Their role has become more diverse and promises to provide a more personalized experience.  Chatbots application in employee scheduling can perform multiple activities such as filling open shifts, answering employee FAQs, processing leave requests, etc.  Some organizations have already implemented chatbots for workforce management, and there are more who are keen to incorporate chatbots in enhancing the employees' experience.  

What Is the Average Cost of Employee Scheduling Software?

The costs of employee scheduling software vary from business to business and the size of the business. Small scale businesses do not need advanced scheduling software features, whereas large-scale businesses need employee scheduling tools loaded with features. The number of software users and features can significantly affect the pricing of employee scheduling tools. However, the average cost of employee scheduling software could be anywhere from $1 to $95/month or more.  The software can be billed either on a monthly basis or annually.  Some software vendors also allow upfront one-time payment.  Employee scheduling software can be either deployed on-premise or as a SaaS solution.

  • Employee scheduling software for startups and small businesses:  For startups and small businesses, their main challenge is to conduct their business with limited resources and budget. However, software such as employee scheduling software is inevitable for the organization’s performance and increasing employee productivity. Startups and small businesses can use low-budget employee scheduling software to overcome their budget constraint. eTotalplan at a price of $1/month is the best employee scheduling software for small businesses and startups.  It has a simple user interface with all necessary features such as work schedule planning, HR management, predictive scheduling, time and attendance, etc. Another software that reduces the financial load on the organization and stands out as the best employee scheduling software for small business is Agendrix at a starting price of $1.5/month. It also offers basic employee scheduling features; on top of that, they provide free training and robust customer support to its clients. Both these tools offer a free trial.  There are a few more tools that users can consider as the best employee scheduling software for small business and startups; it includes TrackerPal, COAST, Staffjoy, When I Work, etc.
  • Employee scheduling software for mid-size and large-scale businesses: Business organizations with a huge employee force can opt for employee scheduling software with high-end features. Connectteam at a starting price of $47/month is an outstanding employee scheduling software for mid-size and large-scale businesses.  Besides regular employee scheduling software features, some notifying features of the software are GPS geolocation stamps, push notifications, claim open shifts, etc. The other employee scheduling tool that can be a good alternative to connectteam is Time Clock Wizard at a price of $19.95/month. The software is well-versed in security features such as multi-server backup and high-grade encryption.  The software also provides a free trial and a free basic version of employee scheduling software. The other software solutions that fall in the same slab include Homebase, Schedulefly, and 7Shifts. Organizations that operate on multiple locations and handle various types of businesses require holistic employee scheduling software that also covers other areas such as customer management, project management, inventory management, marketing automation, etc.  A high-end employee work scheduling software such as Helmbot at a price of $95/month provides all these features. The software offers a free trial. The other premium employee scheduling software that users can count on includes Tanda and Kronos Workforce.    
  • Free and open source employee scheduling softwareFree and open source employee scheduling software gives the flexibility to modify and distribute software for free or at a low price. This makes free and open source employee scheduling software an ideal solution for startups and small businesses. They can take advantage of new features, yet they don’t incur any costs of software development or software license.

Why Refer to Goodfirms' List of Employee Scheduling Software?

GoodFirms is the top review and rating platform for IT solutions.  It has been listing software for various industries and sectors. GoodFirms' expert team has been following a transparent process to ensure that customers get the best and the most reliable product for their business.  Customers can select the best employee scheduling software tool by comparing them on various parameters like;  features, service, pricing, deployment options, and so on.

Conclusion

An employee scheduling system enables the optimization of workflow and increases the employee’s productivity. It also reduces the time and error rates while scheduling the employees’ tasks. If your organization is unable to manage the employee scheduling process, then it is time to switch to the best employee scheduling software. Do not fail to check the list of best employee scheduling software prepared by the GoodFirms expert team.

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