Creating an employee schedule doesn’t need to be complicated — but it does need to be done with care. Set yourself and your team up for success by understanding what goes into an efficient, helpful schedule, and learn how to make it happen.
What Is a Work Schedule?
A work schedule is a document or system that communicates to your team who will be working when. Work schedules can be issued on a weekly basis, biweekly basis, monthly basis, or in another cadence. Work schedules let people know when they are expected to be at work, and they help make sure that organizations have their operational needs met.
Key Takeaways
- There’s no one way to create an employee schedule. The schedule that works for your team is specific to your organization, your needs, and your roster.
- An effective work schedule benefits the organization and the team members. Treating scheduling as a one-way street disempowers workers; collaborating adds to a sense of ownership.
- Tools such as a scheduling rubric and software can help. Flexible but firm guidelines, and accessible platforms that improve communication and collaboration, can make scheduling more effective for all parties.
Employee Scheduling Explained
Work scheduling, usually a managerial responsibility, is a system that ensures there are people slated for all roles and responsibilities required in a given work shift. Also referred to as rostering, scheduling gives teams advance notice of the organization’s needs, allowing all parties to troubleshoot schedules and make sure business needs — and team members’ needs — are met.
Employee scheduling is a key component of workforce management, the systems that help you make the most of the resources your team brings to the table and that can help reduce your spending.
Importance of Work Scheduling
Employees are your most valuable resource and their scheduling is indispensable, particularly for organizations with a large part-time workforce. Creating a work schedule lets organizations function without gaps in service, either to external parties (clients, customers, vendors) or internal parties (say, team members in need of managerial guidance).
Effective scheduling helps the organization by making sure operations can go as planned, without wasting money on labor by having too many people on hand and without stretching resources too thin by not having enough. It helps team members too: Creating work schedules lets them know what is expected of them and when, helping them plan their lives and achieve work-life balance without disrupting business operations. Without an employee schedule, people might have to take on extra shifts without notice, which can affect employee satisfaction as well as business operations.
Types of Work Schedules
Your organization might stick strictly with one type of schedule for all workers or mix up various types of schedules, depending on your needs. Some industries reliably use one type of work schedule, while others might be specific to the operation.
For example, “office work” is usually thought of as a full-time, fixed schedule. But that can vary depending on the needs of the office. Take two offices in the same sector — a medical services office and a medical billing office. The billing office may have times of the year that are more intense than others (say, tax time), but chances are that staffing needs stay consistent over time. But a medical services office that provides after-hours or urgent care might need a more complex employee schedule to ensure coverage at all times of operation, without burning out staff members with repeated last-minute “Can you cover the after-hours shift?” requests.
- Full-time: A schedule in which the employee works what is considered a full workweek. While the Internal Revenue Service defines a full-time employee as one who works on average at least 30 hours a week or 130 hours per month, many organizations refer to a full-time employee as someone who works at least 35 hours a week.
- Part-time: A schedule in which the employee works less than full time. Depending on how the organization defines “full time,” a part-time employee might work 30 hours, or one hour, or anything in between.
- Fixed: A schedule in which someone works the same number of shifts and hours from week to week. A fixed schedule is common in standard office hours, often a 9-to-5 weekday schedule.
- Flexible: A flexible schedule differs from a fixed schedule in that the hours or days to be worked change, often from week to week. People working a flexible schedule may be full-time or part-time.
- Floating: A schedule that accounts for people who move, or “float,” between departments, locations, or roles.
- Shift-based: A schedule in which team members are assigned specific blocks of time to work throughout the week. Shift-based schedules are common in the customer service and retail industries, as organizations need to ensure coverage when customers expect it.
- Seasonal: A schedule for people who work only during certain parts of the year. Seasonal schedules can be full-time or part-time, fixed or flexible. Examples include holiday retail work, hospitality work dependent on climate conditions as with ski resorts or golf courses, and some forms of outdoor work such as gardeners.
- Overtime: An overtime schedule accounts for an hourly employee’s work beyond 40 hours in a workweek. Most organizations are required to pay nonexempt employees — that is, employees who fall under a certain legal classification that means, in part, they are paid by the hour instead of by a salary — a higher wage for those hours, though exceptions exist.
- Compressed: A schedule in which the responsibilities of a full-time employee are fulfilled in fewer than five workdays. For example, someone working four 10-hour workdays, or three 12-hour workdays, depending on how the organization defines full-time work.
- Rotating: A schedule that has people work different shifts in a given span of time. Rotating schedules are frequently used to make sure people don’t only work difficult shifts, such as graveyard shifts, instead distributing those shifts among the team.
- Split: A schedule that breaks up, or splits, someone’s shift by two or more hours, beyond standard meal breaks. For example, a person who works from 6 to 10 a.m. and then from 2 to 6 p.m. is working a split schedule.
- On-call: A schedule that ensures at least one team member is available at any time, usually in a service or emergency capacity. The person may not actually work during an on-call shift but is expected to be available at a moment’s notice.
How to Create an Employee Schedule
There’s no magic formula here — every workplace is different, and every workplace changes over time, which is why creating work schedules can be such a conundrum. These basic principles can help you figure out how to create an employee schedule that works for your team.
Figure Out Scheduling and Workload Needs
The process starts here. How many people, and with what skills, do you need for your organization to operate efficiently? How does that change over time — throughout the day, throughout the week, throughout the year?
Consider starting with a baseline schedule that establishes the personnel needed to handle basic operations. This can serve as a template that you can modify depending on the needs of any particular period, and it can help create continuity if scheduling is a responsibility shared by multiple managers.
To understand how to modify that template, review your historical data and workforce analytics and get a handle on your needs. Sometimes this is common sense: A restaurant operating near an entertainment center will see an uptick in sales when there’s a big show, so it will need more staff during that time. Other times, the data may need a more thorough look. You might know your organization’s peak season, but there could be smaller peaks at other times of the year that require a more robust schedule.
Remember, though: This isn’t an exact science. While you can use workforce management tools to predict ebbs and flows in demand along with workforce management KPIs and other performance metrics, you won’t be able to predict, well, the unpredictable. Industry research indicates that there’s still a gap in capturing realistic operational needs in employee scheduling, though that gap is smaller than it used to be. Workforce management tools work in tandem with backup plans and a flexible mindset to help make sure everyone’s needs are met.
Once you understand your operational needs and your business cycle, you’ll need to determine what roles you need filled. If you know you’ll be doing twice your usual volume, does that mean you need the hours spent in each role to double accordingly? Or can you staff up team members who are in the field and keep the same number of midlevel workers — or vice versa? Are there roles that require specific certifications that you need to slot into the schedule?
Know Local, State, and Federal Labor Laws
Without understanding and adhering to applicable laws, you could find yourself running afoul of them. What seems like a harmless request for someone to take on extra hours could actually be an illegal request. That’s because creating an employee schedule isn’t just a numbers game; it’s also about people. Labor laws address things such as overtime restrictions, youth employment, seasonal work, and wages — all things that protect workers. Adhering to labor laws not only protects your organization from fines and legal action, but it also helps protect your team from low morale, safety hazards, and burnout.
Remember that labor laws often trail trends in worker sentiment. Take flexible work schedules, for example. The Fair Labor Standards Act — a 1938 United States federal law meant to protect employees and that has been amended aplenty over the years to keep up with the changing needs of the workforce — forms the bedrock of many protections for workers. It doesn’t address flexible work schedules, but 87% of those who are offered a flexible schedule take advantage of it, according to research from McKinsey & Company. Regardless of whether the law catches up anytime soon, it’s worth knowing workers’ desires and taking them into account to the extent possible.
Understand Your Team and Their Strengths
Just as roles aren’t interchangeable, neither are people. When creating a work schedule, consider not just labor but personnel. Without favoring any particular person, ask yourself how each person’s strengths and needs can benefit the needs of the shift or task you’re trying to fill, accounting for factors such as generalists versus specialists, fatigue and productivity, and time spent on task-switching if applicable.
Let’s say you have one worker who is known for her abilities on “deep work,” focused sessions of work that result in high-quality, thoughtful output. Another worker is known for his multitasking, able to juggle client requests, internal needs, and high-energy communication. Depending on the needs of your organization, you might pair them together so that one person can handle longer-term projects while the other puts out the tiny fires that arise during the shift — or you might split them up, putting the more focused worker on the shift with fewer immediate needs so that both people can optimally work, based on their strengths.
Establish a Teamwide Communication Strategy
Whether you use an app, a spreadsheet, or another platform that’s easy for your team to access, you need to let people know their schedule as efficiently as possible. If conflicts arise, team members must be able to communicate not only with you but also with each other to help ensure coverage — and they need to be able to do so with a system or platform that is organized, not ad hoc.
In addition to the practical aspect of communicating schedules effectively, there’s a softer side to the need for strong communication here. Good communication can build employee morale and satisfaction, which in turn contributes to organizational success. If you get it right in regard to communication about this area of team members’ lives, you’re setting yourself up for a dialogue that benefits everyone.
Release Employee Schedules ASAP
Your team members need to know when they’re working not just so they can show up, but so they can plan their lives. Delayed scheduling can result in people trying to juggle childcare, elder care, second (or third) jobs, life maintenance — and it can drive down their morale.
When people’s schedules are unstable, it affects their well-being, according to research published in the American Sociological Review. If your organizational needs dictate a rotating schedule, there may be only so much you can do to adjust for that instability. But releasing a schedule as early as you can is one concrete thing you can do to help your team maintain work-life balance.
Create an Availability Chart
An availability chart helps people let you know when they’re able to work. When team members have a venue for communicating their availability, you’ll have more information at hand to create a workable schedule on the first try.
At some point, you’ll probably have to ask people to cover a shift outside of their marked availability. If you have a history of respecting the needs indicated on the availability chart, team members may be more likely to rearrange other aspects of their lives when necessary.
Consider making availability forms part of the onboarding process for new team members so that managers are able to respect people’s availability from day one. But don’t make it a one-time-only deal: Proactively ask people if their availability has changed. If you’re using a software solution, your platform may allow people to update their availability independently, with no action needed from you.
Honor Preferences and Requests as Best You Can
Availability is one thing; preferences are another. But honoring preferences shouldn’t be considered as optional for scheduling managers. Showing that you respect people’s preferences demonstrates a commitment to meeting their needs as well as your own. When you’re unable to honor someone’s preference, explain why. It can go a long way toward developing a loyal and committed workforce.
Create Rules for Fairness in Scheduling
To avoid favoritism, or even the appearance of it, define what goes into creating your work schedule. If there are shifts that nobody wants — the oft-dreaded graveyard shift, for example — let people know how you determine those shift assignments, and take care not to turn to the same people for those shifts all the time unless you’ve clearly arranged that setup with them.
Whatever scheduling rules you create, make sure everyone knows what they are, and apply them consistently. If the rules are not working, change them, and communicate the change to everyone.
Involve the Employees in the Scheduling Process
When team members are involved in scheduling, they’ll have more ownership over their work lives, which can boost morale and in turn boost retention. Take care to involve everybody equally instead of listening only to the “squeaky wheels.”
Measure and Adjust Scheduling Processes
Employee turnover. A business boom, or a business bust. Life events — births, deaths, disabling events. All of these may require adjusting schedules, so start out with the mindset that a schedule is a flexible process that must account for changes in operations and in employees’ lives.
Listen to what your team members have to say about various shifts. Depending on your team structure, you can also occasionally issue surveys to measure the efficacy of your rostering. Look for patterns in which shifts work and why, and apply those lessons across the board.
Identify Schedule Abuse
Schedule abuse doesn’t have to be malevolent for it to exist. The person whose perfectionism means she takes so long to finish tasks that she always winds up with overtime, the team member who switches shifts with colleagues because he hasn’t effectively communicated his needs to you, the manager who is so stressed that she always schedules herself for the “easy” shifts: All of these people are engaging in schedule abuse.
When you identify schedule abuse, have an open conversation with the person to figure out what’s going on and how to solve it. Finding a mutually agreeable solution will build trust more than a punitive approach — unless, of course, that’s warranted.
As an employer you have tremendous influence over the quality of your team members’ lives. If you find yourself repeatedly accused of schedule abuse, you may wish to consult with a third party to make sure you’re not inadvertently implementing unfair practices.
Be Prepared for Changes
Life happens. Whether it’s a personal emergency from one of your key players or a business emergency that requires more hands at the last minute, your schedule will be tested. If your operations would be dramatically affected by a sudden gap or if the needs of your organization are particularly hard to predict, consider using an on-call system so that no shift is left unfilled. Maintaining an active, up-to-date “available to work” list can help with coverage too.
Also, working with a user-friendly scheduling system can help make eleventh-hour changes easy to implement and communicate; see below.
Invest in Employee Scheduling Software
Creating an employee schedule is made easier and faster for you with software. It helps reduce human error (say, scheduling someone for a double shift when that’s not the intent), and it does the rote labor of scheduling for you, which frees you up to look more carefully at the nuances that go into a schedule that pleases everyone.
Your team benefits from employee scheduling software too. In fact, research published in the Journal of Foodservice Business Research indicates that online work scheduling leads to an uptick in employee well-being, thanks to improved job satisfaction.
Whatever platform you use should allow people to view their schedule, request days off, and potentially communicate with other team members in case they need to adjust something. When people can view their schedules from their personal devices, schedules are kept centralized without people having to crowd around a paper schedule posted on a wall. It helps eliminate confusion on employees’ part — when people can check in on the fly, there’s no more “Wait, was I slated for 11 a.m. or 1 p.m.?”
Effective scheduling software is like any software — at its best, it integrates into your existing tools. This minimizes the training hours and the learning curve that everyone who touches the schedule will undergo. And depending on how deeply your scheduling software dovetails with your other tools, it could make things such as payroll and overtime tracking a snap.
Scheduling, Payroll, and More, All in NetSuite SuitePeople
Finances and human resources may require different skill sets, but they all point to the same goal: making sure your business runs effectively. NetSuite SuitePeople helps key personnel from different disciplines come together in a holistic platform that addresses scheduling, payroll, financial data, performance reviews, PTO, goal setting — everything that goes into making your organization thrive, both from your perspective and your team members’ perspective.
As you create your employee schedule, keep this two-part question in sight: What does my team need from me, and what do I need from my team? Balancing the needs of all parties will help you develop a rostering system that is flexible yet firm enough to meet operational and personnel needs.
Simplify
HR and Payroll
Employee Schedule FAQ
What factors do you consider when creating work schedules for staff?
When creating an employee schedule, consider the following:
- Your operational needs, including how those needs change over time
- The types of work schedules that are appropriate for your organization (for example, full-time, flexible, compressed)
- The availability of your team members
- Local, state, and federal laws
- Employee preferences and requests
- Employee strengths
- Fairness and employee input
What is the best way to schedule staff?
There’s no single best way to create a work schedule; what works for one team may invite disaster for another. The best approach to creating a team schedule is to balance operational and personnel needs, and to foster an open dialogue that results in a flexible, dynamic schedule.
What shift pattern is best?
The shift pattern that’s best for your organization depends on your organization’s needs. A 5-4/9 work schedule — a compressed schedule in which someone works four nine-hour days and one eight-hour day one week, followed by four nine-hour days the following week — might be perfect for one workplace but impractical for another. If you’re meeting your operational needs without payroll waste, and your team members are reporting good experiences with your schedule, congratulations: You’ve found the shift pattern that works for you.
