5 Ways You Can Create a More Effective Schedule for Your Store
Writing the schedule for your store or location can be a time consuming, frustrating experience. Even with the best workforce management solutions, there will always be aspects that the location manager needs to factor in when writing and maintaining a schedule for their store.Creating a schedule that takes the needs of your customers and your team into account can be a tricky balancing act. And as many times as the words ‘you need to write a schedule for the business’ have been uttered, there should be an equal number of considerations given to the team. That said, there are steps you can take to keep those aligned, be flexible for your team and ensure the customers receive the support they need.
Fill open positions
This should go without saying, but I think I am obligated to state it here - in order to have an effective schedule, you need to ensure all of your positions are filled. This is especially true of your leadership positions and any key department heads or full-time roles that other positions rely on for support or information. When your location is fully staffed, you should have all the options available to you from a scheduling perspective. It also ensures that you are not asking other team members to cover extra shifts or work in areas that they are not fully competent in. That will help enable a schedule that works for everyone.If you have a scheduling system, it will always look for the right people first. If those positions are unfilled, any software will begin to struggle to find the next best options and can lead to a schedule that is not optimized for your needs.
Think outside the box on hiring
Many times we get caught up in the specific staffing model that has been provided, or worse there is some unwritten idea that there is a perfect full time, part time ratio. The only ratio that is the correct is the one that works best for your location. Depending on your business, your traffic patterns, and the hiring climate for your site, these can vary dramatically. With that said, I would encourage you to think outside the typical mold. It is too easy to fall into ‘set shifts’ that have always been the norm. Instead look for new options, shorter shifts, middle of the day opportunities that could lead to entirely different scheduling. I have always felt that seeking out stay at home parents that have availability between 9 am and 2 or 3 pm is an untapped market for most retail locations.These people may seem difficult to locate, but often they are already in your stores. Who are your customers during those hours of the day? Do you ever actively recruit the people who already enjoy your location? If you need associates in those difficult to solve for midday coverage scenarios, look inside before you search outside.One final thought on how you may think differently about hiring. In most companies, there is not a maximum number of people you can hire. (I know what you’re thinking, I don’t have enough payroll for more people) Not every potential associate wants 20, 25, or 30 hours a week. Why not bring people on who are OK with 5 or 8 hours a week. Maybe they want something that provides for a little extra money and a social environment to talk to people. If you are upfront with your needs and available hours, you may find that hiring three people that can work 8 hours a week is better than one that wants or needs 24 hours. The flexibility, especially during peak times of the year, can really make a difference.
Use the information you have
There is always some amount of data you have to help write a more effective schedule. You may not have a fancy scheduling system or traffic counters, but you likely don’t need them. Almost every retailer does have some level of sales reporting by day and in most cases by hour. That may be all you need to start writing a more effective schedule. It is always a challenging balance between customer flow and the tasks that need to get done within a store. The shelves don’t fill themselves. Utilize what information you do have available to you to write a schedule that allows for excellent customer service as a well as the workload.In almost every situation, creating a positive checkout process weighs heavily on a customer’s overall satisfaction. Start there with your schedule writing. Ensuring you can move customers quickly through the checkout process will make for a better experience all around.Don’t let the information you don’t have get in the way of using the information you do have to write the best schedule possible.
Post early, post consistently
This is specifically for your team. Post your schedule as early as possible and post it consistently and predictably. When your team knows that the schedule will be posted by a certain day and time, they can then be better at scheduling their life needs around the work schedule for the store. The earlier in the week, the better. In many cases now, people are posting scheduled two weeks or more in advance (some states even require this). Early schedule posting will also reduce the number of last minute changes or ‘call offs’ that lead to schedule gaps, overtime, or burned out associates working extra. All of which have significant impacts on your business both short and long-term.
Everything up to date
Having all of the information you need about your team up to date goes for whether you have a scheduling system or not. In all cases, but especially for systemic scheduling writing it is a ‘garbage in, garbage out’ process. If you have outdated availability, competencies, or sales data, it will lead to a less than optimal schedule for your business.The saying goes, ‘if you want more payroll, then sell more stuff,’ and that is pretty accurate in most cases. Your schedule is one of the best tools you have in selling more to the customers that are in your store. The role you play as the store leader can be summed up by stating the schedule you write must support your team and place the right people in the right place at the right time.How can you write a more effective schedule for your location? Share your thoughts and ideas in the comments section.Join other retail leaders in continuing their development journey with Effective Retail Leader.com. SUBSCRIBE today to receive leadership tips directly to your inbox and monthly newsletters that provide many tools to help further develop your leadership skills. JOIN NOW!No spam ever - just leadership goodness.Photo by Emma Matthews on Unsplash