Best practices for employee scheduling during busy periods

One of the busiest seasons for retail and hospitality businesses is fast approaching! Yes, we’ve started to hear whispers of the “C word” around the office.

Did you know that it’s less than 100 days away?

There’s no better time than now to get ahead.

For retail managers, restaurant owners, and HR managers, planning is essential for surviving the festive season. In this blog we uncover some of our top tips for handling employee scheduling when the busiest times for your business approach.

Hire seasonal employees

Seasonal staff can be life savers throughout busy periods. In sectors like retail and hospitality, businesses will hire temporary staff annually just to cover shifts over Christmas and New Year. Particularly when demand is high and permanent staff are taking annual leave.

Often hired through agencies, temp staff are typically ready and willing to fill staffing gaps and work open shifts last minute.

Create schedules as early as possible

Since you’ll need plenty of time to give your staff notice and to deal with annual leave requests, it’s important to create your working schedules as early as possible.

A top tip:

Look back on data from last year to determine your busiest days to make sure you have enough staff scheduled on these days to cover the workload.

Set deadlines for when staff can make annual leave requests

If your staff know when annual leave request deadlines are, no one will be caught out. Clearly communicate this deadline to give them enough time to book ahead and you enough time to plan your shifts and rotas in advance.

If too many team members have requested the same day, it’s important to discuss this with your staff. You might want to work on a “first come, first served basis”, . Eessentially just offering the leave to the first person to make the request.

A shared calendar would provide some clarity on this for you and your team. Giving others visibility over who is off and when.

Cross-train your staff

Having a shift covered by experienced staff is essential for the smooth running of your business during busy times. You can rest assured knowing that the business is in safe hands if you plan and cross-train your permanent term staff ahead of time.

Simple tasks that a manager does can be demonstrated and passed onto senior members of the team to ensure these jobs still get done while managers are away.

Top Tip:

Stay H&S compliant by making sure a “responsible person” is always present. This may require additional health and safety training for staff who are scheduled to cover shifts for their colleagues.

Establish a clear holiday and annual leave policy

Avoid disappointment amongst staff and create a HR policy that outlines the rules surrounding annual leave requests and shifts and rotas. If you require additional support over the festive period, be sure to mention any annual leave restrictions you have around this time, so staff know not to book holidays on certain days.

The policy should clear, concise and accessible so staff can review this as and when they need. You should also keep this up to date to reflect the needs of your business each year.

Be fair and flexible

Despite the festive season being a busy period for you, it is also a special occasion for many of your staff. Taking a fair and flexible approach to employee scheduling during this time will ensure your team feel seen and heard.

For example, if one staff member worked Christmas Day last year, it would be considered fair to give them a day off on Christmas Day this year to spend with loved ones. The “year-on-year-off” approach works well for a range of businesses and organisations. This doesn’t just apply to Christmas either but works well for all types of festivities.

Enhance shift and rota planning with employee scheduling software

An employee shift scheduling software could make the difference between surviving the festive season and failing to meet the needs of your customers during one of the busiest periods of the year.

With BrightHR’s award-winning HR software, fill shifts and create rotas with ease thanks to our efficient shift and rota software. Get instant alerts and notifications and send staff work schedules at the click of a button. With the support of employee scheduling software on your side you can plan for the festive season and beyond.

Book your free demo today to discover all this and more!