StaffSchedulingCentral.com

Tia Staff Scheduling to become Smart Employee Scheduling.

2011-10-01T09:00:00.000-07:00

As of November 30, 2011 Tia Staff Scheduling will become Smart Employee Scheduling. More features and even easier to use. Working with Smart Employee Scheduling will help you save time and money. Learn more at SmartEmployeeScheduling.com.

More soon,

MM

Employee Scheduling - Save Time, Money, and More, Using Web Based Employee Scheduling Services

2010-09-15T11:11:00.000-07:00

"Why use software or web-based services to schedule employees?" It may seem strange to even ask the question but judging from the number of companies that continue to use Excel, or even hand write their employee schedule, it's a question that needs to be asked.

In fairness, we should also ask, "why use Excel or hand written employee schedules?" Below we compare the different approaches:

Excel and Hand written schedules:
Advantages:
• Familiar
• Seems to work

Disadvantages:
• Limiting - hand written schedules are only appropriate for a minimal number of staff, totals must to be manually calculated (or entered into Excel).
• Can be difficult to keep up to date, depending on who is responsible for updating and their availability.
• Difficult to share - photocopies can be out of date within hours.
• Awkward to access historical information.
• Minimal ability to track Client and Employee data needed when scheduling (address/intersections, phone numbers, photos, links to maps etc.)
• Time consuming - cumbersome or impossible to duplicate entire schedules.
• Can be difficult to read, easy to make errors, difficult to spot unassigned shifts.

Web-based Employee Scheduling services:
Advantages:
• Scaleable, schedule few employees or hundreds
• Easy to keep up to date - web-based solutions can be accessed from anywhere there is an internet connection.
• Saves time - quick and easy to read, easy to update, easy to duplicate and edit entire "master" schedules.
• Easy to share, most solutions allow a number of users to access the schedule and include a range of permissions to control who can do what.
• Quick and easy access to historical information.
• Reduces stress - ease of use and accuracy inspires confidence and a feeling of being in control.
• Saves money - no longer need full-time scheduling coordinator, eliminates double bookings and other errors.
• Do more with less - schedule more employees with only minimal increase in workload

Disadvantages:
• Change from existing method of working can initially be unsettling and stressful.

Be in control:
If you haven't already made the move to using employee scheduling software or an online employee scheduling solution you may be spending too much time, and ultimately money, managing what should be a fairly simple, clear and efficient process. Moving to an online employee scheduling solution will save you time and money. You'll feel more in control, which in turn will give you the confidence you need to grow your business.

Employee Scheduling Software - A Guide to Finding the Right Solution For Your Business

2010-08-12T06:54:00.000-07:00

At some point, every company that employs hourly workers has to deal with the question of employee scheduling. There are many approaches to dealing with this important responsibility but many of the key issues are the same, regardless of the industry.

Key issues are:
What do you need to track? some companies, retailers for example, only need to track employee hours, for payroll and there is no need to track individual client hours. Other companies, like a company providing elder care in the community, need to track both employee and client hours. They need to know which employees are working with which clients when, and for how long so that they can make sure the right people are in the right place at the right time, they need to be able to invoice individual clients for the hours of care provide and they need to pay their staff for the hours they’ve worked.

What kinds of information will you need to have on hand in order to properly match individual employees and clients/assignments? It’s usually important to have essential contact information – name, phone numbers, e-mail, address etc. for all contacts - both Employees and Clients (if you have multiple clients). It can also be important to have a photo of your employees and details on skills, job category, preferences etc. An area where notes can be entered is also useful.

How is the schedule presented? What does the schedule look like – can you quickly and easily tell who is scheduled when, and with who? This is one of the most important considertations in evaluating your solution.

See full article at Ezine Articles Employee Scheduling Software - A Guide to Finding the Right Solution For Your Business

New! Sample schedule now available with Tia Staff Scheduling - no data entry required

2010-07-12T15:07:00.001-07:00

Now it's easier than ever to evaluate and learn about the neat features that make Tia Staff Scheduling an indespensible tool for any small or medium sized business that needs to track staff hours.

You can sign up for the 60-Day trial (no credit card required) in literally a couple of minutes and be on your way. You'll have access to both a sample schedule with data already entered, and a blank schedule where you can set up your own staff and clients.

Check it out at: www.TiaStaffScheduling.com

New "Sidebar Help" makes Tia Staff Scheduling even easier to learn to use.

2010-07-05T09:16:00.000-07:00

Check out the new "Sidebar Help" on Tia Staff Scheduling.

The default help topic: "getting started" shows you how to get going with Tia Staff Scheduling in 3 easy steps.

The "search field within the "Sidebar Help" makes it a snap, to search and access help on a variety of topics (with more added all the time).

You can minimize the Sidebar Help, maximize it or even hide it (a "Help" tab appears beside the other tabs).

We think you'll find the new Sidebar Help a useful addition to Tia Staff Scheduling.

Teaching staff how to learn, pays off.

2010-07-02T09:59:00.000-07:00

It's an all too common issue - staff with all the latest and greatest tools and software at their disposal, doing things the same way they have for the past 10 or 15 years.

It's not only a waste of their time and the company's money, but all too often it's also an approach that makes it difficult for others to step in while that person is on holiday, or off sick.

Surprisingly, new to the workforce hires are also often not "up to speed" with the technology available to help them do their jobs.

Many administrative staff have no idea how to set up and execute a mail merge, how to create Excel tables that calculate a result or how to create and label additional sheets within an Excel document.

There is hope.

Encourage your staff to "poke around" applications like MS Office. To click on the help button and use the online learning available through the software company's website or even YouTube. Introduce productivity "tip of the day" sessions at the end of company meetings to spread the word, and reward people who consistantly find new and more effecient ways to work and share their learning.

You may be surprised at how quickly you see the benefits from this informal approach.

Using the right tool for the right job is also an important part of staying on top of things.

One of the most difficult issues for many small businesses is having a central location available where administrative staff can access the most up to date contact information and notes regarding staff and clients. Often, employees end up creating their own lists of staff and clients that they may or may not keep up to date. Needless to say, any notes they include with a contact's file are not shared.

Tia Staff Scheduling can help.

Because Tia Staff Scheduling is available anywhere you have an Internet connection - in the office, at home or even on the road, you can access the most up to date information that's been entered for each of your clients and employees. Contact information and detailed notes are available to anyone you've set up as a user. Best of all, all information is protected by Verisign, using the same level of security as the banks use.

If you haven't already, check out www.TiaStaffScheduling.com and sign up for the Free 60-Day trial.

Malcolm

Is your employee scheduling "solution" holding your business back?

2010-06-13T12:50:00.000-07:00

As businesses grow, they must constantly be evaluating their processes. What has worked at one point in a business's life, may actually be holding it back later on.

It's a scary thought - leaving behind a way of doing things that you've come to rely on, and finding a new way to do things going forward - but it's essential.

One of the most critical processes for many small and medium sized businesses is employee scheduling.

Scheduling employees can be stressful, complicated and time consuming.

Many companies still use Excel and even paper and pen to schedule employees. While either approach may work with a small company that has only a few clients and staff, it's no way for a growing company to be handling this critical process.

One of the biggest barriers to changing to a new way of doing almost anything, is fear - fear that the new way won't work, fear that it will be too difficult to learn, or too cumbersome to implement.

Tia Staff Scheduling is a web based staff scheduling solution designed for small and medium sized businesses. With Tia Staff Scheduling you can sign up for a Free, 60 day trial - no credit card required.

The trial version of Tia Staff Scheduling is fully functional, includes Quick - Start tips and Help links, and allows you to add other users, so that your co-workers can try it out too. See www.TiaStaffScheduling.com

TiaStaffScheduling.com - changing between client and employee perspective

2010-05-22T19:01:00.000-07:00

Tia Staff Scheduling's strength is in handling multiple employees who work with multiple clients and being able to view the schedule from both Client and Employee points of view. To change between Client and Employee perspectives (Schedule tab selected) click the heading Client or Employee at the top of the respective column on the left of the schedule.

TiaStaffScheduling.com Wins Interactive Media Award!

2010-05-12T18:54:00.000-07:00

Worksmart Webware Inc. is pleased to announce that TiaStaffScheduling.com has won Outstanding Achievement in B2B at the Interactive Media Awards.

Busy employees are happy employees...

2010-04-30T08:10:00.000-07:00

It's inevitable, there is an ebb and flow to any business. Almost all businesses, will at some point have a "less busy" period.

Sometimes these periods can be anticipated - a seasonal business like a lawn care company my find they are very busy in the spring, summer and fall, and less busy in the period after fall clean up but before the first snowfall, when many switch over to snow removal.

Sometimes these periods are impossible to predict.

Keeping employees busy and productive can become a challenge at these times. Yet it's essential to do so. Employees with too much time on their hands tend to gossip more, often "get out of the groove" of getting stuff done, and can become demotivated.

Prepare for these periods by keeping notes about projects that never seem to get off the ground because there's no one available to assign them to. Think about what systems and documentation need to be reviewed "when there's time". Then, when there really is time, bring them forward, assign them and make sure you attach milestone or completion dates to help everyone understand that they are "real" projects, not make work assignments. Needless to say, the completed projects need to be put in to use.

Everyone likes to be busy, even if they don't know it. Busy employees are happier, more productive and motivated.

Redesigned date selection area for Tia Staff Scheduling

2010-04-16T12:11:00.000-07:00

Great news,

Worksmart Webware has dramatically improved the date selection area for Tia Staff Scheduling, our web based Staff Scheduling solution.

User feedback indicated that there was a need to redesign this area of the user interface. Feedback from users is always welcome and appreciated.

You can now just click an arrow to view the previous or the upcoming week(s). You can also select a specific week to display from the calendar (click "change date"), we've also included a "Today" link to quickly return the schedule to the current week.

Check out tiastaffscheduling.com there's a FREE 60-Day trial and no credit card is required.

The importance of recognizing staff

2010-04-08T06:49:00.000-07:00

Recognition is an important part of showing staff that they are appreciated (to be clear, we're not talking about a performance review, something that is best done one-on-one).

An important goal of recognizing staff is to make them feel special. Having a well defined and clearly communicated threshold - 3 years employment for example, helps to make entry into the "club" exclusive, and creates a goal for others.

Recognition can have different thresholds - 3, 5 and 10 years, with different level "awards" - certificate, tie/scarf, jewelry. Think about what would work in your company.

Making the recognition of staff an actual "event" is way to maximize the impact of the occasion. A group dinner at a restaurant or an off site picnic can go a long way to marking the event as a special occasion and something to look forward to (try to be considerate of your staff's dietary requirements when arranging these kinds of events, an consider putting a cap on the amount of alcohol the company is prepared to provide, if any). Keep in mind that your "recognition event" should probably be held, at minimum, annually.

And, of course, a "recognition event" is also, in itself a team building opportunity.

Everyone likes to know that they are appreciated. Taking the time to clearly communicate and recognize staff, can be an important part of showing the company's appreciation for their commitment and participation.

Hiring the right people

2010-04-01T07:40:00.000-07:00

Hiring the right people can make or break any business.

There is no such thing as an employee who has a neutral effect on your business - anyone who is just "putting in time" is not contributing to the company's growth. A company that is not growing (or trying to grow) is loosing its position in the marketplace.

Worse still are employees who are actively sabotaging your business through inappropriate comments to customers and potential customers or through irresponsible behaviour. It is almost always in the company's best interest to part company with these employees as quickly as possible.

Having an employment agreement in place can make parting company much more straight forward and minimize costs associated with termination.

Of course taking the time to properly evaluate potential employees in the first place can help avoid headaches later on, and the first step in any hiring process should be recognizing the importance of having the right person doing the hiring.

Often, in small and medium sized businesses the person who should be doing the hiring, or at the very least have the final say in any hiring decision, is the president or owner of the company. As the "leader" of the company they are the person who is ultimately responsible for establishing the culture, work ethic and the values of the company.

Hiring the right people is a key component of making any business - small or bigger - a success.

The fewer people editing the staff schedule, the better.

2010-03-29T07:54:00.001-07:00

Michael Dell, the founder of Dell Computers is obsessed with finding ways to reduce problems with the computers his company assembles. One way he has done this is by minimizing the number of "touches" - the number of times a hard drive is handled during the assembly process - from more than 30 to fewer than 15. The result - a cut in the overall failure rate of Dell PCs by 20%. More

The lesson - minimize the number of people who perform each function and you'll reduce the number of errors.

This is the same approach used at Eldercare Home Health Inc, a Toronto based provider of Registered Nurse Case Managed Elder Care. Eldercare Home Health uses a customized version of Tia Staff Scheduling for scheduling their staff. Only two people in the office actually enter shifts and make changes to the schedule - one is considered to have the primary responsibility and the other secondary or backup responsibility for when the primary person is on holiday, away sick or otherwise unavailable.

Other staff can view the schedule and make log entries regarding shift changes and additions. Once a log entry has been made, an alert appears on the schedule notifying the people that do the actual updating of the schedule that there is/are entries in the log that need to be attended to.

Being clear about who is responsible for what is a very motivating approach that helps to ensure work is done properly and on-time. Staff generally appreciate having clearly defined responsibilities and take pride in a job well done.

Keeping your staff schedule current reduces stress and minimizes errors.

2010-03-29T06:28:00.000-07:00

One of the keys to successful staff scheduling is keeping your schedule up to date. Whenever possible, the schedule should be updated as soon as the person(s) responsible for updating the schedule become aware of a change.

In some companies the person responsible is the same person making the calls and assigning shifts - this makes it easy as they can enter changes immediately. In other companies, where the responsibilities are separate, those making the calls and assigning the shifts should be entering the information immediately on a log that is accessed by the person updating the schedule.

Ideally there should be some kind of alert that brings the change in the log to the attention to the person updating the schedule, they should then update the schedule and mark the log entry as having been completed.