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 min read
November 1, 2018

The Benefits of Calendar Sync for Employee Scheduling Software

According to the Financial Times: Three-quarters of the world’s workers are temporary, casual or self-employed and this sort of employment is likely to become more prevalent.This means businesses that require temporary, casual, or contract employees need to do more to keep attracting the best talent. The more temporary and contract employees there are, the more businesses will offer these kinds of roles. It's therefore important for businesses that need temporary and contract workers to stay ahead of the competition by offering better employee experiences – no matter how long someone works for them.

According to the Financial Times:

Three-quarters of the world’s workers are temporary, casual or self-employed and this sort of employment is likely to become more prevalent.

This means businesses that require temporary, casual, or contract employees need to do more to keep attracting the best talent. The more temporary and contract employees there are, the more businesses will offer these kinds of roles. It's therefore important for businesses that need temporary and contract workers to stay ahead of the competition by offering better employee experiences – no matter how long someone works for them.The better the employee experience is, the happier employees will be, and the more productive they’ll be. This means they’ll provide a better level of customer service to customers, which helps to increase customer referrals and improve reviews.One thing companies can do to ensure that their temporary employees have a great experience is to use an employee scheduling software with calendar sync. These makes it easier for companies and employees to manage shifts around pre-existing commitments.

Hire people when they’re needed

In industries such as retail, there’s an inevitable surge in the need for staff in the run up to the holidays.Employee scheduling tools that can see employees’ real-time availability make it easier for businesses to fill shifts. Instead of needing to manage an Excel spreadsheet (which 59% of call centers still use for managing shifts!), they can tap into workers’ availability. They can then offer employees shifts that work around their schedules, making them more likely to accept.It's also easier for businesses to find last-minute cover for employees that have called in sick or are no longer available, because they don't waste time contacting people who already have plans.

Work around people’s schedules

Having a work/life balance is becoming increasingly important in the modern world. Offering employees the opportunity to choose their shifts based on their availability makes it an easier, faster process to schedule their work.If their calendar is connected to shift management software, the software can suggest shifts that work around their already existing schedule. They don’t need to rearrange family commitments or healthcare appointments to be able to work – their work fits seamlessly around their lives.Alternatively, employees without calendar connectivity can search the database for shifts and choose the ones that best suit their schedules. Shifts can be set up to automatically close once a set number of employees have chosen it. This means there won’t be too many people signed up for the Tuesday afternoon shift but nobody around on Tuesday morning. If someone cancels, the slot will re-open for someone else to select.This flexibility helps to build a better employee experience, showing employees that their lives outside of work are valued, too.

Automatically add shifts to employees’ calendars

When dealing with temporary employees, there’s always a risk of no-shows. This then leaves the team short-staffed and makes it harder to deal with everything that comes their way.Automatically adding shifts to employees’ calendars helps to prevent no-shows. It ensures that the shift sits in their calendar alongside their other commitments. They can also receive time-to-leave notifications based on their location, or reminders to make sure they don’t forget.For casual workers that don’t need full calendar connectivity, they can be sent Smart Invites. These help businesses to track if an employee has confirmed their shift, ensuring every shift is filled in plenty of time.

Create a better experience for everyone

Syncing your shift management software with employees’ schedules makes it quicker and easier for your users to fill shifts.It's simple and stress-free to add calendar sync to your software using the Cronofy Calendar API.To find out more about what features you could add to your software, check out our features page.

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Jeremy is the Head of Marketing at Cronofy with over a decade of experience in the tech industry.

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