The power of digital rostering

MYOB’s Dan Moulton on how digital shift allocation enhances the employee experience

BY Maria Hoyle 05 Oct 2021

The mid-COVID workplace is a whole new journey, and we’re still gingerly unfolding the map. What we are sure of, however, is that employee experience matters like never before. In a competitive jobs market, winning – and retaining - people’s loyalty is paramount.

A massive 92% of organisations will prioritise employee experience enhancements over the next three years, according to the global Employee Experience Survey 2021 by Willis Towers Watson. And yet only 9% are currently using tech to get the transformation underway.

It’s something business will have to get on board with sooner rather than later, as technology is the great enabler in delivering what employees increasingly want.

“They expect to be able to manage their work anytime, anywhere, in the same way they manage their life admin,” says Dan Moulton, senior product manager at MYOB. A mobile enabled experience – on both iOS and Android – is a key component of a cohesive employee experience that’s well thought through, across the entire employee lifecycle, says Moulton.

Employees want digital tools that allow a personalised solution, and that allow flexibility and ease of use; they expect consumer level user experiences that are intuitive and easy to adopt without training.

One area where this type of digital solution can make or break the employee experience is shift allocation. Those who work rostered hours want visibility of their shifts ahead of time so they have peace of mind knowing they’ll be able to attend the graduation, the birthday dinner, take that much-needed long weekend away. “When rosters are inaccessible e.g. because they are posted on a wall somewhere, it’s very difficult for employees to keep on top of their shifts,” says Moulton.

To ease pain points around rostering, Moulton offers these tips:

Plan and publish rosters well in advance so teams have clarity and the ability to plan other aspects of their life. “Our Workforce Management solution, for example, allow managers to publish rosters into the future and then manage minor changes by exception. When the roster is published, employees are alerted via mobile. And if shifts have to change for some reason, employees get notified so there is no risk of them missing an update.”
Cater for people’s preferences. There’s nothing more frustrating for an employee who has carefully explained their need for Wednesday afternoons off to pick up the kids than to be consistently rostered on at that exact time. Digital tools like MYOB Advanced Workforce Management allow preferred times off to be recorded as periods of ‘Unavailability’ and the system will not roster for this time.
Empower your team. Sometimes life happens and employees can’t work shifts; invariably this means managers having to call around at short notice to fill the gap. Digital solutions like MYOB’s Shift Swapping enable employees to offer up their shift to other team members. “This allows teams to flexibly manage shifts between them, while still providing visibility to team leaders and managers,” says Moulton.
Foster team spirit. Try to consistently roster the same team together so they can establish a positive team dynamic.

In a world where flux is the only constant, giving your people control and certainty over how they work – using digital tools they’re comfortable with - goes a long way to keeping them engaged and loyal.

For more information on shift allocation tools, go to myob.com/workforcemanagement