Employee Rostering for Cleaning and Security Companies
Employee rostering is a widely discussed topic in facilities management industries. However, some employers may be wondering: what is rostering? Effective employee rostering involves creating and managing work schedules that assign shifts while tracking availability versus simply scheduling available workers to time slots and hoping everything goes well.
For business owners, rostering has gained importance because the current job market requires employers to face the challenge of scheduling workers. In Australia, job vacancies recently decreased by 5.2%. Although this was the ninth consecutive quarterly decrease, the level of job vacancies in August 2024 stayed high. Job vacancies were 45.1% higher than they were in February 2020, before the start of COVID-19, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
Particularly in the security and cleaning industries, where employees typically report to a job site to perform their duties, more flexible scheduling options, which have become the norm, must be utilised. To overcome this challenge, employee rostering enables companies to create the most effective schedule that organises shifts to meet business needs and employee demands.
What is rostering and how do companies benefit?
From a scheduling perspective, rostering ensures that companies stay beholden to contractual obligations, which encourages job profitability on different sites. Rostering offers various checks and balances, especially when a business uses integrated technology with automated tools.
Software equipped with rostering features can help ensure that qualified workers are scheduled for each shift. For instance, security guards may need to complete specific certifications to carry a firearm. Similarly, janitors who work in hospitals may need training before working with potentially toxic cleaning chemicals.
Rostering also ensures that employees can stay their entire shift. For example, a building might take five hours to clean, or a guard might need to spend the same amount of time patrolling. With rostering, it is possible to know that employees have been on-site for the full shift. Scheduling software with rostering capabilities corroborates hours worked through integrated proof-of-service delivery tools.
Rostering ensures that the right person will be available during a given time. Additionally, it avoids sending too many people or not enough employees when a job requires more than one worker. In short, it helps ensure that companies stay within the boundaries of contractual obligations and remain on track to deliver on each contract.
Do employees benefit from rostering?
With the right workforce management solution equipped with automated tools to perform rostering, employees can also benefit. An integration solution with an employee portal allows workers to self-schedule and choose available shifts to better manage their time.
Self-scheduling tools offered via rostering software allow workers to gain a sense of financial freedom, as they have the power to pick up additional work and earn additional funds, whenever the shifts are available. When automated rostering tools are used in conjunction with integrated software tools, employees can receive messages when an open shift is available to expedite shift coverage.
If employees can send out a shift and ask others to swap or simply pick up a shift because of holidays, vacations, sick leave or personal matters – that can have a positive impact. Giving workers the tools to fill shifts wherever there are gaps lets employees plan for life events. In short, these self-scheduling tools can serve as worker incentives in the same way that working from home creates a work-life balance for employees in other industries.
How does rostering impact customers?
An integrated workforce management system with automated rostering capabilities can also provide customer satisfaction. Businesses that use these tools gain insights into proof-of-service delivery and comprehensive visibility of employees. These tools can be assets for customers who want hard evidence that qualified workers met contractual obligations.
Rostering can help contractors ensure that employees are working the appropriate hours, in addition to taking adequate breaks. Well-rested workers typically experience less fatigue, burnout and stress. Adequate rest can keep workers alert on the job and may make employees less likely to request last-minute absences. Overall, it can help workers continue to provide quality service to customers.
In the event that an incident occurs, whether it is a slip and fall or a threat to the safety of a guard, escalation tools are available with integrated software. This ensures the right personnel can be contacted in an emergency. This serves as a valuable touch point for customers who generally prioritise job safety and taking steps to mitigate risk. These resources can help customers avoid litigation, fines and other negative outcomes.
TEAM Software and integrated tools
Manually crafting schedules is less common in the cleaning and security industry. Instead, business owners are using employee rostering to create customised schedules tailored to unique business needs. Despite it being a given or default part of technology, automating employee rostering is still integral to the success of janitorial and security companies.
With rostering it is possible to avoid common pitfalls of scheduling workers for the wrong roles. TEAM Software is equipped with the tools to perform and support rostering. Our industry solutions use one centralised platform to provide seamless organisation and clarity.
For more information on TEAM Software tools in terms of rostering, proof of service, employee monitoring, in-app communication tools and risk management features, schedule a time to speak with one of our experts.