Expert tips: How to manage your staff schedule during the ‘Pingdemic’

In the first week of July, over half a million people across the UK received an NHS notification to self-isolate after coming into contact with someone carrying Coronavirus.

So, despite a successful vaccine rollout and the lifting of restrictions, the ‘pingdemic’ is having a detrimental knock-on effect on businesses experiencing staff shortages.

When it comes to managing staff schedules with employees having to isolate unexpectedly, it can become a very drawn out and inefficient process.

Kevin Ryan, Partner Manager at the workforce management platform, Planday, shares his top tips on how to manage staff schedules during the ‘pingdemic’:

Ensure there’s only one version of the work schedule available at all times

“Let’s say you’re using Excel to plan out your working schedule and distribute it via email. And you didn’t realise you’d mistakenly scheduled someone to work who is off sunning themselves on a far-flung beach. Or, someone can no longer work their assigned shift due to isolating.

“All of a sudden, you’re running around, emailing multiple versions of the schedule a few times daily to account for these changes. Aside from the inconvenience of having their inboxes crammed, it’s not hard to see how staff members can easily slip up and begin referring to older versions of the schedule.

“Of course, you can try to set a naming convention that makes it clearer which is, in fact, the latest version of the schedule. But the margin for human error will be high regardless.”

Make sure the schedule is made available as early as possible

“The sooner you can distribute the schedule, the better. Especially so you can easily make changes when staff suddenly have to isolate.

“We recommend giving your workers two weeks’ notice of their upcoming hours so they can make any necessary arrangements. The quickest way to distribute the schedule is via a cloud-based app. You don’t want your team members to have to go to the hassle of calling you to see when their next shift is – that’s a waste of everyone’s time. So be sure that the schedule is accessible anywhere, any time of the day.

“Yes, you might need to make last minute changes, which is where a shift worker app comes in especially handy, as you can make instant changes and update people on the go. But if you can, it’s important to give your employees as much notice as possible if they’re going to need to step in.

“This way, staff members can also put in a request for a shift change with plenty of notice, meaning there’s far less chance of you having to scramble to find coverage for unfilled shifts last minute.”

Keep the schedule as predictable as possible

“If you’re imposing an irregular or unpredictable work schedule on your employees, it’s going to prove difficult for them to maintain any semblance of order in their own lives. If staff then do have to isolate, it will also become easier for other team members to step in.

“This is also where planning and foresight comes into play – it’s super important to understand your business, including customer patterns and staff demand which can change daily, and prepare for this.

“For instance If you know you usually get a surge of customers on a Thursday at 2pm, then be prepared for this and have more staff on standby for these busier times.”

New data from restaurant forecasting app and Planday partner, Tenzo, shows that Thursdays and Fridays are actually busier days for hospitality in terms of spending habits, which indicates that this is when staffing demand is at its highest.

Christian Mouysset, Tenzo’s CEO comments: “Patrons across the UK are spending almost 17% more on a Friday than they were in 2019, more than 12% more on a Thursday and 6.6% on a Saturday. At the same time, the average transaction value earlier in the week – on Tuesdays in particular – is less than it was this time two years ago.

“Even though the like-for-like average spending is still 14% lower than it was at this time in July 2019, this data shows that consumers are starting to spend more and now we can see the days of the week that people are more likely to loosen their purse strings.”