Employee scheduling software

Employee scheduling softwareautomates the process of creating and maintaining a schedule. Automating the scheduling of employees increases productivity and allows organizations with hourly workforces to re-allocate resources to non-scheduling activities. Such software will usually track vacation time, sick time, compensation time, and alert when there are conflicts.^[1] As scheduling data is accumulated over time, it may be extracted for payroll or to analyze past activity. Although employee scheduling software may or may not make optimization decisions, it does manage and coordinate the tasks.^[2][3] Today's employee scheduling software often includes mobile applications. Mobile scheduling further increased scheduling productivity and eliminated inefficient scheduling steps.^[2] It may also include functionality including applicant tracking and on-boarding, time and attendance, and automatic limits on overtime. Such functionality can help organizations with issues like employee retention, compliance with labor laws, and other workforce management challenges.

A theoretical underpinning of an employee scheduling problem can be represented as the Nurse scheduling problem, which is NP-hard. The theoretical complexity of the problem is a significant factor in the development of various software solutions. This is because systems must take into account many different forms of schedules that could be worked, and allocate employees to the correct schedule.^[4] Ultimately, optimization of scheduling is to minimize costs, but also often requires a reciprocal approach from management instead of complete reliance on software.^[2]

Prior to employee scheduling software companies would use physical mediums for tracking employee hours and work schedule. This then gave rise to data storage forms that later by the 80s were compatible with computer programs and software. These forms however never actually scheduled the employees, it just kept track of the employees work week, hours, and prior work schedules. This then gave way to the idea of employee scheduling software, which would be an all-inclusive system that would store and track employee work history, along with actually scheduling the employee's work week.

La forma más antigua de programación y gestión automatizada de las horas de los empleados fue la tarjeta perforada . La idea, creada por primera vez por Basile Bouchon en 1725, permitía controlar un telar perforando cintas de papel. Herman Hollerith mejoró el diseño. ^{[ 5 ]} IBM fabricó y comercializó diversas máquinas de registro de unidades para crear, clasificar y tabular tarjetas perforadas, incluso después de incursionar en las computadoras electrónicas a finales de la década de 1950. IBM convirtió la tecnología de tarjetas perforadas en una herramienta poderosa para el procesamiento de datos empresariales y produjo una extensa línea de máquinas de registro de unidades de uso general. ^{[ 6 ]}

Durante la década de 1960, la tarjeta perforada fue reemplazada gradualmente como principal medio de almacenamiento de datos por la cinta magnética, a medida que se disponía de ordenadores mejores y más potentes. Mohawk Data Sciences introdujo un codificador de cinta magnética en 1965, un sistema comercializado como sustituto de la perforadora de tarjetas que tuvo cierto éxito, pero las tarjetas perforadas se siguieron utilizando comúnmente para la entrada de datos y la programación hasta mediados de la década de 1980, cuando la combinación del almacenamiento en disco magnético de menor coste y los terminales interactivos asequibles en miniordenadores más económicos hicieron que las tarjetas perforadas quedaran obsoletas también para esta función. ^{[ 7 ]} Sin embargo, su influencia perdura a través de muchas convenciones estándar y formatos de archivo. ^{[ 8 ]}

En la década de 2010, la amplia adopción de dispositivos móviles y el auge de las redes 3G, 4G y 5G ^{[ 9 ]} a nivel mundial posibilitaron abordar la tarea de la planificación de manera diferente. En la última década, han surgido numerosas soluciones de software para facilitar la vida de los propietarios y gerentes de empresas.

Las primeras soluciones ayudaban a los propietarios de pequeñas empresas a programar, gestionar y comunicarse con sus empleados. Las soluciones más recientes ofrecen más funciones, aprovechando el aprendizaje automático y basándose en tecnologías en la nube de última generación.

Algorithms are used within the employee scheduling software in order to determine not only who is working, but also the specific jobs and tasks required of the workers. The system still must be monitored, and any further issues with assigning of specifics is done manually.^[10] Within the context of roster problems and models, there are three main factors to work out the differences: the integration of days off scheduling with line of work construction and task assignment, roster construction, and demand type.^[2] These complexities thusly require that each and every workplace must optimize employee scheduling software based on their own unique set of rules, issues and needs.^[10] Additionally, it is difficult to determine optimal solution that minimize costs, meet employee preferences, distribute shifts equitably among employees and satisfy all the workplace constraints. In many organizations, the people involved in developing rosters need decision support tools to help provide the right employees at the right time and the right cost while achieving a high level of employee satisfaction.^[2] Due to constant change within work environments, new models and algorithms must be created in order to allow for flexibility as needs and demands arise. For example, when a large number of new employees are hired, as in the total workforce is increased, the scheduling software likely will need to be updated in order to allow for such a change.^[4]

Although employee scheduling software won't necessarily improve business practices by itself, it does automate typically tedious business administration. It can also have positive effects on aspects of the business indirectly, including employee engagement, employee retention,^[11] and lowered labor costs. By providing management with large amounts of data, this software can assist management in making decisions and automatically create a work schedule that fits as many constraints as possible.^[12] Also, the software may be a part of an ERP package or other human resource management system.^[13][14][15]

Features vary depending on software vendor, but some typical features include:

• Gantt chart or calendar view of the schedule
• Approve employee requests for time off
• Reduce unproductive workforce due to over scheduling^[16]
• Use weather forecasts to predict staffing needs^[16]
• Days off scheduling
• Allow employees to swap shifts.
• Templates to roll out shift plans over medium term
• Interface to payroll and/or management accounting software^[17]
• Ability to easily identify unassigned shifts.^[17]
• Ability to create reports for invoicing and payroll.^[17]
• Manage the task of automation and data collection.
• Workplace analysis^[18]
• Mobile application integration
• Interface agents^[1]

As the modern workplace becomes more complex, it is likely that rostering will need to be more flexible to cater to more individualistic preferences.^[2] Artificial intelligence also looks to play a bigger role in scheduling software, requiring less oversight by management to correct issues.^[1]

• Appointment scheduling software
• Automated planning and scheduling
• Field service management
• Gantt chart
• Meeting scheduling tool
• Schedule (workplace)
• Time tracking software
• Timesheet
• Workforce management
• Applicant Tracking System
• Rostering