NEWS
ScheduleSource Delivers TeamWork Mobile; Mobile Workforce Scheduling Empowers Employees to View and Swap Schedules “On the Go”
Interactive, intuitive employee self-service frees management from tedious administrative tasks of managing schedules; accommodates technology preferences of diverse and virtual workforces
28 Jan 2011

Louisville, CO —ScheduleSource recently announced general availability of TeamWork Mobile, a mobile application that facilitates workforce scheduling by delivering “on-the-go” employee self-service. TeamWork Mobile delivers fully interactive functionality that enables employees to quickly and easily view schedules, check for available shifts and trade shifts directly from a mobile device.

TeamWork Mobile transforms and accelerates the time-consuming and often error-prone process of updating and managing changing workforce schedules by shifting the process from manager self-service to employee self-service. By enabling workers to view their schedules in real time and be included in the scheduling process, organisations improve employee engagement and satisfaction while controlling labor and administrative costs. By empowering workers to self-manage their schedules, TeamWork Mobile reduces the administrative burden pertaining to schedule changes and frees management to focus on strategic priorities and long-term goals.

“Managing schedules has always been a time-consuming and frustrating process,” explains John Durmick, CEO of ScheduleSource. “This is especially true at universities regarding student labor as well as in the healthcare, retail, manufacturing and services industries where schedules can change constantly. The burden typically falls on the manager, who often has to wade through messy slips of paper and email to create and manage schedules. Should last minute changes arise, organisations for the most part still rely on notifying employees of a shift availability through phone calls, emails or text messages. If a replacement can't be found, the organisation may have to pay overtime or fall out of compliance with labor and union policies and regulations."

“Aberdeen’s research on workforce management has shown that adoption of mobile tools, especially as it pertains to scheduling, is on the rise,” comments Jayson Saba, Research Analyst, Human Capital Management, Aberdeen Group. “Though not yet ubiquitous, the impact of these tools on enabling Best-in-Class performance should not be overlooked. Analysis reveals that organisations using mobile tools in workforce management improved operational manager productivity by 16% compared to just 6% for those that don’t. Furthermore, from the employee’s perspective, these organisations indicated on average 66% employee engagement compared to 57% for their counterparts. Ultimately, the more an employee is empowered, the more satisfied they are with the scheduling process. And more important, the process becomes less burdensome for managers, enabling them to focus on the core business.”

The intuitive, easy-to-use TeamWork Mobile application is available to all iPhone users and will also work well on other web-enabled smart-phones including Android and Blackberry devices. The application provides employees with flexible options to view and manage personal schedules and interact with the organisation. Management has the ability to accept or deny any schedule changes before they are logged. In addition, TeamWork Mobile integrates with the ScheduleSource TeamWork Workforce Management Solution, so shift requests automatically follow an organisation's defined business rules as well as any set employee schedules and defined skill profiles.

“Empowering employees with the ability to self-schedule not only cut costs and reclaims valuable time, it also accommodates the needs of virtual workforces spread across geographic regions as well as the expectations of diverse workforces that include Millennials and the Net Generation,” concludes Durmick. “Employees are used to the immediacy of mobile communications, and engaging with them via mobile technology saves time and increases productivity. By accommodating worker preferences, while adhering to labor laws, rules and regulations, organisations can increase employee satisfaction and retention.”

ScheduleSource TeamWork is designed to meet the needs of all users, including workforce schedulers, time administrators, payroll managers, employees and corporate executives. It fully delivers on the five most critical customer requirements: strong labor compliance controls, effective labor optimization tools, auditable access to labor utilization data, an intuitive user interface and exceptional employee self-service capabilities. www.schedulesource.com.

Founded in 1999, ScheduleSource pioneered the first Software-as-a-Service Workforce Management System and now provides both hosted and installed systems for staffing, scheduling, time/attendance and work item management.

Source : ScheduleSource