Scheduling is a thankless job. It takes time and thought to put the right hourly workers into the right shifts in the right locations so that employees are happy and labor costs don't overrun sales. Your reward for getting it right? Doing it all over again the next pay period.
At one time, only the biggest organizations could afford software to automate scheduling workers. Then cloud-based services happened. Today, dozens of vendors offer employee scheduling and shift planning software via the Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) model, which is flexible enough to be used in multiple industries and verticals by companies with as few as five employees or as many as 15,000. Best of all, it costs as little as $1 per month per employee, with discounts available for large workforces or subscribing to a bundle of related services such as general human resources (HR) management or payroll.
Vendors are chasing a growing number of small to midsize businesses (SMBs) that are ditching Google Docs, Microsoft Excel, or paper and pencil for scheduling solutions that are more productive and which help to keep employees content. They also make it easier to comply with new regulations, including minimum wage and overtime laws, the Affordable Care Act, and worker "Bill of Rights" measures that cities such as San Francisco and Seattle have passed in recent years. From 2014 to 2015, workforce and labor scheduling software adoption jumped 40 percent, at least in part because of increased regulation, according to the 2015-2016 HR Systems Survey from industry analyst firm Sierra-Cedar.
To help you get a handle on your shift scheduling needs, we test solutions from 10 top players in the space. Among these reviews, you'll find vendors such as Humanity, Shiftboard, Ximble, When I Work, and Editors' Choice winner Deputy. They all have fresh, modern user interfaces (UIs), including on/off toggles and other controls similar to those on mobile apps. Platforms When I Work and ZoomShift also function equally as well on desktops and mobile devices, at least for employees. All of the products we review offer templates and other shortcuts that can cut the time it takes to get set up and create schedules.
The solutions we review can all be configured so that employees can pick up, drop, or swap shifts, without requiring prior approval from a manager (though, in some cases, you might have to pay extra for such functions). Some can be configured so managers can create schedules with all open shifts, giving employees more say over when and how much they work. That's critical in industries such as healthcare and fast food where companies view giving people more flexibility in their work life as a competitive advantage they can use to hire better workers and hang onto valued employees.
What Is Shift Planning Software?
Regardless of their individual look and feel, all employee scheduling and shift planning software tools share a handful of common elements. One of these elements is an employee database that includes individual worker's contact information, job title or type, training or other qualifications, and their availability (including shift preferences and time-off requests). Along with manually entering worker data, all of the vendors offer new users some options for uploading existing personnel data from sources such as Microsoft Excel spreadsheets as well as payroll or point-of-sale (POS) systems. Platforms When I Work and ZoomShift let users add new workers with a minimum of information; employees can also fill in the rest of their data the first time they log into the system, which is a timesaver managers should love.
Two other shift scheduling software basics are a library of jobs or positions (e.g., server, cashier, bartender, dishwasher, and host) that can be cross-referenced with locations or job websites. Some platforms integrate with Google Maps so, when employees check their schedule, they can see the location and get directions. This is a handy feature for businesses such as caterers, housepainters, or movers whose workers go to different job sites every day.
The heart of this kind of software is the scheduling module, which typically can be configured to look like a daily, weekly, or monthly calendar. Empty cells on the grid represent hours of the day; they get populated as shifts are created. Modules give schedulers multiple ways to create schedules. Some of these ways include creating a shift, and then dragging and dropping a name from the employee list to fill it; creating and reusing shift templates, copying shifts from a previous time period (such as the previous week), or uploading schedules from spreadsheets. Some offerings takes this a step further, offering automated scheduling tools that an executive or shift supervisor can use to set parameters and then let the software build a schedule for them.
Letting employees add times when they're available to work to their profile, bid on open shifts, or swap shifts has become the de facto norm (though vendors such as ZoomShift don't offer shift swaps as part of their lowest-priced tier of service). It's also the new norm to let employees decide how they want to get alerts of schedule updates—either via email, SMS, or simply through in-app messages, for example.
Key Differentiators
One area that separates good shift planning platforms from mediocre ones is reporting. When they're planning shifts, businesses such as restaurants and retail stores need to know what their labor costs will be and how that relates to sales. Some software can pull data from third-party programs via integration at the application programming interface (API) level, including POS systems, time and attendance managers, or other HR software. These software solutions then combine that data with their own databases to create sales histories, forecasts, and other reports. In such cases, the system can analyze how many people worked on Black Friday last year and what sales were, and then calculate how many people to put on the schedule this year to maximize profits.
Another differentiator is support. Though developers have worked to make software intuitive, even platforms with user-friendly UIs take time to get used to. Platforms Deputy, HotSchedules, and Humanity offer 24/7 support via phone, email, or chat. They and other vendors offer wizards that walk new accounts through the setup process, on-screen Help buttons, extensive FAQs, how-to videos, online training sessions, and one-on-one instruction—either for a small fee or as part of the implementation process. Some platforms, such as ZoomShift, send new customers a series of daily email alerts with answers to their most-asked customer questions.
Pricing
Across the products we tested, approximate minimum prices run from $1 to $2.45 per user per month for various numbers of locations, users, and functions. Prices then drop from there as companies add more of each, or for companies subscribing to service bundles that include a time clock, time and attendance, or other modules. Some platforms, such as Deputy and Humanity, let you demo sandbox accounts for specific company types, including restaurants, healthcare agencies, security firms, and retailers. This could help you determine whether it's right for your business.
All in all, we found these solutions to be well worth the cost. If you're still using paper and pencil or spreadsheets to schedule hourly workers, then know there's a better way. SaaS-based employee scheduling and shift planning software is easy to use and, if you get stuck, most platforms offer a variety of help (most of which can be immediately accessed without resorting to a customer service call). If you're paying $1 per user per month, then the cost can add up, especially if you're a larger business. However, the return on investment (ROI) is fewer hours devoted to scheduling, a more dependable and efficient work force, and additional time you can spend on other parts of your business.
Featured in This Roundup
Deputy
$1.00
%displayPrice% at %seller% Deputy is a solid option for small to midsize businesses (SMBs) with a preponderance of shift workers. The platform's open API and add-on people management modules means it also could serve as a company's main HR management hub. Read the full review ››-
Shiftboard
$45.00
%displayPrice% at %seller% Despite a few minor flaws, Shiftboard is a powerful employee shift scheduling tool that can accomplish most things you'll need from a scheduling tool. If you're in process of choosing staffing software, then we strongly urge you to give Shiftboard your highest consideration. Read the full review ›› -
Humanity
$49.00
%displayPrice% at %seller% Humanity is the future of shift scheduling software but it's expensive. However, if you're ready to test the waters, then you'll get plenty of support along the way. Read the full review ›› -
When I Work
$9.00
%displayPrice% at %seller% When I Work is a full-bodied, attractive shift scheduling platform that works well on phones and desktops, and offers shortcuts and templates that help speed up scheduling for managers, giving employees more power over when they work. Read the full review ›› -
Ximble
$1.00
%displayPrice% at %seller% If you're looking for a tool that's designed perfectly but requires a bit of manual labor for scheduling, then Ximble might be the perfect solution for your business. Read the full review ›› -
APS OnLine
$5.00
%displayPrice% at %seller% APS OnLine provides thorough human resources (HR) management service, with enterprise-level configurability designed for the SMB customer. However, those customers should be ready to pay for it. Read the full review ›› -
HotSchedules
$40.00
%displayPrice% at %seller% If you run a restaurant, need real-time metrics, or have a predominately mobile-centric workforce, then HotSchedules is one to consider, though there are definite tradeoffs including a user interface (UI) that can take some getting used to. Read the full review ›› -
Kronos Workforce Ready
$3.00
%displayPrice% at %seller% Kronos Workforce Ready is a highly configurable, reasonably priced, all-in-one HR management suite for SMBs. It combines a high degree of customizability with a near-enterprise feature set for a nice initial price. Read the full review ›› -
Snap Schedule
$450.00
%displayPrice% at %seller% Snap Schedule is a great scheduling tool, but its high price and cluttered calendars keep it from the upper echelon of software in this category. Read the full review ›› -
ZoomShift
$1.50
%displayPrice% at %seller% ZoomShift is a worthwhile, value-priced choice for smaller businesses. It has many but not all of the same features offered by platforms designed for much larger workforces. Read the full review ››
