Making a shift schedule can be tricky sometimes. For businesses like retail, restaurant, or hotel, shift is a common schedule for employees. Manager or head is facing the same problem every month. That’s why we introduce to you Open shifts, which will help you with that issue.

What is an Open shift?

Usually, managers assign shifts to their employees. But with this feature, you can let your employees decide what schedule is suitable for them and join it or not.

Besides, it will be less hassle for the manager; it also lets the employee feel that they have the freedom to decide when is their best time to work.

In short, you can set a schedule for a specific number of staff members and assign no one to it. Then, you can even invite some needed employees to fill the schedule. When an employee joins the open shift, their schedule updates and the updates show in the attendance system.

In which cases does a business owner need open shifts?

Open shifts typically occur when a manager or business owner is planning the schedule and finds that they don’t have a specific employee who is available to work the shift. That is why it’s important to organize the availability of your team or even streamline your staff scheduling process. Open shifts are a good fit when:

• You want to give your employees the flexibility to pick up shifts that work best for them;
• Your employees’ availability is complicated and letting them pick up shifts themselves saves time for everyone.

What are the business benefits of creating open shifts? 

When you have a lot of employees, some shifts become more “desirable”. The challenge is not only creating a fair schedule. You also need to deal with employees’ disappointment with their shifts. In a restaurant, for example, an open shift on Saturday night might be preferable for tipped staff than those on Tuesday night.

The best way to deal with this is to reward positive behavior with favorable shifts. Give your desirable shifts to employees who help fill unwanted shifts, fill in when needed, or offer excellent customer service. 

Getting started with Open Shifts

How do I create open shifts in the web version?

• Open Schedules
• Go to Open shifts
• Click Add schedule
• Fill in the title and choose the limited number of employees you need to join the schedule
• Write a description and upload files (optional)
• Choose the location for the open shift or create a new one (optional)
• Choose the dates of the schedule
• Choose the time and other time settings of the schedule
• Choose employees assigned to the open shift by default (the employee selection is optional)
• Click Create

All employees will see and will be able to join the open shift in the mobile app => Schedule => Open shifts. Employees assigned to the open shift will receive a notification on their mobile app and will see it in their Activity list. After joining, the work schedule of the employee updates automatically.

How do I create open shifts in the mobile app?

• Open Schedules
• Go to Open shifts
• Click + button
• Fill the title and choose the limited number of employees you need to join the schedule
• Write a description and upload files (optional)
• Choose the location for the open shift or create a new one (optional)
• Choose the dates of the schedule
• Choose the time and other time settings of the schedule
• Choose employees assigned to the open shift by default (the employee selection is optional)
• Click Create

All employees will see and will be able to join the open shift in the mobile app => Schedule => Open shifts. Employees invited or assigned to the open shift will receive a notification on their mobile app and will see it in their Activity list. After joining, the work schedule of the employee updates automatically.

How can employees join open shifts?

• Open the mobile app
• Open Schedules
• Go to Open shifts
• Choose the shift
• Click Join

After joining, the work schedule of the employee updates automatically.

What benefits do open shifts have for employees?

Employees can also feel the burn when you’re not using efficient scheduling techniques. And keeping shift workers engaged has become an even bigger challenge in recent years. Without knowing, you can create a work schedule that has some employees always working nights and some just the day shift.

The solution is to use a combination of techniques to avoid burnout and fill open shifts. 

You might also want to cross-train your best employees. This will provide career growth and variety while also making sure you’re not short-staffed.