Summer Scheduling Can be a Nightmare. Simplify The Process with These Easy Tips
Even if your business cycle doesn’t have a seasonal component, summer scheduling can still be a hassle. You’ve experienced this if you’ve ever had an employee request a week of time off, followed immediately by another staff member who mentions the un-refundable plane tickets he bought for that same week and “forgot” to tell you about.
You have a business to run. But pleasing your customers can be a real challenge when all five of your employees need to be out of the office at the same time. When last minute vacation plans overlap with hangover Mondays, which don’t always mesh with the sudden disappearances of sometimes-unreliable seasonal employees, you end up with headaches. And if your business peaks during the summer, you may find yourself in the middle of your busiest month with two employees behind the counter completing the work of five, or worse.
Here are a few considerations that can keep things on track when scheduling problems pile up.
Summer Scheduling: Tips
- Establish clear rules about time off requests and try to stick to them. If employees need to request time off a week in advance, be firm about this. Of course you don’t want to lose a talented employee just because she bent this rule. But it’s okay to become visibly annoyed with her. Do what you need to do to have your rules taken seriously.
- Don’t rely on a system of hand scrawled post-it notes. A vacation request should be formal, and should be phrased as a request, not a demand or a “heads up.”
- Never allow your employees to simply leave without any advance warning. In most businesses, doing this more than once is a fireable offense.
- Delegate scheduling if you need to, but keep an eye on the process so you know what to expect during the upcoming days and weeks. Two pairs of eyes can also help prevent tangles, oversights, and surprises.