(Photo by Eric Rothermel on Unsplash)
It’s thrilling even to be thinking about how employee availability forms could benefit your business. It means your business has grown to the point where you need outside help, also known as employees. Before we go any further, feel free to give yourself a little round of applause–you’re doing what you set out to do.
However, now that you’re bringing more people on board, organization will be of the utmost importance. We’re confident you’ve got a good grip on keeping your business so far, but we want to help you make that big transition from working only for yourself to managing a team of employees.
Now, back to business. So what are these employee availability forms anyway? As you may have guessed, their forms your employees can use to fill out the times they are available to work. Most employers find that it’s easier to create a schedule based on when their employees can’t work, rather than when they can. Of course, this all comes down to your personal preference, so choose a system that works for you.
These aren’t the only advantages of filling out these forms, though. Employees often also fill out personal information, shift preferences, on-call availability, and potential forthcoming changes that might affect their future availability. This heap of information makes it easier to schedule your employers and tailor the schedules as best as you can according to their individual needs and preferences.
But employee availability forms can be a bit tricky for novice business owners to navigate. Don’t worry, though; today, we’ll explore how you can successfully implement employee availability forms into your business.
How often should employees fill these forms out?
New employees often fill these forms out when applying for jobs, as the information they provide could clue employers as to whether this person would be a good fit for the job or not. More often than not, these employers file away these forms upon hiring, only to let them collect dust over time in the office. As anyone can tell you, things change, and therefore, so do people’s schedules. If you’re hiring a lot of parents, ask your employees to fill out employee availability forms at the start of both semesters and the summer. An added benefit of this regular asking is you will show your team that their personal lives matter to you and that you want to accommodate them as much as possible.
What happens if you have an employee who’s continuously pulling a switcheroo on you? The shifts they’re requesting or asking to cover aren’t matching up with the time slots they listed on their form. If you find one of your employees pulling this, meet with them and let them know you’ve noticed a change in their scheduling preferences. If they confirm these inconsistencies, you can ask them to fill out another availability form with their new preferences.
Expecting the unexpected
But consider this: what would happen if your business decided to change up on you? The market has become increasingly volatile with the rise of COVID-19, so what you think is smooth sailing might not always be the case. In case of an emergency, though, ask your team to fill out new availability forms if your hours or workload changes. Remember to communicate to your team why you need them to fill another one of these forms out.
Thankfully, most scheduling woes are far more minor than this potential fiasco. In unexpected personal emergencies, you could also have your employees fill out a ‘change of availability’ form. This kind of form acts as a sort of buffer between you and your employee. Instead of your employee changing their hours on a whim, you can have them complete this form to request a schedule change formally. If you have a more wishy-washy employee, you can set limits on how often an employee can request an availability change. Furthermore, convey to your team that a request to change their availability won’t always be automatically granted; first, it must be discussed with and ultimately approved by you, the boss.
Any business owner who is serious about keeping her scheduling neat and tidy will seriously consider adopting change of availability forms into her scheduling system. Of course, the size of your team will also factor into whether you need them or not. Generally speaking, change of availability forms are excellent for business owners with a relatively large group of employees. If your team is smaller than ten, though, then it’s okay to manage your employees’ scheduling concerns.
Employee unavailability: why is it important?
Asking for your team’s unavailability might seem counterintuitive to scheduling. However, and as we mentioned earlier, it might make your life a whole lot easier. For starters, it’s polite to ask your employees when they can’t work, as you have a clear idea of when not to ask them for extra help. These boundaries will, in turn, lead to a happier, less-stressed team. They won’t have to worry about being on-call or any unexpected shift covers, as they’ve told you when they’re not available to work.
Not to mention, you’ll avoid becoming the dreaded can-you-cover-just-this-once boss. Many people have dealt with a boss who seemed to have little regard for their employees’ free time, blithely asking their employees to come in and help even though it’s their day off. Sure, a last-minute shift cover might ultimately be more convenient for you. But it indicates to your employees that you’re not taking their needs and free time seriously. Before you know it, they’ll be looking elsewhere for work.
However, if you do have a handful of employees who can cover shifts they ostensibly couldn’t, this might be a signal that it’s time to ask them to give you their updated availability.
Help during the hire
As mentioned above, most employees fill out these forms right after getting hired. You can select new hires even faster by asking prospective employees to complete these forms before any interviews. If their availability clashes with your business hours, you’ll know they won’t even make your shortlist. Furthermore, you can check current employee availability to see where your lean shifts are. This information can help you further narrow your search for new hires.
Incorporating these forms into your business is a great way to establish respect and rapport between you and your team. You can design schedules according to customer needs and employee personality traits, thereby creating a happy workforce. Furthermore, you’ll be able to clear up any scheduling miscommunications or false claims by referring back to your employees’ availability. It might help you immensely to use scheduling software when assigning weekly shifts. Not only will you create and keep detailed records of employee shift history, but you can also use it to analyze which shifts are stronger and which are weaker.
For more information on the logistics of employee forms, visit Sling today. They provide a detailed, step-by-step guide on how to incorporate these forms into your business. Moreover, they discuss in depth the advantages you can enjoy from these forms. Furthermore, you can learn a little about where to draw the line of responsibility when it comes to scheduling. All in all, Sling is an excellent resource for budding entrepreneurs looking to fine-tune their managerial skills. We hope you learned a little something about the fantastic benefits you can reap from having employee availability forms on hand. We also hope you decide to take the dive and incorporate them into your business. Happy scheduling!
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