Top 5 Must-Have Features in Your Rostering Solution


It can be an uphill battle to manage an entire workforce's schedule without an excellent rostering solution. Not just that, it may put workloads and employees together in disarray. Now, this is where a well-balanced roster comes into power. 


It helps you boost your staff engagement, provide quality care, and stay cost-competitive. More so, it's not an easy feat to ensure employees have shifts they are willing to take, customer needs are met, and the budget is well-maintained. All these while staying compliant with Fair Work legislation. 


Nonetheless, the advantages of utilising the best software to manage employee rosters go beyond employee management and meeting labour budget requirements. 


According to a report on August 2021 from the Committee for Economic Development of Australia (CEDA), it is estimated that there will be a shortage of 110,000 aged-care employees by 2030. Also, this estimate is based on the necessary workforce growth of 2% yearly by 2030. 


Employee retention will play a huge role in addressing such shortfalls, and the answer to retention is employee engagement. That said, the cornerstone of employee engagement consists of two key factors—trust and recognition. 


In order to gain your employees' trust, there should be transparency of information and foster ownership over their tasks. This talks about better shift visibility, being paid on time and correctly, and do-it-yourself options to manage availability in the context of scheduling. 


Thankfully, the best rostering software like RosterElf can cut down the burden on you and your managers and build more dynamic teams. So, when choosing the right rostering app, here are five top features we highly recommend. 




1. Employee Availability


Time to end your worry about your employees' workloads and schedules; stop spending long hours running spreadsheets and making phone calls asking if everyone is alright to work the assigned shifts. You won't have to trouble yourself with all these if you have the right rostering software


It allows employees to digitally manage availability into the future before rosters are even made. And employees can do it straight from the free app on their devices, whether Android or iOS or login via the web. So say your employee calls in sick, no worries, you can make a replacement quickly from your mobile phone even when you're outside the office. 



2. Award Interpretation 


Employment awards are an intricate part of the employment world, and it’s easy for business owners to make inadvertent mishaps when approving payroll. With RosterElf’s award interpretation software, it is designed in Australia to manage the most complicated industry awards and agreements. 


It will help your business handle scheduling with ease while remaining compliant with Fair Work regulations, saving you time and sparing you from payroll errors. A rostering and payroll software also gives an accurate roster and payroll labour costs in real-time, helping you drive business sustainability and profit. 



3. Labour Budgeting 


It’s a known fact that, in addition to suppliers and rent, labour cost is one of the biggest expenses in the majority of businesses. Managing your labour costs well can go a long way to driving business robustness and great profit. One wrong move could cost you a poor bottom line.  


An ideal rostering solution provides a powerful yet simple solution using its labour budgeting feature. It is designed to give you live labour cost visibility across the process, providing you with all data to maximise your workforce. That way your team can reflect business needs and sales trends correctly. 



4. No Double Schedules 


Perhaps you’ve screwed up the spreadsheet many times in the past and ended up with overstaffing. And the classic, rostering an employee to work in two different locations at the same time. People who have run a spreadsheet for rostering know too well about this struggle. 


With the right rostering app, you don’t have to worry about double-ups. The system will not let you roster an employee into two different areas, hence you don’t have to worry about accidentally scheduling doubles. 



5. Time Clock App 


Most rostering and payroll software has a built-in time clock app, meaning employees can clock in and out digitally of their rostered work schedules. More so, the mobile app uses patented GPS locator technology that enables you and your employees to sign in from their devices once they are in the office. 


If you have multiple employees working on different sites, the GPS locator option is the best solution for businesses. 



Key Takeaway


In every aspect of your business, from improving employee retention in a competitive industry to maximising your labour budgeting, the technology and processes you implement are vital throughout your employee management. 


That’s why make sure to have rostering software that helps you plan efficaciously and streamline processes. All these can ultimately improve your business profitability and employee management. 





RosterElf: Rostering Made Easy 


RosterElf’s cloud-based payroll and rostering software truly is a game-changer. Say goodbye to roster conflicts and chase employees for their availability to work. Instead, employees can easily update their availability to work and notify managers about it through a smartphone app. 


Staff set the times and days they can work, and RosterElf does the rest. Our software then automatically suggests available employees to fill shifts. 


What are you waiting for? Time to take your rostering and payroll game to the next level and boost your business’ performance. Call us now at 1300 353 000, and our team will be more than happy to assist you. 


To get a clearer view of how our app works, enjoy 30-day access to our tool for free!



Important Notice

The information contained in this article is general in nature and you should consider whether the information is appropriate to your needs. Legal and other matters referred to in this article are of a general nature only and are based on RosterElf's interpretation of laws existing at the time and should not be relied on in place of professional advice.

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