Depending on the organisational structure of the business, retailers have varying methods of controlling their staffing.
They might centrally control the staffing at each store; they might delegate to store managers; or a combination of both where a budgeted number of positions and hours is determined by head office (or Area Managers), and then stores allocate the individuals to the planned slots.
Management optimise staff rosters to match expected activity within the business facilitating integration of actual hours worked into the payroll system.
A single best-practice method does not exist because it is dependent on organisational structure and the degree of responsibility management wants to delegate. However, best-practice rostering principles are:
- Clear lines of communication must exist between staff members and management, allowing for easy, accurate, and timely data collection of hours worked
- There is seamless data integration between sales history, planned promotions, budgeted hours, actual hours worked, and payroll systems
- Management has business intelligence tools available to analyse data and view exceptions to aid decision making
- There is flexibility to deal with the many workplace rostering situations that arise including training, job-sharing, and unplanned activity
- Expected store traffic is the key driver for determining work slot hours and timing
Josem Consulting can assist with optimising the workforce to better match demand from customers.
We understand the systems that are out in the marketplace, and we can help retailers collect the necessary information based on existing systems. If there are gaps between the available data and required data, we can advise on the most cost-effective way to get it.
Its not a cookie-cutter approach that we have. In other words, we carefully evaluate our client's situation, make recommendations to improve the situation, and can then implement the solution that makes the most sense.
We don't sell the solution itself, so we are completely objective, and it means you can trust us to give you unbiased guidance - a rare thing in 2009.
Contact us to discuss your needs further.
