Les impacts des changements d’horaire de dernière minute

If there’s one lesson we learned this past year it’s how certain things are out of our control.

We can prepare for the worst but can’t prevent it from happening in the first place.

When it comes to managing your workforce, planning can only take you so far.

Whether it be an employee not showing up to work, having to find a weekend replacement or dealing with an impromptu sick leave, life happens.

A lot of these last-minute issues can have a ripple effect on your entire workforce.

The important part is knowing how to pivot and handle these last-minute schedule changes that get thrown your way.

If they become frequent, these last-minute schedule changes can have a negative impact on your business in several ways. 

Here are some of them :

1. Loss of time

Whether an employee calls in sick or needs a personal day, an unexpected absence can cause a real headache in having to find a fill an empty shift.

As a manager, you’re faced with the daunting task of having to sift through your calling list to find a last-minute replacement.

Having to contact employees on their day off in hopes of convincing one of them to replace their colleague can be stressful.

But above all: time-consuming.

According to Statistics Canada, Canadians miss an average of 11.6 days per year.

This leaves managers losing around 5 hours a week looking for replacements.

With Evolia’s Workforce Management tools, you can easily regain that lost time by automating your replacements according to your custom rules.

Whether that be through seniority, job position or location, once your rules are set in place, Evolia takes care of finding an optimal replacement for you.

2. Financial Losses

Sometimes, you may need to call on an employee who exceeded their weekly limit of hours.

As a result, you lose more money from overtime, while also paying them a bonus to have them come back to work.

According to Daniel Leduc, a lawyer in employment and labour law :

“Employers can dedicate up to 20% of their payroll solely to direct and indirect costs related to unexpected absences. In addition to occasions when the only available employee will be overqualified, and therefore overpaid, for the work to be done.”

Add to the fact that the only available employee is overqualified for the task at hand so you end up paying more to get the task done. 

As a result, your financial losses aren’t limited to payroll but are twofold.

Without the appropriate amount of employees, you can’t satisfy your customers.

 If your dissatisfied customers decide not to return to your business, you lose profits as well.

3.Employees Feeling Under Pressure

Nobody likes being under pressure, not even Freddie Mercury.

Last-minute schedule changes can have a serious impact on your employees. 

If you can’t find a replacement, it means a heavier workload on your team.

It also means more stress and an increased risk of mistakes and friction between colleagues.

In the long term, high stress can lead to physical and mental health problems such as cardiovascular disease, back pain, anxiety and burnout.

Faced with these problems, your employees may find themselves taking time off work or having no choice but to quit to preserve their own mental and physical well-being.

Forcing you to revisit the vicious cycle of having to find and train a new recruit!

4.Managers Gaining a Bad Reputation

Reputation is everything.

Without the proper management in place, your reputation is at stake.

Think about it: If employees are unhappy with their work hours or have to constantly change them at the last minute, you’re running the risk of building a bad reputation.

Which creates the ripple effect of creating a high employee turnover.

After all, employee engagement is the driving force behind your business thriving or not.

When employees forcefully quit, they often take their pent-up resentment with them.

Which often comes through bad word of mouth or leaving negative reviews on job sites like Glassdoor and Indeed. 

This creates a negative ripple effect: 

Lack of employees -> a loss of customers –> a loss of revenue=drop in salary for your current employees.

 A low salary increases turnover by up to 100-300%, which means more resignations. 

As a result, recruitment becomes more difficult because of the bad reputation you’ve acquired.

How Can You Decrease Last-Minute Schedule Changes?

Here’s the cold hard truth: It’s impossible to acquire 100% employee attendance.

Your employees are human after all with real-life problems.

However, there are solutions to limit the negative impact created from last-minute schedule changes.

Solutions that start with measuring your employees’ absences.

A scheduling app like Evolia lets you easily keep track of employee attendance and create smart schedules to ensure you find an optimal qualified replacement directly through the platform. 

As a result, you save precious time, maximize your chances of finding a replacement, and ensure minimal overhead costs and overqualified wages.

Finally, in order to decrease last-minute schedule changes, you need to motivate your employees the right way. 

Although some jobs are more demanding than others, with a little creativity and self-awareness it’s possible to keep your team motivated. 

That way, you all develop a sense of belonging within the business together. 

All of this ultimately contributes to the success of your business.

If you’re ready to experience the benefits of automating your replacements, contact one of our Evolia specialists today for a free live demo!