Buyer beware.
There are a lot of companies out there offering scheduling software.
You can pay thousands of dollars for something that is little more than an Excel spreadsheet.
Most of these simple help you to manage your existing schedule. You input staffing requirements and then add vacations and such as they become known. The software then tells you where your shortfalls will be. If you have spent an hour learning Excel, then you know you can do this for yourself.
Some software targets a very special need. For example, suppose you want an efficient way to communicate overtime coverage requirements to your workers. You can do this using Shifthound Software. This software is not sold by our company and this is the only software our firm recommends.
What software does not do is what you really want to get done
It does not analyze your situation to recommend the optimal scheduling strategy.
It does not evaluate your existing Pay and Work policies and make recommendations.
It does not involve your workforce and use their input to design a solution.
It does not take into account health, safety and alertness.
In short, most software promises a lot and provides very little. Our recommendation is to go with a trial period if possible. In the end, I think you will find that if you want the best results, you need to go with the best.
Give us a call at (415) 472-3688
