Staff scheduling is extremely important in the security industry. Advance schedules keep security guards informed of their assigned shifts, tasks to be undertaken, job location, and the number of hours to work in upcoming weeks or months.
A staff rota is referred to a roster or schedule containing valuable information about the number of employees, job roles, service areas, etc. From the manager’s perspective, the best rota is the one that is stable, user-friendly, quick to create, and satisfies business needs. Likewise, employees consider an easily accessible, customizable, and readable rota ideal for themselves. Staff rota plays a key role in streamlining operations of a security company and increasing the productivity of security guards.
To help security agencies build the right schedule for their security guards, this article explains 5 valuable tips to build the best rota.
Set Rules for Effective Rota Management
Effective rota management serves as the nucleus of administrative functions. Managers have to define schedules and shifts in a staff rota to meet the unique needs of their security guards.
For this purpose, build schedule templates first that define the criteria and rules for effective rota management. Building a customized template for a predefined period will save your precious time and help you successfully manage available resources. This practice allows security companies to cover more security projects with a limited workforce and keeps security officers informed of their upcoming engagements.
Moreover, choose an appropriate type of schedule as per your client’s needs and lay the base of your schedule by defining the starting day of the week, breaks allowed during the shift, and factors potentially affecting the whole schedule.
Create a Rota Using Automated System
Manual scheduling is time-consuming and less efficient. Managers have to spend hours and hours forecasting the staffing needs for upcoming shifts. Besides, there is a high possibility of potential human error while assigning shifts to security guards manually and sharing schedules individually.
To avoid these problems, managers should create a rota using cloud-based automated solutions that are easily accessible and user-friendly. These systems have built-in schedule templates for weeks or months to ensure integrated rota management for a specific period.
Additionally, automated software allows managers to fit their schedules according to the security demands dictated by their clients, security officers, or service areas or sites. High-tech customization tools of rota apps UK help security companies understand the intricacies of your day-to-day and perform well under all circumstances.
Define Employee Skills and Attributes
A security company has different departments with different roles. Each position requires unique skills and attributes from security officers. To create a rota that meets project requirements, managers should define skills and expertise for each security guard based on his or her qualifications and experiences. This practice will specify employees for particular shifts and ensure the right person is deployed for the right job.
In this regard, use an automated workforce management solution and put complete details about the competencies of your security staff. Based on that information, you can choose which security officers are qualified to cover a shift within a specific service area. This will not only save your time but also help you improve your service quality and team productivity.
Assign Shifts Based on Guards’ Availability
Another key benefit of rota management systems is that they offer flexibility to employees and enable them to maintain a healthy work-life balance. A security officer can choose whether he or she is available for upcoming shifts in the next week or month in advance. This feature saves them from awkward confrontations resulting from bookings on a day they need off.
It is, therefore, very important for managers to check the guards’ availability when scheduling and assigning shifts accordingly. Rota apps UK send regular notifications to inform admins about the availability status of their staff members. If a worker chooses he or she is unavailable, the admin will get a notification and assign that shift to other employees.
Similarly, once a shift has been scheduled, the security guard will get complete information about the date, timing, service area, check calls management requirements, and the number of breaks allowed. There is no possibility of accidental booking hours away from the service area.
Review the Staff Rota before Publishing
Once you have built a staff rota and assigned shifts, it’s time to check for potential errors and glitches. Review the shifts assigned for upcoming weeks or months and make sure only relevant persons are booked for specific locations with the right skillsets.
Finally, share this schedule with your security staff and resolve their queries if they have any. A rota management system allows security guards to access the schedules anytime on their phones using the mobile app. Hence, the whole process of staff management becomes transparent and convenient leaving no surprise holes in schedules.
Get it Right with Smart Workforce
You can find different workforce management software and rota apps UK on the internet. Each one offers unique features at various prices. However, there’s only one software specifically built to meet the workforce management needs of the UK security industry.
Try Smart Workforce, a cloud-based WFM solution that makes guards’ scheduling and reporting very simple, easy, and convenient. With this fully automated system, you can make employees’ schedules in advance, eliminate annoying admin errors, and stay informed of all updates in real-time. This way, managers can improve communication with their security staff, increase team productivity, and deliver premium quality security services to their clients.
In addition to scheduling and reporting, Smart Workforce also offers exclusive features such as BS7858 staff vetting, patrolling management, and automated check calls management at an amazing price of just £2/user per month. So, automate your workforce management operations with Smart Workforce and cement your long-term competitive edge over your rivals.