No matter what you decide is best for your business, there are tools that can help make scheduling the easiest part of your day. 

What’s a work schedule?

You might think that a work schedule is a few shifts laid out for the week, but it’s a bit more complex than that.

A work schedule is more like a plan. It determines an employee’s working hours, days on and off, and depending on the business, it outlines the tasks they’ll perform. It works with the schedules of other teammates so that all needed shifts are covered as required.

Work schedules are commonly made for both full-time or part-time work, and can include flexible work hours, rotating shifts, fixed or split schedules. It’s important to create work schedules that actually, you know, work: not just for your scheduling apps, but for your employees and your customer flow.

What’s the most common work schedule?

There’s a reason why Dolly’s 9 to 5 song was so popular—it’s the most common type of work schedule for employees in North America.

The 9 to 5 job is the traditional schedule that people think of when they hear the words “full time job”. These work schedules can be paired with images of corporate life, a pension, and hour-long commutes.

But although it’s popular, it doesn’t mean it’s the only way to work. In fact, there are many different alternatives to working the 9 to 5, and businesses are taking note. Even in 2019—also known as pre-pandemic times—50% of employees globally were working outside of their main office headquarters at least 2.5 days a week.

“Our bodies also would benefit from more flexibility,” says Emily Laber-Warren in this opinion piece from the New York Times.

Ms. Warren leads the health and science reporting program at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at the City University of New York.

“Each of us has a personalized rhythm known as a chronotype — an internal timer that governs when we naturally fall asleep and when we are most alert. For more than half of adults, biological bedtime falls after midnight, which means that a typical 9-to-5 work schedule throws many of us out of sync.”

It’s evident that our minds need time to decompress and disassociate from work, no matter what our jobs are. And for busy people who also need to walk the dog, feed the kids, or in some cases, work a second job, finding that time can be difficult.

So, maybe Dolly was onto something when she said “there’s a better life”.

Let’s see how different work schedules might help us get there. 

The 5 most common work-schedule types that aren’t 9 to 5

Not every schedule is a 9 to 5, and that’s perfectly fine. Here are 5 common work-schedule types that might work for your business. 

1. Shift work schedules

Shift work is defined as any work schedule that falls outside of the hours of 7am and 6pm. It can include evenings, nights, and morning shifts, and fixed or rotating schedules.

An example of shift work schedules could be a bike mechanic working Tuesday and Wednesday from 8 am to 2 pm, and on Saturday from 12pm to 8pm. They could be scheduled for these hours due to the amount of bikes in the shop that need to be fixed, or in anticipation of a rush on the weekend.

Shift work schedules can be beneficial for any business that has customers or clients outside of “regular business hours”. This includes restaurants, hotels, retail, manufacturing, tourist spots, galleries, and more.

When it comes to scheduling shift workers, business owners need to be aware of the rules and regulations that support the health and safety of workers.

For instance, the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requires that if an employee is working more than 40 hours in a 168 hour period, it should be counted as overtime. This is because the average American work week is 40 hours, which equals 8 hours per day for five days a week.

Businesses and organizations are required to schedule a minimum of 8 hours in between shifts, and in some states, like New York, employees must receive a 24-hour break between shifts at least once a week, and employers must offer a minimum of 4 hour shifts.

2. Flex work schedules

Flex work schedules are when employees work a full shift but in varying hours. It gives employees a bit more control over when they work and is an alternative to the 9 to 5, offering staff more autonomy in their day. That said, some employers do require a “core time” that staff should be online or at the job. 

According to a 2019 study by the International Workplace Group, 80% of workers would turn down a job that didn’t offer a flexible work schedule for one that did.

Employees with flex work schedules can create compressed work weeks or break up their days. For example, one employee might decide to work an extra 30 minutes every day of the week in exchange for every other Friday off, while others might break up their days into halves, working 7am to 11am and jumping back on from 2pm to 6pm.

While flex work schedules may seem like the answer to the work/life balance conundrum workers find themselves in, it’s not always an option for every business.

Flex work schedules can work for creative industries, like design or photography studios, for example, but not for businesses with strict hours of operation or busy times dictated by customer flows.

3. On-call work schedules 

On-call work schedules refer to a schedule where employees are available to work outside of their regular hours if necessary.

These types of schedules are common in retail and hospitality, and can be used to cut a business’s labor cost. On-call work schedules can mean that staff members don’t need to be on-site at the business premises all the time but are available to come in on short notice if necessary, like in a rush or if someone calls in sick.

There are currently no laws or regulations around on-call shifts, but even though they can be convenient for managers and business owners, employees might find on-call schedules challenging.

One challenge is a lack of security in pay. On-call work schedules mean that employees don’t have any guarantee of work, which means there’s no guarantee of getting paid.

Another challenge is lack of work/life balance. On-call work schedules don’t always offer the flexibility employees need in their personal lives. If a manager calls, they might have to reschedule commitments or find alternatives for child care with limited notice. The result? Low employee satisfaction, higher levels of stress, and a lack of security in their role. 

4. Rotating schedules

Rotating work schedules are implemented by businesses to cover various shifts for their weekly schedules or monthly schedules. If a business decides to go this route, you’ll see employees working a variety of shifts, whether they’re 12-hour shifts or less,  like the day shift, night shift, or any other type of shift for a certain number of consecutive days.

Once those days are up, it’s time to rotate. Employees will now work the second shift—the type of shift they didn’t previously work—for another set period of time.

For example, an employee might work the day shift for 6 weeks, and then in the following 6 weeks, they would switch to the night shift.

There can be a number of perks to rotating work schedules, all depending on the type of business you run. For example, in a retail environment that’s based on commission, weekday mornings may be very slow, and some workers might not appreciate only getting these shifts. With a rotating work schedule, the manager can switch up employees from mornings to the busier evenings every few weeks, so every staff member can get a fair chance at making commissions. 

5. Split shift schedules

Split shift work schedules are when a work schedule breaks a single day into separate shifts for an employee. The break in between shifts is normally a minimum of 2 hours. For example, a server might work the brunch shift at a restaurant, then return at 3pm to prepare for the evening’s dinner service.

Split shifts come with various rules and regulations depending on the state you’re working in. For example, in California, it’s stated that “workers who earn the minimum wage per hour are entitled to additional pay known as a “split shift premium” when their schedule includes a split shift. The premium is equal to one hour of pay at the rate of the minimum wage”.

If you’re a business owner exploring split shift work schedules, make sure you know the regulations for your local area.

What are the advantages of alternative work schedules for employees?

Working outside of the traditional 9 to 5 can have its advantages. Employees who have the autonomy to work flex work schedules or shift schedules can have more freedom in their day or night. They might be able to take advantage of down-times in traditional industries, like enjoying a quiet Main Street on a Tuesday morning shopping trip, or being able to find some me-time at the coffee shop while the world works away on a Wednesday afternoon.

Exploring different work schedules can also support your creativity, work habits, and help you develop healthy working habits—something that every employee should have, no matter their schedule type.

A 2023 study focused on work-life balance reported that “a substantial portion of the global workforce are working either long or short hours when compared to a standard 8-hour day/40 hour working week”. The study found that longer hours of work were “generally associated with lower unit labor productivity” and shorter hours were linked with a boost in productivity. 

What are the disadvantages of alternative work schedules for employees?

Although alternative work schedules can offer advantages like more flexibility and the potential for extra pay, they can also come with their disadvantages. 

These can include issues with work/life balance, especially for on-call workers and those working split shifts. Employees who are working rotating shifts might also suffer from health issues, like stress and mental health issues. Consider a worker on night shifts for 6 consecutive weeks. Until their body gets used to the schedule, they might feel overworked or even disconnected from their surroundings, family, and friends. This can not only decrease their job satisfaction, but it can also prove unsafe.

From the employer’s perspective, alternative work schedules can be a bit of a headache.

Without the proper tools, there may be tracking issues, scheduling conflicts, unhappy employees, and difficulty coordinating with teams. 

3 ways to manage shift schedules for employees

Here are three tips that you can implement now to manage shift schedules with ease.

1. Manage work schedules with a scheduling app

Scheduling work schedules can be tough, especially when they’re outside of the typical 9 to 5, but it can be done—and done easily.

By using smart employee scheduling software, you can automate the process of scheduling your staff, no matter their working schedule. Depending on the software, you can organize your labor data and keep it all in one place and even try to try a timesheet template to help with payroll, too. 

2. Manage work schedules with time tracking

Time tracking is an important part of any work scheduling. You’ll want to make sure your employees are showing up on time, leaving on time, and taking the appropriate breaks.

Using a manual system can make it hard to do this, but software can help. With some software, you can even set up your break and overtime rules to comply with federal, state, or city laws, which is important for staff who are working outside of the common 9 to 5 schedule.  

3. Manage employee satisfaction with transparency

If you don’t have happy employees, you’ll probably have a hard time making sure they show up for their scheduled shifts. Without transparency and open communication, employees might feel like their schedules are unfair compared to others, leading to decreased morale or a toxic workplace.

On the opposite side, you’ll want to know when employees are feeling their best and what works for their life. By collecting feedback from employees, you can schedule to suit the needs of their life, and of course, your business.

No matter which work schedule is best for your business, Homebase can help.

Time, energy, planning, tracking, and communication. Let’s face it: scheduling is a process.

Homebase helps you get through it all with tools to support the needs of your business and your team.

Let’s start with scheduling. Homebase’s schedule-maker sends your hourly workers calendar notifications about their work schedule, and alerts them when their shift is coming up. Our online scheduling feature means that managers and business owners can build and update the schedule from anywhere for any number of employees, and know that their team will always have the latest schedule in their pocket.

Homebase also offers a connected time clock that makes it easy to have a full picture of your labor costs. Think of it like a punch clock app or time tracker, but on their phone, a tablet, computer, or POS at work. It’s a modern, digital way for employees to clock in and out of their shifts. The time clock connects with your online timesheet or time tracking software to calculate hours and create payroll reports and wages for each team member. 

Check in on your employees

Looking to see how employees are doing? Track and store employee performance so you can make better scheduling decisions. Our scheduling app can show you which employees show up late most often, so you can schedule accordingly and take action. Or, check out info like which time periods have the highest sales (and need the most staff scheduled).

Lastly, let’s talk about communication. With Homebase, your team gets our free mobile app, meaning they’ll always have access to their up-to-date schedule, hours worked, and earnings. Employees also have the autonomy to track and manage their time-off requests and availability, and can communicate with each other on the app to coordinate and request shift trades or covers, tracking everything so you don’t have to.

Remember, when work schedules aren’t the typical 9 to 5, you need tools that are as agile and on-the-go as your employees. By taking a modern approach to scheduling and time tracking, your team gets the transparency and simplicity they need, and you get hours back in your pocket—and because time is money, some dollars, too. 

Work schedule FAQS 

What is a work schedule?

A work schedule is a plan that determines an employee’s working hours, days on and off, and sometimes, and depending on the business, it outlines the tasks they’ll perform. It works with the schedules of other teammates so that all needed shifts are covered as required.

Which work schedule is right for my business?

Figuring out which work schedule is best for your business first starts with understanding the needs and nature of your business, the people you serve, and the employees that you’ve hired.

Once you’ve determined that, you can try a variety of work schedules if it makes sense for your business. For example, you might know that a 9 to 5 won’t work for your restaurant, but you’re not sure if split shifts in combination with rotating shifts will. To find out, solicit feedback. Ask your employees what they want, and test both.

Track your findings then make a plan—just don’t forget to communicate it. 

How can a work scheduling app help me?

A work scheduling app can help to automate the work schedule process. It can help you organize your labor data, provide timesheet templates, digital time clocks, and notify you about what’s happening at your workplace.

Should I use an hours tracker to track my employee hours? 

If you’re creating work schedules, you probably need to use an hours tracker to track your employee hours. This can help you stay on-top of what’s happening at work, like when employees are late for shifts or approaching overtime.

Tracking employee hours is also necessary for taxes. With a time tracking app, you can store time cards—including all edits—in one space, helping you comply with FLSA record-keeping rules.

Want to end your scheduling chaos? Get Homebase to build, share, and optimize your work schedules to keep your team on track—no matter their shift. Get started for free with our easy scheduling app.

The post 5 types of work schedules for your business to consider appeared first on Homebase.

PTO doesn’t only serve your employees, it also benefits you. A study by the American Psychological Association found that employees who took paid time off from work were more productive and produced higher-quality work. 

But PTO and PTO policies can be confusing for small business owners. There are many moving parts, not to mention laws and regulations you need to follow. Throw in that you’re creating a policy for hourly shift workers, and it can all be a bit overwhelming. 

We’re breaking down everything you need to know if you’re building a PTO policy for hourly workers. We’ll cover the following:

• The definition of a PTO policy
• The benefits a PTO policy offers your business and your employees
• The best way to calculate PTO for hourly workers
• What you need to include in your PTO policy

What is paid time off (PTO)?

Some employers offer PTO, or paid time off, a benefit that allows team members to take time off work while still getting paid. PTO can be given to salaried or hourly employees and can cover a range of reasons. Vacation, personal time, and sick days are all considered PTO.

With PTO, employers offer a total amount of time off from work that employees can use for any of the above reasons, no questions asked. PTO is different in every business, so creating a PTO policy for your small business is essential.

What is a PTO policy?

A PTO policy is exactly what it sounds like—a written guideline on your rules and regulations surrounding paid time off. 

Your policy should outline how much time employees have for a given period, how to request time off, the details of the policy, and any other information your employees may need to know about paid time off in your workplace. It’s important to have a PTO policy in place so that you and your employees are on the same page when taking time off work. 

PTO policies for hourly workers will look different than those for salaried workers. It’s unlikely that hourly workers will have unlimited PTO. However, it’s becoming more and more common for salaried employees to have unlimited PTO policies. 

While no federal or state law says you must offer your hourly employees PTO, it benefits your business and employees and is a great way to show you appreciate your employees. If you choose to provide PTO, having a written policy will make sure that everyone understands how PTO works and can help ensure your employees are taking their time off. 

The benefits of having a PTO policy for your hourly workers

Is the thought of spending an extended amount of time without your best employees sending you into a tailspin? Though it might seem like creating a PTO policy is setting you up to “lose” your employees, there are a lot of benefits to your business and your hourly employees. 

1. A PTO policy will help reduce unscheduled absences 

Lots of different reasons can keep employees from making it to work on a particular day—some can be scheduled in advance, while others, like sickness, can’t be planned. And while there isn’t much that can be done about illnesses that pop up unexpectedly, a PTO policy can help you avoid unscheduled absences for other reasons. 

Giving your hourly employees a clear PTO policy will give them the freedom and flexibility to schedule their days off. Dealing with a scheduled absence is much easier from an owner’s perspective. You can find the staff and resources needed to cover the absence in advance, meaning no late-night calls to try and cover or swap a shift.

2. Offering hourly workers PTO gives you a competitive advantage

Because the FLSA doesn’t require you to offer hourly employees PTO, having any PTO policy in place is a great way to give your business a competitive advantage when hiring and retaining the best employees.   

And when the average turnover rate in the US is at 45.1%, it’s always worthwhile to find ways to bring in high-quality employees and give them a good reason to stick around! This can greatly reduce turnover on your team, as well as boosting employee happiness and morale.

3. PTO can lower your administrative workload

When your employees are entitled to a certain number of sick, personal, and vacation days, it’s up to you to monitor how many days from each category are used by each employee. That can create a real headache for you when it comes to managing your administrative work.

With a PTO policy, your employees won’t have to categorize their requests, and you’ll no longer have to worry about making sure they’ve filled in their requests correctly—all time off requests are treated the same. 

4. PTO can help to improve employee work-life balance

Did you know that 68% of employees say they’re happier at work because their employers encourage taking PTO? Having a PTO policy in place encourages employees to take their PTO, which can help them maintain their work-life balance. And when your employees have a good work-life balance, they’re more likely to be successful in the workplace.

Think of your PTO policy as a way to allow your employees to accomplish everything they need inside and outside the workplace. 

5. PTO policies offer greater flexibility to your employees

With a PTO policy, your employees can take time off when they need it without having to provide a reason for why they need the time. Creating a PTO policy for your staff is you saying to your employees, “I trust you to take time off as you need it”. This also helps to build mutual trust between you and your employees. Make sure you effectively communicate your PTO policy to all your team members, ideally in a digital onboarding package. 

3 kinds of paid time off policies

There are different kinds of PTO policies. Each has its benefits and comes with a different level of trust between you and your employees. Only you’ll know which is best for your small business. Your company culture will help you determine which is best for you. 

Within the three main categories of PTO policies, some are better for hourly employees than salaried ones. 

1. Banked PTO policies

A banked PTO policy means an employee’s paid time off is taken from a single “bank” covering sick leave, personal days, and vacation. Employees aren’t required to give a reason for why they’re taking time off. They put in a request to withdraw time from the “bank”, and their time off is approved or declined (with reason). 

2. Open/unlimited PTO policies

Rarely associated with hourly shift workers, open or unlimited PTO policies mean that employees have no limit on how many days off they take as long as their work gets done. This isn’t often seen as an effective policy for hourly employees because of the nature of hourly work vs. salaried work.

A retail employee, for example, may help customers close their cash and restock the shelves during their shift. But when they clock in for their next shift, those same tasks must be completed again. 

3. Accrued PTO policies

An accrued PTO policy is when PTO is determined by how long an employee has worked for you. This can be calculated based on years of service or how many hours they’ve worked. 

The accrued type can define the accrual period (when PTO is accrued) and the accrual rate (how much PTO is accrued). An accrued PTO policy is the most common policy type for hourly workers. They can build PTO based on how many hours they work during a defined period. 

What to consider when creating a PTO policy for hourly and shift workers 

Creating a PTO policy for hourly workers is very different from creating one for salaried workers. This is mainly because salaried workers have a set number of hours, whereas hourly workers often fluctuate on the hours they work each month. 

When you set out to create a PTO policy for your hourly workers, it’s important to keep that in mind. That’s why you’ll most likely want to use an accrued PTO policy to calculate paid time off for your employees. You’ll also want to include an unpaid time off policy and understand the implication of labor laws regarding time off. 

How do labor laws affect your PTO policy?

As with everything in your business, your PTO policy should comply with state and federal laws and regulations. Here’s a breakdown of how to make your PTO policy compliant with laws such as the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA):

• Offer a minimum amount of PTO: In some states and municipalities, some laws require you to offer a minimum amount of PTO to your employees. For example, California requires you to provide at least 24 hours of paid sick leave annually. Look up your state’s requirements and create a policy that reflects those minimums.
• Protect their position: Both the FMLA and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) require you to protect the job of workers who take leave. This means employees can feel secure in their employment when they take leave. When an employee returns to work, they’ll be reinstated to their previous or equivalent position.
• Provide notice: You must inform employees about their rights under state and federal laws and the company’s PTO policies—including the process for requesting leave. 
• Include unpaid time off (UTO) in your policy: Under the FMLA, you must provide up to 12 weeks of unpaid time off for certain family and medical reasons.

What’s unpaid time off all about?

Unpaid time off (UTO) is time away from work that an employee can take without receiving pay. Employees can use UTO much like they do PTO—when they’re sick, want to take a vacation, or have other personal obligations. 

Some medical and family reasons require you to offer up to 12 weeks of unpaid time off—be sure to include these in your PTO/UTO policy. But, you can also offer additional UTO so if employees haven’t accrued enough paid time off, they can still take the necessary time. 

When you’re deciding how you will include UTO in your PTO policy, ask yourself the following questions:

• Which employees will have access to unpaid time off, and for what reasons?
• How many days of unpaid time off can employees take in any given period?
• How will employees request UTO versus PTO?

Once you’ve answered these questions, include all this information in your PTO policy. 

What to include in your PTO policy for hourly workers

Now you’re ready to sit down and write your PTO policy. Include the below key things in your policy to keep you compliant and your employees informed. Let’s look at the five must-haves for your PTO policy for hourly workers.

• A deadline for requesting PTO: This can be defined however you’d like—7 days before, a month in advance, etc. Clearly define your deadline in your PTO policy and confirm workers know the deadline.
• How PTO is accrued or designated: Whether you’re using the accrual method or another method to calculate PTO, this should be clearly outlined in your policy. 
• What PTO can (and can’t) be used for: Again, this is up to your discretion. But it’s important to outline how employees are expected to use their PTO—think sick days, vacation time, personal days, etc.
• How will you handle unused PTO: Will PTO rollover? Will you pay it out? Decide what will happen to unused PTO and clearly define it in your policy.
• Your UTO policy: Include your UTO policy (which should include all of the above!) in your PTO policy. 

To make sure that all of your staff are aware of your PTO policy, it’s best practice to include it in your employee handbook—that way, you can feel confident knowing that every employee has a copy. 

Track and calculate PTO easily with Homebase

Set time off limits, blackout periods, and get help with labor law compliance — all in one place. Get started for free.

PTO policy FAQS 

What is a PTO policy?

A paid time off of PTO policy is a written guideline that outlines the rules and regulations surrounding paid time off at your business. Your policy should include how employees accrue PTO, how much time employees have for a given period, how to request time off, the details of the policy, and any other information your employees may need to know about paid time off in your workplace.

How does paid time off work for hourly employees?

Paid time off for hourly employees is most often calculated by the accrual method. For every hour they work, they accrue a certain amount of PTO. For example, if they work a 40 hour week and are entitled to 1 week of PTO, they can expect to receive approximately 0.02 hours of PTO for every hour they work. 

How can you track and calculate PTO for hourly employees?

Using Homebase, you can easily track and calculate PTO for your hourly workers. When your team clocks in and out in Homebase, we instantly calculate hours, breaks, overtime, and PTO—and sync it all to payroll to help you avoid mistakes. This makes it simple to track and calculate PTO in one centralized location. 

The post How to create a PTO policy for hourly workers appeared first on Homebase.

A shift trade app can help employees manage schedule changes directly — and make things more organized and efficient in the process. How? Supervisors start by setting custom rules to make sure all changes follow the policy. Then, employees coordinate shift trades with their teammates and submit their swaps for approval, which managers approve or deny with a click. And the best part? The tool is usually built into your scheduling or team management platform, so you don’t need to spend money on more software. 

It’s the kind of tool managers can’t live without once they try it. But with so many shift trading platforms available, where do you begin? To save you from an overwhelming Google search, we’ve put together a list of our top six picks for 2023, comparing each based on best use case, top features, pros and cons, and pricing. 

Key features to look for in shift trade apps

Unlike other types of software, shift trade tools don’t usually come as standalone apps. They most often belong to a suite of products that are included within a scheduling platform. Still, some solutions stand out when compared with others. Besides shift swapping capabilities, the best software includes: 

• Open shift posting — A great shift trade app should let you share open shifts when you publish your main team schedule. That way, employees can claim available shifts, saving you from assigning them to employees who can’t or don’t want to work.
• Built-in chat — Finding a replacement usually means tracking down phone numbers and emails so teammates can reach out and coordinate the changes they need. Built-in messaging helps the team communicate in one spot and allows managers to make announcements, coordinate tasks, and keep staff on the same page throughout the day.
• Interconnected staff management tools — The more features your app has, like time tracking, payroll, scheduling, employee happiness, and HR and compliance, the more versatile it is. When all the tools you need to manage your team are in one place, it also prevents you from having to pay for separate platforms that don’t cooperate with each other.
• Alerts and notifications — You don’t want shift trade requests to get lost in the shuffle, so be sure your app of choice sends notifications when employees submit swaps for your approval. Another plus is when the platform alerts your entire team about schedule updates and changes so everyone stays up to speed.
• Easy to use and intuitive — You probably don’t want to add to your to-do list with training, so the easier the tool is to start using, the better. It’s ideal when it only takes a day (or less) for team members to get comfortable with an app. You should also prioritize a system that makes it easy for managers to approve or deny trade requests and keeps their involvement to a minimum.
• A wide range of integrations — You might be using software for point of sale (POS) transactions, e-commerce, accounting, budgeting, and reporting. Avoid repeated data entry and costly errors by checking that your shift trade app integrates smoothly with the tools you already rely on and trust.
• A mobile app — You’ll want your team to be able to check the schedule and get important shift updates — whether they’re at work, in transit, or on the go. An ideal shift trade tool should have a dedicated mobile app that has the same functionalities as the desktop version, so your team can use it from anywhere.
• Free or affordable plans — The app that’ll work best for you depends on your budget, business needs, and team size. But ideal platforms include a free plan. Homebase’s free account includes basic scheduling and time tracking tools for up to 20 employees at one business location. We also offer per-location pricing, so your subscription won’t become unmanageable as your team grows.

Our top shift trade app pick for 2023 (+ the rest compared)

Homebase isn’t just a shift trade app — our platform has all the tools you need to run a small business team in 2023. That’s why it’s our top pick.

With our app, administrators can post open shifts at the top of every schedule and find cover quickly. Employees can also ask for substitutes directly from their schedules on the mobile app. And there’s no need for team members to text coworkers or shift supervisors when they’re sick or have an unexpected conflict.

On top of that, Homebase has built-in features for time tracking, full-service payroll, team chat, hiring and onboarding, and HR and compliance — all available with our per-location paid plans.

Still, other apps may have specific features that will be more useful to you. For example, tools like 7shifts are designed specifically for managing restaurants. There are also apps like Coast, which is a solid option for business owners who need dedicated task management and checklists.

That’s why we’ve broken down our list based on best use case:

1. Homebase: Best all-in-one solution
2. Deputy: Best for labor compliance
3. Connecteam: Best for remote or moving teams
4. ZoomShift: Best for team accountability
5. 7shifts: Best for the restaurant industry
6. Coast: Best for assigning tasks with shifts

Comparison chart: Top 6 shift trade apps in 2023

Software	Pricing	Free plan	Mobile app	Shift trading	Scheduling	Time tracking	Payroll
	Plans range from free to $99.95 per location per month.   Save 20% on all plans if you sign up for annual billing.	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓
	$3.50 for Scheduling, $3.50 for Time and Attendance, and $4.90 for Premium.	✗	✓	✓	✓	✓	✗
	Plans range from free to $119/month.	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✗
	Plans range from $2.50/month per user and $5/month per user.	✗	✓	✓	✓	✓	✗
	Plans range from free to $99.99/month per location.	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✗
	Plans range from free to $38/month per user.	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✗

A breakdown of the 6 best shift trade apps

1. Best all-in-one solution: Homebase

Homebase is an all-in-one staff management and HR app designed for hourly teams. We know how chaotic coordinating shift trades can be, which is why we’ve made our app super easy to use from anywhere.  Plus, it’s customizable so you can set up controls to avoid overtime and ensure the right roles are staffed, even with trades. 

In addition to shift swapping, Homebase makes small business management more streamlined with tools for scheduling, time tracking, payroll, hiring and onboarding, team communication, and HR and compliance. 

Top features

• Easy-to-use shift swapping features
• Customizable shift trading rules
• Open shift posting
• Built-in team messaging so staff can coordinate trades and get in touch with each other
• Automatic employee notifications when schedules are published
• No show, late clock in, and late clock out alerts for managers
• User-friendly schedule builder with auto-scheduling and template tools
• Mobile time tracking, complete with geofencing tools
• Hiring and onboarding templates, dashboards, and workflows
• An extensive library of HR templates, guides, and training materials
• Built-in, full-service payroll

Pros and cons

Homebase users find our platform user-friendly, which is great for teams with different levels of tech-savvy. Managers get notified when employees request a change, which means less time spent as the middleman. They simply have to deny or approve all requests, and when they make changes to the schedule, their team automatically gets alerted via text, email, and the Homebase app. 

And although it lacks task management tools, Homebase makes up for that with built-in chat features.

Managers can use the messaging tool to get in touch with individual staff members, specific groups, or the whole team with announcements and updates. But employees can also message each other and coordinate swaps without having to track down contact information — allowing for more efficiency (and privacy!).

Pricing

Homebase’s basic scheduling and time tracking tools are completely free. But, if you want to maximize efficiency and get the most out of our platform, we offer the following paid plan options:

• Basic — Free for one location and up to 20 employees. It includes basic scheduling and time tracking, employee management tools like messaging, point-of-sale integrations, and access to email support. 
• Essentials — $24.95 per month per location. Everything in Basic, plus payroll integrations, team communication, performance tracking, advanced time tracking and scheduling, and access to live support.
• Plus — $59.95 per month per location. Everything in Essentials, plus hiring tools, retention and performance tracking, time off controls, and departments and permissions.
• All-in-one — $99.95 per month per location. Everything in Plus, with HR and compliance, new hire onboarding, labor cost controls, and business insights.

Users can also save 20% on their overall cost when they sign up for an annual plan.

2. Best for labor compliance: Deputy

Deputy combines features for scheduling, time tracking, and compliance in one platform. Its shift trading features give managers the option to send employees open slots based on the app’s recommendations. Or, they can let staff arrange coverage on their own.

Top features

• Shift swapping tools
• Time tracking
• Schedule builder
• AI-powered auto-scheduling capabilities
• Employee profiles
• Mobile time clock app
• Labor cost dashboards
• Compliance tools

Pros and cons

Deputy uses AI capabilities to help managers plan schedules based on predicted sales, upcoming delivery orders, and foot traffic data, which allows them to avoid overstaffing or understaffing. It also lets administrators set compliance rules for all shift swaps so that team members can’t make trades that’ll result in overtime, for example.

However, Deputy isn’t a comprehensive team management platform. Committing to a paid plan means you’ll still need integrations for communication and payroll. 

Pricing

Deputy has a Scheduling plan and a Time & Attendance plan for $3.50 per user per month. Its Premium plan lets you combine both Scheduling and Time & Attendance for $4.90 per user per month. 

3. Best for remote or moving teams: Connecteam

Connecteam’s platform is ideal for any team that’s always on the go. It offers tools for scheduling, time tracking, communication, and labor compliance and is designed so you can use all of its features from your mobile device. 

Top features

• Shift reminders and self-service shift swapping features
• Schedule builder with shift duplication and template tools
• Task management with forms and checklists
• GPS-enabled time tracking
• Team messaging
• Labor and compliance tools
• Employee surveys

Pros and cons

While some platforms have hard-to-find shift swapping tools, Connecteam shift trading is easy to navigate. Users just have to go to their shift details, click Find Replacement, and a list of possible options will appear in a drop-down menu. Then, they simply click on an employee’s name to request a trade — there’s no need to send a mass text asking for a substitute.

However, Connecteam’s pricing model isn’t straightforward. Rather than offering simple tiered plans or per-feature pricing, it groups its packages into “hubs,” making it hard to get everything you need.

Pricing

Connecteam offers three “hub” packages: Operations, Communications, and HR & Skills. Connecteam’s Operations hub comes with scheduling, time tracking, and task management features, and the plans include:

• Small Business — Free for up to ten users.
• Basic — $29 per month for up to 30 users. Extra users are $0.50 per month.
• Advanced — Everything in Basic, plus extra features like time tracking tasks. $49 per month for 30 users. Extra users are $1.50 per month. 
• Expert — Everything in Advanced, plus GPS features and automation. $99 per month for 30 users. Extra users are $3 per month.

4. Best for team accountability: ZoomShift

ZoomShift is a shift planning, scheduling, and time clock software that makes tracking employee time more efficient. And because it also has timesheet tools, ZoomShift makes the payroll process faster, too.

Top features

• Open shift posting
• Shift swapping
• Time tracking with geofencing
• Scheduling with reusable templates
• Time off management
• Timesheets for payroll

Pros and cons

Although it doesn’t have an in-app chat, ZoomShift allows employees to leave notes explaining why they need to trade shifts. This increases transparency though your employees will still need to text or call their teammates to coordinate the logistics of the trade. 

The platform also tracks employee time, turns it into timesheets, and takes care of your wage calculations before payday. Then, you can simply export the data to a third-party payroll platform.

Unfortunately, some users say ZoomShift’s customer service has declined in the last few years, so it might not be the best option for a small business owner who needs extra support.

Pricing

You can try any ZoomShift plan for free for 14 days. Otherwise, paid options include:

• Starter — Scheduling, time tracking, and PTO management for $2.50 per user per month.

• Premium — Overtime management, advanced scheduling tools, geofencing, timesheets, and advanced reporting for $5 per user per month.

5. Best for the restaurant industry: 7shifts

It’s not just 7shifts’ branding that makes it a good fit for the restaurant industry — the platform also caters to industry-specific needs with features for scheduling, time tracking, team messaging, hiring and onboarding, training, and tip management. 

Top features

• Shift trading
• Staff scheduling
• Time tracking
• Team communication
• Hiring and onboarding tools
• Document storage
• Training and task management
• Payroll integrations
• Tip management and payout tools

Pros and cons

Shift trading is a frequent occurrence in the restaurant industry, and 7shifts makes it easy for managers to stay on top of it. With the shift pool dashboard, administrators can view, approve, or deny all swap requests. 

The platform is also handy for businesses with multiple locations, roles, and levels of management because it prevents team members from trading shifts with anyone outside of their position, department, or job site.

Additionally, 7shifts users appreciate how well it integrates with top POS systems, an essential feature for today’s small restaurants and cafes. However, 7shifts doesn’t have a built-in payroll product, although it integrates with popular software like Gusto and QuickBooks.

Pricing

7shifts has a free plan for single-location restaurants and offers basic scheduling and time tracking features. Otherwise, paid plans include: 

• Entrée — Labor costing and performance management for $34.99 per location per month.

• The Works — Shift feedback, geofencing, buddy punch prevention, and payroll integrations for $76.99 per location per month.

• Chef’s Choice — Labor compliance tools for $99.99 per location per month.

• Gourmet — Advanced customization and dedicated support for $150 per location per month.

6. Best for assigning tasks with shifts: Coast

With dedicated display widgets for quick access to tools, Coast is designed to help keep staff on task. Besides features for shift swapping, scheduling, time tracking, and chat, Coast provides tools for delegating assignments to any kind of team.

Top features

• Shift swapping tools
• Employee scheduling
• Time tracking
• Recurring tasks and checklists
• Team chat
• Inventory management
• Maintenance tracking and tasks

Pros and cons

Coast’s shift swapping features work similarly to other options on this list, making the platform another viable option for small business owners. One advantage of Coast, however, is its recurring task tool, which lets you assign smaller jobs along with shifts. And when employees use Coast’s mobile app, they get alerts when tasks are pending, so nothing is ever left unfinished.

Like 7shifts, Coast is also a fit for the restaurant industry, particularly those with busy kitchens that need more maintenance management tools. For example, the app lets managers schedule and delegate tasks in the form of work orders to their maintenance or repair crews with built-in notifications and due-date reminders.

The downside is Coast’s maintenance and work tools are costly, so it may not be accessible for small businesses with limited budgets who don’t want to pay on a per-employee basis.

Pricing

Coast offers two kinds of plans (and each one has a free option with limited tools): 

• The Basic plan for team scheduling and chat features
• The Premium plan for maintenance work orders

The Basic tiers include:

• Starter — Team collaboration tools for $2 per user per month.
• Pro — Reports and productivity dashboards for $4 per user per month.

The Premium tiers include:

• Starter — Team collaboration, maintenance, and work order tools for $22 per user per month.
• Pro — Everything included in Basic Pro, plus maintenance management for $38 per user per month.

Revolutionize your team scheduling with Homebase 

Shift trade apps are essential for any business owner who has ever panicked about scheduling. And they make the work experience easier for shift workers as they can rest easy knowing there’s always a plan B if they need to reschedule. 

But out of all the options out there, Homebase is a clear frontrunner. Our free plan has basic scheduling, time tracking, and messaging features for up to 20 employees at one business location. And for larger teams, our per-location pricing will keep costs low as you hire more staff.

Homebase is also the most comprehensive option on this list — we offer hiring and onboarding, team communication, employee happiness, payroll, and HR and compliance tools, making our platform the best choice for independent small business owners who rely on hourly teams to move their company forward. 

**The information above is based on our research on shift trade apps. All user feedback referenced in the text has been sourced from independent software review platforms, such as G2 and Capterra, in April 2023.

The post The 6 best shift trade apps for 2023 appeared first on Homebase.

To be efficient, your company needs to know when and how teams are working so you can eliminate time theft, set goals, and ensure you don’t go over your labor budget. You also want to make sure you pay staff accurately and can pinpoint inefficiencies or wasted time.

And it’s essential to be able to do this whether employees are in the office, spread across sites, working remotely, or clocking in and out at different times. Each business needs a timesheet app that works for them, and in today’s hyper-connected world, it makes sense to find one that works on mobile devices.

But finding one can feel like a full-time job in itself. Comparing tools and figuring out if they’re any good, how much they cost, and whether they’ll actually work for you is a time-waster many can’t afford.

That’s why we’ve done the legwork for you. In this post, we cover:

• The key features to look for in mobile timesheet apps
• Our top mobile timesheet app pick in 2023
• What each option is best for in terms of business use cases and features
• A rundown of each platform’s key features and pricing

We’ve also compared the software solutions on our list in a handy table, so you can determine which will work best for your business at a glance.

Key features to look for in mobile timesheet apps

When looking for the right mobile timesheet app for your business, we recommend checking for the following functions: 

• A mobile app that has the same features as the desktop version — The best apps translate across devices and let managers and workers track time wherever, whenever.

• Works for both salaried and hourly employees — Many small businesses have salaried and hourly staff. If this applies to you, be sure to check that your chosen tool can handle both.
• Labor cost control features — This is crucial to maximize efficiency and stick to your budget. Look for tools like early clock in prevention, automatic clock outs, and alerts when staff approach overtime. You might also want cost tracking by hour, department, and role.
• Overtime rules and compliance — Check your app will help you keep track of working laws, so you’ll automatically comply with applicable labor regulations, receive alerts when labor laws change, and store your data as the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requires.
• Overtime alerts and break reminders — Avoid staff burnout and resentment and prevent expensive overtime by sending workers reminders to take breaks and alerting managers when overtime is approaching.
• Automatic wage calculations — Check your chosen app can automatically calculate wages based on its time tracking data, even if hours differ by worker or shift type. Make sure it factors in breaks, PTO, and tips and ensures payroll will be accurate.
• An interconnected suite of tools — The best platforms will include timesheets and time tracking as part of their wider toolbox, so everything syncs well and works together effortlessly. Keep an eye out for tools like payroll, team communication, and HR and compliance.
• Free or affordable plans — Evaluate your budget and make sure your chosen tool is affordable and includes the timesheet features you need. Homebase’s basic time tracking tools are free for one business location and up to 20 employees, and its advanced features are just $24.95 per month per location for unlimited employees.

Our top pick for mobile timesheet apps in 2023 (+ the rest compared)

Of course, we believe Homebase is the best mobile timesheet app available. Our platform has a free plan, it’s easy to use, and you can easily connect our time tracking features with all the must-have team management functions you might need, including payroll, HR and compliance, time off, and staff happiness tools. 

However, we get that responsible business owners and managers may want to check what else is available before making a final decision.

So, we’ve compared Homebase with five other top time tracking tools to help you decide. They are:

1. Homebase: Best all-in-one solution
2. QuickBooks Time: Best for QuickBooks integrations
3. actiTIME: Best for teams that work on client projects
4. Timely: Best for desk-based teams
5. Tick: Best for simplicity
6. Time Doctor: Best for data insights

Comparison chart: Top 6 mobile timesheet apps in 2023

Software	Mobile app with similar function to desktop?	Suite of other features in same tool?	Labor cost planning?	Break and overtime alerts and reminders?	Calculates wages and runs payroll?	Free plan or trial?	Pricing
	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	Plans range from free to $99.95 per location per month. Homebase payroll costs $39 per month base fee plus $6 per month per employee. You can save 20% if you sign up annually.
	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	From $8-10 per user per month, plus a $20 or $40 base fee depending on the plan.
	✓	X	X	✓	X	✓	Free for 1-3 users per month. Starts at $7 per user per month for 1 to 40 users.
	✓	X	✓	X	X	X	Starts at $11 per user per month for 50 projects and three teams.
	✓	X	✓	X	X	✓	Free for one project a month. Starts at $19 per month for ten projects and unlimited users.
	✓ — Android only	X	✓	X	✓	✓	From $7 to 20 per user per month.

A breakdown of the 6 best mobile timesheet apps

 1. Homebase: Best all-in-one solution

Homebase is an all-in-one team management solution for small businesses that rely on hourly workers. Our timesheets tool is just one of our wider suite of features that save time and hassle by automating breaks, overtime, pay, and labor cost calculations. It also seamlessly integrates with our other products for payroll, hiring, team communication, and employee happiness.

Top features

• Calculates hours, breaks, overtime, and wages
• Time tracking features work for both salaried and hourly workers
• Has a mobile app for on-the-go staff, as well as a desktop version for desk-based managers
• Saves time with daily, weekly, and monthly timesheet templates
• Sends alerts and reminders for breaks and overtime
• Fills in online timesheets automatically based on employee clock ins and outs
• Works together with the payroll feature to translate timesheets into automatic, accurate wage calculations
• Automatically calculates tax payments based on time tracking and wage payments
• Lets users manage labor costs by limiting early clock ins and enabling auto-clock outs
• Allows users to set data-guided sales and labor goals
• Ensures businesses stay on the right side of state, city, or federal labor laws with compliance tools

Pros and cons

Users praise Homebase for being “easy to use,” particularly the app. They also like how “everything is in one place.” However, if you’re looking for a timesheet-specific tool that doesn’t have many other features, then our platform may be more than you need.

Pricing

Homebase’s basic time tracking features are free. Here’s a breakdown of all our plan options, both paid and free:

• Basic. Free for one location and up to 20 employees. It includes basic time tracking features, like the ability to build your own weekly schedule, clock in and out on tablets, POS devices, and computers, and manage and store timesheets for up to 90 days.

• Essentials. $24.95 per month per location. Everything in Basic, plus advanced time tracking features like custom overtime and break preferences, availability and time off management tools, shift trade, cover, and claim features, photo clock ins and outs, real-time reminders and notifications for employees, the ability to manage and store timesheets for 4+ years.

• Plus. $59.95 per month per location. Everything in Essentials, plus hiring tools, retention and performance tracking, time off controls, and departments and permissions.
• All-in-one. $99.95 per month per location. Everything in Plus, with HR and compliance, new hire onboarding, labor cost controls, and business insights.

Users can add Homebase payroll as an add-on for a $39/month base fee plus $6/month per active employee. They can also save 20% on their monthly payments when they sign up for an annual plan.

2. QuickBooks Time: Best for QuickBooks integrations

From Intuit and the QuickBooks suite of products, QuickBooks Time was designed with on-the-go time tracking in mind. It aims to boost productivity and reduce the time necessary to manage payroll while integrating seamlessly with the rest of the QuickBooks offerings.

Top features

• Possible to manage several timesheets at the same time
• Mobile app for iOS and Android
• Option to use an on-site tablet that acts as a clock in and clock out kiosk
• Tracks workers and projects to show who’s working, on what, and when
• Generates customizable reports that help predict job costs and plan for payroll
• Syncs with geofencing tools and alerts to remind staff to sign in or out when arriving at and leaving work
• Sends alerts for scheduling changes, overtime, and timesheet approval deadlines
• Creates schedules and sends them to staff to plan and manage overall hours
• Integrates with the wider suite of QuickBooks tools, including payroll and invoicing

Pros and cons

Users say they like QuickBooks Time’s “flexibility” and how “no matter where you are, you can open the app and clock in and keep accurate time.” However, if you don’t need or want to use the rest of QuickBooks’ software (and therefore won’t take advantage of the direct integrations), it may not be worth choosing QuickBooks Time over other options. In addition, you may need to pay more to benefit from the full suite of QuickBooks products and functionality.

Pricing

• Premium: $8 per user per month, plus a $20 base fee per month. Unlimited users.
• Elite: $10 per user per month, plus a $40 base fee per month. Unlimited users. Includes everything in Premium, plus project estimates, timesheet signatures, and geofencing.

QuickBooks Time offers a free 30-day trial.

3. actiTIME: Best for teams that work on client projects

Designed to make monitoring projects and client work easier and quicker, actiTIME lets users manage projects and teams while also connecting with billing and invoicing tools. In addition, actiTIME offers reporting and data analysis, plus task management and assignment.

Top features

• Offers weekly timesheets with manual management
• Has a calendar view to see hours at a glance
• Calculates overtime to comply with company, state, and federal rules
• Lets managers review and approve timesheets
• Sends automatic reminders for overtime and timesheets submission
• Has a mobile app
• Integrates with other tools for reporting and task and team management

Pros and cons

Reviews praise how actiTIME helps with their workplace “organization” and say it’s “easy to navigate and great for people working at different sites.” However, you may need to sign up for multiple plans to get full functionality, which may prove complicated or take you over budget. For example, actiTEAMS, the company’s team management tool, is sold separately.

Pricing

• Free: For one to three users per month. Limited functionality.
• 1-40 users: $7 per user per month for one to 40 users.
• 41-200 users: $6 per user per month for 41 to 200 users.
• 200+ users: Fixed cost per month for 200+ to unlimited users.

4. Timely: Best for desk-based teams

Timely uses AI to automate as much time tracking as possible to ensure accuracy, boost productivity, and make the whole process more efficient. It’s best for desk-based teams who need to track billable hours because it monitors background apps and activity while team members are working. It also has features that are designed to ensure no one is over or underworked. 

Top features

• Records time spent in different apps automatically
• Tracks time automatically to reduce errors and interruptions
• Monitors employee activity while retaining privacy, with no keystrokes monitoring or secret screenshots
• Creates time tracking reports for data-driven insights

Pros and cons

Users say they like how “simple” Timely is and praise its “machine learning” that helps track time accurately. However, the platform is designed primarily for desk-based employees that use apps and work on the same computer all day, which may not work well if your team is mobile or non-desk based.

Pricing

• Starter: From $11 per user per month. Up to 50 projects and three teams.
• Premium: From $20 per user per month. Unlimited projects and teams.
• Unlimited: From $28 per user per month. Unlimited projects, teams, features, and capacity.
• Unlimited +: Custom pricing and tailored features. Available on request.

5. Tick: Best for simplicity

Tick is a straightforward tool that enables simple time tracking and easy communication, and it’s popular with businesses on a budget. Despite being light in terms of its own features, it does offer integrations with more than 750 web apps, particularly task management tools like Asana and Trello.

Top features

• A timecard tracker that includes just three steps (project, task, and time)
• Timesheet recording to get budget feedback and control costs simply
• A mobile app for iOS and Android, plus a Chrome browser extension, an Apple Watch app, and a desktop app for Macs. Also works on tablets
• In-app timers that automatically switch as employees move between tasks
• Project and task budgets
• Budgets can be set for individual tasks or overall projects
• Reports that are ready for third-party accounting and payroll software

Pros and cons

Reviews say Tick is “flexible, trustworthy, intuitive and user-friendly,” as well as “simple” to use and install. However, it doesn’t include built-in functionality for tasks like running payroll and it’s more focused on computer-based tasks. That means it may not work for hourly staff that clock in and out at a physical location.

Pricing

• One project per month: Free. Unlimited people. Basecamp integration.
• Ten projects: $19 per month. Unlimited people. Basecamp integration.
• 30 projects: $49 per month. Unlimited people. Basecamp integration. Recurring projects.
• 60 projects: $79 per month. Unlimited people. Basecamp integration. Recurring projects.
• Unlimited projects: $149 per month. Unlimited people. Basecamp integration. Recurring projects.

Tick offers a 30-day free trial.

6. Time Doctor: Best for productivity insights

Time Doctor empowers teams to track time and gain insights into improving performance and boosting productivity. It’s packed full of features to help managers get the most out of timekeeping, reduce distractions, and offer actionable data for more efficient work.

Top features

• Tracks staff time per task or project
• Automatic distraction reminders if no activity is detected
• Works on computers, tablets, and mobile devices (Android only)
• Accurately tracks time and translates it into timesheets for correct client billing
• Automatic activity monitoring
• Designed for both remote teams and in-office staff
• Works when offline
• Integrates with key project management, payroll, and communication tools like Asana, Avaza, Monday.com, ClickUp, Gusto, Slack, and JIRA

Pros and cons

Users like Time Doctor’s effectiveness and how the desktop and smartphone apps are “intuitive.” However, it’s designed for desk-based staff working on client projects, so it may not be ideal for you if your team doesn’t work in that way.

Pricing

• Basic: $7 per user per month. Includes time tracking, tasks and projects, and activity tracking.
• Standard: $10 per user per month. Includes everything in Basic, plus payroll, integrations, and email notifications. 
• Premium: $20 per user per month. Includes everything in Standard, plus VIP support, extra reporting, and unlimited data history.

Time Doctor offers a 14-day trial.

The best timesheet apps are efficient, simple, and powerful

Keeping accurate timesheets is key to smooth, efficient operations. 

Any of the apps we’ve discussed in this article might be the best option for you as each has a different focus and works best for different workplaces.

For example, Timely uses AI for automatic desk-based tracking, while actiTIME is great for team projects and Tick is simple and to the point for basic tracking.

However, if you’re looking for an all-in-one solution that makes time tracking for both hourly and salaried employees as simple as possible, Homebase is your best bet. Our platform also makes sure your timesheets are accurate and useful and sync seamlessly with the rest of your tasks, like payroll and compliance.

Time may be money, but there’s no reason to accidentally waste either of them with these apps.

**The information above is based on our research on mobile timesheet apps. All user feedback referenced in the text has been sourced from independent software review platforms, such as G2 and Capterra, in April 2023.

The post The 6 best mobile timesheet apps for 2023 appeared first on Homebase.

Employee sick days are inevitable, but how do you respond when an employee calls in sick? And more importantly, what can you do to minimize the impact on your business?

Having a clear plan in place, including sick day policies and understanding employee rights for calling in sick, can help turn sick day stress into business success.

What are sick days and when do employees take them?

Sick days are days when an employee takes a day off work in order to rest and recuperate.

In some cases, sick days are also known as personal days, where employees take time off to care for family members or handle medical appointments. For some employers, that’s an acceptable use of the day, but other employers may have stipulations—not always legal ones—around when and why an employee calling in sick to work can take an official sick day. Sick days are different from other types of employee absences, even unapproved absences. 

The true definition of a sick day can vary from employer to employer. But in most situations, a sick day refers to when an employee is personally too sick to come to work. An employee calling in sick is usually a spur of the moment decision when they’re hit with an unexpected illness.

Of course, getting sick is an unfortunate part of life. But when we get really sick, we’re usually not capable of being the best version of ourselves, much less going to work. At that point, it’s time to take a sick day. Particularly for people who come into contact with other humans and/or food, like restaurant workers, child care staff, or cooks, it’s important to have a strong sick day policy in place so they don’t spread illness. 

How often should you anticipate employees calling in sick to work?

Employees calling in sick to work can throw a wrench into your scheduling and planning. And the last-minute shift changes can be frustrating for you and your team.

Unfortunately, how often you can expect your employees to be calling in sick to work doesn’t have a straightforward answer. It can depend on your industry, work environment, and even your sick day policies. But we did dig up some sick day insights that can help you with your planning. 

Spoiler alert: On average, employees actually tend to take less days than you might think.

According to a Statista Survey from 2020, a quarter of respondents didn’t take any sick leave in the previous year. And of those who did, most only took 2-3 days. In industries like food service, where only 15% of employees get paid sick leave, sick days taken are often lower. 

That being said, sick days have become more normalized over the last few years. In fact, 2022 had the highest number of sickness-related absences since 1976, with more than 19 million absences for the year.

Paid sick leave

The COVID-19 pandemic certainly played a role. The highly-contagious nature of the coronavirus highlighted the impact that even one sick employee can have on customers and other employees. At the height of the pandemic, one sick employee could shut down a business for days or even weeks at a time. 

Since the pandemic, more businesses have recognized the value of paid sick leave, making it easier for employees to take time off to recuperate. Even better, it reduces the likelihood of illness spreading between employees and customers, and helps employees perform better.

The number of sick days within your team will ultimately depend on your employees and their tolerance for taking a day off. So be mindful that some employees may need to take more or less time off than others.

When do you need to cover an employee’s sick day?

The short answer? Almost always.

The long answer? You should plan to cover their sick day anytime an employee’s absence can negatively impact your business and the customer experience. 

An employee calling in sick can also impact more than just your customers. It’s important to recognize that being short-staffed can affect morale and the productivity of team members who are working. If you don’t cover the shift, other employees may get overworked or burnt out trying to pick up the extra work.

But covering a sick day is sometimes easier said than done. 

First off, it’s almost impossible to plan ahead, since no one gets advanced warning that they’ll be under the weather. In fact, it almost always finds a way to sneak up on us when we least expect it. So of course, sick day calls tend to come in at the eleventh hour, meaning you need to find a new team member quickly.

With many 9-to-5 office jobs, teams can carry on with business as usual if a team member calls in sick. At the bare minimum, work can often be reprioritized or pushed.

On the other hand, with shift work and customer service industries like retail or restaurants, your customers are there whether your employees are sick or not. That’s why most employee schedules are created around meeting customer and business needs. Without proper coverage, customers can experience delays or a decrease in quality of service.

Sick days and employee rights 

In the United States there are no legal requirements to provide paid sick leave to your employees.

However, depending on where your business is located, there may be other employee rights when they call in sick to work. Wherever your business operates, it’s important to get to know the labor laws for shift workers and employee rights around sick days in your region.

As of 2023, 14 states have created their own individual paid sick time laws:

• Arizona
• California
• Colorado
• Connecticut
• Maryland
• Massachusetts
• Michigan
• New Jersey
• New Mexico
• New York
• Oregon
• Rhode Island
• Vermont
• Washington State

Washington, D.C. also has labor laws around paid sick days. 

These laws often stipulate how and when employees are entitled to pay when they need to take time off for personal or family matters. They’re designed to protect employees’ right to take time off for illness and specify how much time they are entitled to. 

In some states, sick, family leave, and parental leave laws vary for smaller businesses and employers.

Non-regulated ways to handle employee sick days

Beyond the legal requirements, it’s up to you how you want to handle sick days as an employer. While you may not be legally required to offer paid sick days or even grant your employees unpaid sick days, there’s a trickle-down effect to not doing so.

In a world where burnout is very real, sick days can be valuable for helping your employees perform at their best. Being flexible with scheduling and sick days can help increase productivity, job satisfaction, and overall employee health. Sick days might be inconvenient, but taking care of your team can help them thrive and even reduce future absenteeism.

And while they say that there’s no such thing as bad press, you probably don’t want to make headlines for enforcing extreme sick-leave policies.

No matter how you decide to handle sick days, make sure to be transparent with your team. Just because there are no legal requirements, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have clear policies and processes around sick days internally.

Make sure your employees know the rules about calling in sick to work. Do they message you through your scheduling platform? Or do they have to call in? Are they required to find someone to find their shift, or will a manager handle that? By what time do they have to let you know?

Then put a plan in place for management to find replacement coverage where necessary. Streamlining your sick day processes means nothing falls through the cracks and any absences—planned or otherwise—don’t end up impacting your customers. Plus, you’ll reduce the burden on management to come up with a last-minute solution.

How to respond when an employee is calling in sick to work

An employee calling in sick is bound to happen eventually. When it does, it’s easy to panic. But don’t worry, all is not lost—it’s possible to minimize disruption while giving your employee the time off they need.

By putting a plan in place for how to tackle sick days, you and your management will be better equipped to deal with a sick day curveball. To make it simple, here are some steps you can take to respond when an employee calls in sick.

Check in with your employee

First, take a moment to check in with your employee. Ask them how they’re feeling and wish them well in their recovery. This small, but impactful action can go a long way to making sure your team member feels valued and seen, instead of just being a cog in the machine.

Let’s be honest, being sick isn’t fun to begin with. The best thing you can do when an employee calls in sick is be empathetic and make it clear that taking a sick day is okay. It can also have the added benefit of the employee taking the rest they need so they’re ready to show up sooner vs. them trying to push through, which could result in them actually being sick longer.

For many employees, the thought of calling in sick is already an added layer of stress. Whether it’s because they worry about losing their job or simply can’t afford a day off, calling in sick isn’t something most employees want to do. In fact, they actively avoid it. According to pre-pandemic research by the CDC, 1 in 5 food workers had worked when sick at least once in the previous year. 

Make sure to in touch with the sick employee so you can get a sense of when they might return to work. This can help you make any schedule adjustment sooner rather than later.

That being said, make sure not to pester them. The last thing you want is to give the impression that your scheduling is more important than their well-being. 

How you approach a sick day request will affect your team members’ job satisfaction, and can ultimately impact their work when they return.

Coordinate shift coverage

When one employee is out, it usually means it’s time to tag another employee in.

After you get the news that an employee isn’t coming in, you’ll want to prioritize finding someone to cover their shift. How you do this will depend on your current policies and scheduling process.

Your business might keep an “on-call” schedule, where there are designated employees on-call to cover for unexpected absences. For example, you’ll have 1-2 employees scheduled on-call for every shift, who will only come in if needed. If someone calls in sick, these folks are your go-tos. This approach is common among larger teams and allows for quick and decisive action so your business doesn’t suffer.

However, for smaller employers, this may not always be possible. In this case, you can simply reach out to your team and see who might be willing to step in. 

Document the sick day

Now that you’ve got the shift covered, you can breathe easy. But it’s not time to sit back and relax yet, because there’s still some work to do.

Employees taking sick days impacts everything from payroll to taxes. Administrative tasks can be pesky but are critical to making sure your employee information is in order.

Here are some things you may want to take care of after an employee calls in sick:

• Remove the sick employee from your shift schedule and add the covering employee so everyone is up to date with who’s working.
• Update time off requests and sick day balances where applicable.
• Make sure any paid or unpaid time off is updated on your timesheets ahead of payroll so you’re tracking hours accurately.
• Document any communication for future reference. A record is helpful in case there are any miscommunications or concerns.

Ensure you document every employee sick day in a manager logbook. Even if there are only two or three managers, it’s important for everyone to have information to spot any repeating patterns and ensure no sick day goes untracked in case it needs to be addressed later.

What to do when an employee keeps calling in sick

Depending on the cause of their illness, an employee may need more than one day off. 

Sometimes our ailments disappear within a day, but they can occasionally linger for weeks. It happens to the best of us—one sick day turns into two, then two days suddenly turn into a week.

Every employee has unique health needs and has a different path to recovery. While the thought of being short-staffed can be stressful, it’s important to respect the wellness needs of your employees.

Take advantage of scheduling and team communication tools to help you adapt on the fly and mitigate the impact. It can make it easier for employees to swap shifts and for you to manage changing schedules. This way, you and your team aren’t scrambling to accommodate changes when employees end up calling in sick to work.

If you have concerns about the misuse of sick days, it might be worth having a direct conversation with your employee. Be empathetic and take the time to check in to make sure that there aren’t other underlying issues. 

It’s usually best not to make assumptions—if you haven’t heard the saying, just trust us on this one. Making accusatory statements can have a negative effect on employee performance, morale, and team culture. 

A gentle reminder to your entire team about your HR policies can also help mitigate any confusion around the proper use of sick days. Set a few annual reminders around cold and flu season to make sure your team’s all on the same page so you can avoid singling anyone out.

Make the stress of employees calling in sick to work a thing of the past

Last-minute sick days can be stressful for everyone involved, but they really don’t have to be.

Homebase helps small businesses manage everything from sick days to scheduling, so you can focus on what matters—your customers and employees. Homebase’s features help you put a plan in place, so managing sick days becomes a breeze: 

• Share transparent sick day policies: With clear policies, your employees will know how to share the news they’re sick without having to ask. They’ll know if they’re still paid or not, how to get someone to cover their shift, and how to let people know if they need extra time.
• Create flexible schedules: It’s easy to find alternate coverage and fill shifts when an employee calls in sick when you have your team’s availability and schedules in one place.
• Streamline team communication: The easy-to-use employee messenger app helps you quickly communicate with your teams. You can monitor sick day requests and communicate changes to on-shift employees right from your phone.

Need help managing sick days? Get Homebase and take the stress out of employee sick days with easy  scheduling and team communication tools. Get started for free.

Employee sick day FAQS 

What’s the average number of sick days employees take in a year?

The average full-time worker in the US gets an average of 7 paid sick days per year. However, employees tend to not use all their sick time. In reality, most employees only take 2-3 sick days a year. However, this number can change depending on a few factors, including your industry, if sick days are paid, and the type of work environment.

When should you cover a sick employee’s shift?

If you have hourly or shift employees, you should almost always expect to cover a sick employee’s shift. Not covering that employee’s shift can have a significant impact on your customers and your bottom line. Being short-staffed can cause your team to fall behind, lower morale, and create stress for other employees.

How can you make sick days less impactful to your business and staff?

An employee calling in sick not only impacts your employees but your business as a whole. The good news? You don’t need to minimize the impact on your own. Implement the right policies and take advantage of tools to reduce the impact of sick days. Prioritizing processes around filling shifts and team communication can help you find coverage seamlessly—even when an employee calls in sick at the last minute.

The post Employee calling in sick to work? Here’s everything you need to know appeared first on Homebase.

High employee turnover is a common battle that restaurants face. But that doesn’t mean you’re resigned to an endless game of hiring whack-a-mole.

If you’re experiencing high employee turnover in your restaurant, you’re not alone. According to a 2023 Homebase study, retaining current employees is a top concern for more than a third of small business owners.

Fortunately, you’re in the right place. Read along for a low-down on the impacts of employee turnover, how to calculate employee turnover, and top tips for retaining employees.

What is employee turnover in the restaurant industry?

Employee turnover is a measure of how many employees have left your organization within a specific period of time.

Turnover can happen for a number of reasons: employees can leave voluntarily, be laid off, or be let go through termination.

Employees will always come and go. Some turnover is natural, especially in industries that can’t provide a ton of upward mobility. But if your restaurant feels like a constant revolving door of employees, it’s usually a red flag that there are some deeper issues at hand.

The restaurant industry as a whole does tend to face higher-than-average turnover due to the demanding nature of the work. It’s fast-paced, deals with a lot of criticism from customers, and the hours are often unpredictable.

Throw in a few tumultuous years thanks to COVID-19 and turnover rates for the restaurant industry are higher than they’ve ever been. Many restaurants are seeing more staff leaving than staying. Limited-service and fast-food restaurants are experiencing turnover rates as high as 144%, while full-service restaurants aren’t doing much better, sitting at an employee turnover rate of around 106%. This means that in a fast-food restaurant with 100 employees, 144 would have left within the year. 

But even before the pandemic, employee turnover in restaurants was as high as 75%. This is a stark contrast compared to the average turnover in the United States of around 45% (back in 2019).

Constantly having to hire and replace employees can have a long-lasting impact on your restaurant business. So with rates like these, it’s no surprise that more restaurants are turning their attention to employee turnover. 

How high employee turnover impacts your business

A lot of business owners and managers have this notion that employees are replaceable. Of course, to some extent that’s true. But it doesn’t mean turnover doesn’t significantly affect your business operations and restaurant success.

The high costs of high employee turnover

• Increased financial costs: Hiring and onboarding new employees is time-consuming and expensive. The average cost of replacing an employee can cost as much as 2x their annual salary. The true cost of employee turnover can depend on factors like years of experience and the role itself. But in every instance, it still costs some serious cash.
• Decreased productivity and customer satisfaction: Hiring takes time. So when an employee leaves, they often can’t be replaced right away. This can lead restaurants to be understaffed and unable to meet customer needs in the short term. Even when new hires are brought in, it can be weeks before they’re fully caught up.
• Lowered employee morale: Constant change in teams makes it difficult for employees to build relationships with one another. It also creates a sense of uncertainty, since employees don’t know who’s joining and who might jump ship next.

Even when it comes to replacing your departed employees, it’s not always that simple. The labor shortage is real—with post-pandemic changes to the workforce and restaurant industry, small businesses and restaurants are already struggling to hire new staff, let alone replace current ones.

These challenges have underscored the true impact of high employee turnover. Understanding and getting a handle on your employee turnover should be a top priority.

How to calculate your employee turnover rate

So, how can you get a better sense of the number of employees coming and going? You need to know your current employee turnover rate. This is an important metric to regularly track and compare each quarter, or at least once a year.

Calculating your employee turnover is actually pretty simple.

First, you need to decide on the time period you want to measure for. For example, you might want to understand your turnover rate for the last 12 months or for the last fiscal year. 

For many smaller businesses, employee turnover rates are most valuable annually or quarterly. A longer period gives you more time to collect significant insights, but you still need to compare this frequently to past time periods to see if you’re seeing an uptick in turnover, or if strategies you’re using to combat employee turnover are effective.

Let’s look at an example:

On January 1st, you have 100 employees. As of December 31 of the same year, 10 employees have left the company. This leaves you with an annual turnover rate of 10%.

Employee turnover = 10/100 = 10%

If you’re a growing business, the total size of your workforce might change significantly over a time period. In that case, you can also use your average total number of employees each month to get a more accurate turnover rate.

Here’s the formula for this alternative approach.

Here’s an example using this approach:

In the last 12 months, you’ve had an average of 200 employees per month. During that time, 50 employees have left the company. This leaves you with an annual turnover rate of 25%.

Employee turnover = 50/200 = 25%

Understanding your employee turnover rate

Now that you know what your turnover rate is. What’s the optimal employee turnover rate restaurants should aim for?

The answer isn’t so straightforward, given employee turnover rates can vary widely between industries and businesses. Generally across all industries, a 10% employee turnover rate is widely considered to be good. However, this may be an unrealistic benchmark given that the average employee turnover in the U.S. was 47.2% in 2022. Especially, given that the restaurant industry tends to have higher turnover than many other industries.

When evaluating your turnover rate, consider tracking improvements over time to make sure you’re headed in the right direction. You can also aim to have more employees happy in their roles than those who want to leave—which is typically reflected in a turnover rate of less than 50%.

But taking a deeper look at the reasons employees have left your restaurant can also help you better understand your employee turnover. Despite all the talk about reducing employee turnover, not all employee departures are necessarily a cause for concern.

For example, if you had to lay off a number of staff because you increased your operational efficiency, that might be considered an acceptable reason for a higher turnover rate. Or if you had several employees move or go back to school, those departures probably aren’t a result of poor job satisfaction.

Meanwhile, if a bunch of employees quit for seemingly no reason, that may be cause for concern.

Categorizing reasons for leaving as acceptable, concerning, or even unknown can be helpful in understanding if higher turnover rates are something to be worried about.

How to reduce employee turnover in your restaurant

The restaurant industry tends to face higher rates of employee turnover. But that doesn’t mean it’s normal, nor should it be the status quo. 

Here are five things you can do to improve retention and prevent employee turnover within your restaurant.

1. Have a solid hiring process

A big part of reducing employee turnover means getting the right people in the door in the first place. Although it might feel easier to just get a body on the schedule, avoid the temptation to hire the first person who comes knocking.

You could nail everything else on the employee turnover checklist. But if a candidate isn’t the right fit to begin with, they’ll be out the door sooner rather than later.

Your hiring process should carefully consider your company culture, current team, and business needs. Get the right applicants by using customized job descriptions and posting your job to relevant job boards. In a pinch? Promoting your job with paid boosts can help you hire someone faster.

2. Develop an effective onboarding process to train employees

Once you have the perfect candidate, the next step is getting them up to speed.

Joining a new team is exciting, but meeting a bunch of new faces and adapting to a new work environment is a lot to take on, so don’t just leave your new employee to fend for themselves.

Your onboarding process plays a key role in setting your new employees up for success. A successful new-hire restaurant onboarding process typically includes the following:

• Role-specific training: You’ll want to cover the basic skills and knowledge that a new hire will need to perform their job. For example, a server needs to understand how to use the POS system. Meanwhile, a cook may need specific instructions on maintaining commercial kitchen appliances.
• HR and scheduling: Take the time to review company policies, like sick days and clocking-in. You should also walk your new hire through the scheduling process, so they know when they should come into work.
• Company culture and objectives: Clearly communicate the company goals and values. This can help your employee prioritize and meet these expectations during their employment.
• Meeting the team: Having a welcoming start for a new employee not only helps them feel more comfortable, it can boost morale for your existing team as well, by having them feel involved in the process. Many restaurants also adopt a buddy system that pairs new employees with an existing staff member. This helps with building a team culture while giving new hires a safe place to ask questions along the way.

Remember, onboarding doesn’t end once an employee feels comfortable doing their job. Part of keeping employees motivated and engaged is providing them with ongoing training and constant feedback—both positive and constructive.

3. Keep your compensation competitive—and pay on time

Money isn’t everything, but it sure does help pay the rent. With most of us continuing to battle inflation, good employees are often looking out for better-paying opportunities. By keeping pay competitive you’ll have a better chance of keeping your employees.

As a business owner, the thought of paying higher wages can sound daunting. However, it can pay off in spades—just ask the owner of this Pittsburg ice cream parlor. By increasing wages, the restaurant was able to reduce employee turnover and fill vacant positions, almost overnight. Plus, they noted that employees were happier and less burnt out. A positive side effect of reducing financial stress for their team.

But pay isn’t the be-all-end-all. Where possible, offering additional benefits and flexibility can also give your business a competitive edge. For example, offering early access to wages can set your restaurant apart from the rest. It’s also important to ensure you’re addressing the gender pay gap and offering equal wages for equal work.

And maybe this goes without saying, but make sure any compensation and benefits you’ve committed to get paid out on time. Your employees need to trust that their income is going to land in their pockets when they expect it. Consider using modern tools to help you make paydays easier by accurately tracking employee hours and automating payroll prep 

4. Create a positive and safe workplace culture

In fast-paced restaurant environments, things like culture can often slip through the cracks. But a positive work environment is important to employee happiness, sometimes even more than compensation.

When employees actually like their workplace, they’ll feel a sense of belonging and want to stick around.

Even something as simple as building a culture of appreciation can go a long way. In fact, 46% of workers say that lack of appreciation is why they left a job.

In a restaurant environment where there are a lot of moving pieces, positive culture also includes prioritizing your employees’ health and well-being. No one wants to come to work if they feel like it puts themselves at risk. This includes having policies around proper training and safety, as well as offering sick days and other wellness benefits.

5. Make flexible scheduling a priority

The restaurant industry doesn’t work a traditional 9 to 5, which means that employee scheduling can feel a bit chaotic at times. You have to balance employee availability and business needs, but also account for the unexpected, like sick days.

The unpredictable nature of restaurant scheduling also impacts your employees. They may have other obligations, like school or family responsibilities. How you schedule your team can help them achieve a better work-life balance, so they actually want to come to work. Otherwise, you might find yourself surrounded by disgruntled employees or a toxic workplace.

Of course, it’s not always possible to craft the perfect schedule for every employee. But a little flexibility and advanced scheduling can go a long way in keeping your team happier and around longer.

Reduce restaurant employee turnover with Homebase

Employee departures are inevitable. But with the right tools in place, you can make a difference in how long employees stay with your restaurant.

Homebase offers a robust suite of tools to help restaurant owners manage their teams—all in one place. 

Set your team up for success from day one with Homebase’s automated onboarding process. With a digitized approach, new employees can receive custom welcome packets and e-sign their onboarding paperwork all within the app.

When it comes to scheduling, Homebase also gives your team maximum flexibility by optimizing schedules based on your restaurant’s sales forecasts and employee availability. Your schedules seamlessly integrate with Homebase’s automated time tracking and make payroll prep a breeze to help you avoid stress on paydays.

And of course, when you do need to bring on new folks onto your team, Homebase can help you hire better and smarter, with customizable job descriptions and easy applicant tracking.

Homebase was recognized as the best overall scheduling software for restaurants , and comes recommended as the tool every restaurant needs to reduce employee turnover and build happier, stronger teams. 

Make employee turnover a thing of the past

Get Homebase, the all-in-one hiring, onboarding, and employee scheduling platform that keeps your employees happier for longer. Get started for free.

Restaurant employee turnover FAQS 

What is employee turnover?

Employee turnover is the rate that employees leave your restaurant business within a period of time. It’s typically expressed as a percentage known as an employee turnover rate. Employee turnover includes employees who resign and leave voluntarily. But it also includes employees that are terminated or let go for various reasons.

While some level of employee turnover is normal, high employee turnover rates can be costly and have a negative impact on the business. Successful restaurant owners and managers should take steps to reduce employee turnover as much as possible.

How is employee turnover different in the restaurant industry?

The biggest difference when it comes to employee turnover in the restaurant industry is that it tends to be higher. Even before the pandemic, the turnover rate for the restaurant industry was averaging around 81.9% with the national average employee turnover rate being closer to 45% (in 2019.)

This isn’t entirely surprising, given that restaurant jobs tend to be higher-stress with unpredictable hours. This environment can cause burnout, causing employees to leave their jobs at faster rates. However, with the right tools and tactics, it’s still possible to minimize turnover within your restaurant team.

How can I calculate my employee turnover rate?

Employee turnover rate can be calculated by dividing the number of employees who have left by the number of employees at the beginning of the period. Most employee turnover is calculated annually, but it can also be measured for other time periods. For example, many companies also opt to measure turnover rates quarterly.

How can I reduce employee turnover in my restaurant?

There are many ways to reduce employee turnover in your restaurant. First, you need to set new hires up for success by implementing solid hiring and onboarding processes. And once your team is up and running, flexible scheduling, a positive workplace culture, and competitive compensation can keep employees coming to work happy.

The post 5 ways to reduce employee turnover in restaurants appeared first on Homebase.

What is seasonal employment?

Seasonal employment is a temporary job with a set end date. Seasonal work is most commonly available at certain times of the year when employers require additional help. For example, retail stores may need extra hands during the holiday rush, a swimming pool will need to staff up during the warmer months, or a fitness center might get a rush of new customers in the new year.

Businesses that do seasonal hiring typically fall into two categories:

• Seasonal industries: These businesses are only operational in a certain type of weather. When the weather’s warm, amusement parks, swimming pools, and ice cream shops are in full swing, but in the winter, they may close, or operate on severely reduced hours. In the winter, ski resorts, winter equipment rental shops, and outdoor ice rinks have their high season and usually shut down as soon as spring arrives.
• Businesses with busy periods: These businesses operate all year round but need extra help with certain events or at certain times of the year. Think children’s clothing stores before school starts, a retailer hosting a pop-up, or a once-a-year conference that requires a lot of lead up time. The work is sporadic and occasionally unplanned, and can come on suddenly.

What is a seasonal job? According to the Affordable Care Act, the technical definition of seasonal employment is a position that lasts six months or less, and begins around the same time of year (such as summer or winter or the holidays). Seasonal employment can be full-time or part-time but is never a year-round job.

When should a business hire seasonal employees?

A business should hire seasonal employees whenever they need to beef up their workforce. This varies from industry to industry, so let’s look at some examples:

• A beachside shop that only opens from June to September will need to hire cashiers for the summer season. They’re looking to hire summer students who are looking for work while school’s out. The seasonal hires know their contract is up when the shop closes in the fall.
• A popular clothing store opens a pop-up location from October to January. They need sales staff and cashiers while the second location is open, but can’t spare any staff from their primary store. They’ll need to hire seasonal staff as long as the pop-up is open.
• A restaurant on a ski hill is open year round, but reduces their hours in the warmer months. They’ll need to hire servers, hosts, and kitchen staff during peak ski season when they’re open all week. They’ll reduce their staff again when the ski season ends.

Whenever your business needs the extra help, it’s important to get started well before your busy season begins. For example, retail stores should start hiring in early September for the holiday season. 

What are the advantages of hiring seasonal employees?

Hiring seasonal employees can have many benefits for your business. It’s a flexible, cost-effective way to meet your needs when you’re extra busy, and you may just find yourself with a solid, regular talent pool. Here are five reasons to consider seasonal employees this year:

Temporary help, long-term opportunity

Seasonal employees are a huge help during busy times. And if you find the right person for the seasonal job, a temporary employee can become someone you hire every year, or even keep on during slower times. Seasonal employment allows you to try someone out for a few months and gauge if they’re right for your business before you invest in a permanent hire. This makes seasonal employees a great source of potential talent for growing businesses.

Diversify your team

When you hire a temporary employee, you have the opportunity to think creatively about your business. Hiring someone for seasonal work gives you the freedom and flexibility to try someone with a different background or perspective—like someone who’s just starting out in your industry, an international student, or a stay-at-home-parent instead of someone with a corporate background. Sometimes a fresh point of view is just what a small business needs. 

Fill temporary staff shortages

All businesses experience staff shortages, whether it’s the busy season or not. If a full-time employee goes on maternity leave or needs to take an extended period of time off, it doesn’t make sense to replace them with a long-term hire. Hiring a seasonal employee is a cost-effective way to fill a temporary vacancy and has a lot of benefits. Your temporary hire will gain valuable work experience and you gain an employee that understands your business. Ask them if they’re willing to work on an on-call basis or another type of schedule. You never know when you’ll need to cover a leave or a shift.  

Cost-effectiveness

It costs less to hire seasonal employees because you’re only paying for support when you need it. While seasonal employees are entitled to the same rights as part-time and full-time workers, they don’t stay on your payroll after your busy season is over. Seasonal workers are the best way to get extra help without breaking the bank. 

Flexibility 

With seasonal employees, you can easily adjust the size of your workforce to meet your needs during the busy season. Because seasonal employees don’t usually have the same expectations as your full-time staff, they may be better equipped to handle a fluctuating schedule or being asked to step in at the last minute. Imagine a busy college student trying to save money before school starts during the fall: they may be just the person to take on that last-minute shift so they get overtime hours (and overtime pay!).

What are the disadvantages of hiring seasonal employees?

With all the benefits of hiring seasonal employees, you might be ready to jump on the seasonal hiring bandwagon. Before you do, let’s consider some of the downsides of hiring seasonal workers and how that might affect your business.

Less motivation and commitment

Because seasonal workers are only at your business for a short amount of time, they may not be as invested as your full-time employees. While there are lots of excellent seasonal workers out there, seasonal hiring may result in less reliable, motivated, or committed employees. This is why it’s important to set clear expectations, have a great onboarding process, and create a work environment that’s worth investing in. It’s also smart to reach out to your best seasonal employees from previous seasons. Homebase can help you get the most of your seasonal employees with clear seasonal job postings, an automated onboarding process, and plenty of tools to keep your staff engaged.

Less training 

Training seasonal employees is usually less involved than training full-time staff. If seasonal employees don’t receive adequate training they may be unprepared, stressed, or unable to do their job properly. This may result in higher employee turnover rates. Tailor your training for your seasonal staff so you’re only teaching them what they know for their particular time of year, and consider a software solution like Homebase to fully streamline the onboarding process. Homebase’s hiring and onboarding tool sends all new employees welcome packets and gets them to e-sign their contracts and new hire documentation.

Lack of loyalty

There’s less stopping seasonal employees from switching to a different seasonal job with better pay, benefits for employees, or a more flexible work schedule. You can’t control how loyal a seasonal employee is to your business, but you can take measures like offering competitive pay, flexible hours, and a culture that motivates all employees. Open communication is a great way to ensure employees stay in the loop and feel valued. Homebase’s free mobile app has a built-in messenger tool to make it easy to stay connected.

How to successfully hire seasonal employees

Hiring the best seasonal employees will put you on the right track to have a successful busy season. Even if you’re only hiring a handful of seasonal workers, you want to make sure you get the cream of the crop before they get hired by other companies. Here are four ways to successfully hire seasonal employees.

Plan ahead 

In the current tight labor market, it’s harder than ever to find qualified seasonal employees. That means you need to get ahead of the competition to build the best possible team for your business. It’s important to look at your data and determine when you’re busiest. Once you’ve established your peak months, start your hiring process as soon as possible. As a general rule of thumb, you should start the hiring process three or four months before your busy period begins. For example, start hiring in early September for the holiday season if you’re in the retail sector. 

Be specific in your job postings

Writing a detailed, accurate job description will save you a lot of effort later in the hiring process. A well-written job posting will help you weed out applicants that aren’t qualified or wouldn’t be the right fit for your business. You won’t waste your time or the potential employees’ time, in interviews.

An accurate job description must include:

• Keywords like ‘temporary,’ ‘full-time,’ and ‘seasonal’
• The expected length of the contract
• The expected weekly schedule or amount of working hours
• The hourly rate you’re offering (can be a range depending on experience, like $20-30/hour)
• Any essential skills

You should also specify if the role is recurring or has the possibility of extension. Many seasonal employees would love to come back the following year, which means less time spent on next season’s hiring and onboarding.

Think about who will be looking for seasonal jobs when you’re recruiting and tailor your job postings accordingly. For example, if you need to hire for the summer season, students and teachers will be your best resource for finding recurring seasonal employees as they’re likely to be looking for work when school’s out. Busy season during the winter? You can target lifeguards and theme park employees for winter jobs. And if your business is located in a place where summer is year-round, look to the local community of retirees that may want to supplement their income.

Homebase makes it easy to create stand-out job postings. In just a few clicks, you’ll have a tailored job posting and effective screening questions to help you find the best candidates. 

Know the difference between a seasonal employee and seasonal worker, and classify them as such

To stay compliant, it’s important to know what kind of worker you’re hiring. If you don’t know the difference between a seasonal employee and a seasonal worker, you could wind up paying significant penalties. Here’s what you need to know:

What are seasonal employees? Seasonal employees are hired for six months or less and work the same time period each year. For example, cashiers hired in November and December during the holiday rush, or lifeguards that work for June, July, and August every summer. 

What are seasonal workers? Seasonal workers are employed less than four months, or 120 days of work, during the calendar year. They’re expected to leave when that timeframe is over. Freelancers or temps are the best examples of seasonal workers.

If you’re unsure about your city or state’s local laws, you should invest the time into researching your requirements so you can  easily stay in compliance with state, local, and federal labor laws. If you don’t have an HR pro on your team (and let’s face it, many small businesses don’t), work with software and professionals that can keep you on track. Homebase offers  versatile HR advice and products  to  help you classify your employees properly and help you follow the rules when it comes to pay, time off, and benefits.

Use the right tools to help you with hiring

In the months leading up to your business’s peak season, you’ll have your hands full. While it’s important to get seasonal hiring right, you likely won’t have a lot of extra time to post on multiple job sites, screen candidates, pore over resumes, and schedule interviews.  

To avoid getting overwhelmed with the hiring and onboarding process, streamline your workflow and use as many helpful tools as you can. 

You should consider: 

• Creating a library of job posting templates so you don’t have to recreate them each year or for different job sites.
• Making a list of screening questions to weed out applicants that won’t be a good fit. This will save you time when you’re ready to go through applications.
• Using an app that keeps all your employee and candidate information in one place so you avoid  losing track of important data.

With hiring and onboarding software like Homebase, you can upload your job ad to all the major job listing sites simultaneously. Then, you can track all your applicants within our app so you don’t have to worry about forgetting or missing anything. You can even automate the onboarding process when you’ve found the right fit. Using smart tools to streamline your hiring and onboarding leaves you more time for important tasks like interviewing and scheduling.

Get referrals 

Asking your employees to refer their hard-working friends and family members is the best way to find great seasonal employees. Employee referrals come with an added layer of trust because your employees are only likely to refer people they know will do an excellent job. We recommend offering a small referral bonus to encourage your employees to refer people they know. You get happy employees and a high-quality pool of new, vetted candidates. We call that a win-win.

Why is it important to onboard seasonal employees?

Hiring great employees is already tough and keeping them is even harder. A good onboarding process is key to retaining employees, but companies tend to spend very little time on this part of the hiring process. With up to 20% of staff turnover occurring within the first 45 days of employment, a standardized onboarding process is essential. 

Here are 5 reasons to invest in onboarding your seasonal employees.

1. Better onboarding means better performance

You may feel like seasonal jobs aren’t worth the investment, but your temporary employees need to be just as capable and confident as your full-time staff if they’re going to meet your needs. Proper employee onboarding plays an important role in helping your staff excel. In a well-known study for Glassdoor by the Brandon Hall Group, researchers found that a strong onboarding process improved new hire retention by 82%. It was also found that strong onboarding improved the productivity of new hires by over 70%. Productive new hires save you time and money, and they’re typically happier, too.

2. A short-term hire can still have a long-term impact

Seasonal employees may be short-term hires, but they can still have a long-term impact. Poor service or a bad experience will cost your company big time. According to the Customer Service Barometer, one third of Americans will consider switching companies after a single bad experience. That one bad experience can translate into serious revenue loss for your company over time, especially given that Americans tell an average of 15 people when they’ve had a poor experience. The stakes are high for getting service right and strong seasonal onboarding can make all the difference. A great customer experience is your most powerful weapon against reputation damage and revenue loss.  

3. You can stand out as an employer of choice

In the current tight labor market, it’s harder than ever to find qualified seasonal employees. That means you need to be an employer that seasonal employees get excited about. Properly onboarding your seasonal workers is critical to creating a work environment that employees love. If it’s done right, onboarding gets new employees invested in your culture, introduces them to staff at all levels, fosters open communication, and makes them feel like a part of the team. Strong seasonal onboarding helps you create a reputation as a company that values its employees and puts you ahead of the competition in hiring season.

4. You can build a trusted talent pool 

Short-term workers can be a long-term asset if you invest in them from the start. It’s one of the many reasons proper onboarding is important. If you foster a positive relationship with your seasonal employees from the outset, you’ll be first on the list for the next hiring season or when you have a permanent need. And who better to fill seasonal or permanent roles than someone who knows your business, your culture, your practices, and your people? Easy recruiting starts with fantastic onboarding. 

5. You’ll save yourself time and money 

If you get your onboarding right, you could be looking at a long-term pool of potential hires that know your business. Get it wrong and you’ll be starting from scratch before every busy season. Having to re-train new employees every year is costly. Not only does it take time to recruit, interview, and onboard new people, according to recent data, it costs an average $1,678 to train one employee. On the flip side, companies that invest in proper training and onboarding may see as much as a 24% increase in their profit margins. So while onboarding is an initial upfront investment, it will save you time and money in the long run.

How to effectively onboard seasonal employees

The key to onboarding new hires effectively is streamlining as much of the process as possible. That way, you can focus your energy on welcoming your new staff, making training effective, and getting them acquainted with your business—not sitting under a pile of paperwork. Here are 7 ways to effectively onboard your seasonal employees.

1. Be prepared

After you make an awesome hire, you’ll need to get their paperwork in order before they start working. Homebase’s onboarding program gets the ball rolling before your new employee’s start date, and manages onboarding paperwork so you don’t have to. With everything organized before the job starts, you’ll have more time for the other important aspects of onboarding: training, introducing the team, giving feedback, and more.

2. Have an established training process

While a lot of employees prefer to learn on the job, formal training is still an important part of the onboarding process. Sitting and listening without any hands-on learning isn’t ideal, so the best training programs should strike the right balance between the classroom and learning by doing. The best way to develop a training program that works is by talking to your current employees. What did they wish they’d known then they started? What did they like and dislike about their training? Our team communication app makes it easy to get feedback from your employees and store it all in one place.

Once you’ve chosen your core training goals, you can create a schedule and any materials you need. It’s important to share these with your new hires ahead of time so they know what to expect. Send your training materials quickly and easily with our onboarding tool.

3. Introduce your culture

Employees are much less willing to accept a less-than-stellar workplace culture even if they’re paid well. If you want to attract and keep excellent employees, you must create and maintain a positive company culture—and an employee’s first introduction to your culture is during onboarding. So, how do you get off on the right foot with your seasonal employees, give them the training they need, and also make them feel warmly welcomed?

You can do this by infusing your company culture into every step of the onboarding process.

• Introduce your team. It’s important that employees feel comfortable around coworkers as fast as possible and that your new hire feels welcome.
• Send new employee announcements, welcoming each new starter to the company 
• Give public recognition or have a celebration when an employee goes above and beyond 
• Offer rewards or incentives and being clear about how and why they’re given
• Provide employees with an easy way to reach out to other employees, including management, like a messaging app—not everyone’s comfortable asking questions in person right away. Plus, employees don’t have to share their personal information when they use a messaging app, which is better for privacy.
• Give regular feedback during the process and making it easy for employees to share their thoughts
• Have a clearly defined mission, vision, and values, and include it in your employee handbook

4. Foster open, two-way communication

Your seasonal employees are coming into an unfamiliar environment where they’re surrounded by longer-term team members. It’s easy to feel a little disconnected and unsure. One of the easiest ways to make your staff feel included from the get go is with an employee communication app.  A good communication app helps you foster a collaborative culture and creates transparency, which helps employees feel like they can communicate freely. The Homebase team communications app is packed with features that bridge the gap between you and your employees. Look for communication tips and tools like individual and group messaging, automatic notifications about shifts, or schedule changes, file sharing, real-time feedback, and shout outs when someone’s doing a good job. 

5. Get everyone on board with onboarding

Onboarding is more than just filling out the appropriate forms, it’s the process of helping new hires become confident in their job, integrated into the team, and excited to represent your company. One of the most effective ways to really integrate a new employee is to get everyone at your organization involved in the onboarding process. Not only does it spread the responsibility for the task more evenly, it’s an opportunity to solidify company values with your full-time staff and help them feel invested.

You can involve your team with onboarding in a few ways:

• Get the people who know the content best to present during training. For example, if you’re hiring sales staff for the holiday season, have your current sales people teach your new hires the ins and outs. Not only will they get expert knowledge, it’s an opportunity for new hires to meet employees from all over your company.
• Create a buddy system for new hires. In addition to a new job, new hires are getting used to an unfamiliar environment. By assigning every new hire a buddy, they have someone to ask about the coffee machine, someone to invite them out for lunch, someone to give an office tour, and a designated person to reach out to with day-to-day questions.
  
• Don’t forget the owner. Even if your new hire won’t get to interact with you on a regular basis, they should have the opportunity to meet you, introduce themselves, and ask questions. Owners that invest in and listen to all their staff members—whether they’re permanent or not—tend to have happier, more engaged teams.

6. Make sure you’re compliant

While it’s less fun than team lunches or showing a new hire the ropes, keeping your new hire documentation organized is critical. If you don’t get the paperwork right or can’t find important information when you need it, new staff are likely to get frustrated. Worse, you could end up on the receiving end of a fine. The United States has strict labor laws, especially when it comes to seasonal hiring. For example, many seasonal workers are under the age of 18 and on school breaks. This requires extra documentation to hire minors legally. Homebase can help small businesses stay compliant by tracking and storing these kinds of forms and data.

7. Offer—and ask for—feedback

Your new hire will rely on you for regular, honest feedback during the onboarding process. However, spontaneous feedback can be overwhelming or anxiety-inducing, so it’s best to go with a structured feedback process. Structured feedback looks like:

• A scheduled in-person review session at the end of each week. Both of you will have the opportunity to contribute.
• Using your team communication app to send notes and encouragement at the end of each day. Bonus: your new hire will get to learn about how your team communicates.
• A larger review session with a direct manager or the owner to discuss achievements, areas of improvement, and goals for the coming weeks.

Remember to ask for feedback, too! Your new hire will have valuable input and can

help make improvements to the onboarding process and other areas of the company as well.

Get the most out of your seasonal employees with Homebase

Finding the right people, getting their paperwork in order, organizing training, and staying compliant have to be done when you’re growing your team, but they can be time consuming. As an all-in-one team management and team communication tool, Homebase helps you stay organized and automate as much as possible  when it comes to scheduling, time clocks, and payroll. This leaves you more time to focus on employee happiness, showcasing your culture, and making your new hires feel welcome—an equally important part of the onboarding process.

And, with Homebase’s hiring and onboarding process systems, you can streamline employee communication easily from day one, turning their first day into the first of many more. 

Good organization, authenticity, and open communication are central to helping employees feel excited about your company. And as we’ve learned, happier employees stay longer and work more productively. From hiring to onboarding, scheduling to team communication, and making seasonal employees feel valued, Homebase can help the whole team grow and succeed.

Hire and onboard with ease

Is your business struggling with seasonal hiring and onboarding? Homebase can help. Our modern tools make it easy to manage scheduling, time clocks, payroll, team communication, hiring, onboarding, compliance, and more. Get started for free.

Seasonal hiring FAQS

What is seasonal employment?

Seasonal employment is a temporary job with a set end date. Seasonal employment is available at certain times of the year when employers require additional help. Businesses that hire seasonal employees typically fall into two categories: seasonal industries and businesses with busy periods. A seasonal industry may be a swimming pool that’s only open in the summer months, and a business with a busy period could be a clothing store that has a rush in November and December.

When should a business hire seasonal employees?

A business should hire seasonal employees when their full-time employees can’t meet the demands of a busy period or whenever they need to beef up their workforce. Busy periods range from industry to industry, so here are some examples:

• A  beachside shop that’s open more in the warmer months should hire extra cashiers for their busy period.
• A restaurant on a ski hill would hire seasonal servers during peak ski season.
• A bookstore may hire seasonal stock staff or floor employees in the holiday gifting rush.

What are the pros and cons of hiring seasonal employees?

Hiring seasonal employees has pros and cons. Seasonal employees can have many benefits for your business. It’s a flexible, cost-effective way to meet your needs when you’re extra busy, and chances are, you’ll build a strong, reliable talent pool to fill seasonal and even permanent positions.

There are downsides to hiring seasonal employees, too. Short-term hires may not be as committed as your long term staff, they may receive less training than full-time staff, and they may have less loyalty to your company because they have a predetermined end date. You can avoid many of the potential pitfalls of hiring seasonal employees with the help of Homebase’s hiring and onboarding tools.

How do you hire the right seasonal employees?

Hiring the right seasonal employees can make or break your busy season. There are a few things you can do to make sure you find the right fit:

• Give yourself plenty of lead time. Hiring competition is fierce for seasonal employees and it helps to get ahead of other businesses.
• Be specific in your job postings. Writing a detailed, accurate job description will save you a lot of effort later in the hiring process and will help you weed out applicants that aren’t qualified.
• Use tools to streamline your hiring process. Homebase can help you by posting to multiple job boards at once, creating helpful screening questions, and tracking applications in one place.
• Get referrals from your friends, family, and current employees. There’s a much higher chance of finding a hardworking team member you can trust.

Why should you invest in onboarding seasonal employees?

When you put so much time, energy, and money into finding seasonal employees, you should put as much effort into making sure they stay—even if they’re only temporary. A strong onboarding process helps employees stay longer, improves happiness and productivity, and reduces the chance of your customers having a bad experience. A short-term hire can still have a long-term impact. 

The post Seasonal hiring: 7 tips for successful onboarding appeared first on Homebase.

What is a toxic work environment?

By definition, a toxic workplace describes any place of work that exhibits significant personal conflicts between the people who work there. 

Even though we don’t like to think of them this way, businesses like your favorite restaurant, the neighborhood bookstore, or even the kid’s toy shop down the street might have traits of a hostile work environment.

10 signs of a toxic work environment

You might think that spotting a toxic work environment would be easy, but that’s not always the case. Toxic workplaces can start and grow for any number of reasons, then add up and escalate. Here are 10 signs that will help you determine if your workplace is toxic for you, your employees, and maybe even your customers. 

1. Bullying

Number one on the list is bullying, and for good reason. In a toxic work environment, bullying can take on many forms, and not all are physical.

According to WorkplaceBullying.org, “workplace bullying is repeated, health-harming mistreatment by one or more employees of an employee: abusive conduct that takes the form of verbal abuse; or behaviors perceived as threatening, intimidating, or humiliating; work sabotage; or in some combination of the above.”

This could be personal attacks, like belittling someone or ignoring them, or task-related attacks, like withholding information or failing to share important messages with a coworker.

A 2021 survey by WBI U.S. Workplace Bullying Survey shows that bullying is, unfortunately, not uncommon. 30% of adult Americans are bullied at work, and 76.4 million workers are affected by it. And this number doesn’t exclude remote workers, of which 43% are bullied on the job.

2. Gossip

Haven’t you heard? Gossip isn’t just for tweens. It can be part of any type of workplace, come in many different forms serving multiple purposes, and impact the morale of staff.

According to the Harvard Business Review, gossip is a key ingredient for workplace drama and a toxic workplace. It can act as a source of info for people who don’t typically trust more formal channels of communication, serve as a way to release anger or feelings of frustration, or can be used to engage in conflicts between staff.

3. Not being heard

When staff feel like they’re not being heard, they can become disengaged with their teammates and even customers, leading to an overall less happy employee or workplace. An example of this could be a bartender who’s shared a new recipe for a trendy cocktail that competitor pubs are promoting, but their input to their boss goes unnoticed or ignored. This leaves the employee feeling like they’re not valued in the workplace, and can impact how they interact with other staff. It can even trickle down to the customers they’re serving. 

4. Gaslighting

The term gaslighting has been around for decades, but officially entered the spotlight in 2022 when it was named by Merriam-Webster as Word of the Year.

According to Merriam-Webster, gaslighting is “the act or practice of grossly misleading someone especially for one’s own advantage.” In 2022, lookups of the word increased by 1740%.

In a workplace, gaslighting can look like a coworker or manager using phrases like: 

• “I never said that” 
• “Don’t be so sensitive” 
• “You’re being irrational”

Gaslighters themselves may lash out against teammates who challenge them, causing staff to feel like they’re at fault or to question their own judgment.

Overtime, gaslighting can lead to mental health issues for the staff affected, and morale issues for the workplace. Gaslighting can also harm inclusion and equity at work, and can cause minorities to question what they’re actually experiencing on a daily basis. 

5. Cliques

In toxic work environments, you might notice that cliques have formed between staff. This type of toxicity can lead to time and energy spent with coworkers instead of customers or the job at hand. This is because members of cliques might be more focused on fitting in rather than excelling in their role. Not only does this negatively impact your business, it can also affect other staff—especially if other traits of a hostile work environment are present.

For example, employees using unmonitored, one-on-one chat features in online messaging software might be able to get away with bullying or gossip. And although this might not be seen by managers, the emotional effects are surely to be felt. In other words, goodbye morale. 

6. Narcissism 

Picture this: a chef with an attitude, yelling at staff because their perfectly-puffed soufflé came out a little “%&*#$*@ flat”. It’s probably not that hard to imagine. Just turn on the television or open up your social media feed to see how narcissism is strong in the workforce—and not just the kitchens.

Whether it’s a chef, barista, yoga instructor, or the pet groomer who believes their cuts are pawsitively purrfect, narcissism can exist in every type of business and can drop morale and productivity with the staff who are dealing with the toxic trait. 

7. Trust issues

One of the signs of a toxic workplace is lack of trust: either between management and staff, business owners and teammates, or even on a coworker-to-coworker level. Trust can also be lacking the other way around, where a staff member might not trust the owners of a business or their manager.

For example, a full-time worker at a cleaning business might know their client’s specific home and preferences better than their boss. So, when their manager steps in for a shift, the staff member might not trust that the job will be done to their standards or that of their clients.

Without the proper communication tools and support network for the staff member to document protocols, needs, and their client’s expectations, the trust issue may fester and turn into other signs of a toxic work environment.

8. Lack of work/life balance

Noticing that your bike mechanic is in for their ninth shift in a row? Depending on the industry and the team members, work/life balance may be difficult to spot. For instance, in a restaurant where staff are both wrapping up their shifts while also hanging out, work might not seem like it’s impeding on personal time, but it might be—even if the staff don’t realize it.

That’s why dedicated and dependable time tracking is key for businesses. A digital record lets you monitor how much your staff are working so you can create healthy boundaries, and ideally, happier employees. Because let’s face it: nobody wants last night’s kitchen party showing up for the morning shift. 

9. Non-existent growth

A recent survey of executives at more than 100 large and midsize U.S. companies reported that only 59% had prioritized staff learning and growth in the past three years.

No matter the size of your business, there should always be room for growth. Now, that doesn’t mean you need to promote the part-time shopkeeper who runs your Instagram account to CMO. But giving them the opportunity to flex their skills is important. Everyone should be appreciated and valued.

A similar sign of a toxic workplace is when growth is stagnant. If employees aren’t being noticed, congratulated, mentored, or promoted when they deserve to be, it might not be surprising if your business isn’t growing either. 

10. High staff turnover

A classic sign of a toxic work environment is high turnover. Here’s proof: CNBC has reported that about 50.5 million people quit their jobs in 2022.

Trends like the Great Resignation indicate that turnover can be high when signs of a toxic work environment are present. Employees aren’t just looking to clock in-and-out when they show up; they want a healthy, happy and toxic-free workplace, too. 

The effects of toxic workplace culture

A toxic work environment doesn’t just impact the staff who work there, but also the success of a business.

According to Harvard Business School, “even relatively modest levels of toxic behavior can cause major organizational costs, including customer loss, loss of employee morale, increased turnover, and loss of legitimacy among important external stakeholders.”

In a recent workplace-culture report by the Society for Human Resource Management, it was reported that 1 in 5 Americans have left a job in the past five years because of toxic work cultures. That level of turnover has a shocking price tag: $223 billion to be exact.

For employees who deal with toxic employees or environments, the impacts can be noticed both mentally and physically.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the nature of work, and the relationship many workers have with their jobs. The link between our work and our health has become even more evident,” says U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy.

A toxic or hostile work environment can lead employees to suffer from excessive amounts of stress, fatigue, anxiety, depression, and suffer from burnout, as well. That’s why preventing and fixing it is so important to the health of your employees, and your business. 

How to fix a toxic work environment

Amidst the millions of employees leaving their toxic work environments, there’s some good news, and that comes in the form of a fix. Actually, a few.

Fixing a toxic work environment doesn’t happen overnight, but with these tips and a plan to move forward, businesses can help create a healthier, happier work environment for all.

Fixing a toxic work environment with a focus on safety and protection

Being proactive is the first step to preventing a toxic workplace. This can come in the form of prioritizing physical and psychological safety, and normalizing mental health.

As a business owner, you might consider accurately  tracking hours to ensure there’s a healthy work/life balance amongst your staff, and encouraging open and respectful conversation if employees are exhibiting signs of stress, fatigue or depression. Encouraging staff to take their breaks, and earned time off is also a helpful way to focus on employee wellbeing.

Fixing a toxic work environment with collaboration and communication

Fix a toxic work environment through good ol’ fashioned teamwork. Collaboration brings staff together, inviting them to participate in a conversation, solve a problem, or find ways to serve your customers faster and better.

When you work with your team to understand their individual roles and how they can support each other, you can help staff realize how their work is critical to the success of the business and the team around them. But remember, collaboration doesn’t just happen in person, even for businesses that don’t have a remote option. 

Remote work has taught us many lessons about communication, collaboration, and boundaries. For instance, maybe you have a great idea for a new product launch. Should you email your marketing coordinator about it right after your 6am jog? Unless that person is already on the clock, probably not.

Even though e-communication is easier than ever before, especially with the supporting software and tools that are readily available, setting and communicating boundaries is an important part of respectful collaboration, and should be done by all team members—business owners and staff members alike.

Fixing a toxic work environment with recognition 

Everybody loves a high five, even the virtual kind. That’s why recognizing staff for a job well done is important when fostering growth and value for the people on your team.

Think of kudos as a way to say, “You’ve got this!” and also to acknowledge any difficulties or support that may be needed on your team. For example, you’re running a busy pilates studio that’s been short staff for the past three days. In this scenario, recognition might be a mix of congratulatory feedback paired with assistance, like: “Being short-staffed has kept us busy, but you’ve done an extraordinary job taking on extra shifts. To make things easier, I’ve messaged the whole team to see who can cover your next class so you can take the break you deserve!”

Fixing a toxic work environment with fairness

Leading with fairness is key when it comes to mending a toxic work environment. Fairness can start with transparency, so each staff member has an understanding of what’s happening in the business, who’s involved, and why or how it impacts them.

For example, take a new barber who’s been securing most of the coveted afternoon shifts. Some of the staff who have worked there longer than them think this scheduling is a result of favoritism. After all, the barber is the owner’s friend from college.

In this scenario, if fairness was known and experienced as a key value in the business, the entire team would win. Here’s what that could look like:

• In a fair work environment, the owner would explain that the new employee wasn’t taking away from other staff’s shifts. Instead, they were hired as an extra hand because the business was growing so fast.
• Staff would understand that the owner hires based on merit and the needs of the business, and therefore, wouldn’t need to question why the new team member was getting mainly afternoon shifts.
• The new person would have a more welcoming onboarding where staff weren’t resentful over the schedule.
• Lastly, the team could openly communicate about their own needs and how they could be supported with scheduling preferences or changes.

In a fair work environment, there’s no room for favoritism. Staff trust the decisions being made, and know that they’re heard, valued, and supported.

Fixing a toxic work environment with support

Support is something that all employees need, even if they don’t voice it. Here are just four examples of how you can lend support in a toxic work environment:

• Track hours and overtime so staff get the appropriate time off and get paid for all the time they put in
• Fostering open communication between staff and managers 
• Show empathy towards your team and what they may be going through, both at work and outside of it
• Find ways to make daily tasks more efficient for staff

“As a small business I want to leverage tools that will help me with systems AND make things easier for my team,” says Cadence Kidwell, Homebase customer and owner of Fuzzy Goat. “Our Fuzzy Goat team is the most important part of our success; using Homebase even allowed me to be able to add Paid Time Off to their benefits—this is a huge win for our small shop.”

Foster open communication with Homebase’s messenger tool

We’ve talked a lot about toxic work environments, but now it’s time to learn more about the good stuff—healthy workplaces, happy staff, and how Homebase makes it happen.

Let’s start with Homebase’s messenger tool.

With this built-in messenger on the free mobile app, new hires get added to your group automatically, so you never have to worry about sharing phone numbers, sending emails to the right people, or updating group chats to include everyone. This way you can  streamline your communication and respect your staff’s privacy.

Homebase also lets you share important messages with all of your staff in the app. Like maybe you need to remind your team that even though tomorrow is a national holiday, you’re still open and need  them to show up for their shift (with some sweet holiday time and a half, of course). Or maybe you want to congratulate your new hire on wrapping and selling 150 burritos on their first day, and then remind everyone of the signs of carpal tunnel syndrome. 

Whatever the message is, Homebase makes sure that it’s delivered. 

Toxic work environment FAQs 

What is a toxic work environment? 

A toxic work environment is any place of work that exhibits significant personal conflicts between the people who work there. Toxic work environments aren’t limited to offices or in-person workplaces. They can range from the small-to-medium sized businesses on Main Street all the way to remote working environments.

What effect does workplace toxicity have on employees?

Workplace toxicity can have physical and mental effects on employees.

Employees should feel like they are working in or at a psychological safe environment, which means feeling comfortable speaking up without fear of being punished or embarrassed. When team members feel safe to voice their opinions, it leads to better decision-making, positive group dynamics, stronger interpersonal relationships, increased innovation, and improved execution.

Without that, employees may notice signs of a toxic work environment, like stress, fatigue, anxiety, depression, and burnout.

What effect does workplace toxicity have on the company? 

Even relatively modest levels of toxic behavior in the workplace can result in significant costs for businesses, like reduced employee morale, increased turnover, and decreased legitimacy with important external stakeholders. Toxicity in the workplace can even cost businesses their customers. 

How can companies create positive work environments? 

Companies can create positive work environments by focusing on employee communication, safety and prevention of harassment and bullying, and by being fair, empathetic, and supportive.

Creating a more efficient and transparent work environment is also key to reducing or eliminating toxicity. Facilitate a health relationship between bosses and staff with the right tools. Use an app to track hours, like overtime and on-time streaks, and reward team members for a job well done.

And yes, Homebase can do that, too. 

Looking to track, communicate, and celebrate? We can help with that and more. Homebase’s free mobile app can help you build a positive work environment. Try it for free today.

The post 10 signs of a toxic work environment (and how to prevent it) appeared first on Homebase.

Finding it hard to believe that something as simple as employee happiness in the workplace can do all of that? It’s true.  Workers are burnt out, exhausted, and tired of feeling unappreciated. In this time of “The Great Resignation”, employees need more than a quick “thank you” as you ask them to pull yet another double shift. 

In this article, we tackle why employee appreciation should be at the top of your list for 2023. Plus, we give you 10 ideas you can easily implement at your company.

Employee appreciation vs employee recognition

Employees need more than a simple “thank you” to feel appreciated at work. 

Employee recognition is the acknowledgement of a job well done. It takes recognition to the next level, which makes employees feel great. Essentially, employee appreciation is the simple act of not only recognizing your employees but rewarding them for the work that they do. 

Why is employee appreciation so important

According to the Boston Consulting Group, the #1 reason people enjoy their job is because they felt appreciated. In fact, Great Place to Work found that people having their work recognized was the biggest motivator for employees to continue doing great work. Though it may seem obvious, people need that positive reinforcement to feel motivated to work–it can be demoralizing to show up every day and never hear a simple “thank you” or a “well done”.

Let’s look at some statistics from an employee survey with more than 1.7 million respondents. That’s a lot of employee reactions to provide some serious data.

People who feel they’re recognized at their jobs are:

• 2.6x more likely to think that the promotion they are offered is fair
• 2.2x more likely to drive innovation and bring new ideas forward
• 2x more likely to say people at their place of work are willing to go above and beyond

If you’re an employer, having employees who go the extra mile and offer new solutions isn’t just a nice to have. It can add extra value to your bottom line, as well as inspiring other employees to do the same. This reduces employee turnover and creates an overall more positive work environment, reducing mental health days and in some cases, even reducing sick days. iOpener did the research and the results showed that the happiest employees took 66% less sick leave than those who reported being unhappy.

Time and time again studies have shown that employees who feel appreciated are more engaged and stay at their company. Appreciation + happiness = retention. For employers currently hiring and onboarding staff during “The Great Resignation”, this is a huge win.

What are the benefits of employee happiness and appreciation in the workplace?

There are huge benefits to prioritizing employee appreciation and happiness in the workplace. Not just for employees, but also for you, the employer. 

Let’s review three of them. 

1. Employee happiness decreases high staff turnover rates 

Recognizing your employees can improve morale. They can feel seen and heard, which is sometimes all anyone needs when they’re working hard on something. And it goes both ways–when employees are unhappy in the workplace, they start looking for a new place to work that will give them the appreciation they deserve. 

Whether it’s just not showing up for shifts or “quiet quitting”, employers across the country are seeing high rates of employee turnover. Though reasons vary, the number of employees leaving jobs where they feel underappreciated is high. This is bad news for employers. According to this survey, 46% of U.S. workers left a job because they felt unappreciated. Luckily it’s not all bad news: companies that prioritize employee appreciation have employees who are 56% less likely to look for a different job.

What can you do about it? Make those “pats on the back” public. Acknowledging your employees’ accomplishments publicly will help them feel seen and show they’re a valuable part of the team, which means they’re sticking around instead of searching for that next job. Use a team communication tool to give them a shout out in front of the whole team.

2. Employee happiness promotes productivity in the workplace

Keeping staff productive can be an ongoing issue for workplaces. The good news? Companies that have an employee appreciation program have an increase in performance by 14% vs. companies that don’t. If your employees know that you have a system in place to recognize their achievements, they’re 2.7 times more likely to be engaged in their work. It’s simple–the more you appreciate your staff, the more motivated they are to produce even better work. 

What can you do about it? When you appreciate your employees and their contributions to the workplace, they become invested in the success of the company. Appreciating your team reminds them that company success becomes their success. You can set up an employee appreciation system that tracks performance so you can reward your employees for a job well done. The Homebase employee performance tracking tool can help you do that easily.

With clear goals and objectives, your team will know the expectations and what to reach for in terms of productivity and success, whether it’s hitting a target of meals ordered that day, upselling a certain item, or signing up a certain number of new members. When someone achieves a performance goal, you can reward them in different ways–stay tuned for 10 simple ways to show your employees you appreciate them.

3. Employee appreciation builds trust with your employees

Trust is an important factor to workers and it should be an important factor to companies. And what helps build trust? Recognition. In fact, 86% of employees felt they could trust managers who had recognized them in the workplace. Trust is important for employees to feel valued, seen, and heard. After all, no one wants to feel like they’re just a cog in a wheel. When employees are appreciated, they feel like their bosses value them as human beings—not just a body doing work. Demonstrated appreciation shows that their employers have their best interests at heart, which builds the trust required to consistently perform at their best. 

What can you do about it? Be consistent in your recognition of your staff. You can commit to daily positive feedback, a monthly work activity for a job well done, or create an annual event that your staff looks forward to. If you start appreciating the small things without an expectation of more work, then your employees are more likely to feel appreciated with no strings attached. Believing that your employees will work harder after they feel appreciated is your part in building trust.

Types of employee appreciation

There are many different ways you can show your employees that you appreciate them. Let’s break them down into five main categories.

1. Micro appreciation

Micro appreciations are the little things. This category of appreciation is usually ongoing, frequent, and happens day-to-day. These are things that can be done easily and without high cost, like notes and cards, a shout out in a team communication chat, or in-person “thank you”.

Micro appreciations—despite being small—should never be underestimated. Consistent and frequent appreciation builds a culture of recognition in your company. Even better—it spreads among team members, creating a more fun and supportive work environment. Building micro appreciations into your company values is a great way to show your employees that acknowledgement is important to you.

2. Informal appreciation

Informal appreciations are typically unexpected and reward hitting certain milestones or recognize a job well done. These types of appreciation are less frequent and can involve bigger acknowledgements.

Informal appreciation can be a pizza party after a long inventory day, or treating the team to a round on you as a spur of the moment way to recognize the team or an individual who unexpectedly put in the extra effort.

3. Formal appreciation

Formal appreciations have much more planning and preparation than other types of appreciation. Think quarterly awards for the top salesperson, employee of the month awards, and annual ceremonies to recognize achievements that were set out from the beginning as goals to reach.

Formal appreciation has a clear and defined structure and typically happens less frequently than other types of appreciation. It’s usually more involved and can be more costly, though the benefits can certainly outweigh the costs.

4. Peer-to-peer appreciation

Peer-to-peer appreciation is exactly what it sounds like–a fellow employee appreciating the work of another employee. This type of appreciation shouldn’t be overlooked. Even though getting a shout out from a manager can feel great, knowing that other employees and teams see your hard work is a different level of appreciation.

This type of appreciation can be encouraged through examples being set by managers. For example, when you call attention to a great close by a team member via something like the Homebase team communication app, other team members see this as the norm, and start to do the same. It can fall under the micro appreciation category, which means it’s fast, easy, and effective.

5. Manager appreciation

Manager appreciation can be informal with a solid “well done”, but it’s more commonly structured. It can look like achieving certain milestones, like a work anniversary, or reaching a company target.

Manager appreciation should be a top priority for companies: managers guide company culture. If employees see managers offering employee appreciation, then they’ll likely follow suit.

For the optimal mix of appreciation in your workplace, combine and test a few different options. See what naturally integrates into your team, and what requires a little more heavy lifting. Depending on your workplace, you could use each type of appreciation to offer a mix of employee appreciation throughout the year.

10 simple ways to show your employees you appreciate them

What we’ve learned so far is that employee appreciation is essential if you want to retain staff, increase productivity, and keep employees happy. Now let’s explore 10 simple employee appreciation ideas that any company can implement.

1. Offer raises and bonuses

Ok, admittedly, this isn’t a simple one, but it’s the employee appreciation method that’s most in demand. There’s no better way to show your staff your appreciation than to financially compensate them. This can be an automatic raise when they’ve been with the company for a certain amount of time, if they’ve achieved a certain goal, or have proven themselves to be an invaluable part of the team. 

Pay raises should be clearly laid out during the onboarding process or employee performance reviews. Ensure everything is documented and available for both you and your team to refer back to using a digital tool like Homebase for easy tracking.

Another option? Bonuses. A bonus is also a great option when a team member has gone above and beyond. Using a bonus as an incentive during a particularly pressed timeline is a great reward for the extra effort.

One way to evaluate whether a raise is possible is to literally do the math. Would it cost more to hire and onboard a new employee than to offer a raise to your current employee who’s doing an amazing job? Employees really value being recognized financially before they even have to ask, so take a look at your team and evaluate who should be considered for financial appreciation.

2. Give opportunities to earn more paid time off

Second to being financially compensated for their hard work, employees want more paid time off as a reward. This is a win/win for a company to offer because a well-rested employee— someone able to spend time with their family and friends and explore their hobbies—is a happy employee.

If an employee achieves a big milestone or nails a project ahead of the deadline, offering them a day off from the company can go a long way to making them feel appreciated.

3. Celebrate Employee Appreciation Day

In the United States, Employee Appreciation Day is a holiday celebrated on the first Friday of March. Because this is an annual holiday, you and your team can prepare and get excited about it. You can plan games and activities, delicious food, and incorporate an awards ceremony—either for achievements or for morale boosters—to recognize those who are contributing positively to the company culture.

4. Gamify your employee appreciation program

The numbers aren’t great in terms of employees feeling like their recognition at work is cutting it. 31% of respondents to a World at Work survey feel that their employee recognition programs are only somewhat meeting their goals, with 4% saying that their goals aren’t really met at all.

Employees are motivated by goals and achievements. If you can gamify reaching these goals and then incentivize by offering rewards, your team is more likely to be motivated to work hard. Gamify your employee program by creating a points system to award to staff members who reach certain goals. They can then redeem these points for things like gift cards or additional paid time off. You can brainstorm rewards as a team so everyone has some input.

5. Plan for anniversaries and birthdays

This is one of the simplest ways to show your employees appreciation. Knowing and recognizing their birthdays or work anniversaries publicly will make them feel seen. You can get creative with how you want to acknowledge these dates, but you can’t go wrong with bringing in cake or cupcakes to celebrate. 

Never miss a birthday or work anniversary again with Homebase team roster.

6. Give handwritten “thank you” notes

In keeping with the theme of ‘incredibly simple and low-cost’, you can’t go wrong with the power of a simple “thank you” note. Telling your staff that you appreciate them, that you see them, and that you’re aware of their extra efforts can sometimes be enough to keep an employee happy. The added bonus of a handwritten note can give a special touch and show that extra care and time were taken to say ‘thank you’.

7. Don’t count out classics like “employee of the month”

Although employee appreciation methods like employee of the month or years on the job can feel a bit dated, they’re classics for a reason. Sure, employee of the month can come with the title, but also a reward—like a day off, or an extra discount on something you sell—and recognizes a team member’s hard work publicly. This can have the added bonus of motivating other team members to work hard for the employee of the month reward.

In a time when job hopping is the norm, having a big show of appreciation and some perks for staff who reach a certain amount of time on the job can also be an incentive to stay. Increase team loyalty by having smaller rewards for team members making it three, six, or 12 months, then really up the ante for yearly anniversaries.

8. Make the break room an oasis

Sometimes your staff needs to decompress in the middle of their workday. Or, they need a little escapism on their breaks. By making the break room a place to actually take a break (instead of a glorified inventory room, or worse, just a few milk crates in the back alley), it shows your team that you value their mental health and their need to destress. Comfy seating, free snacks, coffee and beverages, relaxing lighting, or even fun grown-up coloring books or other creative outlets can all help your staff relax during their downtime and get back to work with a refreshed mind.

Ask your staff what they want to see in their breakroom to get employee feedback. Seeing their ideas being integrated into their space will help them feel heard.

9. Create a health and wellness plans

With the socio-economic struggles we’re currently facing as a society, many employees are experiencing burnout and mental health struggles. As a result, job hunters are actively seeking out employers that offer health and wellness plans as a benefit.

You can show your team that you care about their physical and mental health by offering opportunities at and outside of work to take care of themselves. This can look like offering a yoga class once a month, offering a health expense account that employees can use for a gym or fitness classes of their choosing, stress relief through mental health support, or a subscription to a meditation app.

Everyone has a different thing they do to support their mental health, so making this perk as flexible as possible will benefit the most people.

10. Organize team building activities that align with your employees’ hobbies and interests

Every company needs team-building activities if they want to have a positive company culture. You can combine team building activities with employee appreciation if you structure your team building around the hobbies and interests of your employees. 

Have an employee who loves ultimate frisbee? Plan a frisbee and picnic day in the park. Have someone on your team who loves classic movies? Bring a projector to work for an after-hours showing, or have a movie trivia night. By creating company activities around the interests of your employees, you can show that you’re listening and interested in them as human beings outside of work.

Employee appreciation tips

Don’t wait to start appreciating your employees

Have you ever heard the expression “the best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now”? The same goes for employee appreciation in the workplace. It’s never too soon—or too late—to work on employee happiness. Start with the small things like thank you notes and public shout outs, and work towards the bigger things like team building days and health and wellness plans.

Allocate hours to employee appreciation tasks

We know: you’ve got a never-ending list of things to do as a manager. However, it’s important to start building employee appreciation into your schedule. Whether that means setting daily reminders to thank one employee or team every day, or allocating hours to a team of people to organize employee appreciation day, block time in your calendar to make sure you’re prioritizing a few things each month. If you don’t start scheduling those hours, they’ll never happen. 

Make room in the budget for appreciation activities

We’ll say it louder for the people in the back: appreciating your employees and focusing on workplace happiness doesn’t have to be an expensive task. Even if you’re a smaller company or a small business owner, you can have a line in the budget for staff appreciation. 

Ask your employees for input on how they like to be appreciated

Nobody knows what they need to feel happy at work better than your employees. Ask for their input on ways that would make them feel appreciated. You can set up something as simple as a suggestion box, or you can get technical and set up a channel in a team communication tool. Either way, allow your employees to have input into how they want to be recognized at work.

Now that you’ve got ideas and tips to put an employee appreciation plan into place, it’ll be much easier to check that task off your priority list for 2023. Once you start implementing, watch your productivity increase and your retention rate skyrocket: you’ll be happy you took the time to make your employees feel appreciated.

Employee appreciation FAQS 

What is employee appreciation?

Employee appreciation is about recognizing employees and rewarding them for their work, attitude, or contributions. Employee appreciation has been linked to higher employee happiness, higher productivity, more motivation, and higher retention rates.

How do I show my employees appreciation?

Showing your employees appreciation can take many forms. From handwritten “thank you” letters to pay raises, every workplace needs to get input from their employees about what they need to feel appreciated. 

How do I know if my employees feel appreciated?

The easiest answer to ‘How do I know if my employees feel appreciated?’ is to ask them! Give your staff an opportunity to give feedback to management on whether they feel appreciated or not. Another surefire sign? Your turnover rate. If you constantly need to hire new employees, you may have an appreciation problem at your company. Employees who feel appreciated at work are way less likely to look for another job.

What is Employee Appreciation Day?

Employee Appreciation Day is a holiday celebrated in the United States on the first Friday in March. It was created to recognize and appreciate employees’ contributions to their workplace. This makes it an easy day to plan a big celebration for your team and a day your employees can look forward to every year.

Build a happy, productive team. Get Homebase for features your team will love, like early access to pay, performance metrics, and team communication. 

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The post 10 employee appreciation ideas to implement for 2023 appeared first on Homebase.

What is employee gamification?

Employee gamification turns mundane or missed tasks into something that staff actually want to do so they can be recognized or rewarded. It’s a shout-out for your team’s exceptional skills, an employee of the month award, a badge on a leaderboard, or even some extra time off.

Here’s why it matters. Employees of all ages and roles can find tasks like time tracking to be tedious, strict, and cumbersome. But for the employer, these types of tasks are an important part of running a successful business. Aside from knowing who’s currently on shift and who’s not working, it can help determine if you’re staffed too much or too little during certain times or days of the week. It also supports billing and payroll to track how much your team’s shifts.

But what about rewarding staff for the work they’re doing? How can you encourage employees to keep up the good work with more than a high five? That’s where employee gamification comes in. 

With a variety of ways to say “way to go!”, employee gamification creates an engaging environment. It makes for efficient and financially improved business models, and boosts productivity. It’s a win-win for both employees and employers. And the best part? It’s a fast, simple, low-cost implementation you can start right away.

Employee gamification trends and statistics that will have you pressing play

Employee gamification has been around for a while. Events like the Covid-19 pandemic helped push certain gamification updates onto center stage, offering new options to both employers and employees. When some employees shifted from in-person to online, business owners were presented with new ways to not just track hours and productivity, but to also use technology as a way to engage staff and reward them for their work—especially younger workers who already have their phones in hand. Some of these methods spread to in-person operations. Now, we have employee gamification for coffee shops, restaurants, and other industries that require staff to be on-site.

According to Deloitte, “Generation Z will soon surpass millennials as the most populous generation on earth.” That means that more than a third of the total world’s population considers themself to be a Gen Zer.

So, what does that mean for business? Well, it’s time to get with the times.

In the same study by Deloitte, it was reported that younger employees are looking for more in a workplace. They want career development, they prioritize financial security over things like career fulfillment, and Gen Zers prefer accomplishing individual tasks instead of team-based activities.

This is where employee gamification can shine.

When it goes beyond time tracking, business owners can start to reward staff and also engage them through competitions like “streaks” or by implementing and celebrating digital leaderboards.

And remember, employee gamification isn’t just for young workers.

In a 2019 study by TalentLMS, 88% of respondents said that gamification makes them happier at work. This number is significant, and  means that supporting all staff with the technology to work more efficiently can help employees stay organized and on top of their own schedules. Plus, it can even foster communication between workers and managers, and help to build healthy relationships. In short: it’s fun, effective, and can even save you money.

Employee gamification ideas for time tracking 

Gamifying time tracking is a fun way to encourage employees to manage their time more effectively. Also, it’s a great way to reward your staff: emphasis on reward.

According to the New York Times, “Eight of the 10 largest private U.S. employers track the productivity metrics of individual workers, many in real time.” If not done with consent or in a transparent and engaging way, this type of tracking can leave workers feeling watched and untrusted, rather than engaged and motivated. So: how do you use productivity metrics and time tracking for good instead of evil, and how do you put them to work for your teams?

Here are four employee gamification ideas that can help your staff succeed without hindering their work, or their work ethic.

1. Employee gamification and leaderboards

Leaderboards are essentially a list of people and results, and are intended to keep track of high scores. Scoring can look different depending on the workplace. Maybe it’s desserts added to meals, scoops served per hour, or most overtime recorded. Keeping it visual is important, so people can see who is winning at any given time. It also lets employees set goals for themselves and keep track of their progress. Not to mention, who doesn’t like a little friendly competition?

Leaderboards are ideal for social comparison and social reward, which is perfect for recognizing staff who have gone above and beyond in their work. 

2. Employee gamification and badges

Badges can take on any form, even digital. They can be awarded for a variety of reasons, but they usually consist of three main elements: an objective, an achieved accomplishment, and a corresponding reward.

In this framework, the objective outlines what’s expected of the employee, the accomplishment tracks what they’ve accomplished, and the reward is what they get for excelling in their role. For example, this could look like a badge for 10 call-outs by name in a Google review, a badge for sign-ups for an external loyalty program, or for a set number of store closes.

3. Employee gamification and training

Gamifying employee training involves bringing in game elements into training programs. And that’s great news for the 31% who feel bored and unproductive in regular training sessions.

Gamification can be anything from including online avatars or rewards for menu memorization all the way to understanding how to properly document your shifts and time worked. When you incorporate employee gamification ideas into training, the result is a more enjoyable and immersive training environment. Staff feel encouraged to engage more, and their learning outcomes are enhanced.  

However, if you incorporate gamification into your training or onboarding, ensure it’s well documented in your onboarding system so it’s easily referrable and digestible.

4. Employee gamification and goals

It’s easy to get caught up in shiny new things, like badges, trophies, and really neat avatars, but starting with a business goal is critical when it comes to employee gamification.

Ask yourself what you really want to achieve with implementing new technologies for your staff. Maybe you’ve noticed employees getting their coworkers to clock in for them and you’d like to boost morale (tip: using a GPS-gated time clock app like the Homebase time clock can avoid buddy punching). Maybe you’d like to improve punctuality by gamifying time tracking. Or, maybe you want a way for employees to feel recognized and rewarded for the extra effort they’re putting in to train new staff.

Whatever it is, you need a business goal with clear metrics of success before starting any employee gamification plan.

What’s important about gamification and time tracking?

Let’s get back to clocking in, a task that staff forget to complete, or if they do remember, do it incorrectly.

According to a study conducted by the American Society of Employers, around 20% of every dollar earned by companies in the United States is lost due to employee time theft. Think calling it “theft” seems extreme for a team member who times in 5 minutes late every shift? Trust us: it adds up.

To shed light on the subject, employee gamification for time tracking can be helpful, not to mention kind of fun. In fact, 89% of respondents in a gamification-at-work survey think that they’d be more productive if their work was more gamified.

By incorporating features like instant gratification (“A record streak of on-time clock ins! Way to go, Bailey!”) and tools that help you manage remote or field teams with mobile time clocks, built-in messaging, reminders, and alerts, your employees can feel like you’re doing them a favor versus keeping an eye on them. 

A quick guide to finding the right employee gamification platform

Your business goals are set, and Gen Zers on board. Now it’s time to find the right employee gamification platform. Before you begin your hunt, here are a few things to keep in mind: 

Fits in with your objectives

Got a clearly defined objective for implementing a gamification platform with a specific goal in mind? Perfect. Now, you need to make sure that whatever you’re implementing can support that. The platform you’re using should be relevant to your goal, but also to the staff using it. For example, if your objective is to track time by department, you’ll want to ensure that the software your team is doing can be set up to track time and labor costs by hour, department, role, and more.

For a product that has multiple features—including time tracking, employee communication, and employee happiness—Homebase offers affordable solutions that help you grow your business, with a focus on hourly workers.

A solid user experience

The user experience of your employee gamification platform should be planned with your unique staff in mind. Make sure it’s visually appealing, easy to understand, and has simple instructions to follow.

Because efficiency and time go hand-in-hand, you’ll want your platform to be something that staff feel comfortable using, and also a tool that they want to engage with and enjoy interacting with whenever they need to. It needs to be something they want to engage with.

Making sure that your platform is personalized to each staff member is also important. This means that they should be able to have their own account and capabilities, like being able to clock in from their own personal device and see any communications that are going out to staff.

Clear communication

Effective and open communication is a big part of employee gamification. If you’re looking to promote collaboration and relationship building among employees, look for features that ensure your team has all the updates they need, whenever they need it.

That includes being able to automatically send helpful reminders for shifts, clock outs, and schedule updates. It’s also important to have the ability to easily add in any company reminders or events, like that Great American Bake Off your kitchen staff is cooking up. 

The result? You and your employees both feel good knowing documents are reviewed and signed. It provides a sense of accountability, and gives you peace of mind knowing that your staff are fully prepared. 

Lastly, communication also provides employees with feedback on their performance, and recognition for the work they’re putting in. Staff should be able to view regular updates on progress and milestones, while also being able to communicate with one another, letting them give shout outs for a job well done.

Or, in the case of Gen Zers, “Bruh, you crushed that.”

Employee gamification FAQ

What is employee gamification?

Employee gamification uses gaming elements, like points, badges, and leaderboards, to motivate and engage employees as they complete work tasks. This can include anything from onboarding to showing up on time. Employee gamification helps turn boring, repetitive or forgotten tasks into a game-like experience that employees can enjoy, and encourages them to strive for recognition and rewards. The goal of employee gamification is to increase employee motivation and productivity and to create a positive work environment.

How can companies gamify time tracking?

Don’t consider yourself a games person? That’s okay! There are lots of ways to gamify time tracking so your employees do it right, and stay on time. This can include using a points-based system where staff can earn points for each hour or tasks they complete. Staff can exchange points for rewards or recognition, like a gallery wall showcasing Bobbi’s record-speed latte art.

Leaderboards that show how much time each employee has tracked, how many on-time check-ins have been recorded, or how extra shifts covered are also great for motivating employees to keep up the good work.

Lastly, rewards and recognition are key for keeping employees engaged when it comes to time tracking. Sure, you might expect every staff member to simply show up on time, but even if they do, they might need that extra push to record it.

What are some benefits of employee gamification?

Employee gamification can offer a lot of perks. Depending on your business goals, use it to boost employee engagement and motivation, encourage collaboration, improve performance and productivity, and even build loyalty.

Employee gamification creates a positive work environment that rewards staff as they achieve their goals and contribute to the success of the business.

Why is gamification important for time tracking?

Employee gamification gives employees more autonomy to effectively manage their time. This makes work generally a lot more enjoyable and easy, especially when it has an emphasis on rewarding positive behavior. Remember to ensure that any tracking is done transparently and in a way that engages and motivates employees. It’s a little more transparent, a lot less Big Brother. 

Want to level up your time tracking with gamification? Try it for free with Homebase today.

Your staff will thank you—hopefully with a public shout out on the leaderboard.

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