Call Center Scheduling Featured Article
HotSchedules, PeopleMatter Combine to Make Scheduling Easier
Scheduling employees is one of the toughest parts of a manager's job. It requires a careful balance between the needs of the business and the needs of the employee. Ignore one or the other too far and the results could be catastrophic. That balancing act makes HotSchedules and PeopleMatter's new combined effort all the more valuable for those businesses that put it to use.
HotSchedules and PeopleMatter have come together for a multi-phase effort designed to yield a new workforce management platform. While it's geared toward the restaurant industry, it will likely also find a lot of eager customers from retailers, service businesses, and the call center. The first part of the combined effort is focused on referral, bringing together the PeopleMatter HIRE system and HotSchedules' scheduling mechanism under one philosophical umbrella. Basically, the two systems will work together, and to help make that happen, the two companies will integrate both applications as part of HotSchedules' Internet of Things (IoT) platform.
Under the partnership, each company will refer customers to the other company as a means to augment systems, giving each side access to tools like paperless onboarding—which makes bringing in new hires a simpler and more effective process—as well as automated I-9 verification, backed up by e-Signatures to ensure compliance with applicable laws surrounding new hires. Plus, with regard to scheduling, employees can actually join in the scheduling process, using a mobile app to change shifts around as needed, with managers able to approve the changes with just a tap, meaning that employees can fit into the shifts most needed.
HotSchedule's vice president of channel sales, Kevin Dunphy, commented “Our partner strategy is to build an ecosystem with best-in-class partners who complement our core strengths. That is why PeopleMatter is a great match for us. This partnership is in the best interests of both our mutual and target customers, who will benefit from deploying HotSchedules and PeopleMatter in tandem.”
Businesses that aren't careful about scheduling can face serious problems. Ignoring employee input on scheduling could leave a business shorthanded right when it needs people most, and that means a big problem for that business. Potentially lost sales, damaged customer experience, and maybe even customers jumping ship outright for competitors are all part of the package. The converse is also true; a company that doesn't provide for its own needs will impact the customer experience by not having enough staff on hand for peak times. So a system like HotSchedules and PeopleMatter's will help on this front, by letting the employees work out the finer details and giving the business what it needs to operate.
This kind of collaborative staffing approach will likely prove helpful, and give HotSchedules and PeopleMatter some extra force in the market. It's a valuable service the two companies are delivering, after all, and that kind of value is commonly rewarded in the market.
Edited by Stefania Viscusi