Workforce Scheduling Resources to Help You During the COVID-19 Crisis

We’re Here to Help

Our hope is to provide information, tools, and guidance to help workforce managers address the urgent challenges presented by COVID-19. Together, through our shared knowledge, we can enable business continuity while also ensuring that workers feel empowered with the information they need to do their jobs well.

Open letter from Shiftboard’s CEO:  Read Article

Learn how Shiftboard’s software helps:  Learn More

Resources


New

Going Back to Work, Looking Forward to a
Better Workplace

Learn how you can set your organization up for success
when it’s time to go back to work.

Restarting the Workplace in the Emerging Post-Pandemic Era

Organizations will need to leverage intelligent workforce technologies to make informed decisions as the workplace evolves in a post-pandemic era.

Workforce Scheduling Strategies to Help You Weather the COVID-19 Storm

Operations leaders adapt to limitations in the wake of COVID-19 by implementing flexible workforce scheduling strategies.

Managing Shift-Worker Communication During a Crisis

With the rapidly developing and dynamic situation that COVID-19 presents, communication with your workforce is more critical than ever before.

Ensuring Shift Coverage Despite Last-Minute Call-Outs

During this global pandemic, shift coverage is both essential and challenging. Here are some strategies to help you with last-minute
call-outs.

Leveraging Flex Pools to Address Shifts in Labor Demand

As many industries are responding to changes in labor demand during the current crisis, leveraging a flex pool is becoming a vital part of their scheduling.

How Workforce Technology Can Help During the COVID Crisis

All the changes brought on by the COVID-19 crisis are wreaking havoc on established operations processes. Technology can help alleviate this.

Your Questions, Answered


Q. What sites do you follow to keep updated about the COVID-19 pandemic?

A. There are many resources out there, and while we can’t list them all, here are four we track regularly.

SHRM – excellent resources and guidance, including the latest COIVD-related news affecting workforce managers.
Bersin Academy – posts regular updates about how HR and workforce managers are responding to the pandemic.
U.S. Department of Labor – dedicated resource page to help workers and employers prepare for the COVID-19 virus.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) – latest updates and guidance for the public, schools, communities, and healthcare.


Q. I need to move and re-purpose labor from locations with reduced labor requirements to locations needing additional labor resources, while also taking into consideration worker skills, credentials, and availability. What tools can help me manage this?

A. Shiftboard has a variety of tools that can help here, starting with our Teams, Role Restrictions, and Availability tools. Beyond this, we can also use the Advanced Onboarding tool or our Contracts and Credentials tool to track the expirations of certain licenses and other training requirements.


Q. Our company’s primary focus the past several weeks has been on facilitating worker communication to address information needs in this rapidly changing environment. It’s much too inefficient to do this manually, but we need to keep employees informed.

A. Shiftboard has a number of tools you might consider using to communicate with your workers. Our Broadcast Messages tool, Email Schedules tool, SMS messaging, News Page, and Filebox can all be leveraged to keep workers well-informed, in real-time.


Q. We need to track worker availability as many employees are facing dynamics at home with regard to childcare or have concerns about working during the pandemic. The changes are so frequent they are difficult to track manually.

A. Shiftboard’s availability tool can be used to track worker availability at a granular level. One process change you may consider is allowing team-specific availability to be submitted, which allows your employees to submit their availability for each team they’re assigned to. There’s a mobile availability interface as well.


Q. I need to modify, update, or remove shifts quickly based on pretty fluid demand, but then I also need to communicate these changes out to the workforce. What’s the best way to address this?

A. Shiftboard’s Bulk Change tool is the best solution here, which allows you to not only select a group of shifts based on specific criteria changes, but also allows you to send a communication to all relevant employees notifying them of the change.


Q: I need some of the features you’ve described on this resource page, but they don’t exist in my current instance. What can you do to help me?

A: If you need access to any of the tools listed on this resource page, please let us know. Shiftboard is offering a Fast Feature Program, which can activate additional functionality in your existing instance, even if it is beyond your current license package, without additional charges for 90 days. Contact your account manager or email us at support@shiftboard.com to quickly review or change your current capabilities to better align with new and varying needs.

Learn How Technology Can Help


Are you struggling to manage your workforce in a COVID-19 world? Learn how Shiftboard helps with COVID-19 related workforce scheduling challenges.   Learn More

Have a workforce scheduling related question? Email us at shiftboardinsights@shiftboard.com. We will be continuously updating this resource center with answers to your questions.