Scheduling Options with TimeForge

Building an employee schedule can use hours of your time each week. Unfortunately, after investing extensive periods of frustrating work and paid management time, costly errors and dissatisfied employees are often still the result. Thanks to our most highly celebrated product, TimeForge Scheduling, developing an employee schedule becomes one of the fastest and easiest aspects of your labor management routine!

TimeForge Scheduling gives you four options to find the best employee for the shift. You can leave a shift “Open“, up for “Bid“, use the “AutoScheduler™“, or manually select a particular employee for a shift.

1. “Open” Shifts are not visible to non-management staff members and require fulfilment by a manager. Open shifts are place holders for work to be done by an employee and are best used when you haven’t decided which employee to assign yet.

Use Open Shifts as place holders when creating a schedule.

For example, an Open shift can be created on your schedule and assigned to a position (such as a Restaurant Waiter or Bank Teller). The schedule can then be posted and sent out to staff members without filing this Open shift. At any time, when you decide which employee should work the Open shift, you can come back to the schedule and assign the appropriate staff member, automatically triggering TimeForge to notify the newly assigned staff member. Open shifts allow management to plan for capacity and unknown scheduling circumstances.

2. Bid Shifts give you the ability to make the allotted shift visible to all qualified staff members, who can then bid on the shift, like an auction. TimeForge Bid shifts are a way to allow staff members to build their own schedule, saving you the hassle of needing to assign staff members to every shift.

Use Bid Shifts to let employees choose when they want to work.

For example, a Bid shift can be picked up by several qualified staff members, providing you with a list of multiple employees to choose from who want to work the Bid shift. After employees bid on the available shift on the shift-swapping page, management will be notified who has bid on it and can then make a selection from those staff members. Once the manager has chosen an employee to work the shift, TimeForge automatically notifies them according their customized notification preferences – TimeForge can contact your employees through Facebook, email, or text message!

3.   AutoScheduler is an automated solution to solve your scheduling problems. The AutoScheduler™ feature lets you sit back, relax and watch the software do the scheduling for you. All you have to do is select the shift time that needs to be filled, and TimeForge will automatically assign the shift to the best staff member for the job.

Autoschedule shifts to have the best employee for the shift automatically assigned.

The AutoScheduler™ will assign shifts based on a number of factors including historical scheduling patterns, fairness, seniority, availability, labor costs, scheduling practices, skill levels, weekly hours, overtime, and a number of other factors that optimize your schedule to be the most effective and budget-friendly schedule possible.

4. Assign the employee yourself if there is a specific employee you prefer to work that shift. When building the schedule, TimeForge will give you a list of all employees who are available to work the shift, so you can just click on their name to schedule them!

Select from the list of available employees if you want someone specific to work a particular shift.

Assign employees yourself, use Open, Bid, or AutoScheduled shifts, or use any combination while scheduling!

TimeForge makes quick work of your labor management needs so you can focus on running the floor and motivating employees!

Sign up for a free trial to see what TimeForge can do for you!

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New Hire at TimeForge

Something a little different for us in this blog post … a testimonial from one of our own staff members!

At TimeForge, we use our own product for scheduling staff, clocking in and out, enforcing the schedule, and staff communication. In the world of technology, this is often called “eating your own dogfood“, and it ensures that if there are critical bugs, or if some new feature doesn’t work – we know immediately, and we feel the same pain that you, our customers, feel (talk about a great reason to fix something!).

A few weeks back, we hired Morgan, an aspiring soccer athlete and summer intern to help answer the phones, respond to emails, and expand our online labor management manual to help our customers manage their labor. Morgan has friends who are doing all sorts of summer jobs, working in grocery stores, life guarding, waiting tables, bar tending, etc… She hears their complaints about staff scheduling, requesting time off, and all of the other issues that go along with being managed (or managing) at your place of employment.

After using TimeForge for about a week, she had this to say about our product line …

This is my first week working here at TimeForge and I have learned that this software is an easier way for both employees and managers to do scheduling, request shifts, clock in and out, and view your time card.

I have many friends who work at retail and grocery stores and they request time off by using a request book. When managers use a request book, it usually takes hours of time to go through everything. After declining or accepting the employees request you have to reschedule and switch swifts for the staff members. Instead, with TimeForge, it only takes a few minutes to do all the rescheduling. Employees log on and request time off, or swap shifts. TimeForge can communicate with management with TimeForge messaging or email, keeping everyone in the loop. You can also receive text messages reminding staff members when to be at work, just so they don’t “forget“.

I have also learned that staff can view their time cards on TimeForge. Your time card shows the amount of hours you worked, the days you worked, and your hourly wage. My friends have also told me that when they clock in, they first have to go to the service counter and they will highlight your name to show management when you worked. With TimeForge all you have to do is log in and click “clock in”, and that’s it! TimeForge saves everyone’s time and it helps get things done quickly.

We can work at marketing and selling TimeForge all day long, but that’s about as powerful of a testimonial as it gets – from someone who has only used our software for a few days.

If you happen to call our offices, and get in touch with Morgan, make sure to say hello!

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Employee Scheduling Complicated? Not Anymore!

Building employee schedules can be a time consuming and laborious task, and getting a schedule wrong means higher turnover and lower profits. With TimeForge, managers can quickly and easily review and post labor schedules, approve (or deny) time off, and manage employee shift swaps – all in a few seconds!

TimeForge Scheduling has been designed from the ground up to keep managers on the floor, not stuck in the back room working in Excel or on a clipboard!

TimeForge is a web-based employee scheduling and labor management system that ensures staff stay informed of any schedule changes with text messages, email messages, Facebook, and smart phone access (such as a Blackberry or iPhone) – automatically!

Sign Up For Free Trial of TimeForge Employee Scheduling

  • Make schedules in under 30 seconds
  • Streamline work requests and availability
  • Schedule one or many departments
  • Track time off, vacation, sick, and PTO
  • Remotely check schedules from Facebook
  • Notify staff with email and text messages
  • Detailed reporting of labor costs
  • Easily manage overtime and double shifts
  • Compare scheduled time to actual labor costs!

More than 2,500 businesses around the world have used TimeForge to manage their labor – retail stores, restaurants, bars, clubs, pharmacies, valet companies, doctors offices, children’s health clinics, child care centers, churches, and many other businesses!

Build a Schedule in Seconds!

  • Ease to Use
    There is no software to install, and includes a fast web-based setup.
  • Cost-Effective
    Weekly schedules can be created in under a minute.
  • AutoScheduler
    Gives you and other managers more time “on the floor”.
  • Balanced Schedules
    Balance staff requests and labor requirements to create a perfect schedule.
  • Daily Reminders
    Staff members receive daily reminders about work schedules
  • Reduce Turnover
    Automatic labor management keeps staff happy, reducing turnover!
  • Automatic Notifications
    TimeForge automatically notifies staff of any schedule changes.
  • Control Costs
    Control labor costs with sophisticated reporting
  • Instant Return On Investment
    Instant ROI so you can focus on growing your business
  • Affordable
    TimeForge provides plans that are affordable for businesses of all sizes!

Employee Scheduling Software is also known as Labor Scheduling Software, and some companies refer to this type of software as Enterprise Employee Scheduling Software. Whatever your organization calls it, TimeForge Scheduling is the most powerful tool available to manage labor and control profits at your business! Read more about the capabilities of TimeForge Scheduling, or Sign Up for a Free Trial.

Download a TimeForge Media Kit, which contains more information about TimeForge Scheduling.

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Is Employee Scheduling Complicated? Not Anymore!

Building employee schedules can be a time consuming and laborious task, and getting a schedule wrong means higher turnover and lower profits. With TimeForge, managers can quickly and easily review and post labor schedules, approve (or deny) time off, and manage employee shift swaps – all in a few seconds!

TimeForge Scheduling has been designed from the ground up to keep managers on the floor, not stuck in the back room working in Excel or on a clipboard!

TimeForge is a web-based employee scheduling and labor management system that ensures staff stay informed of any schedule changes with text messages, email messages, Facebook, and smart phone access (such as a Blackberry or iPhone) – automatically!

Sign Up For Free Trial of TimeForge Employee Scheduling

  • Make schedules in under 30 seconds
  • Streamline work requests and availability
  • Schedule one or many departments
  • Track time off, vacation, sick, and PTO
  • Remotely check schedules from Facebook
  • Notify staff with email and text messages
  • Detailed reporting of labor costs
  • Easily manage overtime and double shifts
  • Compare scheduled time to actual labor costs!

More than 2,500 businesses around the world have used TimeForge to manage their labor – retail stores, restaurants, bars, clubs, pharmacies, valet companies, doctors offices, children’s health clinics, child care centers, churches, and many other businesses!

Build a Schedule in Seconds!

  • Ease to Use
    There is no software to install, and includes a fast web-based setup.
  • Cost-Effective
    Weekly schedules can be created in under a minute.
  • AutoScheduler
    Gives you and other managers more time “on the floor”.
  • Balanced Schedules
    Balance staff requests and labor requirements to create a perfect schedule.
  • Daily Reminders
    Staff members receive daily reminders about work schedules
  • Reduce Turnover
    Automatic labor management keeps staff happy, reducing turnover!
  • Automatic Notifications
    TimeForge automatically notifies staff of any schedule changes.
  • Control Costs
    Control labor costs with sophisticated reporting
  • Instant Return On Investment
    Instant ROI so you can focus on growing your business
  • Affordable
    TimeForge provides plans that are affordable for businesses of all sizes!

Employee Scheduling Software is also known as Labor Scheduling Software, and some companies refer to this type of software as Enterprise Employee Scheduling Software. Whatever your organization calls it, TimeForge Scheduling is the most powerful tool available to manage labor and control profits at your business! Read more about the capabilities of TimeForge Scheduling, or Sign Up for a Free Trial.

Download a TimeForge Media Kit, which contains more information about TimeForge Scheduling.

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Employee Scheduling Done Right – The Newest Version of TimeForge

New and existing TimeForge users received a major upgrade on Thursday night, as the TimeForge system was updated to provide more flexible scheduling, new time and attendance functionality, and brand new Communication Log features! Some of the new features include:

  • Availability Requests have been upgraded and are now easier to use. Outstanding employee availability requests are presented as part of the schedule making process and employees are constantly informed of any changes to their availability.
  • Never accidentally schedule staff before or after closing the store! Open and closing times can be configured while making the schedule, and warnings are displayed when staff are scheduled before the store is open or after the store is closed.
  • Employees are automatically notified by text message when management approves a shift swap.
  • Export punch-in and punch-out times to payroll for easy processing. TimeForge has partnered with CompuPay, a leading provider of payroll for small-to-medium retailers and restaurants. Hours can be exported to CompuPay with a single click!
  • Easily identify which employees need to work in specific stations or sections, and schedule these positions with a single click. No more typing “Section 1″ or “Pizza” or “Lane 3″ when making schedules!
  • In accordance with state and federal laws, each position (or job code) can have multiple pay rates, depending on the time of day. Always make sure that employees are paid appropriately!
  • Employees can now search for a shift to pick up, or can pick up any shift that has been given up shift by another employee , if approved by management.
  • Support for delivery drivers is now included! Drivers can enter tips and mileage for their shifts directly into the TimeForge Time and Attendance module.
  • Support for break and meal periods has been enhanced, and managers can now create specific break and meal periods for each shift when building the labor schedule.
  • Decisions about your business that include the weather can now be made directly from TimeForge. TimeForge includes weather forecasts on the “To Do Today” page.
  • New reports! New TimeForge reports include summary reports for time and attendance, as well as several new scheduling reports.
  • Are employees asking for the ability to print the schedule, or a copy of the request log? A setting inside of TimeForge will allow employees to print their own copy of the schedule, breaks, or requests.
  • Does your shift need more information than TimeForge normally provides? You can now enter shift notes directly on to the schedule while building shifts!
  • Significant improvements to TimeForge Attendance were made , time and attendance entries can be sorted a number of different ways, and a note can be entered for each attendance entry.

As always, feedback on the new TimeForge functionality is always appreciated!

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Reduce Turnover with Shift Scheduling Software

Do you own or operate a retail or restaurant company?   Perhaps your store sells collectibles, health food products, cell phone accessories or curtains and rugs.   Regardless of the goods being offered, tightly controlling your labor expenses in the current economic climate is crucial to generate a profit.   Relevant employee expenses including payroll costs, training, and turnover should be properly managed.   With the proper procedures and a set of tools to assist with the complex chore of managing labor, your business can increase profitability.

One key to managing a labor force properly is to schedule part-time and full-time employees before they are needed for work (a theoretical work schedule), and then track the scheduled work against when employees clock-in and clock-out (the actual worked hours), a process known actual vs. theoretical, or AvT.   Good managers reduce the difference (variance) between the Actual hours worked and the Theoretical schedule, while maximizing the sales for the business.

Improper labor scheduling will lead to one of two circumstances for your business:

  1. Too many employees are scheduled to work, increasing payroll costs, and reducing profits.   Alternatively, employees are sent home (or cut from the schedule) without working hours they were promised on the schedule.
  2. Too few employees are scheduled to work, decreasing the number of sales that are made, and reducing profits.

Neither option is desirable, and the key to avoiding both situations is to monitor and refine the AvT at your business.

Smart managers constantly balance employee satisfaction against the needs of the business in an effort to keep payroll costs down, reduce turnover, and increase profits.   Turnover is extremely expensive, and a 2004 study by the Employment Policy Foundation found that the average turnover cost of a single full-time employee is $13,355.   To recover from the effects of the turnover of a single full-time employee, a retail store would need to sell more than 3,000 pairs of khakis priced at $35 each.   A restaurant would need to sell more than 7,613 children’s combo meals at $2.50 each.

One way to reduce turnover at your store is to implement a labor scheduling tool such as TimeForge, an online employee scheduling solution.

Peter Edwards, owner of Zeb’s General Store in North Conway, New Hampshire knows that proper employee scheduling is key to managing a retail business, especially a seasonal business.   Peter chose TimeForge to help him manage full-time and part-time shift labor at his store. reducing employee turnover and lowering labor costs.   Peter uses templates in TimeForge to rapidly build schedules for his business, and TimeForge automatically emails and text messages the schedule to his employees on a daily basis , notifying employees of their upcoming work schedule and keeping his staff happy.

Peter had this to say about TimeForge:

I own a retail company.   We employ 15 full time employees, and between 5 and 15 part time employees depending upon our season.   I signed up for the 90 day trial period and have been using the TimeForge program for about 45 days.   I have found the program to be easy to use and it hits the mark with respect to our staff scheduling needs.   The email notification aspect of the program is a great feature that I am sure our employees will like.

The most important aspect of TimeForge is the incredible customer support.   Responses to the help menu item are emailed within 24 hours, and a live person actually answers the phone to respond to your questions.   I look forward to using TimeForge and would be pleased to talk with any prospective user of the scheduling program.

If you would like to see what TimeForge can do for your restaurant, hospitality, or retail business, then please sign up today for a free trial or contact our sales department for more information about TimeForge.

How long does it take to make an employee schedule for your employees? It should take less than 5 minutes! Did you know that TimeForge can minimize costs and increase profits through effective employee scheduling at your pizza, restaurant, hotel, bar, club, or retail business. Sign up today for a free trial!

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Restaurant Business Article on Workforce Problems

The Nation Restaurant Association is forecasting a shortage in workers over the next several years, as the growth of the hospitality sector surpasses the available labor force. Instead of hiring new laborers, many growing operators will need to maximize their existing workforce , and supplementing trained workers with advanced technology solutions is a wise decision. Shorter training times, tighter staffing, faster service times, improved accuracy, and more consistent product quality are just a few of the benefits of blending technology and employees.

Restaurant Business, one of the nations leading restaurant and food-service publications, recently featured an article on the topic of “High Tech Takes on Big Labor“, focusing on many relevant technology advancements including:

  • Pay-at-the-table technology (Faster table turnover which means more sales with fewer employees)
  • Wireless order taking (Directly enter orders into the POS system, servers can focus on guest satisfaction)
  • Web-based employee scheduling (Build schedules faster and notify employees of upcoming work, reduces overhead drastically)
  • Online ordering (labor is not needed to field phone calls, enter orders, or pay customers)

A number of technology vendors were highlighted in the article, including TimeForge.com

Some of the scheduling related vendors mentioned in the article include:

  • HotSchedules web-based product which offers enhanced reports, rule-based auto-scheduling and POS integration.
  • Deterministic’s Labor System is a web-based labor forecasting and management program.
  • MacromatiX’s Scheduling and Labor Management product is a web-based QSR and fast-casual scheduling program which alerts managers when labor is “over” or “under”.
  • MICROS Systems has a new mylabor product (part of the mymicros.net suite), offering a web-based labor management tool.
  • TimeForge.com is a web-based scheduling system designed to keep management on the floor, and reduce turnover by keeping employees “in-the-loop”. The software builds a complete schedule in just a few seconds, and can be manually adjusted to meet specific needs of the business. Employees receive daily reminders about schedule changes, through the website, email, and text messages , and workers can trade shifts online, read messages from management, and request time off (or change their availability).
Standard Disclaimer: Why do we showcase other companies and products that perform similar functionality to TimeForge.com? Because we believe TimeForge.com is a superior scheduling product. Check them out yourself! Go review their products, ask for their free schedule entry services and free trials.

Come back when you’re ready to make scheduling simple!

How long does it take to make your employee schedules? It should take less than 5 minutes! Did you know that TimeForge can streamline and minimize labor expenses through effective employee labor management at your business, bar, club, or restaurant.

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Labor Scheduling is Easy for Employees Too

Don’t forget to setup your employees to be able to login to TimeForge.com!

Employee access to TimeForge.com is included with the TimeForge service, for no additional charge. On the website, your employees can:

  • Review upcoming schedules
  • Swap shifts with other employees with management approval
  • Change availability with management approval
  • Request time off, or request to work a shift with management approval
  • Review messages from management
  • Lookup contact information for co-workers
  • Setup daily text message (cell phone), and email schedule alerts

In addition to keeping employees “in-the-loop” and reducing turnover, empowered employees will call your business less often – because they already know the answers to their schedule questions on TimeForge.com You will have more time to do other tasks!

It should take less than 5 minutes to make the employee labor schedule for your business! Did you know that TimeForge can streamline and minimize labor expenses through effective employee labor management at your business, bar, club, or restaurant?

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Simple Employee Scheduling – Version 1.8.5 (Part 3)

On Sunday night, we released the latest version of TimeForge, the groundbreaking, simple and easy to use employee scheduling software. This new version continues to improve the TimeForge software, adding many new features so you can go home sooner!

What’s New?

Graphic Improvements. Many of the charts in TimeForge.com received an upgrade over the weekend. They look better, display faster, and can now be printed! To print a chart, right click on the chart, and click “Print“.

Colors! You can now change the colors of the graphs inside of TimeForge to meet your needs, based on the position being scheduled. To do so, click on “Employees” and then click on “Positions”. Click “Edit” on the position you want to change, and then click on the color box to pick a color for the position.

Reliable Text Messaging Alerts. We guarantee that our text messages will be delivered to you and your staff. We provide a high quality text messaging solution for our clients, and have partnered with ClickATell, a text-messaging pioneer, to ensure that your messages are always delivered to your staff.

Setup Wizard and User Wizard Improvements. These two tools enable you, and your management team, to quickly add employees and positions to TimeForge. They have been streamlined to include only the crucial information needed to build a schedule.

Free Schedule Entry. We have always offered Free Schedule Entry for you and your team. Fill out a simple spreadsheet, and send us two of your current schedules. We enter your schedules for you!

How long does it take to make your employee schedules? It should take less than 5 minutes! Did you know that TimeForge can streamline and minimize labor costs through effective employee labor management at your business, bar, club, grocery, convenience store, or restaurant.

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Spend Less Time Scheduling Labor – More Time Managing Your Business

Managers Save Hours Making Employee Schedules, Reduce Turnover

Lubbock, TX , October 22, 2007 – Labor is one of two large cost centers in the food-service business, and can account for more than thirty-percent (30%) of the expenses in a well managed restaurant or club. Managers spend hours every week deciding how to schedule their labor force , time that could be spent with guests or managing other aspects of the business. Poorly scheduling the work force can result in severe negative consequences for the business including higher turnover, reduction in morale, and increased payroll expenses. In development for almost three years, the latest version of TimeForge.com provides a quick, simple, and affordable solution for managers to schedule their work force.

According to a recent study performed by TimeForge.com, managers in the restaurant, bar, and club industry spend between one and eight hours every week building their labor schedule. Scheduling employees is a complicated and thankless task, requiring that managers juggle availability sheets, request and manager log books, and sticky notes in addition to memorizing overtime regulations, labor laws, and the staffing needs of the business. With an average salary and benefits package of more than $62,500 per year, managers can cost a restaurant more than $1,000 a month to maintain a basic labor schedule. The latest version of TimeForge.com turns employee scheduling into an automated task that can be performed in a few minutes – saving thousands of dollars every year for the store.

TimeForge.com is an easy-to-use web application that can be accessed remotely by both employees and managers. The software currently assists more than 600 businesses schedule their employees, including many hospitality and food-service establishments such as restaurants, bars, hotels, clubs. However, other companies such as retail centers, health clinics, movie theaters, and realty companies are taking advantage of the easy-to-use and affordable scheduling software. “… I know that it is geared towards restaurants, but we are a real estate company and we love it because it is inexpensive and it is so easy to use.” said Nicole, Managing Administrator for Exit Premier Realty.

The labor scheduling software comes with a number of features designed to make managing a schedule simple:

  • Managers can display schedules in list, grid, or graphical formats.
  • AutoScheduler™ system builds a complete schedule in seconds.
  • Requests and employee availability are stored indefinitely, and automatically appear on the schedule.
  • Employees are automatically notified by email and text messages of any posted schedule changes.
  • Managers can compare theoretical schedules and actual payroll costs to calculate performance.
  • Employees can swap shifts with other qualified employees.
  • And much more!

Other users, such as Sherry, a manager at Music Man’s BBQ, enjoy easy employee scheduling with the TimeForge.com AutoScheduler™ system. According to Sherry, “It’s cut my time to make a schedule in half!” The AutoScheduler™ system considers millions of employee combinations based on factors such as availability, labor costs, employee strengths, and overtime regulations. The best schedule available for the business is calculated in seconds, and management can modify it where necessary.

If you manage employees, online labor scheduling software is a worthwhile investment. Properly managing labor saves time and money for the business, and improves the job satisfaction of both employees and managers. For more information about TimeForge.com, and to sign up for a Free Trial, visit the website at http://www.TimeForge.com

About TimeForge.com
TimeForge.com is the premier employee scheduling software, designed to provide fast ROI benefits to the business, and to meet the growing demands of the work force. TimeForge.com is affordable software that works for both independent and chain operations.

How long does it take to make your employee schedules? It should take less than 5 minutes! Did you know that TimeForge can streamline and minimize labor costs through effective employee scheduling at your restaurant, bar, club, or business.

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