How to Schedule Your Team’s Shifts and Still Support Their Wellness

Managers, especially those who want to prioritize their team’s wellness, have a tough gig.

You want to make sure your team is working productively, in a way that makes sense for you, them, and your company, without making them feel like they’re just cogs in a machine. In other words, you might feel like you’re constantly walking a fine tightrope between their productivity and their wellness.

But before we get into how managers can make the best of this tightrope, and what that has to do with scheduling, you may be wondering why managers should care about their employees’ wellness. Here are a few key reasons.

Firstly, why wouldn’t you? The best managers are those who genuinely care about their employees, and ensuring their wellness is top of mind for you is the best way to show that. Secondly, wellness breaks down to a number of facets over which you, as their manager, have a lot of influence – reducing stress, helping with job satisfaction, and fostering positive relationships in their lives.

What’s more, the job landscape is really competitive nowadays, which means you should be invested in making sure the people who work for you are happy there. At the same time, you want to maximize everyone’s output to make sure your company is staying afloat.

As your responsibilities as manager include scheduling shifts appropriately, your top priority needs to be scheduling their shifts while supporting your team’s wellness. Let’s get into the three best ways to do that.

Don’t rely on outdated methods.

The best and hardest recommendation I ever gave one of my clients, who is otherwise a very modern businesswoman, was to modernize every aspect of her life – not just the latest gadgets for herself, but making sure her employees had the tools and technology that would streamline their lives.

There’s nothing quite as frustrating as flipping through piles of coffee-stained paper or excel spreadsheets with inscrutable errors on them to try to work out when you should be working, especially when there’s such an easy fix.

No matter if you have two or 2,000 employees, try to make their jobs as easy as possible by removing the headache of dealing with outdated spreadsheets. Instead, invest in good employee scheduling software that won’t be yet another chore or burden for them to keep up with, but rather something that removes a stressor from their life.

A team that’s clear on expectations and is given the best tools that let it do its job to the best of its ability is one that is happier, less anxious and prouder of the work they can accomplish. Plus, it removes the likelihood that human error occurs on people showing up for the right shifts.

Get to know your team as individuals.

Your team is made up of individual people who have different styles of work, preferences, skills, requirements and certifications. If you’re in charge of scheduling their shift work, you should proactively build a list of what you know about your team.

Are they introverted, outgoing? What certifications do they have? Do they have any specific skills, or other priorities in their life like families or partners?

This information will help you schedule your shifts to perfection, but also really understand your team and their needs. By making sure they understand how and why you came to your shift schedule, and ensuring it’s done to the best of your abilities and knowledge, they’ll feel like you know them and are in good hands with you. Getting to know your team as individuals will help you schedule shifts that prioritize efficiency, play to everyone’s strengths, and let your team know you’re balancing their needs with the company’s.

Part of focusing on your team’s wellness is looking not just at them as a team, but as individual people, too, so you can best address both their challenges and talents.

Invite feedback from your team.

One of the best ways to improve wellness when scheduling shift work, especially mental wellness, is to foster an atmosphere of trust.

Your team probably has a ton of ideas on how to improve the staffing – and by opening the floor to them, you accomplish two things. First, it gives you additional insight into them as individuals, which helps you with point two above. Secondly, it’s very likely that they have experience in their shifts that can help you better place them, again helping them to feel heard, thereby increasing their job satisfaction.

Do they ever feel bored? Maybe they’re overworked? Ask them for their honest opinions on the job, the highlights and the downsides. This feedback will be valuable in making sure they feel heard, that they’re enjoying their job, and that the shifts are appropriately staffed.

Cultivating open communication is a great way to improve their wellness, and even more so when your team can see that you put their feedback in action.

Put your team first.

When you’re a manager scheduling shift work, it’s easy to fall into the habit of thinking it has to come at the expense of your team’s wellness. But in fact, the opposite is true. If you answer to their needs, understand their pains and frustrations, and really listen to what they say, you’re a better manager, working with a happier and more effective team who knows they’re your priority.

Wellness is simpler than many people make it out to be: you might not need to hire a counselor or invest in expensive equipment. All you need to do to improve your team’s wellness when scheduling their shifts is listen to them, have their likely challenges in mind, and make sure they know you’re here to support them. This will help you support your role as their manager, them in their shift work, and the business as a whole.