It’s no secret that demand surges during the holidays, especially for the retail, restaurant, and hospitality industries.
This year, 92% of consumers plan to shop in physical stores during the holidays, up from 87% last year. Retail sales are projected to grow by 3.0% to 3.5%, with food and beverage sales jumping 6%. Total holiday spending may reach $1.66 trillion.
While these numbers promise opportunity, they also bring a rush of challenges: last-minute schedule changes, surging demand, and balancing staff satisfaction with business needs.
Overworking employees to overcome these challenges can quickly lead to burnout—an issue reported by 73% of holiday retail workers. Combine that with complex labor laws, overtime pay, and unexpected absences, and you’ve got a recipe for potential scheduling disasters.
But it doesn’t have to be this way. With a solid plan and the right tools, you can transform the holiday rush into a season of teamwork and triumph.
Here’s how:
- Plan for Absences
- Create Schedules that Automatically Align with Staff Availability
- Predict the Future by Analyzing Previous Holiday Seasons
- Match Shifts with Skills
- Encourage Employee Input & Maintain Open Communication
- Don’t Forget Compliance
- Make it Festive to Come to Work
1. Plan for Absences
It's the holiday season. That means there will inevitably be more time-off requests from your employees.
Whether it’s a family reunion, a much-needed vacation, or everyone on staff trying to get the same holiday off, remember this key detail: your team deserves the chance to enjoy the season, too.
The best way to solve the absence problem and avoid the stresses and frustrations is to start planning early. Create schedules well in advance (more in advance than usual). This allows your employees to make holiday plans while giving you enough time to fill gaps.
And if shifts need to change later on? Make it easy, like exchanging gifts under the tree. Tools like MakeShift allow employees to trade shifts or pick up extras with a few taps on a mobile device.
This keeps operations smooth and stress-free while effortlessly managing last-minute changes.
2. Create Schedules that Automatically Align with Staff Availability
Wanna know the quickest way to extinguish holiday cheer (and incentivize an employee to call out or quit)? Disregard someone’s availability and assign them to a shift they can’t cover.
By automating schedules that align with your staff’s availability (and keeping them updated about it), you eliminate any risk of oversights while saving yourself hours of manual adjustments.
MakeShift’s scheduling software does all the heavy lifting for you, creating schedules that reflect employee preferences and availability. When your team knows you value their time, morale increases and so does your business efficiency.
Managing schedules during the holidays all on your own is a nightmare. Reduce errors, save time, and eliminate stress with automated, people-first scheduling.
3. Predict the Future by Analyzing Previous Holiday Seasons
Learn from the ghosts of Christmas Past, because honestly… history has a lot to teach.
Dig into last year’s data to uncover trends: Which days saw the highest foot traffic? Which shifts were understaffed? What time of day did you see the highest number of sales?
With MakeShift, it’s easy to access and understand historical scheduling data.
Plus, when you pair your historical data with automated scheduling, you can build schedules that meet all your demands, ensuring you’re neither short-handed nor overstaffed during the season's busiest days.
4. Match Shifts with Skills
Business always runs better when you play to your employee’s strengths. Not all shifts are created equal, and neither are employees.
When determining your schedule, assign your most experienced staff to handle peak hours, and consider cross-training team members to cover multiple roles.
For instance, in retail scheduling, you could analyze sales data from previous months to identify your best salespeople and schedule them on high-traffic days to maximize customer satisfaction and revenue.
To make this easier, use MakeShift’s scheduling system to assign roles to employees directly within the schedule to make sure you always have the right person in the right position at the right time.
5. Encourage Employee Input & Maintain Open Communication
Ready for the secret to a harmonious holiday schedule? Collaboration.
Invite employees to share their availability and preferences rather than trying to force the scheduling puzzle to fit all on your own.
Involving them in the process and opening communication gives them a sense of ownership in their lives and reduces the likelihood of conflicts, employee dissatisfaction, and burnout.
With MakeShift’s app, employees can easily update their availability, trade their shifts, and get real-time notifications about schedule changes. Encouraging employee input like this keeps everyone in the loop and prevents miscommunication and missed shifts.
6. Don’t Forget Compliance
This is where it gets serious. Failing to adhere to labor laws and union agreements can lead to costly penalties, diminished employee trust, and even legal trouble (yes, even during the cheerful holidays).
Take time to review your local labor laws and union contracts. Check any required holiday pay rates, guaranteed days off, minimum staffing requirements, seniority-based scheduling, and overtime restrictions.
If you want peace of mind that you’re not going to miss any labor laws, consider using scheduling software like MakeShift, which automatically factors in union agreements, holiday pay rules, and employee preferences.
This way, you can schedule without fear of making mistakes or souring the holidays with fines and legal issues.
7. Make it Festive to Come to Work
As the season gets busier, it’s easy to forget that the holidays aren’t just about powering through. They’re about celebrating, enjoying family and friends, and reflecting on your year with thankfulness.
A little holiday festivity can go a long way in keeping employees motivated and engaged. Consider what incentives you can add to boost morale in the workplace over the holidays, like gift cards, team challenges, or even holiday parties.
And if it’s possible, why not close shop for a day or two to give everyone a well-earned break? A refreshed team is a productive team, and it’s a gesture they’ll remember long after the season ends.
Ready for a Stress-Free Holiday Season?
Don’t just survive the holidays—thrive in them. With the right tools and a little holiday magic, you can create a schedule that keeps everyone happy.
Want to see how MakeShift can transform your holiday scheduling? Book a MakeShift demo today and give your team the gift of an organized, stress-free holiday season.
Ready to Make the Shift?
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