There are many apps for talent acquisition, applicant tracking, recruitment funnels and candidate relationship management. But temp staffing agencies are often responsible for a large and diverse contingent workforce. Actually managing people in an agency setting is also different from corporate HR needs.
Here’s where agency staffing apps come to play. These are often internal job boards, scheduling apps or employee communication systems. These are our favorite staffing agency scheduling apps:
Best apps for staffing agency scheduling
Zelos Team Management – best for on-demand and temp staff scheduling
Zelos Team Management is a modern staffing app that focuses on live communication. While you can create a schedule and confirm it with your staff, the power of the platform lies in on-demand job dispatch. It is easy to notify temp staff members about open shifts through the simple employee app, and have them sign up for relevant jobs in an instant.
Zelos also comes with a live chat feature, so you can communicate live with your temp staff members. You can easily connect the app with your payroll and billing through open API or Zapier and automatically update worked hours on all other platforms in your stack.
Workforce.com – best for predicting demand
The Workforce.com platform uses machine learning algorithms to create optimized schedules, if you have your workforce availability data. There are many types of alerts that can be put in to place to automatically avoid overtime or other possible issues. Workforce will also forecast your possible shifts and revenue based on historic data, so you can make sure your schedule-planning is at its best.
The employee app is very simple and allows staff members to not only access their schedules, but also request shift swaps.
Shiftboard – best for traditional scheduling
One of the key features of Shiftboard is its ability to automate the scheduling process. The software uses advanced algorithms and machine learning to create optimized schedules based on employee availability and skill set. Of course there are all the necessary features for tracking employee time and attendance, managing compliance, and monitoring employee performance.
The platform does have a self-service portal, but it’s not very interactive or engaging. Staff members can still easily access their schedules, submit time-off requests, and communicate with their managers.
Connecteam – best for workforce engagement
Connecteam has a very user-friendly interface, and the features are interactive. You can allow staff members to swap shifts and communicate – with managers or each other.
The feature list continues, so there are many ways to set up interactions for your workforce on this platform. You can create custom forms, surveys, quizzes and checklists to interact with your staff and keep them engaged.
Is staffing agency scheduling software just… scheduling software?
No, not all scheduling software is cut out for a staffing agency.
Great staffing software should let you communicate with workers quickly, easily, and at scale. Most workforce management apps are good enough for the quick and easy part, but they rarely scale to support volume. And volume is exactly what staffing agents deal with every day.
Most task management apps can send out alerts and updates about new job assignments. But what about the communication after? Getting free-form messages in real time is not a dream come true for a busy staffing agent.
For actually upgrading your productivity, you need an app that is able to match jobs with worker availability and schedules. You need to quickly check which workers are available for assignments and confirm them to jobs accordingly. Placing right workers in the right jobs is the core job, and agency software should support this.
You might additionally need help with tracking and managing worker performance. This can be keeping track of hours and attendance, as well as performance on the job. Excellent staffing apps let you also evaluate worker performance and identify areas for improvement.
Easily tracked hours turn into easy worker payments. Processing payroll will be a walk in the park when the hours have been submitted and checked by the workers themselves.
How staffing software can help your agency overcome challenges
Managing an on-demand staffing agency is usually challenge due to the nature of temporary work.
It can be difficult to predict the number of temporary workers you need at any given time. The demand for temp staff can really vary. Factors such as the economy, the season, and the specific needs of the agency’s clients can change quickly. Temp staff scheduling apps can provide you with better data to make better predictions in the future.
Staffing agencies must constantly work on talent acquisition and retain a talent pool of qualified temporary workers. Otherwise it’s hard to meet the demand from clients. But temporary workers often have many options when it comes to finding work. They most likely aren’t keeping their calendars open for your agency either.
If your agency has a clear procedure or a branded app for worker interactions, the workforce will prefer working with you. Not the other agency that keeps pestering them with phone calls and long e-mails.
There are a lot of legal and regulatory requirements related to the hiring, payment, and working conditions of temporary workers. Failure to comply with these requirements can result in fines, penalties, and other legal consequences. The better you document all workforce placements, the easier it is for you to navigate these waters.
How we can help
Zelos Team Management is a simple staffing app that is perfect for agency use. With quick task dispatch and communication features, it’s a cutting edge tool for modern staff facilitators needing to place their short-term staff at client locations with short deadlines.
Sign up for a free account on our website or get in touch with our team for a personal software demo.