Now that we’ve set up the basics, let’s move on to Roster Settings. This is where you’ll define how you want to manage your team’s schedules.
In this section we will go trough:
Required settings
Advanced settings
Required settings
There are a few settings here that we strongly recommend enabling:
Full Roster: this setting comes very handy if your business has multiple locations. However you set it will determine how much of the roster your staff can check. You might want them to check the full roster including locations they aren’t rostered on, or give them less visibility and limit them to their rostered locations.
E.g., ABC Coffee has encountered some issues by staff getting confused when being able to see all available rosters. Therefore, management has decided to set this setting to “Location match” so employees can see the roster of the location to which their shift corresponds.
Edit locked rostered: mistakes can happen, and this setting allows you to edit rosters after they’ve been locked (when rosters are located they become available for employees). We recommend using the default setting, that forces admins to unlock the rosters, make the changes, and then lock them again to make the updated roster available.
E.g., ABC Coffee recently changed this setting to “Do not allow locked roster edits (Recommended)”, this way they disencourage last minute changes from managers and promote organised and timely rosters management.
Roster edits for past dates: editing past rosters is always available for admins. If you would like managers to be available to edit them, you’ll have to define that in this setting.
Admin only lock/unlock: depending on the structure of your business, you can allow managers to be able to lock and unlock rosters, otherwise leave it on Admin only.
E.g., for ABC Coffee, each store manager is in charge of creating the weekly roster, therefore this setting has been set to “Managers”, so they can lock and unlock rosters when needed.
Weekly availability: employee availability can vary week to week depending on the structure of your business. This setting lets you determine whether staff can update their availability by themselves, or do it through their manager.
E.g., ABC Coffee has a few casual staff, whose availability changes weekly. They’ve set the setting to “Allow Staff to Edit” to streamline the process and save managers time.
These settings give you the flexibility to create comprehensive schedules and make changes as needed, because we all know plans can change at the last minute!
But wait, there’s more! We’ve got some optional settings that can take your roster management to the next level.
Advanced settings
Setting
Description
Example
Shift bidding
Imagine a job board, but for shifts! This feature lets managers create “Roster Auctions” from open shifts. You can either create an auction letting staff bid on shifts they can work, or let the system automatically assign the shift to the best candidate.
ABC Coffee Shop has set their setting to Staff + Auto Bidding. In the latest auction, 5 staff bid on the shift, and Microkeeper picked Alan based on his total hours worked for the week (which is the parameter set by ABC Coffee).
Roster confirmation
This setting lets staff confirm whether they’re good to go for individual shifts. It’s very useful if your business juggles complex schedules with lots of last-minute changes.
Ally has a shift tonight at 6pm. In the afternoon, she starts feeling sick and decides not to go. As ABC Coffee Shop has set the setting “Roster Confirmation - Editable,” Ally can just decline the shift on the Microkeeper app.
Roster missing clock on
If you turn this setting on, you’ll get an email if an employee doesn’t clock in for their rostered shift.
It's 6:15 am, and ABC Coffee’s manager gets an email saying that Ivan hasn’t clocked in for his shift. The manager can now rush into the coffee shop to make sure no customers miss their morning muffins!
Cost on roster
This setting lets you keep an eye on your budget while planning. It shows an estimated cost for each shift, including what each employee is earning. You can set limitations on which managers can view it.
ABC Coffee stores have defined a maximum labour cost per week. They’ve turned this setting on, so each store manager can track their budgets.
Roster SMS note
If you’ve allocated a shift but haven’t set the start and end time yet, this setting gives you options. You can delay notifications until details are updated, notify staff that shift details will be updated soon, or create custom codes based on your needs.
ABC Coffee has a few casual staff. Their shifts are usually confirmed within the week, depending on demand. Managers have set this setting to TBA, so casual staff know they have an upcoming roster for a specific day but need to wait for confirmation on the time.
Display roster SMS
This setting lets you send rosters via SMS. Employees can reply, and you can see the status of each message. *Extra costs apply for sending SMS.
ABC Coffee uses SMS rosters. They have 10 staff and purchase 500 SMS credits each year for $50.
Remember, all these features are here to make your life easier and your team happier. Feel free to play around with them and see what works best for your business.
