Scheduling is one of the hardest parts of managing retail employees — and that goes double (if not more so) during the holidays. Retailers scheduling during this busy time of year must maintain a delicate balance between permanent workers’ need for stability, their seasonal counterparts’ desire for flexibility, and the extended demands on all team members that come with peak season.
Savvy retail managers know that planning the right employee scheduling strategy can make or break a business during the holidays. And because staffing hiccups can turn even small personnel problems into a downward productivity spiral, some retailers have gotten creative in their scheduling, with a few going so far as to adopt on-call work schedules. However, studies show that an unpredictable work schedule (especially over the holidays) can be truly challenging for the 10% of the American workforce in retail.
