Store resources continue to be very tight in these challenging times. Labor and store schedules need to be approached with the greatest level of efficiency and effectiveness towards customer service.

In my travels I have some across these classic errors:

1) Failure to mix senior and junior employees on a shift.
Often, managers will schedule the most junior staff for the least desirable shifts, however these can be often the busiest. High traffic hours may have plenty of staff on the floor, but little knowledge and experience to offer. Shifts need to be balanced, and junior employees need more seasoned ones for guidance.

2) Scheduling too many part time employees with minimal hours.
Lots of part time employees gives managers a lot of flexibility to complete schedules, especially with a handful of employees that are ill. The problem is, part time employees who only work minimal hours will not be up to speed with current store promotions, new products and sales. Their product knowledge may be minimal as well. Loading up shifts with part timers that only work a few hours a week will probably be ill-equipped to offer optimal customer service.

3) Schedules that are not in sync with company productivity standards.
Always take the "acid test" with schedules and determine if your schedule meets company productivity standards. Too many hours, and your schedule may be overloaded. Too few hours may look good on paper in regards to sales per hour potential, but it's possible that customer service will be compromised as employees are spread too thin on the sales floor.

4) Schedules that repeat week after week.
Customers behave in patterns as a consequence of their family and work commitments. If they always interact with the same employee on the same day on the same shift, their relationship with your store will become limited and vanish instantly if that employee leaves the store. If you vary the schedule, regular customers who behave in patterns will interact with a handful of your employees and get to know all of them. If one employee resigns, their relationship with your store can continue. They still know other employees in the store and business can continue with little disruption.

Take Action Today
Examine your schedules based on these four common errors and make corrections as needed.
Train managers to develop schedules that do not include these errors in the future.
Spot check schedules on an ongoing basis and make sure managers continue to develop balanced ones that rotate staff and meet productivity objectives.