What is eRostering or Electronic Rostering in Care?

An electronic roster is a digital tool for tracking employee timesheets, rotas, shift swaps, absences and more. It allows managers to juggle staff availability in real-time, ensuring they always have carers available. Advanced features like Google Maps integration ensure accurate travel payment calculations. 

Managers can use digital technology to allocate rostering quickly and efficiently, in order that their employee roster is optimised to meet current and future needs. The enhanced visibility over employee availability enables better planning, resulting in a higher and more consistent standard of care. 

E-rostering software is a tool designed to automate the employee scheduling process. Typically boasting a range of features, e-rostering is well-placed to tackle the many rostering challenges a care provider might face, including scheduling conflicts, lack of visibility on employee availability, inefficient communication, and compliance risks.  

Getting a roster wrong can compromise the quality of care, risk non-compliance, and lead to an unhappy workforce. Consequently, e-rostering software is a solution that no provider can afford to ignore, one that will pay for itself in the long run. 

Despite its many benefits, e-rostering has some possible disadvantages when not administered correctly. In an article published in the Nursing Times in 2019, the following potential challenges were identified: 

Work-life balance 

E-rostering lies at the heart of enabling staff to achieve a rewarding work-life balance. However, inflexible and unpredictable shift patterns make it difficult to balance their work and personal commitments. 

In shift-based roles, work-life balance is affected by three factors: 

• Predictability of the roster 
• Level of staff input into the roster 
• Amount of advance notice staff are given about their shifts 

The problem arises when staff experience too much variability in their shifts and too little control over it.  

Reconciling flexibility and fairness 

A common assumption is that fairness means all staff are given a similar number of unsociable shifts and have a similar number of requests granted. This conception of fairness is often enforced by rigid rules such as a fixed number of approved requests per person. 

However, a better approach would be to allow staff to have more say about their schedule and create a team-based rostering process which encourages open discussion and negotiation to accommodate individual work-life balance preferences. This approach calls for an e-rostering system that is both intuitive and intelligent. 

Usability issues 

Managers use the auto-roster function of their e-rostering systems, but they often struggle to understand how to change the rules on which their system operates. Eventually, they find that their daily working environment is increasingly disassociated from the rules programmed into their e-rostering system and they end up fighting against the system instead of using it.  

In some cases, managers revert to using the e-rostering system manually, which negates many of the advantages of the software and reintroduces concerns about human bias and favouritism. 

Empowering staff 

For staff to be genuinely empowered with team-based rostering, e-rostering systems must encourage a collaborative approach to scheduling. Staff need to be able to understand the rules that guide their roster, how the rules affect them, and how the rules can be modified.   

Some e-rostering systems are based on static rules engines which require specialist expertise to understand, making them inaccessible to regular staff members. Although this might be remedied by extensive and expensive training, a better solution would be to opt for e-rostering systems which are user-friendly and intuitive. 

The benefits of e-rostering for managers are: 

Improved management oversight 

The centralised scheduling and detailed overview of staff shifts offered by e-rostering gives managers improved oversight of their staff. E-rostering software allows management to make decisions based on past and current data. Through analysing historical trends, managers can gain insights into future staffing requirements, resource allocation, and operational effectiveness.  

Increased accountability 

Accountability is a constant challenge in large service providers. Processing payroll can be both time-consuming and complex. Organisations often face issues and complaints regarding payroll, overtime and sick leave. Given the inevitability of human error, e-rostering reduces the risk of blunders and increases accountability. With centralised data storage, any errors can be identified and addressed immediately. 

Enhanced compliance 

E-rostering improves compliance by reducing common scheduling errors such as double booking. In addition, the centralised data of an e-rostering system improves accuracy and processing times, making it easier for providers to meet quality standards. The automated processes of e-rostering ensure that staff schedules adhere to regulations and contractual agreements, avoiding potential breaches and the accompanying penalties.  

Replicable roster templates 

E-rostering offers templates that managers can create and save that reflect their preferred scheduling patterns, shift allocations, and staff choices. These templates can be duplicated and reused for future scheduling cycles to ensure consistency in scheduling and to minimise errors. This is particularly useful in organisations with multiple locations following similar scheduling patterns. 

More efficient rostering 

E-rostering allows managers to identify staff work patterns, optimise skill mix and track leave. Having a greater awareness of the trends in their workplace allows managers allocate staff to shifts based on their skills, availability, and workload requirements. Thus staff are utilised where they can make the greatest difference, leading to both quality improvements and cost savings.  

Accurate payroll reports 

Employees expect to be paid accurately and on time, and errors or delays can lead to frustration, loss of trust and decreased morale. Persistent payroll issues can drag down a company’s reputation and make it hard to attract and retain talent. E-rostering eliminates human error by removing the multiple forms, weekly attendance sheets and timesheets that a manual rostering system requires.  

Reduction of staff administration and related costs 

With e-rostering software, schedule creation and shift management can be automated, streamlining operations through eliminating manual tasks. Managers can create schedules quickly and accurately, considering factors like employee availability and regulatory requirements. Additional features can include employee self-service portals where employees can manage their own schedules. 

Reduced absenteeism 

E-rostering shifts are allocated using predetermined criteria, based on factors including employee availability, skills and workload. By removing the possibility of human error, each shift will have the correct number of staff assigned, greatly reducing the risk of burnout and stress-related absenteeism. Additionally, managers can track attendance patterns, enabling them to address absenteeism promptly. 

Improved coordination 

When managers are burdened with administrative tasks, they lose sight of their core responsibilities. E-rostering streamlines administrative duties, allowing managers to focus on managing their staff. The result is a service that is more coordinated, avoiding otherwise common issues like certain shifts being understaffed or certain employees being overworked. 

The benefits of e-rostering for care workers are: 

Empowered staff 

E-rostering technology allows care workers to have more flexibility in their shifts. Staff can better fit their work around their personal lives, leading to enhanced work-life balance, health and well-being. Managers benefit from happier staff, improved staff retention rates and lower employee turnover. Care recipients benefit from interacting with care workers who are enthusiastic and motivated. 

Enhanced job satisfaction 

Workplace flexibility is a significant contributor to job satisfaction. When employees are given their roster in advance, they have greater flexibility to manage their work-life balance. E-rostering also makes it possible for employees to set their work preferences automatically, giving them more autonomy. Where unforeseen gaps in the roster emerge, e-rostering software can contact staff through email or text. 

More workplace fairness  

Unlike traditional manual systems, e-rostering systems encourage fairness by eliminating the possibility of favouritism in human-driven scheduling. The equitable division of annual leave boosts the level of fairness in an organisation. Additionally, with features like real-time updates and automated notifications, managers can manage shifts to ensure the workload is evenly distributed. 

The benefits of e-rostering for care recipients are: 

Better customer care 

Every minute spent on administrative tasks is a minute taken away from a person’s care. With the increased automation that e-rostering offers, care workers have more time to spend with care recipients to give person-centred care. Care managers can more easily identify gaps in staffing levels to maintain adequate coverage, ensuring consistent and high-quality customer care throughout their service. 

Improved quality of care 

The efficiencies of e-rostering automation mean that care workers have more time to spend caring for their care recipients. Managers can readily monitor, evaluate and analyse performance metrics to gain important insights into individual and team productivity. These insights can be used to identify areas needing improvement, provide quick feedback, and offer appropriate training and support. 

Effective e-rostering gives providers the freedom to deliver outstanding care. This always starts with delivering the right staff with the right skills at the right time, based on the needs of the individual. 

At Access, we have supplied software solutions to the care sector for over 30 years. We currently support over 11,000 registered care locations in the UK. 

Access Care Rostering is our e-rostering solution designed to put the needs of the individual first, with the following market-leading features: 

• Enhanced user experience: Intuitive user interface, optimised for efficient rostering. 
• Solution capacity: Leveraging data-led intelligence to support staff allocation, travel and payroll. 
• Product accessibility: Touch first design for mobile devices with access delivered through a single sign-on. 
• Performance and stability: Giving the reassurance of always-on services, tailored to the needs of your organisation. 

To find out more about the e-rostering software we offer at Access, contact us here to discuss your needs or book a demo.