When I Work Review – An Employee Scheduling Solution

When I Work Review – A streamlined employee scheduling solution with mobile capabilities and a strong focus on end users

A disorganized employee scheduling process can do more than just waste time and cause confusion among staffers. In some cases, it can actually cost a business money due to unnecessary overtime pay. When I Work is an innovative employee scheduling solution that utilizes state of the art technology and mobile tools to make the employee scheduling process as streamlined and efficient as possible.

In this When I Work review, I will offer an overview of how the solution functions and which features are most important to the average business user. I also plan on describing some of the innovative ways that organizations are using When I Work’s platform to meet both their employee scheduling and communication needs.

When I Work Review – About the Solution

When I Work is a web-based employee scheduling solution that also gives employers a straightforward way to communicate with their employees. In addition to its simple staff scheduling features—which enable businesses to quickly create schedules for hourly workers that take things like variable shifts and time-off requests into account—When I Work also provides its users with a number of advanced modules for attendance tracking and mobile employee communication.

Built for organizations of all sizes, When I Work is most frequently used by businesses with 20 to 250 employees. Still, When I Work is utilized by everyone from large corporations with thousands of employees, down to small businesses with fewer than five employees. The platform can handle the needs of any business that is looking for a better way to manage the schedules of its hourly workers.

Main Functionality of When I Work

At When I Work, it all begins with the schedule. Managers are encouraged to use schedule templates as a starting point and then make adjustments as necessary based on that week’s challenges. When I Work automatically shows any scheduling conflicts based on the preferences its users have built into their schedules. Managers always have access to staff availability information, and they can easily see when employees have made requests for time-off. When managers need to fill open shifts at the last minute, they can use When I Work’s impressive communication tools to notify employees that new shifts are available for them to take.

Not only can managers send quick mobile notifications using two-way text messaging and email alerts, but they can receive messages back from their employees just as quickly. Employees can even configure reminders to be sent to their smartphones a few hours or days in advance of each scheduled shift. TeamTxt is another messaging tool that When I Work offers, providing managers with a useful way to send group text messages along with manager-to-manager communication.

When organizations have When I Work Attendance (WageBase in the app store) activated in their accounts, they’re able to use When I Work’s time clock tools to automatically enforce schedules and track employee attendance. Using desktop computers, tablets, or the smartphones that most employees already have in their pockets, When I Work’s Attendance module ensures that employees are actually clocking in when they’re scheduled. Actionable alerts are sent out to remind employees when they forget to clock in, and to remind managers when they’re close to paying overtime.

Benefits of Using When I Work

When I Work provides businesses with improved manager productivity by streamlining employee scheduling and communication practices. Hiccups will always arise regardless of the way a company handles its internal scheduling issues. However, businesses that use When I Work are better positioned to manage those hiccups immediately, before they turn into real problems. By enabling managers to review and edit shift schedules from their phones, and by giving hourly workers an easy way to communicate with their bosses and each other via text and email, When I Work is able to decrease the instances of things like missed shifts, conflicting schedules, and unanticipated overtime costs.

The Basics: What Does the Interface Look Like?

Set and manage your staff schedule with the Scheduler tool. On the left-hand side of the page is a control panel, where things like positions, current location, site, and a publish widget are located.

Scheduler tool

Click on any date in the Scheduler to add a new shift. You can manually set the time, along with any unpaid breaks and notes for the employee (for example, “Don’t forget to clock-in when you arrive”). Click the “notify” button to let your employee know when he or she has been given an extra shift.

Window to create and assign shifts

When I Work gives employees an easy way to request time-off. Users can select whether their time-off should be paid or unpaid, and they can ask for full days or partial days. Most importantly, they can add notes for a manager to review when deciding whether the requested time-off should be approved.

Request time-off window

Support Information

When I Work users have 24/7 access to an expansive Help Center. Within the Help Center, users can review detailed articles that cover everything from how to get started with the app, all the way to how to communicate schedule changes and how to integrate When I Work at the POS or payroll processor. Users with more specific questions have the option to contact a When I Work agent via live chat, or to submit a support request.

Pricing Information

All When I Work plans are available with 30-day free trials. After that, businesses are encouraged to select pricing plans based on the size of their staffs. Basic employee scheduling plans start at $29 per month (for up to 20 employees) and go up to $99 (for up to 100 employees) – then continues to go up as needed for roughly $1 per employee. There is no monthly contract so you can scale up and down based on your employee needs, which is exceptionally great for businesses with seasonal employees, like ski resorts.

When I Work Review – The Bottom Line

When I Work stands out among employee scheduling tools because of its focus on the end user. In this case, the platform benefits both employers and employees. Managers benefit by decreasing the time they spend manually handling scheduling issues for hourly workers. Meanwhile, employees themselves also benefit when their organizations use When I Work, thanks primarily to the solution’s instant communication and notification tools. Employees find out immediately on their smartphones whenever new schedules have been published, and they can communicate with managers and request time-off in an easy way.

Ratings: ease of use 5/5, features 5/5, value 5/5

Source: B2C_Business

When I Work Review – An Employee Scheduling Solution