Video Insights: Exploring Branch Workforce Management – Multi-Site Scheduling

Reflexis is excited to continue our video series, with deep dives into key topics within the world of Workforce Management. This second video in the series covers multi-site scheduling – why you should do it, what it’s worth to your bottom line, and what to think about when implementing the change. A summary is provided below, but please check out the full video here for the full analysis.

Multi-site scheduling, enabling your employees to work at other branches outside their home location, makes life easier for both your Branch Managers and associates. Between text chains, playing phone tag, and guessing employee availability, filling last minute schedule gaps is both time consuming and exhausting for Branch Managers. However, the flexibility provided by multi-site scheduling gives Branch Managers both more associates to choose from to help cover shifts, and associates with a much wider set of availability and skillsets. It’s also great for your employees’ satisfaction and morale. Most associates welcome the opportunity to experience work at other locations, and many are already driving past other branches to get to their home location each day. It can also serve as a reward for high performing associates, providing the opportunity to easily pick up additional shifts when they desire more hours.

Multi-site scheduling is one of the highest value efficiency initiatives that your bank could undertake today, generating between $400K and $700K of labor savings annually per 100 branches. When compared to a branch-centric scheduling approach, simulation models show a 0.2 teller FTE reduction for an average branch. Multi-site scheduling allows you to spread out the variability that comes with vacation and sick time over a much wider employee base, allowing you to run leaner on staffing, yet greatly improve flexibility in shift coverage. This additional flexibility means you can meet or exceed your current service level and wait time targets with less overall staff, even branches already operating at or near minimum staffing levels For banks already leveraging employee float pools today, a multi-site scheduling approach is both better and easier – requiring less administrative overhead and achieving improved results.

Choice of software is key, and your rollout will be much smoother with a solution that can capture employee preferences, optimize shifts, and create schedules easily with rules-based automation. The trouble many banks run into when they try to implement WFM changes is that they don’t properly equip their associates, field leadership, or workforce management team with the right tools to execute it successfully. Reflexis ONE has all the tools you need to effectively navigate this change and ensure you extract the full value from multi-site scheduling. It can help you define the rulesets that govern taking shifts at other branches, so that low performing associates are not eligible to participate, for example. It can also limit multi-site work to within set branch clusters or districts to make managing the process even easier.