Managing Employees Who Work in Multiple Locations or Departments

Many organizations have employees who work in multiple locations and departments. This can benefit an organization by helping to ensure all shifts are covered and allowing employees to use their skills to their full potential. However, it can also present challenges for managers who share employees, and employees who report to more than one manager. Miscommunication, conflicting expectations, and unnecessary overtime costs are among the potential pitfalls. Fortunately, there are steps that managers can take to avoid these issues and keep everything running smoothly for the organization and its employees.

When it comes to shared employees, managers must work collaboratively to ensure consistency in expectations, standards, and goals. The organization needs to have clearly defined policies and procedures. Employees must understand their role and responsibilities in each location or department, and managers must know what their colleagues are communicating to the workers they share. It is helpful to establish a communication plan to foster a sense of connection between different locations or departments. Promoting an open-door policy can ensure employees feel comfortable asking their managers for direction or voicing concerns.

It is also critical to avoid scheduling conflicts, which can generate chaos, fuel frustration, and even create non-compliance issues. Knowing how to make a schedule for employees who work in multiple locations is key, and the right staff scheduling software can help. A scheduling system that allows managers to see who is scheduled when and where across the entire organization reduces the risk of problems such as double-booking employees or leaving shifts understaffed.

Accurately calculating overtime is another challenge that can arise with shared employees.  The Fair Labor Standards Act requires organizations to count all of an employee’s hours, including those worked at a different location, toward determining overtime pay. Some staff scheduling software calculates the total hours a shared employee is scheduled, which helps ensure compliance and reduce unnecessary overtime.

Creating a schedule for employees who work in multiple locations or departments doesn’t have to be complicated. Read how ScheduleAnywhere staff scheduling software simplified scheduling, improved communications, and helped ensure compliance for the Atlanta Center for Reproductive Medicine’s  four clinic locations.

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