Staff Overview

Manage your staff, staff's profile, locations, positions, break rules, skills, tasks and availability.

Yasir Ehsan avatar
Written by Yasir Ehsan
Updated over a week ago

Objective

The objective of this tutorial is to help you understand how you can use the Staff module to manage your staff, locations, positions, break rules, skills, tasks and availability.

Overview

The ‘Staff' tab is the central hub where you can easily manage your staff, locations, positions, break rules, skills, tasks and availability.

A staff’s profile shows different tabs which you can use to customize their personal and professional details. The visibility of the tabs varies according to the permission level given by the Manager in Humanity.

Things to know before you begin:

  1. You must have a manager/admin and supervisor access privileges in Humanity to have complete access to use all the functionalities related to the staff module.

  2. The scheduler manages staff for specific positions which has been granted to them by their Managers.

  3. Employees can be granted scheduler permission to specific positions by their Managers which allows them to manage the staff which are assigned to those positions.

  4. Staff access varies according to their permission level however modifying the staff settings allows employees to have access to certain features.

  5. Only the manager can modify staff settings under 'Settings' module.

The scenario outlined in this tutorial consists of the following building blocks:

  1. Employee Management
    - Different Ways to Add Employees: Add Employees Manually, Add Employees Using Detailed Form and Import Employees via .csv or .xlsx File
    - Different Ways to Send Activation E-mails: Send Activation Emails in Bulk, Send an Activation Email while Adding an Employee using Detailed Form and Send an Activation Email via Staff Profile
    - Employee Bulk Edit
    - Different Ways to View Staff
    - Filter and View Staff by Location or Position

  2. Employee Assignment Overview
    - Bulk Assignment via CSV: Assign Positions and Assign Skills
    - Assign Positions and Skills by: Employee, Position and Skill
    - Other Filters: All Employees, Recently Added, Unassigned and Expand/Collapse All

  3. Managing Locations and Positions
    - Primary and Additional Locations
    - Remote Sites
    - Positions or Job Roles
    - Copy Positions Into New Locations
    - Customize Colors of Positions
    - Customize Notifications for a Position
    - Manage Visibility of a Position

  4. Manage Break Rules
    - Location-Based Break Rules
    - Position-Based Break Rules
    - Meaning of Inclusive Minimum and Maximum Times

  5. Manage Skills
    - Adding Skills
    - Assign/Remove Skill(s) via Profile
    - Assign/Remove Skill(s) in Bulk
    - Import and Assign Skills via CSV
    - Skills Expiration
    - Novel uses of Skills

  6. Manage Tasks
    - Adding Tasks
    - Assign Tasks to a Shift
    - Tasks Time Tracking
    - Tasks Reports

  7. Manage Availability

  8. Update Profile and Preferences
    - List of Different Tabs Under Your Profile
    - List of Different Tabs Under Your Staff’s Profile
    - Description of Tabs Under Profile

Employee Management

- Different Ways to Add Employees

  • Add Employees Manually

  • Add Employees Using Detailed Form

There are two types of mode (simple or detailed), you can add details as per your requirements as shown in the Image below:

  • Import Employees via .csv or .xlsx File

You can quickly add or import multiple employees to Humanity either manually or by using detailed form, .csv or .xlsx sheet.

You can also add custom fields via .csv or .xlsx import. Just match your column title with a "Custom Field". If a custom field does not exist, a new custom field will be created, and its value will be added to an employee's account. The number of custom fields is not limited.

You must create the file in the accepted format shown below and also available in the Humanity application:

- Different Ways to Send Activation E-mails

  • Send Activation Emails in Bulk

  • Send an Activation Email while Adding an Employee using Detailed Form

  • Send an Activation Email via Staff Profile

Employee Bulk Edit

To avoid the hassle of modifying employees profiles individually you can use ‘Employee Bulk Edit’ feature which allows you to select multiple or group of employees and makes changes to their profiles.

Different Ways to View Staff

Under the 'Staff' module, staff view can be changed according to your requirements and details will get populated according to the selected view.
You can navigate between different views and also create a custom view which can further be save as CSV or XLSX file format.

Filter and View Staff by Location or Position

An easier way to quickly filter and view staff by location/position, you can narrow down your staff list by 'Location(s)'.

Once a 'Location' gets selected, you can also select staff based on the 'Position(s)' under that 'Location'.

Employee Assignment Overview

Bulk Assignment via CSV

  • Assign Positions

Assign/Remove your staff one or multiple positions by importing them via CSV in relation to already predefined locations.

You must create the file in the accepted format given below:

  • Assign Skills

Assign/Remove your staff one or multiple skills by importing them via CSV.

You must create the file in the accepted format given below:

Accepted expiration date formats: 

» month/day/year -> 11/29/2019

Assign Positions and Skills By

  • Employee

Assign/remove one or multiple position(s) or skill(s) by employees.

  • Position

In order to schedule your staff, they must be assigned to at least one position. You can assign/remove them quickly using this filter.

  • Skill

You can assign one or more than one skill to multiple employees (s) at once assigning by skill.

Other Filters

  • All Employees

Assign/Remove one or multiple positions or skills at once by listing all the employees using this filter.

  • Recently Added

Assign/Remove one or multiple positions or skills at once by listing all the recently added employees using this filter.

  • Unassigned

Assign/Remove one or multiple positions or skills at once by expanding unassigned employees using this filter.

  • Expand/Collapse-All

Assign/Remove one or multiple positions or skills at once by expanding unassigned employees using this filter.

Managing Locations and Positions

- Primary and Additional Locations

The primary location is the default location which is added once you provide information while signing up with Humanity. Besides your primary location, you can create an additional location or delete the location that are not needed later.

Notes:

  1. You cannot delete a primary location.

  2. You cannot restore a location once deleted.

  3. Mandatory details to be added are: Name, Time Zone, Address

  4. You can copy positions from other additional locations (optional).

- Remote Sites

‘Remote Sites' are locations for shifts and events outside of your primary work locations and are assigned directly to the scheduled shifts. These could be client locations or contract locations.

'Remote Sites' can have addresses assigned to them allowing Humanity to communicate the map and driving directions to your staff.

Notes:

  1. You will be able to see the number of shifts the remote site is assigned to next to the notes tab.

  2. 'Remotes Sites' are assigned directly to individual shifts through the 'Shift Edit' window.

  3. Staff can see the remote site with the address in a Google Map directly from their shift details.

- Positions or Job Roles

Positions are the job titles or roles you assign to your staff. However, the names of the position can vary depending on the nature of your business.
Create, delete or restore positions (If needed). You can also create a new location to drag and restore the position in it. Once restored; it will restore any shifts that were on that 'Position'.

Positions may be:

  • Departments such as Sales, Marketing, Finance

  • Job Roles such as Cook and Cashier

  • Titles such as Neurologist, Head Nurse

  • Tasks such as Data Entry

  • Skills such as Technician, Lab Assistant

  • Events such as a Training, Board Meeting

  • Holidays such as Christmas

- Copy Positions Into New Locations

If you have multiple locations with the same positions around the globe, we have made it easy. You can simply copy the positions while creating new locations. 

While adding a new Location, it will give you a list of all your previously added locations. You can select any "location name" to copy all the positions of that location to the newly created location.

- Customize Colors of Positions

Customize colors of the positions added in Humanity to make identification of positions visually easier through color-coding.

The color of the position gets updated under 'ShiftPlanning' module and the impact can be seen in your schedule reflecting the shifts according to the assigned colors as shown in the Image below:

- Customize Notifications for a Position

Customize and manage the notifications for a specific position to receive them according to your business or individual requirements.

The staff assigned to the respective position will not receive notifications if you select notifications off.

- Manage Visibility of a Position

Hide or manage the visibility of a position under 'ShiftPlanning' module.

The impact of this feature can be seen in 'ShiftPlanning' module where unchecking the box next to the 'Visible' tab of a position would make it invisible in the schedule view as shown in the Image below:

- Associate or Remove Skill with a Position

Associating skill with a position will enable a manager to link the two together to schedule backup staff across multiple locations where the association exists.

Notes:

  1. Only a single skill can be associated with each position.

  2. Skill/s should be added to the ‘Staff’ tab, to associate a single skill with each position.

  3. Select 'none' from the options to remove an associated skill with a position.

Manage Break Rules

- Location-Based Break Rules

Humanity introduced break rules on the location level. These break rules are compliant with local and state laws—such as California, Washington, and Oregon meal breaks — or represent a general break rule (ex. a 30-minute unpaid break for every five hours of work). 

The break rule is applied next to the appropriate business location. These rules are created to assist in maintaining compliance and cannot be edited as they are set per location. 

- Position-Based Break Rules

Break rules are set per position enabling managers to get the exact working hours that need to be paid. These rules can be set differently for each 'Position' and with different time parameters. 

Once break times are set up, they are automatically applied to your schedule reports and timesheets allowing data to be accurately used in payroll processing.

- Meaning of Inclusive Minimum and Maximum Times

  1. If this box is checked: Shift length >= minimum and shift length <= maximum
    Break will be applied to shifts having total time equal to or greater than the minimum time of the break and equal to or less than the maximum time of the break rule.

  2. If the box is unchecked: shift length > minimum and shift length < maximum
    Break will be applied to shifts having total time greater than the minimum time of the break and less than the maximum time of the break rule.

Notes:

  1. Shifts created on that location will be updated to accommodate the selected break rule; once the update is completed, you will receive an email confirmation.

  2. All future shifts will adhere to the new break rule, starting from the current day.

  3. You can apply break rules to any other locations as per your business requirement.

  4. If breaks are not compliant with the break rule, break conflicts will pop-up.

  5. If you want to create customize schedule shift breaks, you must not add break rule next to the location.

  6. Position break rules will not be accessible if you have applied location-based break rules.

  7. If you want to use 'Break' feature with 'Time Clock', using position break rules is recommended.

Manage Skills

Skills define any special abilities your employees have. This can include things such as CPR Certification, Second Languages, etc.

You can assign one or more than one skill to multiple employees at once and in bulk or to an individual staff member.

- Adding Skills

Skills must be added under the ‘Employee Assignment’ tab first by your Managers or Supervisors to assign them to your staff.

- Assign/Remove Skill(s) via Profile

You can assign or remove one or multiple skills to an individual from his/her profile. It is useful if you want to assign skill(s) to just one of your staff.

- Assign/Remove Skill(s) in Bulk

You can assign or remove one or multiple skills to multiple employees at once. It is useful if you want to assign skill(s) to a group of employees different skills at once.

- Import and Assign Skills via CSV

You can create a CSV file following the accepted format and assign skill(s) to your staff by importing it into Humanity. It is useful when you want to assign skills in bulk to all your staff members.

- Skills Expiration

Adding expiration on certain skills, allows you to receive notifications and keep track of skills that are counted as 'certifications'.

You can select when you wish to be notified of this skill expiration from 15 days, 1 month, 2 months and 3 months time frame.

- Novel uses of Skills

  1. Skills as Skills & Certifications: e.g. Excel Expert, CPR Certification, SAP etc

  2. Skills as Seniority: In some scheduling situations it is important to give scheduling preference to more senior staff. For example, within a 'customer service' position, there may exist: 'associate', 'manager' and 'team lead'.

  3. Skills as Employment Type: Skills serve as a filter within reports including payroll specific reports. Often times finance staff will need to segment staff into different payroll-related types. Skills can be used to tackle this need with titles such as: 'Salary', Hourly', 'Full-Time', Part-Time', 'Employee' or 'Contractor'.

  4. Skills can be used as part of task management as well. Want to get a view of the schedules of your store 'Closers'? What about a look at the clock-in times of your 'Openers'?

  5. Skills as Tasks.

These are just some of the ways 'Skills' can be helpful as tasks.

You can use these skills throughout the system to more quickly filter, schedule smartly and track employees. You can filter Reports by Skills to get the desired data by skills.

Manage Tasks

You can assign sub-duties to your staff on a single shift. Tasks can also be used where you want to pay per shift/day worked against hourly wages.

You can assign one or more than one task to an individual from shift edit window.

- Adding Tasks

Tasks must be added under the ‘Employee Assignment’ tab first by your Managers or Supervisors to assign them to your staff.

- Assign Tasks to a Shift

You can assign or remove one or multiple tasks to an individual from shift edit window. It is useful if you want to assign sub-duties to just one of your staff on a single shift.

- Tasks Time Tracking

Once a shift time starts, the Upcoming Shifts under the Dashboard will show you the start with the 'Start' button. Employees should click that button to track the time spent on each of the tasks.

- Task Reports

To see the time activity for each task, you can use the task report.

Manage Weekly & Future Availability

Approve or reject your staff's weekly & future availability requests. Also, check the conflicts before approving or rejecting.

  • You can click the ‘Check’ tab to check the conflicts before approving or rejecting the availability requests.

  • You can select the name of the employees from the left-side to manage the availability of a specific employee.

  • You can switch the view in 15 min or 60 mins increment.

All this information is shown in the image below:

Update Profile and Preferences

- List of Different Tabs Under Your Profile: Overview, Edit Details, Availability ,Leave, Password, Notifications, Permissions and Payroll.

- List of Different Tabs Under Your Staff’s Profile: Overview, Edit Details, Availability, Leave, Password, Permissions, Payroll and Ping.

- Description of Tabs Under Profile

Overview

This tab represents the following information: Employee Details: Full Name, Username, Admin Actions, Positions Assignment, Skills Assignment, Upcoming Shifts/Recent Shifts, Statistics, Employee files, Notes, List of Approvers, Personal Data.

Edit Details

Managers and supervisors can edit details for their own profile as well as an employee’s profile whereas schedulers and employees can edit their profiles only.

Availability

You can set the weekly availability which will repeat every week, the same day & time unless changed otherwise. You can select the time-slot you want to set yourself unavailable or drag to select multiple time-slots.

Future availability is a one-time availability set for a specific date in future.

Leave

Managers can set entitled number of days for each leave type and also assign leave types per employee for which employee can submit a request.

Password

Managers can set passwords or reset for your staff. All employees can set passwords for themselves.

Notifications

You can customize or restrict settings for receiving notifications under your profile which will overwrite the global settings.

Humanity can notify you via e-mail & SMS each time actions take place that involves you. You can toggle on/off e-mail & SMS as well as control whether you are notified:

  • Once of each action before you log in to your account again

  • Always notified when that action happens

Permissions

  1. Access privileges determine what users can see and do in Humanity. There are ‘six’ account types: Employee, Scheduler, Supervisor, Manager, Accountant and Schedule Viewer.

  2. Scheduler permission level can be best defined as ‘Shift Manager’. The scheduler(s) has permissions to manage shifts, requests, approval, timesheets, availabilities, and vacations requested for those positions.

  3. A scheduler can also be permitted to add and remove staff for the positions that 'scheduler(s)' can manage.

Payroll

Employee profile has the field for hourly wage rate, which is the default rate that applies when employees' income is calculated. However, when the rate varies per position (job), managers can set specific wage rates per position.

Payroll tab also offers the greater flexibility to managers and supervisors in terms of setting up different rate cards when the allowed overtime or special hours are set differently for each position.

Ping

'Pinging' an employee allows you to instantly send them a message via e-mail & SMS to alert them of something or to get in contact quickly.

If you have any further queries, please don't hesitate to reach us at support@humanity.com. Happy Scheduling!

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