Redmond, US, January 12 — Microsoft releases new software called StaffHub to provide shift planning and staff management functions primarily targeted to accommodate companies with a lot of deskless workers as of now. The solution is available for download on either iOS or Android smartphones and can be enabled in a few simple taps.
We tried StaffHub out and you can easily tell that it has a great UI and feeling to it. However, the provided features are really kept to a minimum. There are already heaps of feature requests in their board for ideas. If those would be added to future versions, the solution will become a lot more interesting to business managers.
StaffHub lets you create a relatively flat hierarchy of who’s the boss and who are the workers. The boss then starts to use StaffHub, invites his or her employees via SMS and email. The team members then click on a link, which they received and can download the app to their smartphone. After signing in with their Microsoft-enabled email account, they can then use StaffHub to check shift plans, ask for shift changes or put in a request for leave, which their line manager can then either approve or reject.
The tool allows for categorization of leave requests, but the calendar doesn’t consider public holidays automatically. There is, however, an embedded chat room for the whole team to talk and there is a space where the boss can share documents with the team to review, for handbooks and standard procedure documents.
If your SMB company would benefit from such a solution and you’re already a Microsoft Office 365 partner, this is a no-brainer to make use of. StaffHub is already included in K1, E1, E3 or E5 plans as of today.
I think this could become an HR standard for SMB sized organizations if a few more features would be added and if the integration to other Office 365 elements were further improved. If you’re currently looking for a shift planning tool and are not a Microsoft Office 365 user, you could also review solutions such as Jobber, Ximble, ShiftPlanning, or Staffomatic.
YouTube: Introducing Microsoft StaffHub for deskless workers
Photo credit: Microsoft
Source: Author tested app / Microsoft Blog
Editorial notice: Author knew about rival solutions, listed at the end, as he supported one of them in a crowdfunding campaign.
