How do you go about requesting team members to offer overtime, work holidays, or be available on weekends?
"Although I have yet to hold scheduling responsibilities, I am aware of the difficulties that a manager faces when it comes to requests such as overtime and working on important holidays. I believe that being open about expectations from the start is critical. I will ask for volunteers as well since some people do not celebrate all traditional North American holidays, and some prefer to bank the overtime hours."
As a manager, it can be challenging to build a team environment where staff members are eager and willing to work harder to ensure the entire teams' success. The hiring authority wants to know your style and approach to conversations surrounding requests such as overtime, or working weekends and holidays.
"As a manager, I try my best to keep a fair rotation when it comes to requesting overtime or unpleasant hours. I am open with my team on what the future expectations are going to be so that nobody feels blindsided by a challenging schedule. I am also very open and honest about the scheduling expectations when I am vetting new candidates. I am an organized person, so I do have a spreadsheet that helps me to track each request for every employee on my team. It's important to me that my staff feel appreciated and respected."
