The ideal
schedule will provide the required coverage as efficiently as possible.
Everything else is secondary. Unless you can ensure adequate coverage,
there is no point in discussing other schedule features such as shift
length, fixed vs. rotating shifts, on-off work patterns, shift start
times, and so on.
There are two considerations in efficient coverage. The first is the
number of workers you need to show up on each shift. In most cases, this
will be driven by the volume of work, the nature of the job, and the
equipment. The second is the amount of resources available to provide
the coverage. Resources consist of the number of employees and the
average hours they work each week.
Coverage Requirements
How many employees do you need to show up at different times of the day?
What skills do they need to have? Are these numbers the same all week?
Answer this and you’ve defined your basic coverage requirements.
Determining the coverage requirements is relatively straightforward for
organizations with a workload that remains constant throughout the day
and throughout the week. They need the same number of employees to show
up on every shift. One example is a manufacturing process that requires
two operators, three helpers, and one lead at all times the equipment is
running. Another example is a police unit that needs a minimum of three
patrol officers and one sergeant on every shift.
It's organizations with variable workloads that have the most trouble
defining their coverage requirements. Call centers, for example, may
have a substantial increase in customer calls every evening.
Manufacturers may have certain processes that run for only a few hours
every day. These companies need to boost their coverage during the high
workload periods to meet the demand.
An
effective schedule will match the number of employees with the workload
throughout the day.
Yes,
it's easier to schedule the same number of employees on every shift. But
it’s inefficient if the workload fluctuates. If the volume of work is
excessive for just a few hours, employees and productivity/service
levels will suffer. If the work volume is low, employees will be less
productive or idle. In either case, the business will incur unnecessary
costs. |
Available
Resources
How many
employees are needed satisfy your coverage requirements? The theoretical
answer is simple. Add up all the employee hours of work needed to meet
your coverage requirements and divide by 40 (the standard weekly work
hours).
For example, if you need 2 people to work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week,
you’ll need:
(2 * 24
* 7) / 40 = 8.4 employees
Suppose you only have 8 employees and can't hire anyone else. You can
use overtime to make up the difference. How much? Multiply the coverage
requirements by the total weekly hours and divide by the number of
employees. From the previous example, we have:
(2 * 24
* 7) / 8 = 42 hours per week
This means each employee will have an average of 2 hours of overtime a
week to make the schedule work.
You can use the "staffing calculator" on this web site to perform
similar calculations. Click here:
Staffing Calculator.
Suppose you only have 7 employees. That will make the overtime much
higher (8 hours a week per employee). Remember, we haven’t taken
vacations or other absences into account. You may not be able to cover
every absence, as the overtime might be excessive for some of your
employees.
Another option is to look for places to lower the scheduled coverage.
Maybe you can lower the coverage on weekends or the night shift without
adversely affecting service levels or productivity.
Even though you calculated the theoretical number of employees needed,
there may be occasions where this number is insufficient. If several
employees want to take a vacation at the same time, this may leave you
short-handed. If someone takes a leave of absence due to health
problems, pregnancy, or family care, you may not be able to replace
them. Use of temporary employees may help, assuming you can find someone
with the necessary skills.
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