Custom-Designed Employee Work Schedules
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I just got an email from someone searching for a 10-hour rotating shift schedule for a company that worked 18/7. He needed 2-person coverage on the day shift and 1-person coverage on the evening shift. I gave him a quote of $150 for two different options. His reply was: "I’m sorry Bruce, I'm not paying $150 for the schedules. Is there anywhere you can point me to find something similar online. Had a hard time finding anything until I came across your ad."
I'm sure this happens all the time. This guy was brave enough to say what all the others were probably thinking: "Why pay, when you can find schedules online for free." They just don't see the value in paying for professional scheduling assistance. They think they can either figure it out themselves or find schedule examples on the internet.
While it's possible to find schedules on the internet, rarely are they matched to the staff size, coverage requirements, scheduling approach, or pay week. That means the schedules won't work properly and the users will have to live with sub-standard results. Worst of all, they'll never realize that they could've had something far better.
So how do I communicate the value of professional scheduling help? I can't compare my recommended schedules with whatever they came up with. If people are willing to live with a schedule that doesn't produce the right coverage or doesn't provide something attractive for the workers, how can I convince them that spending $150 or $300 would have avoided these problems.
I've been charging the same prices for over 20 years now. And my clients tell me they love what they got. They especially like the fact that they got multiple options and approaches to compare them and weigh the pros and cons. If you want to see the best possible schedule with more than one pattern, and you're willing to pay a small fee, please contact me. Here's a link to a form that has all the questions I'll need answered.
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Everyone seems to have a different opinion as to what constitutes a good shift schedule. For many people, the judgment is based solely on whether the schedule satisfies a single concern or preference, such as: (1) the desired shift length, (2) more weekends off, (3) a specific on-off work pattern, (4) no built-in overtime, or (5) coverage that meets or exceeds the minimum requirements.
The problem with such a narrow focus is that it often requires sacrifices in other areas of the business. These tend to be ignored or never acknowledged, as illustrated by the following examples:
Employees want management to adopt a 10-hour shift schedule because it will give them another day off each week. They don't realize that the organization would have to either increase the staff by 25% or reduce the coverage by 25%. The organization also would have to add one more supervisor, and the supervisors no longer would be working with the same crew at all times. In addition, the facility isn't large enough to accommodate the double coverage that would occur during the 6 hours a day that the shifts overlap.
The city council insists on a 24/7 schedule with no built-in overtime as a way to reduce expenses in the police department. They don't realize that this will require a larger staff. If the cost of the additional officers and their benefits is disregarded, the council members will think they made a wise financial decision. In reality, they increased the department's overall expenses as a result of the increased headcount.
Ideally, the search for a new schedule should consider the interests of all of the schedule's stakeholders (management, the union and employees). Establishing formal selection criteria to evaluate alternative schedules will force the organization to do this. It also will encourage them to set priorities and weigh the consequences. We recommend using the following criteria to ensure a comprehensive approach to the schedule selection process: (1) effectiveness, (2) efficiency, (3) sleep, and (4) employee satisfaction.
The next few blog posts will cover these four criteria and will show how they can be used to evaluate different scheduling options.
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Employees and management see shift schedules from entirely different perspectives. When employees discuss their ideal shift schedule, they talk about things like shift length, work patterns, and shift start/end times. That's because these features are related to their primary concern: time off.
Shift length affects the number of scheduled days off and percentage of weekends off.
Work patterns influence the length and frequency of the breaks.
Shift start/end times determine when they get to go home.
When managers of shiftwork operations discuss the organization's shift schedule, they are primarily concerned about the coverage requirements, staffing levels, absence rates, and overtime. That's because these features affect their main concern: the organization's resources.
Coverage requirements define the amount of resources needed (total work hours per week).
Staffing is the primary resource available to the organization.
Absence rates determine the staff's availability and the amount of overtime needed.
Overtime is seen by some as an unnecessary cost and by others as a strategic tool to boost the weekly work hours and/or cover absences.
Employees rarely consider the impact of their preferences on the organization's resources. Go to any employee forum and read the posts related to work schedules. You'll read about a group that adopted 10-hour shifts and how all the employees love them. Or how another group thinks a 6-on-3-off pattern would be better than the 5-on-2-off pattern they work now - because of the 3 consecutive days off. You also might find requests for a copy of someone else's schedule. No one ever mentions coverage requirements, the impact on absence coverage, or how many employees these choices would require. It's all about days off, weekends off, or not having to work too many days in a row.
So how can managers accommodate both the needs of the organization and the preferences of the employees? The only way to satisfy both sides is to start with what's feasible for the organization, and then seek out options that will satisfy employees. If you start with what employees want, you might get inconsistent or insufficient coverage, coverage that's not matched with the workload or staff size, or schedules that consume more resources than available.
Notice that I'm only indicating where to begin the search for a new schedule. Starting with what is feasible may narrow the scheduling possibilities or preclude certain approaches, but it doesn't mean the employees will have terrible schedules. And it doesn't mean they won't have any choices. What it does is join the management team with the workers in finding a solution that is best for both the organization and the employees.
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What is a better schedule anyway?
Ask employees, and some will tell you, "10-hour shifts from Mon-Thu." Others may say, "12-hour fixed shifts with every other weekend off." The common themes are the preferred shift length and format (fixed shifts vs. rotating shifts).
Ask managers, and some will say, "We need more coverage on the 2nd shift because that's the busiest part of the day." Others will say, "We need to hire more staff, but upper management has a lid on hiring" or "Overtime is killing us, so we need a schedule that will reduce it." The common themes with this group are coverage and costs.
Unfortunately, the best solutions for employees probably will not produce the best results for managers. For example, 10-hour shifts in 24/7 operations require at least 25% more staff than 8 or 12-hour shifts. And fixed shifts can increase the staffing requirements even further. Ouch! Some of the scheduling preferences just aren't feasible, and some may compromise the organization's mission.
Most organizations simply can't afford to adopt the types of schedules that employees wish they had. So the question becomes, will the best solutions for managers produce good results for employees? I believe they can. Employees won't get their fantasy schedule, but they will get an attractive pattern with good breaks and maximum possible weekends off.
Here is how I define the "best" shift schedules. They should address three goals: (1) optimize coverage, (2) minimize costs, and (3) maximize employee satisfaction. These goals are in priority order. In other words, when designing a schedule, you should start with the coverage allocation, then work on keeping costs down, and finally on what makes employees happy. Reversing this order can wreak havoc on the organization. Here's another article that explains this in much greater detail: https://www.shift-schedule-design.com/Shift_Schedule_Design_for_Dummies.
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The best schedule for any group that works 24/7 depends primarily on 2 things: (1) the workload distribution, and (2) employee preferences. The workload distribution and associated coverage requirements should be the starting point for all scheduling decisions. Starting with anything else will lead to ineffective or inefficient solutions. Read this article for a more complete explanation: https://www.shift-schedule-design.com/Blog?m8:post=the-real-purpose-of-a-shift-schedule.
Workload Distribution. If the workload is steady at all times, 8-hour or 12-hour shifts would be the best choice. If the workload varies by time-of-day, you will either need to allocate more staff to certain shifts or adopt a schedule with overlapping shifts (e.g., 10-hour shifts or combined 8 and 12-hour shifts). If the workload varies by day-of-the-week (or weekdays vs. weekends), you will need a custom-designed work pattern.
Employee Preferences. If you ask employees for their preferences, roughly 80% will say 8-hour shifts. However, if you show them examples of 8 and 12-hour schedules, 80% will prefer the 12-hour schedules. That's why it's important for them to see actual examples rather than just voicing an opinion on what they want.
There is more than just shift length to consider, of course. Should you have fixed shifts or rotating shifts (https://www.shift-schedule-design.com/Fixed_Shifts)? What are the best shift start/end times (https://www.shift-schedule-design.com/Blog?m8:post=fatigue-in-the-workplace-early-day-shift-start-times)? What's the best way to handle absence coverage (https://www.shift-schedule-design.com/Blog?m8:post=how-to-cover-absences)?
If you would like to learn more, please fill out this form to get a quote for our schedule design services (Request Quote).
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This case study is about a guy who had 7 employees and needed to cover 24/7 using 12-hour fixed shifts. So far, everything's fine. But then he said he wanted no overtime and didn't care about the coverage. He just wanted to see a work pattern. When I asked him for more information about his workload and absence rate in an email, he never replied. Too bad.
I'll begin my comments with the coverage. I believe coverage requirements are the starting point for all schedule design efforts. If you don't care what the coverage is, why have a schedule? Somewhere along the line, people seem to have forgotten that the purpose of a schedule is to deploy your staff as effectively as possible. I think people have gotten so wrapped up in comparing different on-off work patterns that they lost sight of the fundamental objective of the schedule.
If all you care about is the shift length and schedule format (fixed or rotating shifts), you're going to use your staff ineffectively. You won't match coverage with the workload. You may be overstaffed and incurring costs unnecessarily. If I knew more about this group's situation, I might recommend something else. For example, if they had a busy period every day from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m., I might recommend 10-hour shifts. If they had a high absence rate, I might recommend rotating shifts and devoting some time in the schedule to relief coverage. Unfortunately, he never mentioned any of those things.
Let's turn to the overtime. I can't tell you how many times I've heard people say, "We don't want any overtime in our schedule!" I try to explain that they will save money and get a better schedule, but they won't listen. Look, overtime is merely a substitute for staff. And a little bit of OT in the schedule goes a long way. Most 24/7 schedules average 42 hours a week. To avoid those 2 hours of overtime, the group will have to hire more staff. The amount depends on the size of the group, the number of job titles, and the type of schedule. In every situation I've seen, the cost of the extra staff is way more than cost of the built-in overtime, especially when you factor in the cost of benefits (holidays, vacations, 401Ks, insurance, pensions, etc.). You can read the page on my website regarding this topic at http://www.shift-schedule-design.com/Overtime_Issues.
If all you care about is the work pattern, check the Internet for free schedule examples or templates. But if you want a schedule that makes the most effective and efficient use of your staff, you need to focus on your group's workload distribution and the associated coverage requirements. Once you've figured out what that requires, you can then look for alternative work patterns and ways to increase weekends off.
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When managers need a new shift schedule for their group, they usually start by searching the Internet for:
Free examples of popular schedule patterns (e.g., 2-3-2, DuPont, or 4-on-4-off)
Information about certain shift lengths (e.g., 10-hour or 12-hour shifts)
In larger organizations (50+ employees), this is not the best approach because:
They are not involving the employees. The best way to gain support for a new schedule is to involve employees in the selection process.
They are not considering multiple options. Employees will view the schedule as something forced on them by management.
They often fail to revise the organization's pay-related policies to match the new schedule. This can be a costly mistake.
In smaller organizations (<50 employees), this is not the best approach because:
The schedule may not be a good fit with their staff size. Most schedules rely on 4 crews. When organizations have a staff that's not a multiple of 4, the four crews won't be the same size which means the coverage will be inconsistent.
The schedule may not match their workload distribution. Most popular schedules assume constant coverage around-the-clock. If the workload is lighter on the night shift or on the weekends, the shifts will be overstaffed. Scheduling people to work when they aren't needed is an expensive way to use personnel.
The schedule may not make the most efficient use of their resources (staff and overtime).
They are not considering different approaches or options.
The schedule may be intended for a different overtime/pay week.
So why do they do this? I believe there are four reasons:
They forget that the true purpose of a schedule is to deploy the staff effectively and efficiently, not to force the organization to adapt to a popular work pattern.
They don't realize the value of a schedule that is matched to their specific resources and requirements.
They aren't aware of the importance of involving employees in the selection process.
They don't understand the value in paying for scheduling help.
Custom-designed schedules from Shift Schedule Design are matched to the organization's staff size, business requirements, and schedule preferences. This means you get:
Benefits. Make optimal use of your resources:
Match the coverage with the workload during all your hours of operation.
Consistently achieve or exceed the minimum coverage requirements.
Make the most efficient use of your staff and overtime.
Increase employee satisfaction by maximizing weekends off.
Quick turnaround. Get multiple options in 2 days or less.
Money-back guarantee. If you can find a better schedule in the following year, we'll refund your money ("better" is defined as meeting all four of the above criteria).
What you avoid. Hours or days spent searching for free schedules. Forced to choose from only one or two options. Schedules that don't deploy your employees effectively. Schedules that increase operating costs by not using your resources efficiently. Schedules that don't maximize weekends off.
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I hope you've had a chance to try out our new staffing calculator. If not, here's a link: http://www.shift-schedule-design.com/Staffing_Calculator. You can use this set of calculators for several purposes:
1. Staff size. You can see how many employees are required to achieve the basic coverage requirements. This does not factor in other considerations such as absences, maintenance, or training. But it will quickly tell you if you have enough staff.
2. Coverage. If you don't have enough staff for the required coverage, you can determine what coverage levels are possible. If you have more than enough staff, you can also determine how much coverage is possible.
3. Shift length. You can explore the staffing and coverage implications of different shift lengths. For example, suppose you want your group to adopt 10-hour shifts. You can use the calculator to determine whether they are feasible for your minimum coverage requirements. Alternatively, you can see how much coverage is possible for a given staff size.
4. Weekly hours. With 8 and 10-hour shifts, the calculators show the staffing requirements using 40 hours per week and 42 hours per week. The reason for the 42 hours is that many 24/7 schedules require this much time to avoid gaps in the coverage.
5. Schedule format. You can also see whether changing to fixed shifts is feasible for your group. Each shift length except 12s has separate calculators for fixed shifts and rotating shifts. The reason is that fixed shifts (with 8s and 10s) often require a few more staff than rotating shifts for the same shift lengths.
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Shift schedules specify when employees are supposed to work. For managers, this defines how the staff will be utilized. For employees, this determines their time off, making it just as important as their pay.
Shift schedules tend to be associated with companies that operate around-the-clock, such as public safety (fire and police), hospitals, utilities, mines, and large manufacturing facilities. But shift schedules are needed by any group that has more than one shift.
The first big change in shift schedules began in the 1980s, when larger 24/7 operations started changing from 8-hour shifts to 12-hour shifts. These companies found that the longer shifts were good for both management and employees. Productivity improved because there were fewer shift hand-offs and tasks were more likely to be finished on one shift rather than passed along to the following shift. Although most workers hated the idea of working longer shifts, the 12-hour patterns were clearly better than the 8-hour patterns, since they offered twice as many days off and up to half the weekends off.
The second major change in shift schedules arose from widespread business growth. Companies that were working 5-days-a-week were expanding to 7-day operations. The three 8-hour crews covering Mon-Fri were burned out from all the weekend overtime and the companies didn't like the spiraling costs. Some companies chose to adopt 5½-day or 6-day schedules. Some chose to hire weekend crews. Most decided to add a fourth crew and adopt a 24/7 schedule, typically with 12-hour shifts.
The third and most recent change encompassed companies not normally associated with shiftwork, such as beauty salons, pharmacies, government offices, mechanics, dentists, insurance companies, restaurants, and customer support centers. They may not run 24/7, but they do operate longer than the traditional 8 to 5, Monday to Friday, and therefore require more than just one shift.
Some of these companies found it more economical to add a shift rather than move to larger facilities or purchase additional equipment. Others found it necessary to stay open longer because of competition and customer expectations. Because the workload in these companies is rarely constant all day or throughout the week, the challenge for scheduling is finding a schedule that matches the coverage with the workload throughout the hours of operation. This can involve staggered shift start times, multiple shift lengths, and overlapping shifts.
Whereas the two previous changes in shift schedules involved finding the single best shift length for around-the-clock coverage, the third change involves choosing the best combination of shift lengths and start times to accommodate a variable workload, often with less-than-24/7 coverage.
At the same time shift schedules were evolving, the process for finding a new schedule also was changing. Early scheduling transitions took place in companies with large staffs and budgets. They often hired consultants to help facilitate the change. The consultants would start by developing a business case that justified changing schedules. Then they would involve the employees in the selection process, educate them about different approaches, revise paid-time-off policies to match the new schedule, and help to implement the new schedule.
When smaller organizations (that couldn't afford a consultant) started changing schedules, they initially turned to industry forums for help, and more recently to free schedule templates found on the Internet. Although the number of options is somewhat limited, this approach is okay if the workload is constant and the staff size is a multiple of 4 (since most of the schedules rely on 4 crews). Since most smaller groups don't have a steady workload or the right number of employees, the templates often will result in unnecessary costs and/or ineffective utilization of the staff.
In addition to thinking you can simply copy schedule examples from the Internet, here are the most common mistakes made today when searching for a new shift schedule:
1. Wrong priorities. Increased concern for employee work-life balance has led many managers to search for a schedule with shift lengths or work patterns that are popular with employees. They forget that employee satisfaction is NOT the primary purpose of the schedule. The reason you have a schedule is to ensure the right number of the right people are working at the right time. This means matching the coverage (the number of people actually working) with the workload distribution. You don't want a schedule with steady coverage if the organization's workload is lighter from Midnight to 6 a.m. or on the weekends. And you don't want a schedule with a lot of double coverage (from overlapping shifts) if the organization's workload is constant. The top priority should be to find an approach that satisfies the business requirements. Then, and only then, should you seek options (using that approach) that a majority of your employees prefer.
2. Narrow focus. Focusing on a single issue and ignoring the big picture often results in costly choices. For example, many establishments think they're saving money by having a schedule with no overtime in it. They don't understand that this requires a larger staff and/or more overtime to cover absences. Although they think they are being frugal, a schedule with a small amount of built-in overtime actually might have been cheaper when the total labor costs are considered. Another example is the manager who wants to give his employees more days off by adopting a 10-hour schedule. He doesn't realize that this will reduce the coverage on each shift by 25%, which depletes the reserve capacity used to compensate for absences. Although employees now have 3 scheduled days off each week, they may have to work some of those days whenever somebody takes vacation or calls in sick.
3. Solution-oriented. When most managers decide it's time for a new schedule, they immediately start searching for a solution on the Internet, e.g., schedule examples or articles about the pros and cons of different shift lengths or work patterns. They should start by developing a process for educating and involving employees. If employees don't believe there is a need to change or that their opinions are being considered, it will be difficult to secure their buy-in and support for the new schedule. Managers should never assume they know what's best for the group. They should try to find multiple options that satisfy the business requirements and let the employees make the final choice. Each site will choose differently due to its unique combination of demographics, experiences, and lifestyles.
Shift schedules will continue to evolve as more and more groups adopt them. Although many of the same issues will continue to exist, new problems are likely to arise as more diverse facilities begin implementing new schedules. Let's hope they learn from the mistakes of other organizations and contact us.
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One of the key issues with 12-hour shift schedules is how to cover absences. With 8-hour shifts, one way to cover absences is to hold an employee on the previous shift over so that he or she works two consecutive shifts or 16 hours total. Another way is to split the vacant shift into two 4-hour segments, and have someone from the previous shift stay over for 4 additional hours and have someone from the following shift come in 4 hours early. It's fairly easy to cover the open shift this way, since the replacements are already at work or planning to work later that same day.
Unfortunately, 12-hour shifts are too long for either of these approaches. Holding someone over for a second shift means they would be working 24 hours (36 hours if they are scheduled to work the next day too). With a split shift, it means the replacements would be working 18 hours straight. Clearly this is excessive.
With 12-hour shifts, the only option is to find a qualified employee who is not scheduled to work the same day as the absence. Sounds simple, right? Well it's not. Supervisors can spend an inordinate amount of time trying to find volunteers. It can be tough to reach people. Candidates may have left town or they may be too busy to answer the phone. And they simply may not want to work that day. They might have made other plans or don't want to spoil a nice multi-day break.
This is one case in which scheduling software can be beneficial for the supervisors. You'll want a program that makes it easy to both identify eligible candidates and then to contact them. Eligibility may include things like: (1) job title, (2) skill sets, (3) work schedule, and (4) recent overtime hours (to prevent over-using someone). Contact can be by email or text message. If no one volunteers within a fixed amount of time, the supervisor can select someone to cover the open position using criteria such as reverse seniority. All of this saves the supervisor a huge amount of time, freeing them up to focus on other responsibilities.
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