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Match Your Workload
When creating a shift schedule you need somewhere
to start. A good place is to look at the times you want
to cover. So we start off the process by creating an
‘Hours Table’. It’s simple, along the top are the 24
hours of the day and down the side are the seven
days of the week.
This table below is an example of the ‘Hours Table’.
In this example the operation requires three people
on during core hours Monday-Saturday 8am-4pm.
During the rest of the week they require two people
at all times. At the end of the table is a count of the
total number of hours for each day and the week.
In this example these staffing levels would require
384 hours per week.
Such a simple tool, yet from it you can work out the
hours you require per week, and hence the number
of people you need to employ to operate efficiently.
Every time we have an enquiry, we send them an
Hours Table to fill out. You can download your own
copy from
http://www.visualrota.co.uk/staffingprofile.xlsx On
the Excel file there are two ‘Hours Tables’. One for
their ideal staffing levels, and one on the minimum
staffing levels. This is a great way to focus you, so
you can consider what you can cope with and what
you would like if you had unlimited resources.
We then take these two tables and work out how
many people you require for both workloads. Our
e-book for calculating how many staff you require,
is available from amazon.
So now we know how many people you want on at
all times and how many staff you require for each
option.
Now no one has unlimited resources, and unless this is a ‘green field’ operation you already
employ a number of staff for this operation. So we compare the number you have with the two
workloads. Most of the time companies employ a number closer to the minimum staffing levels.
On occasion we have found that they have more staff then the ideal scenario, this is normally why
they have called us in.
One reason why this happens is when the company has just upgraded their equipment. The new
equipment requires fewer operators but in order to justify the cost of the equipment it has to be
run continuously. They don’t want the operation disrupted by holidays and absences.
Another reason for over staffing, could be that departments or groups have been amalgamated.
This often leads to economies of scale.
There can also be a change in the workload, which can lead to a change in requirement. This can
happen as the result of a natural change or if a contract has just finished.
Sometimes procedural changes can affect the required number of staff, such as using agency staff
to cover for absences instead of internally.
At other times we are called in after a takeover or buy out. The new company want to introduce
efficiency changes and the old way of working is surpassed by moving to a more efficient
approach.
Another decision that effects the staffing numbers quite dramatically is the move from flat staffing
to variable staffing. If we take the example above where they require three on only during core
hours and two at all other times. What if before they had three on at all times? The move would
reduce the staffing requirement by nearly 24%.
Creating the Shifts
Once we have matched the current staffing levels to the staffing profile, the next stage is to
create the shifts. This is very much an art form. You need to balance the length of the shifts,
with their respective start and finish times. This can be a delicate balance. The type of work
and the breaks will play a crucial role is deciding what shifts you will use.
So we have developed an Excel spreadsheet that allows us to create the shifts and plots
them against the desired staffing profile for each day. So with the example where three are
required on during core hours and two at all other times, let’s see what shifts would support
this profile best. The graph below shows how we match the required staffing numbers to the
number supplied by the shifts. Each day would have a different staffing requirement we
would have to match. The one below would work for Monday to Saturday in this example.
The required number would be entered from the ‘Hours Table’. The Shift Number would be
based on the shifts we created. This way we can check if the shifts met the requirement. In
this example we have matched the requirement.
When creating the shifts we need to think about the type of work these shifts will be
covering. What are breaks like? Are they paid or unpaid. Then are they taken as and when
the work allows or do they need a cover person on to cover for breaks? For this example
let’s make it simple; the breaks will be paid and taken as and when the workload allows.
OK but how long can they work for? A shift should be long enough that they will come into
work, but not too long that it makes them fatigued. If you are doing original mental work
e.g. learning a new skill, creating a new product or process, you need short days. From a
mental fatigue point of view you need to limit your employees to about 5 hours. After 5
hours their mental processes start to slow down and they make mistakes or can't retain
information as well. Therefore any work they do after the 5 hours just has to be repeated
the following day. Which eats into the five hours of the following day and creates a vicious
circle.
For most operations the shift lengths will be either 8 or 12 hours on average. 8-hours are
popular for five day working and work that is physically or mentally demanding. If the work
allows for 12-hours, than 12-hour shifts are always more popular. Sometimes companies
opt for a mixture, an option we would always put forward unless there are fatigue reasons
why this would not be appropriate. You could even go with a maximum of 10-hours, or any
other shift length you liked. The reason for advising longer shift lengths unless fatigue is an
issue, is that it limits the number of commutes and maximise their time off. When
introducing change it is a good idea to make the new operation more attractive to the shift
workers than the old.
So let’s assume that the shift lengths have to be longer than 6-hours to make it desirable to
come into work, but the work is not physically or mentally demanding so we can set the
maximum to 12-hours.
So what shifts can we use to cover the workload? There is the obvious option, we use 12-
hour shifts to cover the background workload. So we have four 12-hour shifts each day.
Two day shifts and two night shifts. This would give us two people on at all times. Then we
use an 8-hour day shift to give us one extra person on Monday-Saturday during core hours.
Easy!
Shifts Table
So then there is the question of start and finish times. You could have all of the day shifts
starting at 8am. Or you can stagger the start times so that you don’t need handovers.
Most jobs will take more than a few minutes to do, so allowing a handover so that people
can transfer jobs as they come in depending on when their shift finishes makes a more
efficient process. So we start the 8-hour shift at 8am. Then we can set one of the 12-hour
shifts to be 8am-8pm and 8pm-8am. The other could be set 7am-7pm. This gives a one
hour handover during shift changes.
If you wanted to avoid using 12-hour shifts, the work could be done using just 8-hour
shifts or a combination of 8 and 10-hour shifts.
Once we have selected the shifts, then we create a shifts table. The shifts table names
each of the shifts, gives its start and finish times plus the paid length of the shift. This
table can then be compared to the ‘Hours Table’ to ensure that all of the desired hours are
covered by these shifts.
The figure above shows the shifts table using 12 and 8 hour shifts. Then you need to
create a shift requirement table. This just tells you how many of each shift you require
each day of the week.
The shift requirement table above shows you how many of each shift you require
each day. So you would require one of each of the 12-hour shifts each day. However
you only need one of the shorter 8-hour shifts on Monday to Saturday. So you
would need 34 shifts per week. If you were operating with a 40 hour week, you
would require about 12 people to cover the workload, holidays and absences. So
everyone would work an average of about 3 shifts per week plus cover shifts for
holidays and absence cover.
Using 10 & 8-hour Shifts
If you chose to use a combination of 8 and 10-hour shifts then the tables would
look slightly different.
The figure above shows the shifts table using 10 and 8 hour shifts. This time there are
six different shifts. The start and finish times in this example could be changed if they
are at inappropriate times. You need to balance the start and finish times of a shift. If
the shift starts too early it can cause people problems with their sleep and commuting.
If it finishes too late then it can cause problems with people getting to sleep when they
get home. Few shifts start between midnight and 6am.
Once you have a shifts table then you need to create a shift requirement table. Here is
the shift requirements table for the 10 and 8-hour option.
The shift requirement table above shows you how many of each shift you require each
day. So you would require one of each of the shifts Monday to Saturday. However on
Sunday you only need the Early, Morning, Afternoon, Late and Night shift. So you
would need 41 shifts per week. If you were operating with a 40 hour week, you would
require about 12 people to cover the workload, holidays and absences. So everyone
would work an average of about 3.5 shifts per week plus cover shifts for holidays and
absence cover.
By bringing the maximum length of shift down from 12 to 10 hours, everyone would
have to work about 26 more shifts per year. If on average everyone commutes for an
hour each way, which would mean an extra 52 hours commuting each year. This is
why 12-hour shifts are more popular. Then there is more shifts at weekends to
consider. On the 12 and 8-hour shifts, there were 9 shifts at weekends. Now assuming
that you used a pattern that didn’t have split weekends, on average each person
would have to work about 22 weekends per year. On the 8 and 10 hour shift pattern,
they would have to work about 26 weekends per year on average. That is four extra
weekends each per year.
Summary
Shifts and Hours tables are the corner stone of shift scheduling. If you don’t know
what staffing levels you are trying to match then you will always be incorrectly
staffed. Saving just one hour per day is the equivalent of saving one fifth of a person
per year. So identifying those hours when you can cope with one person less, soon
adds up to real savings.
If you would like some help creating a shift schedule then please contact us directly.
You can download your own copy of the ‘Hours Forms’ from
http://www.visualrota.co.uk/staffingprofile.xlsx This Excel file is for one hour
increments, however we also do them in half hour and quarter hour increments too
depending upon your workload requirement. Academic organisations often have two
sets of Hours Tables, one for Term and one for Vacation Weeks.
© 2021 C-Desk Technology
Experts on Shift Operations and Scheduling
Tel:01636 816466 | email: alec@visualrota.co.uk
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