Over the past six months, business press stayed hot with the stories of the rapid success of the companies that were able to dramatically improve their operations, increase employee motivation, achieve a higher level of employee retention, and increase overall company value through progressive scheduling changes. Flexible scheduling, which allows employees to incorporate their scheduling preferences, seems to be in the spotlight.
A recent article by Joe Napsha1 of the Pittsburgh Tribune showcases some of the best companies to work for in Western Pennsylvania based on employee surveys. These are the companies that stood out by offering better scheduling structures to their employees among other typical perks. The winning companies ranged widely in size and industry such as the medical, catering, and software development industries among others. Employees praised the flexibility to respond to family and other life situations and expressed high levels of commitment and appreciation. The ability to set up consistent expectations and preserve the company culture in multiple locations was highly commended as well.
Similarly, in her March report Barbara Rose2 , of the Baltimore Sun, talked about the increasing numbers of banking companies using flexible scheduling effectively for their hourly employees. PNC Financial reported impressive success with its workforce of 24,000 across eight states. The bank was able to significantly reduce its overtime rates, lower error rates, and increase overall worker efficiency. Likewise, CitiGroup offered flexible scheduling to help reduce turnover and improve ability to compete in tight labor markets. Rose quotes a senior consultant, of WFD Consulting in Boston, Karen Noble, "This is not about a perk. It's about how the work can be done most efficiently and effectively.
BusinessWeek recently covered BestBuy's radical experiment of completely flexible work time for its corporate offices. While the company has achieved a record job satisfaction, nearly eliminated voluntary turnover, and increased productivity 35%, critics are warning that in addition to flexible scheduling, consistent measurement structure is necessary to maintain these gains long-term.
Intelligent employee scheduling did not suddenly become good news. The initial idea goes back to Frederick W. Taylor, who started laying the groundwork for the effective workplace in 1881. Over the years, Taylor's somewhat de-humanistic approach, was challenged by Elton Mayo and others who demonstrated that it is important to recognize and align employee needs with those of the organization to deliver greater benefits. Evolution of software technology provided an effective vehicle to enable the change toward a more productive workplace. Here are some of the typical situations where scheduling automation can play a key role in a company's continued success. In every instance, inability to automate can cripple a company's performance and damage employee morale.
Picture a factory with over five hundred workers and forty five managers. If on a given day twenty percent of the workforce fails to clock in due to flu season or other situation, do the factory executives know that the factory is at risk today for not meeting its objectives? The proper use of automation would allow factory supervisors to assess the situation as it is unfolding and react instantly by reassigning the teams to maximize the output and minimize the downside.
Imagine a medical staffing agency responsible for staffing several nursing homes in different locations. Nurses have different skills sets, years of experience, and location preferences. Many of them require flexible schedules as well. Nursing homes similarly have their own requirements, and sometimes might need extra help depending on the patient load. What is the optimal way to assign the nurses to satisfy scheduling needs, ensure high levels of patient care, and manage costs?
Using the scheduling automation, preferences for nurses and nursing homes could simply be "plugged into an automatic scheduling system. Now the system can do its magic to find optimal coverage, taking into account nurses' skills, availability, place preference, and other criteria such as planned time off. If a nurse has to leave early, it is now easier to make changes and alert other nurses to cover her shift as necessary.
One criticism of scheduling automation is that it may seem impersonal - everyone's information is in the "machine , everybody's actions are controlled by a "machine . In reality, by providing the structure and ability to make the changes instantly, automation can actually relate to the team on a personal level, provide consistency, and apply the company policy fairly. This is something most team members like, at least the one's the company wants to keep around for a long time.
While scheduling automation is very helpful for organizations with multiple locations, large numbers of employees, multiple schedules/shifts and rules, many types of positions and skills, scheduling automation may not be the answer for every company. It would not be as impactful for companies with less than twenty employees operating within a single location, with set schedule. That being said, in a growing company with changing business needs it is important to keep an open mind to the developments that can help improve an organization.
