Commuting

Something which is rarely thought about is commuting and shift work.
One of the main advantages to shift work is that you rarely have to commute at the same times as office workers. However that can cause a lot of problems. The public transport network is set up for office hours workers and people who don't work. It was not designed for shift workers so how do you get into work for six in the morning if the buses and trains are not running and you don't have a car?
Most shift workers have to drive for this reason, so shifts have to be scheduled around the bus and train network. This means that some shifts have to be longer or shorter to accommodate timetables and they have to be reviewed every six months because the timetables will change. If your shift pattern operates with some odd start and finish time, you may find that the buses were the reason as opposed to any workload requirement.
However driving has problems too. Staying out of the rush hour will always help with commutes, but driving in any condition is always stressful and tiring. This is especially true after a long shift. People who commute for more than one hour have been found to have increased levels of tiredness during a shift.
If you do have a long commute then the best thing to do is arrive at work early and have a five to fifteen minute break. Read a book, listen to music, or just have a cuppa. Then at the end of your shift have another break. Just a few minutes will allow you to rest and recover for the long drive ahead. Then when you do get home you will feel less stressed and more relaxed.

How to Staff for the Workload

Staffing for a given workload is very complicated. Yet covering the workload is the whole point of work. You want people there when they are needed. So how do you do it?
If the workload is flat, that is it doesn’t change from hour to hour, then you can have flat staffing. So you work out how many people you need and ensure that you always have that number. If the workload doesn't require a whole number of people then you either;

• need to find other work for them to do in the downtime,
• or understaff,
• or understaff part of the time,
• or overstaff and just have people there even when you don't need them.

If the workload changes, you have to decide how to change the staffing levels along with that fluctuation. Do you want that change to happen

• ahead of the increase and decline after the work starts to reduce,
• or after the increase and before the decline.

The image above shows a variable workload (yellow). You can either staff under the workload (pale green) and go short or you can overstaff (turquoise) and have people sat around but always know your workload is covered.
It depends what sort of operation you are managing, e.g. complaints line. If you miss a call, it is not going to be the end of the world. So you would staff to the pale green line. However if you were the 999 service, then you need to have someone there to answer the phone. Each missed call is a matter of life or death, so you over staff (turquoise) because the cost of having someone sat around for five minutes twiddling their thumbs is a lot lower than missing a call.
Once you have decided, you need to set up the shifts to match your staffing levels. Saving just one man hour per day is the equivalent of 1/5 of a person. To find out more about staffing to the workload visit our website

Cross Training

Absence is always a problem, any when it occurs you need a way of replacing that person. You can't have everyone knowing how to do everyone's job. Most are too specialised and it would cost a lot in time and training cost. not to mention having to pay higher salaries for these super skilled people. So most companies use Cross Training.


Cross training is where you train all of your staff in two skills. A primary and a secondary skill. By cross training your staff so that they all know at least two skills you can cover for one absence across all skill sets with just one person.

If each person knows two key skills then you replace the missing skill with either the cover person or if their skill does not match then each person in the team moves into their secondary skill set until all of the skills are covered.





The image above shows an absence in skill 3. The cover person can only cover for skill one. Fortunately all of the staff know one additional skill, so the cover person does skill 1, staff member 1 covers skill 2, staff member 2 covers skill 3. In this way all of the skills for the whole group can be covered by one cover person.
For example in a power station there are about 120 skills in the matrix and keeping everyone up to date in all their respective skills is a full time job. Everyone needs regular training and experience in all of their skills. However the benefits out way the costs. It maximises flexibility and ensures that the power station can operate effectively no matter the situation.

How much shift allowance should I pay?

The reason you pay a shift allowance is because you want to keep your workers. If you don't pay them for working unsociable hours , then they will leave, to work for somebody else.


So one option is to see how much your competitors are paying for working similar hours.


Another is by negotiation, you negotiate with the unions to see how much they expect for working these hours. This means that each time you change the shift pattern, you potentially have to renegotiate the shift allowance again.


An alternative option is to calculate the shift allowance. You negotiate what the additional pay should be for each hour of the day and for each day of the week. You then multiply this table by the shifts worked on the shift pattern. This way you only have to negotiate the shift allowance once. Then just reapply the calculation each time you need to change the shift pattern. However you may wish to employ the shift allowance as an incentive for moving on to a new pattern. This approach dictates the shift allowance regardless of the shift pattern. However you can still use one off bonuses for moving shift patterns.


Typical shift allowances start from 5% for a two shift system and can go up to 65% for a fully flexible 24/7 shift operation with holidays included and lots of Banked hours to cover for all absences and short notice changes to their hours. Typically most companies use 25%-35% for a 24/7 operation.


If you are changing shift patterns then we can help you calculate the most appropriate shift allowance for your shift pattern and operational needs. Please contact us via email or phone us on +44 1636 816466

247 Health Care

Before the election David Cameron pledged that we would have full access to the health service seven days a week by 2020. SO with the Conservative party winning we can look forward to a better and more effective health service. Which is excellent news for the country. In 2014 absence cost the UK over £31 billion (PWC). That’s about 2% of our GDP. So if the health service is able to treat people faster and more effectively because it will be operating 24/7 instead of office hours, we should not only be healthier, but also absent less often or for shorter periods.

 

This is a great opportunity for the NHS to create and use better staffing schedules. This will not only save the tax payer billions through a reduction in agency workers but could also mean better work/life balance for our health care professionals.

 

So what are the key components in an efficient, low cost, shift schedule for the health service which also gives the shift workers a good work/life balance?

1. Understand the workload. The workload is key whenever you are creating a shift operation. Your employees are there to cover the work. So you only want them there when there is work for them to do and you want them in the right place, at the right time, with the right skills.
2. Employ the correct number of staff. There is no point in employing too few. In the long run that just leads to high overtime and agency costs. The Mirror reported that the NHS spent £5.5 billion on agency workers. Now you can’t save your entire overtime and agency budget but if you employee people at basic rate it will normally be a lot cheaper.
3. What type of service do you need to provide. A key factor in health service operations is continuity of care. So you always need someone each day who was there the day before and will be there tomorrow. That way if there were any developments, each day there would be someone who could pass on the pertinent information to colleagues.
4. A shift pattern for a good work/life balance. So you need to think about fatigue, time off, commutes, length of shifts, etc.
5. Absence costs money. A lot of money. So you need a way of covering for absence, be that holidays, sickness or authorised leave. The best way to cover absence is in-house, because your own staff will always know your operation, equipment and staff better than an outsider. Also it is normally cheaper.

If you would like to know more about creating an efficient, low cost shift operation which ensures a good work/life balance for your staff, then contact us directly to find out more.

Annual Leave Management

Trying to look after all of your employees leave or holidays can be overwhelming. There is very little literature and information out there about how to manage holidays so everyone just does the best they can, or how they have seen others do it in the past. Most cope but find it very difficult and others just cope with the fall out for a week or two when everyone wants their holidays together.

Holidays are about more than time off work. Holidays are about; that much anticipated two weeks on the beach, that chance to see your little girl shine in the school play or the opportunity to party at your friend’s wedding. So how do you say no?

Few managers ever say “no” to a holiday request. Most say yes, and make a note of the request. Then when that person is away, they have to firefight to keep everything going. If this sounds familiar, than you will be relieved to know that there is another way.

So here are a few tips to help you manage your holiday requests:

1. Quantify the Problem: Add up how much holiday everyone in your team, department or group is entitled to. Then see how much time there is in the year.
2. Know your Workload: How many people do you need in each day as a minimum. Are there any days when you don’t need anyone e.g. Bank Holidays. Do you have any especially busy weeks when no one can have a holiday?
3. Prioritise Summer Holidays: Everyone likes a summer holiday. So how are you going to ensure that everyone can have that all important two week break? Plan it in advance and don’t just wait till the last minute.
4. Plan for Christmas: Most people save up their holidays till the end of the year partly to get Christmas off and partly because it’s an insurance policy just in case something comes up at the last minute. So what will happen at Christmas? Can everyone be off? Can no one be off?
5. Make the most of your Shutdowns: Shutdowns are a great way to use up everyone’s holiday. Many companies shutdown for Bank Holidays, at Christmas or for a week or two during the summer.
6. Have an Annual Leave Policy: You need a fair and simple set of rules to ensure that everyone can have the holiday of their choice.
7. Monitor and Record Holiday Bookings: You need a way of recording all your holiday requests and then assessing if you can allow or decline a holiday request. For offices we have designed the Yearly Planner, a simple and cheap solution that allows you to record holiday requests and also tells you how much holiday they have left and who else is off that day. For shift workers we have VisualrotaX, which records all holiday requests, highlights if you are short on shift and can even tell you when you are low on holiday resource.
8. Create Reports and Printouts: Sharing employee holiday schedules with the team is an easy and effective way to avoid clashes. This empowers your employees to take responsibility for avoiding holiday issues and minimises the number of requests you have to deny. This is why the Professional Yearly Planners have easy monthly printouts to help your team plan their holiday requests. VisualrotaX has individual calendars so that they know what holidays they have taken and how many they have left till the end of the year. They both also come with graph sheets which display how holidays have been booked over the year. This way you can see at a glance if and when your holiday policy failed during the year. You can also compare each year’s graphs and see how you have improved.
9. Create a Holiday Calendar: It is not enough to just set up the rules for booking holidays, you need to ensure that it is fair and not open to abuse. If your rules state that it is on a first come first served basis, what is to stop an employee block booking the last two weeks off in July for the nest 10 years? A Holiday Calendar is there so that the employees and managers, know what is expected of them and when during the year. Then everyone can take the holiday that they are entitled to with the minimum of disruption. It is a list of dates and actions which say when the holiday book will be open for requests and when it will close. When the manger will be processing requests and when they will confirm holiday dates. It is also a great way of focusing people’s minds and ensuring that you will only have to process requests during a few weeks of the year instead of potentially having a new request every day, including when you are on holiday.
10. Know your Holiday Resource: You don’t have to go short, there are ways of covering for holidays. These can include; overtime, extra staff, borrowing from another department, temporary staff, agency staff, cover shifts etc. You can assess and estimate your holiday resource based on your budget and the holiday entitlement you have to cover.

If you would like to know more about managing your holidays then why not get our e-book Holiday Management available now from Amazon. You can also view our video on Holiday Tips on YouTube.