Author: Jim

Is your System Sending Signals?

26 common symptoms leaders frequently overlook:

Even well-run operations show subtle signs when the shiftwork system is under strain — absenteeism, rising overtime costs, coverage gaps, safety concerns, or growing schedule dissatisfaction.

The clues are easy to miss because they don’t announce themselves as “schedule problems” — they surface as operational noise that masks deeper structural issues within the schedule, staffing model, or operating rhythm.

We’ve distilled 26 common operational symptoms that leaders frequently overlook — the patterns that signal when your shiftwork system may be ready for a deeper reset.

As 2026 approaches, understanding these signals now can help you start the year with clarity rather than reacting to preventable surprises. Treat your schedule like you would any critical piece of equipment: INSPECT IT BEFORE IT FAILS.  Tick any box that sounds familiar — and see whether your operation might need a reset before the new year.

Operational & Cost Symptoms

☐ Chronic overtime spikes
Overtime budgets keep climbing even though output hasn’t changed. That’s usually a sign that coverage patterns no longer fit true workload demand — a schedule misalignment masquerading as a labor problem.

☐ Excessive Overtime costs
When staff schedules are not effectively managed, overtime often results from issues such as understaffing and poor forecasting.

☐ Frequent idle time or partial-crew operation
You’re short in one area and overstaffed in another. The imbalance points to rotation rules or coverage models that were built for a different volume pattern.

☐ Maintenance never catches up
Breakdowns pile up because the current schedule leaves no planned window for preventive work. When machines dictate your maintenance timing, you’ve lost control of your operation.

☐ “Simple” schedule tweaks that cause chaos.
That 15-minute shift change triggered childcare emergencies and missed bus connections. Even tiny adjustments can unravel carefully balanced personal lives — and trust — if they aren’t modeled and communicated properly.

☐ Payroll surprises
Holiday pay, premium rules, or overtime calculations don’t fit your current pattern. Pay errors and “unfair” perceptions follow, creating frustration and compliance risks.

☐ Declining responsiveness to customer orders.
You’re still running Monday–Friday while customers buy Tuesday–Saturday. When production rhythm and demand curve don’t match, the result is lost opportunity and wasted inventory.

☐ Seasonal bottlenecks.
Staffing for an “average week” leaves you short during peak months and pays for idle hands in slow ones. Without intentional flexibility, you’re stuck swinging between extremes.

☐ Deteriorating product quality.
Fatigue, rushed handoffs, and inadequate overlap time between crews show up as rejects, rework, and rising scrap. Quality issues often trace directly back to misaligned shift lengths or transition timing.

People & Culture Symptoms

☐ Growing absenteeism and FMLA usage.
When absence rates creep up, it’s rarely random. It’s often your workforce signaling that the schedule is exhausting people faster than they can recover.

☐ Rising turnover, especially on nights and weekends.
If the same shifts are chronically understaffed, your “help wanted” sign is a scheduling symptom. People are voting with their feet against instability and fatigue.

☐ “Unfair” becomes common shop-floor language.
The word “unfair” means more than dissatisfaction — it signals loss of trust. Employees believe rules are applied inconsistently, and that perception drives disengagement and attrition.

☐ Supervisor burnout.
Your best front-line leaders are caught between coverage crises and workforce frustration. When supervisors spend more time firefighting than leading, performance will fade.

☐ Declining engagement scores.
Communication dries up, participation drops, and meetings feel tense. Once people stop speaking up, meaningful change becomes exponentially harder.

☐ Safety incidents linked to fatigue
Near-misses or accidents cluster late in shifts or after rotation changes. Fatigue is no longer just an HR concern — it’s a productivity and safety liability.

☐ Schedule inflexibility stifles families
Employees struggle with childcare, medical appointments, or education commitments. When real lives can’t accommodate the schedule, turnover becomes inevitable.

☐ Loss of curiosity and improvement ideas
Continuous improvement slows because people are too tired or too skeptical to care. When curiosity fades, you’re running on compliance, not commitment.

☐ “Old timer vs. new hire” tension
Unequal overtime or inconsistent shift assignment breeds cultural fault lines. You may be running two workforces under one roof.

Policy, Leadership & Change Symptoms

☐ Conflicting policies
Vacation, overtime, and holiday pay rules designed for 8-hour days no longer make sense on 12s — and everyone notices. Policy lag is a silent morale killer.

☐ Communication gaps between crews
Critical information dies at shift change. Each crew “reinvents the wheel” instead of building on previous progress, a classic symptom of poor handoff design.

☐ Management invisible on nights and weekends
When leadership only shows up during day shift, off-shift employees feel like second-class citizens. Morale and performance drop accordingly.

☐ Slow decision cycles on schedule issues
Schedule changes stall in endless debate because data ownership is unclear. Without clear accountability, everyone discusses — no one decides.

☐ “Temporary fixes” that never end
Stop-gap overtime lists or borrowed staff become permanent band-aids. Your schedule has lost elasticity, and you’re compensating with human effort.

☐ Policy non-compliance risks
Missed breaks, rest violations, or pay-rule errors aren’t just paperwork issues — they’re legal and financial time bombs.

☐ Lingering mistrust from past changes
Even technically perfect schedules fail when employees feel previous changes were imposed without their input. Every future initiative inherits that baggage.

☐ Improvement paralysis
When every proposal meets the phrase “we tried that once,” your adaptability muscle has atrophied. Change isn’t just hard — it’s unwelcome.

Looking Beyond Symptoms: Interpreting Your Operation’s Early Warning Signals

Shiftwork operations are the engine room of your business. When the schedule behind them falls out of alignment, performance doesn’t fall off a cliff — it erodes one difficult day at a time. The best leaders don’t wait for a visible failure. They act when the first signals show up.

And those signals are rarely isolated. The symptoms you see today are connected indicators of deeper structural drift — misalignments between coverage, demand, fatigue, communication, and the lived experience of your people. Looking beyond individual symptoms to the system underneath is where real advantage begins.

As you prepare for 2026, here are the questions high-performing operations leaders are asking:

    • Is our schedule becoming one of our strongest assets — or one of our most overlooked liabilities?
    • Is our schedule driving the performance we need, or quietly draining it?
    • Is our schedule supporting the people who keep our business running — or making their jobs harder than they need to be?
    • Is our schedule built for next year’s realities, or last year’s assumptions?
    • Is our schedule giving us an operational edge — or giving our competitors one?

A schedule aligned with real demand and the realities of your workforce is one of the strongest levers an operations leader can pull. It touches every employee, every shift, every hour of the year — and when it’s built intentionally, it becomes an asset that compounds over time.

Leaders who examine their schedule now set the pace for next year. Leaders who wait will find themselves reacting to it.

If the answer to any of these questions leaves room for doubt, this is the moment to step back, reassess, and realign the system that powers your entire operation.

A schedule built with clarity, data, and genuine workforce involvement becomes a competitive advantage no competitor can easily replicate.

If these symptoms or questions felt familiar, you are not alone — and you don’t need to guess what they mean. We’ve built a fast, comprehensive diagnostic tool designed specifically for shiftwork operations, giving leaders clear visibility into the true health of their system.

In under 10 minutes, the Shift Operations Health Assessment evaluates eight mission-critical dimensions that determine the performance and stability of multi-shift operations. Take our 35-question online assessment to understand where your system is strong, where strain is building, and where targeted improvements will deliver the greatest impact.

Ready to see how your operation measures up? Get an expert-built diagnostic to avoid guesswork.

👉 Jump in and get your free assessment here!

 

The Schedule Change That Looked Perfect — Until It Didn’t

Why employee involvement isn’t a nice-to-have—it’s the difference between success and costly failure

By Jim Dillingham, Partner, Shiftwork Solutions

The schedule looked excellent on paper.

A pharmaceutical manufacturer needed to expand from 5-day to 7-day operations. Their engineering team designed a 12-hour rotation that provided perfect coverage, minimized overtime, and would delay a $15 million capital investment by two years. The math worked. The coverage worked. Management approved it.

Six months later, turnover had spiked 40%, overtime costs had doubled, and they were hiring temps to fill the gaps. The “perfect” schedule was failing spectacularly.

What went wrong?

Why involve employees in schedule change decisions?

They designed the schedule in a conference room. They never asked the people who would actually work it.

The Fatal Assumption

The pharmaceutical company made assumptions about what its workforce wanted. They figured everyone would appreciate the pattern they’d designed—good coverage, reasonable rotations, fair distribution of shifts.

But here’s what they missed: employees don’t judge schedules the way managers do. Managers evaluate coverage. Employees evaluate how the schedule affects their ability to live their lives outside of work.

Your 55-year-old master technician with 30 years of service might want predictability and weekends off to see grandchildren. Or he might want maximum overtime to finish paying for those weddings and college tuitions.

Your 28-year-old process operator with 2 years in might want maximum days off because she’s not married and her friends work service industry jobs. Or she might desperately need every weekend off because she’s a single parent coordinating with her ex-spouse.

Your skilled maintenance tech with 10 years in might want all the overtime you’ll give him. Or he might want zero overtime because he’s going back to school nights.

The point is: you cannot know until you ask.

Why Demographics Matter More Than You Think

In over 30 years of successfully implementing change in shiftwork structures, we’ve found that understanding your demographics matters enormously. Age, length of service, gender, department—all influence what people are looking for in a schedule. People with kids at home often have different schedule priorities than empty nesters. A single parent might value predictability for childcare coordination. An operator without dependents might prioritize maximum days off for travel or hobbies.

Often. Might. Not always.

We’ve seen patterns over three decades: newer employees often prioritize maximum time off; mid-career employees often want predictability and income; senior employees often value weekends and fixed shifts. These patterns are useful starting points.

But they’re just that—starting points. We’ve worked with 25-year-olds desperate for weekend stability and 55-year-olds who’d happily work every Saturday for the right compensation. We’ve seen female-dominated departments prioritize completely different factors than male-dominated ones at the same facility—and vice versa at a different company.

That’s precisely why we survey. You cannot assume. You have to ask.

The pharmaceutical company’s fatal mistake wasn’t ignoring demographics—it was assuming they knew what those demographics meant without ever asking their actual workforce. They built a schedule based on what they thought their employees wanted, not what those employees would have told them if asked.

What Actually Works

After that expensive failure, the pharmaceutical company called us. Here’s what we did differently:

  1. First, we surveyed the entire workforce. Not a generic “do you like this schedule” poll, but with a structured assessment that revealed what different groups value most. We explored how employees weigh time off, stability, and work-life fit, and how those priorities vary across roles and shifts.
  2. Second, we analyzed what they told us. Some patterns matched expectations. Many didn’t. The data revealed preferences management never would have guessed, and our benchmark analysis highlighted where the operation diverged from industry norms—giving us a precise starting point for designing viable options.
  3. Third, we designed multiple patterns—each meeting the company’s coverage needs but offering different time-off and predictability characteristics. By presenting several fully vetted options, we ensured employees could choose what best fit their lives while management could trust that any selected pattern would work.
  4. Fourth, we let employees choose. Each shift group chose from the fully vetted patterns, with seniority guiding final placement. Their involvement in creating those options meant everyone understood why schedules differed—and that clarity transformed acceptance into genuine commitment.
  5. Fifth, we guided the transition. Once employees selected their preferred pattern, we supported leaders and crews through a structured rollout—clarifying policies, answering questions, and ensuring everyone understood how the new schedules would work in practice. We held shift-by-shift discussions, addressed concerns early, and helped supervisors communicate consistently across all teams. By involving employees throughout the transition, we reduced uncertainty, created shared understanding, and ensured the new schedules launched smoothly and with broad support.

The Impact

Turnover dropped below pre-change levels. Overtime normalized. The capital investment stayed delayed. Most importantly, employees supported the schedule because they helped shape it.

The Real Cost of Top-Down Mandates

That company learned an expensive lesson: you can have the mathematically perfect schedule, but if it ignores what your workforce actually values, you’ll pay for it in turnover, overtime, and lost productivity.

Change management in shift operations isn’t just about announcing decisions—it’s about involving the people affected by those decisions from day one. The math matters, but so do the people working the schedule. And those people will tell you what they need—if you ask the right questions and actually listen to the answers.

We’ve spent three decades learning how to translate workforce insight, operational realities, and policy alignment into schedules that truly work. If you’re planning a change, let’s make sure it’s grounded in the right data and designed to stick—before costly missteps occur. Schedule a free consultation.

Tapping Into the Untapped Workforce

Creative ways to expand your hiring pool in a tight labor market 

The labor shortage isn’t going away. Across industries, employers are facing the same challenge: finding enough reliable people to keep operations running smoothly. Yet while companies compete for the same shrinking pool of traditional candidates, a wide range of capable workers remain on the sidelines. 

These are individuals who could join the workforce if barriers were lowered or flexibility was offered—parents with childcare challenges, students, part-timers, and even members of Gen Z rethinking their career paths. With thoughtful policies and scheduling approaches, employers can unlock this hidden talent. From “summer swaps” to Casual Call-In Lists and smart benefit design, small adjustments can unlock new sources of talent and strengthen retention. 

Parents with Childcare Barriers 

Parents who want to work but can’t find or afford daycare represent one of the largest groups of untapped talent. Traditional solutions—onsite daycare or subsidies—come with drawbacks: the cost and complexity of running childcare services, or the perception of unfairness among employees without children. 

What to consider: 

    • Broaden benefits. Offer childcare support as part of a package that includes perks like wellness stipends or discounts—something for everyone, not just parents. 
    • Try a “summer swap.” Allow parents more flexibility in the summer while filling those shifts with students looking for seasonal jobs. Done well, this creates a win-win balance for both groups. 
Students, Part-Timers, and Flex-Seekers 

Not everyone can—or wants to—commit to 40 hours a week. Students, people with second incomes, and those juggling life commitments often seek flexible options. While they may not fit the traditional “ideal” employee profile, they can be a valuable addition if the right structures are in place. 

What to consider: 

    • Create a Casual Call-In List. Instead of relying solely on temp agencies, maintain your own roster of people willing to work occasional shifts. This gives your operation a flexible cushion and provides locals with extra income opportunities. 
    • Match skill levels smartly. Assign routine tasks to casual workers while giving your trained full-timers the chance to step up into more complex roles. 
    • Balance carefully. Ensure casual work doesn’t become so appealing that your full-timers shift away from stable roles. Flexibility must strengthen—not erode—your core workforce. 
Gen Z and the Blue-Collar Shift 

While some see Gen Z as a difficult group to recruit, there’s a surprising opportunity: many young people are moving toward the trades. With AI disrupting white-collar jobs, hands-on roles in manufacturing, logistics, and skilled trades look increasingly secure and attractive. 

Why it matters: 

    • Gen Z values immediate earning potential and minimal debt. 
    • Manufacturing plants that partner with trade schools and offer on-the-job training are already capturing this talent. 
    • Clear career pathways and competitive wages can turn short-term workers into long-term contributors. 
Turning Ideas into Action 

Unlocking hidden talent isn’t just about good intentions—it requires planning. Employers need to weigh questions like: 

    • What’s the ROI of expanding benefits packages? 
    • How do you structure a summer swap without disrupting production? 
    • What pay and policies best support casual workers while maintaining fairness? 

These challenges are real, but so is the opportunity. With creativity and careful design, companies can broaden their hiring base, reduce turnover, and build a more resilient workforce. 

✅ If you’d like to explore how strategies like these could work in your operation, Shiftwork Solutions can help you analyze costs, design policies, and structure schedules that balance business needs with workforce engagement.

👉 See how we can assist you best with our services.

👉 Or schedule a call and we’ll contact you.

The 32-Hour Workweek: What It Means for 24/7 Manufacturing

How can a 24/7 operation maintain full coverage and control labor costs if every hour beyond 32 requires overtime pay?

When we first explored the idea of a 32-hour, 4-day workweek, we looked at the broader implications for employers and employees alike—highlighting both the appeal of a better work-life balance and the real risks of rising labor costs and staffing complexity.

Now, by popular demand, we take a closer look at how this plays out in 24/7 operations—and what leaders need to weigh as interest in this concept continues to grow.

The Future of Work Is Shrinking 

Momentum is building behind the idea of a shorter workweek—specifically, a 32-hour threshold before overtime kicks in. U.S. lawmakers have introduced related legislation, and global pilot programs have shown promising results: higher employee satisfaction, improved work-life balance, and even productivity gains. 

While this shift is relatively straightforward for office environments, continuous operations—such as manufacturing, logistics, and food processing—face a more complex challenge:

How can a 24/7 operation maintain full coverage and control labor costs if every hour beyond 32 requires overtime pay? 

How Schedules Work Today 

Most companies use one of two basic scheduling models: 

Monday–Friday Systems (1, 2, or 3 Crews) 

    • Typically 8-hour shifts 
    • Covers 40 hours per week per employee 
    • No built-in overtime 
    • Common in non-continuous operations 
  • 24/7 Systems (4 or 5 Crews) 
    • Designed to cover every hour of the week 
    • 4-Crew Systems: Average 42 hours/week per employee, with alternating 36- and 48-hour weeks (some built-in overtime) 
    • 5-Crew Systems: Average 41.6 hours/week, using the fifth crew for training and relief 
  • These models are optimized for the current 40-hour threshold. But if the overtime trigger drops to 32 hours, the math—and the economics—change significantly. 

The Cost of Compliance 

If a 32-hour workweek becomes law, any hours worked beyond that would require overtime pay. For 24/7 operations, this presents two options: 

    • Absorb higher labor costs, or 
    • Redesign schedules to reduce weekly hours without sacrificing coverage. 
  • Which Models Can Adapt? 

Here’s how different crew models stack up under a 32-hour threshold: 

1, 2, or 3-Crew Systems

    • Option 1: Keep schedules unchanged. Employees work 40 hours, but 8 are now overtime—resulting in a 10% pay increase and higher labor costs. 
    • Option 2: Redesign schedules to cap at 32 hours. Requires hiring more staff and managing staggered days off—also increasing costs. 

4-Crew Systems 

    • Currently average 42 hours/week with 44 hours of pay. 
    • Under new rules, pay would rise to 47 hours for the same work—a 6.8% increase. 
  • Avoiding overtime would require complex overstaffing strategies that may not yield financial benefits. 

5-Crew Systems 

    • Most adaptable to change. 
    • If all 5 crews are used for coverage (instead of reserving one for relief/training), each crew would average 33.6 hours/week. 
    • Only 1.6 hours of overtime per week—significantly reducing cost impact. 
    • However, this sacrifices training and relief capacity, potentially requiring a 6-crew model—a concept not yet widely adopted. 

Strategic Action: What Leaders Should Do Now 

To prepare for a potential shift, organizations should: 

    • Audit current schedules: How many employees regularly exceed 32 hours? 
    • Model alternatives: What would a 5-crew rotation look like in your operation? 
    • Evaluate trade-offs: Is it more cost-effective to pay overtime or hire additional staff? 
    • Think beyond cost: Consider fatigue, turnover, and how your choices impact your ability to draw top talent. 

Proactive planning will position your organization to adapt quickly—whether or not a mandate arrives. 

Our Perspective: Shiftwork Solutions 

At Shiftwork Solutions, we’ve helped 24/7 operations across the country design sustainable, cost-effective schedules. With our data-driven modeling tools, we help businesses: 

    • Balance labor costs with operational needs 
    • Design schedules that support employee well-being 
    • Navigate major transitions with minimal disruption 

Let’s map out your options—while you still have time to shape the outcome. Whether you’re preparing for a 32-hour workweek or simply exploring alternatives, we can help you get ahead. Call us now at (415) 763-5005, or complete our contact form, and we’ll reach out to you. 

Management By Walking Around: A Tale of Two Plants

Two plants took completely different approaches to leadership. One hums like clockwork. The other scrambles to stay on track. Curious what made the difference?

A few years ago, I visited a food manufacturing plant where the HR manager’s office was tucked away behind a reception area. The door had a glass window—but it had been painted over with an opaque green. Curious, I asked the HR manager about it. He replied, “This way, employees can’t see if I’m in. If they know I’m here, they’ll come in all day, and I’ll never get anything done.” 

That moment stuck with me. 

The consequences were predictable. The plant was dirty. The workforce felt ignored and disconnected. Their concerns went unheard. Attendance was poor, turnover was high, and both performance and quality suffered. 

In contrast, I recently toured another food manufacturing facility. This time, the plant manager led the tour himself. He greeted every employee by name. He offered birthday wishes and congratulations. Occasionally, someone would approach him with a question or just chat—and he gave them his full attention. 

The plant was immaculate. At one point, he noticed a small oil leak from a machine. Without saying a word, a maintenance worker appeared shortly after and addressed it. The manager didn’t mention the leak—instead, he asked the technician how his day was going. They chatted briefly, and we moved on. When we passed the same spot later, the leak was gone, and the area was spotless. 

After visiting plant floors across the country, I’ve learned that nothing shapes a workplace more than leadership. Experience teaches you to spot it quickly—whether a facility runs on trust and visibility, or silence and detachment. Of all the sites I’ve walked, these two stand out as lasting lessons in what leadership presence really means. 

In today’s labor market, where skilled workers are hard to find and harder to keep, it is worth remembering people don’t just quit jobs—they quit managers. Employees don’t want managers on the floor because they need to be watched. They want them there because it shows that leadership sees their contributions. It shows that they matter. 

In my experience, Management by Walking Around is one of the most effective tools a leader can use. It doesn’t require a budget or a strategy session—just the willingness to show up, listen, and engage. 

And the best part? It works. When leadership listens, employees engage. 

Disconnected workforce? Poor retention? Declining morale? Our proven Employee Engagement process helps leadership reconnect with frontline teams—restoring trust, improving communication, and uncovering the real issues affecting your operation. Call (415)763-5005 today to start the conversation—or fill out our contact form, and we’ll reach out to you. 

Characteristics of Effective Shift Schedules

When considering alternative shift schedules, you should evaluate how they affect your cost structure and whether they make your operation easier to manage. At a minimum, an effective schedule should:

  • Keep your best and/or most expensive equipment productive, i.e. maximize your equipment utilization.
  • Provide continuous coverage in areas that have significant start-up and shutdown costs.
  • Match the coverage to the workload. In other words, provide enough coverage to get the necessary work done, and no more.
  • Have the ability to flex up to meet customer demands, flex down when the workload is low.
  • Not be constrained by pay and work policies that make normal operating situations excessively expensive.

Let’s examine each of these five characteristics in more detail.

Maximize Equipment Utilization

Equipment utilization can be a huge economic driver in establishing the level of coverage that your schedule should provide. Since there are 168 available operating hours in a week (24 x 7), you should use this as your basis for evaluating equipment utilization.

Part of the operating hours is used for maintenance, setup, cleaning and product changeovers. The typical plant loses 15% of its operating time to perform these functions, which reduces equipment utilization to 85%.

Many companies plan their operations around a schedule that provides five days of coverage, 24 hours a day. This is a 120-hour planning week that, at best, yields an equipment utilization of 71.4% (120/168). Using the typical 0.85 operating factor results in a utilization of only 60.7%.

Therefore, the typical facility running five days a week can expect to increase equipment utilization by about 24% (85% – 60.7%) with a 7-day schedule.

Figure 1 demonstrates the value of improving the equipment utilization for $1 million worth of equipment. As an example, if your plant has $25 million of capital and equipment invested at a 10% cost of capital, you could realize a savings of $550,000/year by changing from 5-days to 7-days a week.

Provide Continuous Coverage

In a manufacturing environment, there are often significant benefits to using a schedule that provides continuous coverage. Operations that unnecessarily shut down their equipment for breaks, lunches, shift changes, or at the conclusion of the workweek are probably increasing their overall cost structure. Increased costs are generated by:

  • Losses of equipment utilization of up to 11%.
  • Labor required to complete start-up and shutdown procedures (cleaning, setup, and adjustment) that do not result in actual production and would not be required if the equipment continued to operate.
  • Scrap created as part of the start-up or shutdown process.
  • Lost capacity opportunities experienced as “bugs” are worked out of the system on start-up. This also results in lower labor productivity.
  • Increased maintenance problems caused by cycling the equipment more than necessary.

Continuous coverage can be provided at shift change by having face-to-face turnover meetings between operators on attended equipment. While this may require some overlap, it also creates an environment of accountability and fosters communication between shifts.

Equipment does not need to be shut down for breaks and lunches if a break relief system is used. One of the best systems uses dedicated relief personnel who move from position to position to allow operating personnel to take breaks. In addition to keeping equipment running, this type of system encourages personnel to stick to their assigned break times so that they do not adversely affect their co-workers.

In some plants, an alternative to using relief personnel is to run short-staffed during breaks and use cross-trained personnel from nearby areas to alert personnel on break if a problem occurs. This usually is not as effective as using actual relief personnel, since problems that do occur during a break are normally not handled as well as they would be if dedicated personnel were readily available.

Match Coverage to the Workload

It is surprising how many companies force their production and staffing plans to fit their shift schedule rather than the other way around. This type of mismatch can result in hidden costs that could easily be eliminated with an appropriate schedule.

As an example of this type of situation, consider a manufacturer with ten production lines using a traditional 120-hour (5×24) schedule. This plant’s product demand requires the ten lines to run about 90% of the time. In other words, one line will normally be scheduled down at any given time, resulting in 10% overstaffing in the plant.

An alternative to this strategy is to design a schedule that would provide 90% of the current coverage, i.e. a schedule that provides full coverage for 108 hours each week. This will eliminate the 10% idle time built into the traditional 120-hour schedule, and lower facility costs such as utilities.

Let’s assume the managers at this plant have done their homework, and recognize the overstaffing situation. They realize that their employees are going to be absent for about two and a half weeks for vacations and about one week for illness and other reasons (this is about 7% absenteeism). Given this situation, they have made the decision to staff for ten lines, and reassign personnel from the down line to fill coverage gaps on the operating lines.

This all sounds reasonable, but it isn’t cheap. Even if the absence theory holds up, the plant still appears to be three percent overstaffed. In reality, the absence theory does not hold up either. Seven percent of the workforce will not be absent every day the plant operates. Some days it will be more than seven percent and on other days it will be less. The two possible solutions are to reduce the day-to-day staffing and never run ten lines at a time or to implement a schedule with less than 120 hours/week of coverage.

Prepare for Variable Workloads

Many manufacturing companies experience variable workloads due to changes in product demand, or variable staffing availability due to vacations and illness. For example, Figure 2 shows the weekly operating hours needed to meet the production demand for one year at a Mid-Western manufacturer.

In order to provide exactly the right amount of coverage for this type of variable workload using personnel working 40-hour workweeks and no overtime, we would continually increase and decrease the staffing in parallel with the changing product demand. For example, assuming 100 people are required to staff this plant with straight time, given the changing product demand, the number of people required would vary as shown in Figure 3.

Since most companies want to keep employees for the long term, they try to maintain the same staffing level throughout the year. This makes a situation like the one shown in Figure 3 undesirable. Therefore, variable demand fluctuations are met by varying the coverage with secondary coverage adjustment mechanisms, such as planned overtime, temporary employees, training and other discretionary work management, and planned time-off management. Short-term adjustments include unplanned overtime and using temporary or contract labor.

Revise Pay and Work Policies

The best shift schedules have a set of pay and work policies that are matched to the schedule. Most pay and work policy systems were designed to manage a Monday through Friday, eight-hour shift schedule. Typical policies on this schedule include:

  • Daily premium paid for hours worked beyond 8 hours/day.
  • Weekend premiums for working on Sat. and Sun.
  • Holidays, vacations, and other paid time-off are paid and tracked in eight-hour blocks.

When these policies are applied to schedules that use different shift lengths or cover more than five days in a week, they will usually increase the cost to operate the facility. This increased cost results in more operating restrictions and lowers your ability to respond to your customers’ demands.

The best schedules have custom-designed pay and work policies that allow the operation the maximum flexibility while still meeting the principles that traditional schedules were designed to meet. That is, they:

  • Meet all Federal, State, and Local labor laws.
  • Pay employees a premium when they must work in unusual situations (e.g. work longer than scheduled or on a day-off).
  • Provide income replacement for paid time off.
  • Equalize pay when workweeks are not balanced.
  • Equally compensate employees working the same jobs, side-by-side, under the same conditions (including the number of hours worked and days off), on different shift schedules.

Satisfying these principles should result in a schedule and pay/work policy combination that avoids the 2-15% cost increase that many companies feel they must absorb when they change to a schedule that better meets their production demands.

Satisfy Employee Requirements

While the focus of this article has been on the business characteristics of effective shift schedules, effective schedules also meet the needs of the workforce. The schedule belongs to the people that work it, and at most companies, things run better when the people are happy. Some of the top issues that employees want to see addressed when they are asked to evaluate alternative schedules are:

  • Pay — especially overtime and weekend/shift premiums.
  • Time off — especially on weekends and holidays.
  • Predictability. Most workers prefer some consistency in their time off.
  • Job difficulty & fatigue — long shifts, numerous shifts worked in a row, and rate of rotation all can affect the attractiveness of a shift schedule.

The bottom line is that you must understand what your employees want if you are going to implement a successful schedule. The best schedule for the business is no good if the employees can’t live with it.

We can help you find the most effective shift work solution to address your needs. Call or text us today at (415) 763-5005.

Non-wage Solutions to Rising Wage Pressure

Unable to compete on wages, HR managers in manufacturing need alternative ways to attract quality employees. This post discusses non-wage solutions for controlling costs, reducing turnover, and keeping employees engaged.

Back when we were recovering from the Great Recession, we all knew this was coming. We watched and cheered as unemployment numbers dropped, month after month. This meant the economy was recovering. Manufacturing, in many industries, has reached the tipping point and is returning to the United States at a pace not seen in decades. One of the results of this “bountifulness” is a lack of skilled labor. In some cases, it’s a lack of labor at even the most basic levels. Part of this is a training issue. We have modernized our production methods without a training mentality to keep pace with the new skills we need. Part of this is just “not enough bodies.” The result is a scarcity of labor which drives up the cost of labor as we compete for this ever-dwindling resource.

The most obvious way to deal with this – to bring in the labor with the skills you need – is to raise wages. Raise that wage bar high enough and labor no longer becomes a problem. However, you have now changed your cost structure and thus your profitability. In some industries, labor costs are a small component of the Cost of Goods Manufactured and increased wages have relatively little impact. In other areas, labor costs eat away at a small profit margin and your very survivability depends on your keeping these costs low.

Use your schedule as part of the attraction

So, what can you do if you don’t want to, or don’t have the ability to raise wages? The answer is to use your schedule as part of the attraction. Make it one of the reasons people want to work for you and not the company across the street.

Here are a few ways to do this:

    1. Maximize days off. The overwhelming preference of our labor force is to work longer days to get more days off. As an example, let’s assume an employee works 40 hours a week or 2,080 hours a year. If they work 8-hour days, they will have to work 260 days a year. If they work 10-hour days, they will have to work 208 days a year. If they work 12-hour days they will have to work 173.3 days per year.
    2. Make your work schedule one that fits the needs of your employees. Don’t assume you know what your workforce wants. Ask them. Ask them in such a way as to allow everyone to participate. This means creating a setting where the “loud cannot intimidate the meek.”
    3. Make your work schedule predictable. This means creating a system where your employees know when they can work and when they can plan on not being at work.
    4. Look at flex-time or work-from-home ideas.  There is little doubt that employees find these types of ideas attractive.
    5. Use overtime as a benefit. This means finding out how much overtime your workforce wants as well as who wants it and who does not. You want to be able to get overtime to those that like it while not forcing it on those that don’t. This will improve predictability as well as help you to compete wage-wise. A company across the street may pay $15 an hour while you only pay $14. However, if you offer a lot of overtime, your overtime employees will recognize that they can make a lot more money working for you. Along with making overtime available, try to absolutely minimize the number of times overtime is “mandated” or assigned on short/no notice.
    6. Create a participative work environment. No one likes to be told what to do. When I go to a site and find the workforce somewhat disgruntled, it is nearly always a communication issue. More specifically, it’s a feeling of “I don’t matter” or “No one is listening to me.” Keep in mind, people come to work for the money but stay for other things such as job recognition, the ability to advance and a feeling of accomplishment.
    7. Make your actions and policies transparent and apply them fairly. All too often, I come across employees who misunderstand a policy or feel they are being singled out. When this happens, it is important to listen and investigate. They might be right. Or, they might be wrong but are just seeing things incorrectly. Feelings of “not fair” are precursors to an employee leaving for greener, more just, pastures.

The right schedule choice can help keep costs and attrition low and employees engaged. Asking the workforce about their preferences, however, has the utmost importance and so does the way you manage and communicate the change and keep up the participative work environment.

Call Us – we can help you compete for labor in an increasingly tight labor market.

Call or text us today at (415) 763-5005 to discuss your specific situation and how to address your plant’s challenges. You can also complete our contact form and we will call you.

12 Symptoms You May Not Know Are Connected

Business Leaders and Managers regularly scan the health of their organizations. Even the most well-run businesses are embedded in a complex ecosystem with many influencing factors. Certain sub-optimal signals and symptoms may show up from time to time.  When this happens, managers first look for the root cause – often buried among multiple signals – across several value streams. If there are multiple issues, are they interrelated, or stand-alone? Are the stakeholders aligned or conflicted?  What is the best path towards discovery and resolution?

Are there hidden inefficiencies impacting your operation’s performance?

Let’s find out if any of the following is holding you back: 

    1. High absenteeism
    2. Stockpiles and shortfalls within a Value Chain
    3. A steady decline in product quality
    4. Low responsiveness to customer demands
    5. Instances of overstaffing and understaffing
    6. Increasing schedule dissatisfaction voiced by the workforce
    7. Poor quality employee engagement, especially with non-day shifts
    8. Overtime adversely affecting employee morale and productivity
    9. Difficulty in retaining new employees, especially on non-day shifts
    10. High employee turnover
    11. Lack of flexibility needed to respond to variable workload
    12. High FMLA

The list doesn’t end here. Further examples include poor communication between shifts and crews, rising safety issues, especially related to alertness or low maintenance accomplishment. If  your company faces the above symptoms it may signal deeper structural issues within your shiftwork system. It suggests that the system is perhaps ripe for a structural shiftwork change. 

Recognizing these warning signs can help you improve workforce morale, boost productivity, and enhance operational efficiency. Learn how to evaluate these challenges and implement proactive solutions to drive growth and retention. Don’t let outdated scheduling hold your business back—discover actionable strategies to optimize your workforce and achieve operational excellence.

Connect the dots

Do you have questions about symptoms in your organization? Do you want to find out if they point to a need to transform your current shiftwork schedules? Let our experts help to connect the dots.  Give us a call at (415) 763-5005 for a free consultation.

On-Call Systems: The Key to Seamless 12-Hour Shift Coverage

Unexpected absences happen, but your operations don’t have to come to a halt because of them. A well-designed on-call system can ensure business continuity by filling those last-minute gaps efficiently. Whether you manage a plant, or any operation with round-the-clock demands, on-call systems offer a reliable safety net.

What is an On-Call System?

An on-call system is a formal arrangement where non-working employees are designated to be available in case they’re needed on short notice. These systems are designed to fill critical vacancies or respond to unexpected workload surges, ensuring that your business keeps running smoothly.

When Do You Need On-Call Coverage?

On-call systems are especially valuable in scenarios where:

·        Minimum staffing levels must be maintained: Industries such as chemicals, refining, power generation and emergency healthcare services cannot afford to have coverage gaps, and want to ensure that essential operations continue uninterrupted.

·        Highly skilled roles are needed: When specialized knowledge or certifications are required, on-call employees ensure that those roles are always filled by qualified personnel.

·        There is no readily available source of coverage: In industries with long shifts, like 12-hour shifts, or where the on-shift personnel cannot be held over. 

How Do On-Call Systems Work?

A typical on-call system includes:

·        Defined on-call windows: Employees are typically on-call for a specific time period, usually around shift change. This window might be from an hour before the shift starts to 30 minutes after it begins.

·        Compensation: In many industrial settings, on-call pay is not provided. The responsibility is considered a normal part of the job.

·        Reachability: On-call employees must be easily reachable and ready to report to work when needed. Failure to respond can lead to disciplinary actions.

·        Coverage ratio: One on-call employee is often assigned to cover three or four on-shift workers.

·        Cross-training: Cross-training employees for multiple roles ensures flexibility, allowing the on-call pool to fill a wide range of positions.

Balancing Operational Needs with Employee Well-Being

While on-call systems are essential for maintaining continuity, they can disrupt employees’ personal lives. Striking a balance is key. One way to manage this is by rotating on-call duties fairly across your team. Consider offering incentives for employees who are frequently on-call to acknowledge their commitment and reduce the likelihood of burnout.

Conclusion

A well-implemented on-call system is essential for businesses that need uninterrupted coverage. By planning ahead, cross-training your team, and utilizing scheduling tools, you can ensure that your operations run smoothly—even when the unexpected happens.

If you’re looking to improve your on-call system or absence coverage, we’re here to help. Contact us today at (415) 763-5005 or contact@shift-work.com to learn how we can tailor a solution to meet your specific needs.  You can also schedule a meeting directly with one of our experts by clicking here.

Understanding the Compressed Work Week: A smart strategy for enhanced staffing and scheduling.

Compressed Work Week (CWW) schedules are gaining popularity in various industries for their ability to provide employees with more time off while maintaining or even enhancing operational efficiency. But is this model right for your business? In this article, we will explore how CWWs work, their benefits and drawbacks, and provide some real-world scenarios to help you determine whether this approach could be beneficial for your staffing and scheduling needs.

What is a Compressed Work Week?

A Compressed Work Week allows employees to work longer hours on fewer days, resulting in additional days off. Instead of working the traditional five 8-hour shifts, employees may work four 10-hour shifts or three 12-hour shifts, for example. The main idea is that by working more hours per day, employees gain more consecutive days off without reducing their total weekly hours.

Is a Compressed Work Week Right for You?

Whether or not a CWW schedule will work for your organization depends on your specific needs and operational setup. Below are a few scenarios that illustrate the impact of a CWW on different types of businesses:

Scenario 1: Single Employee, Minimal Scheduling Requirements

In this case, a company employs one person who trims trees for 8 hours a day, five days a week. Here, the scheduling is relatively flexible. The employee can work in either 8-hour or 10-hour increments without major disruptions to the business. However, if the employee works 12-hour shifts, overtime costs may increase, as the total weekly hours will exceed 40 in some weeks. In this situation, no additional staffing is necessary, but overtime expenses are a key consideration.

Scenario 2: Single Employee, Fixed Shift Length

A receptionist working 8 hours a day, five days a week, offers a different challenge. Since the job only requires 8 hours of coverage per day, moving to a CWW schedule means paying for extra hours that aren’t needed. Furthermore, the employee would only work four days a week, requiring additional staffing or overtime to cover the fifth day, which could increase operational costs.

Scenario 3: Multiple Employees, Flexible Shift Needs

In a business where five employees work 8 hours a day, but only four are needed at any given time, a CWW schedule can work well. By moving to 10-hour shifts, each employee can work four days per week, ensuring the necessary coverage without incurring overtime. However, the situation becomes complicated when the number of employees doesn’t neatly align with daily staffing needs, potentially leading to inefficiencies.

Key Takeaways from Compressed Work Week Scheduling

As these examples show, whether or not a CWW is the right choice for your business depends on your specific staffing requirements. When considering this model, it’s important to weigh the potential for increased employee satisfaction against operational efficiency and cost control.

Employee Satisfaction and Retention: Employees often enjoy CWW schedules because of the extra days off. While the longer workdays may initially be challenging, the benefits of extended time off usually result in higher job satisfaction. This can improve retention, but keep in mind that if you revert to a traditional schedule after implementing a CWW, employee dissatisfaction could lead to turnover.

Health and Well-Being: Interestingly, research shows that employees on CWW schedules tend to sleep more overall compared to those on traditional 8-hour schedules. While they may sleep less on workdays, they significantly make up for it on their days off, contributing to improved overall well-being.

Industries Best Suited for CWW: Compressed workweeks are most commonly implemented in 24/7 operations, such as healthcare, manufacturing, or security. These industries often benefit from the CWW model due to the continuous nature of their work and the need for constant staffing.

Conclusion

Implementing a Compressed Work Week can bring a host of benefits, from improved employee satisfaction to streamlined operations—if it’s the right fit for your business. The key to success is understanding your operational needs, considering the trade-offs, and ensuring that any changes made to the schedule will enhance, rather than disrupt, your operations.

If you’re interested in exploring how a CWW could work for your organization, or if you need help optimizing your current scheduling practices, we’re here to help. Contact us today to discuss your options and find the best solution for your business.”

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