All companies are unique. We found this to be true while working with hundreds of organizations across multiple industries. However, commonalities do exist. The following 12 insights tend to be universally true in a broad sense. Interestingly, some of these insights may run counter to your intuition. There are always variances, exceptions to the rule; … Continue reading “12 unexpected insights ―When it comes to shiftwork, do you know what you don’t know?”

12 most frequently asked questions from business leaders before undergoing a schedule change

Once Operations and Human Resource Managers realize that some pain points may have a common root-cause, they may put their heads together and come to an agreement – their shift schedule may be causing many of their biggest problems.  Some proactive steps must be taken. As an exploration gets underway, questions arise from seemingly every … Continue reading “12 most frequently asked questions from business leaders before undergoing a schedule change”

Why Your 12-hour Schedule is More Attractive than You Think

If you are a Human Resources Manager, then you are well aware of the difficulty in finding quality employees in today’s tight labor market.  You and everyone else in your local area are competing for an ever-shrinking pool of potential employees.  You have a 12-hour schedule and, at first glance, this seems to be putting … Continue reading “Why Your 12-hour Schedule is More Attractive than You Think”

Scheduling Supervision

Both, Plant Managers and HR Managers have questions about scheduling supervision; especially with regards to a schedule change. Let’s cut right to the chase on this one: Should supervisors be on the same schedule as the people that they supervise? The answer is unequivocal – YES. Supervisors have one of the most complicated tasks at … Continue reading “Scheduling Supervision”

Making Shift Assignments

It’s human nature to not like change.  There are a lot of reasons for this, among the biggest is the fear of the unknown.  People “know” what’s going on now.  They “know” how things work.  Anything different is unknown. A schedule change is probably the biggest change your workforce will go through in a generation.  … Continue reading “Making Shift Assignments”

Draft Day – Assigning shifts on Your New Schedule

As supervisors and managers go through a process to change the shift schedule, the workforce will experience several different emotions; mostly in a predictable sequence. First, there will be a surprise, fear or even anger as the news breaks – “We are going to move to a 24/7 schedule.” Depending on your project’s process, the … Continue reading “Draft Day – Assigning shifts on Your New Schedule”

Help is on the way.

There is no such thing as a perfectly staffed shiftwork operation. Sure, there will be days when the number of people that show up is exactly the number of people that you need. It happens, but not often enough. What does a typical day or week really look like? The workload varies. This could be … Continue reading “Help is on the way.”

The Impact of Local Unemployment

More often than not, companies come to us when they are out of capacity.  Overtime is high and the workforce is becoming tired.  Absenteeism is leading to under-staffing and more overtime.  This is the type of death-spiral that does not right itself unassisted. Improved shift scheduling can help.  However, one component is often to bring … Continue reading “The Impact of Local Unemployment”

How will a new schedule impact your Employee Handbook?

Measure twice, cut once. This adage is as applicable to a schedule change as it is for those in the carpentry trade. Make one mistake and either be prepared to live with it or face the uphill battle of yet making another major change to your workplace. There are all types of pitfalls.  You can … Continue reading “How will a new schedule impact your Employee Handbook?”

Work-Life Balance

A frequent lament I’ve been hearing for the last 30 years is “Today’s kids don’t have the work ethic of their parents.” Interestingly, the frequency of this type of statement is inversely proportional to the local unemployment rate. When unemployment is low, then companies start to notice that their employees become less “sticky”. They leave … Continue reading “Work-Life Balance”