Every now and then, I like to return to the basics. Today I’m going to cover some of the basic DOs and DON’Ts for those of you considering a change to your schedule.
DO make sure you have clearly identified your needs. Changing schedules can be a traumatic experience for your workforce. You don’t want to put them through it over and over again and you seek the perfect schedule coverage through a series of Trials and Errors.
DON’T think that there is a schedule where 100% of your workforce will be happy. There are two reasons for this. First of all, shift workers judge a schedule by the time off it provides. Since everyone goes to different lifestyles when they leave work, it is not surprising that they will have different opinions about what schedule best serves their needs. Secondly, about 5% of every workforce comes to work to be the contrary. They will oppose any change. In fact, if you try to appease them by not changing anything – they will oppose that.
DO keep the workforce informed. As with any change, rumors are the enemy. There has never been an instance where two shift workers are talking and one says, “I wonder what’s going on with our schedule” and the other one replies, “I have no idea but I’m sure we will like whatever it is that they come up with.” If what you are planning to do is the right thing, then you should make whatever effort it takes to share your thoughts and actions with those that will be impacted.
DON’T assume that a small change is easy to make. If you don’t believe this, tell the workforce that you intend to change the shift start times by 15 minutes; then stand back and watch what happens.
DO get the workforce involved. No one likes to be told what to do. If you need to change schedules, there must be a reason for this. Tell the workforce and then solicit their input in creating a solution. There are always numerous solutions to a scheduling issue; many of which will work equally well. Since this is the case, why not use the schedule that best meets the needs of your employees. They know better than you when it comes to knowing what they want.
DON’T assume your current pay and work policies for your current schedule will work equally well for your new schedule. Things like a vacation, holiday pay and shift differential must be addressed to make sure they are not costing you or the workforce more on the new schedule. When companies contact Shiftwork Solutions because their 24/7 schedule does not work, the problem is rarely with the pattern and nearly always has something to do with policies.
DO your math. It’s one thing to think you know what you need, it’s another to be able to demonstrate it on paper. If you can’t justify your schedule change using math, then maybe you are making a change based more on assumptions rather than reality. I personally don’t like to guess. I like to measure twice and cut once.
DON’T take short cuts. Being “penny wise” will result in mistakes and missed opportunities that you will not quickly recover from.
DO be thorough. Involve everyone in your change process; even those that will not be impacted. Telling a group “We are changing schedules over in that area and you will not be affected,” is much better than leaving an unaffected group out of the loop and allowing them to make up their own reality.
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