When should Management consider a Shift Schedule Unsustainable?
Most production managers have been there. Demand is higher than their ability to supply β without the use of overtime. The logical, and possibly, the best solution in the short-run is to go ahead and produce more by using overtime hours. What is going on when you ramp up overtime? What are the costs? What … Continue reading “When should Management consider a Shift Schedule Unsustainable?”
What does the New Year Bring to a Tight Labor Market?
During our 30+years of cross-industry experience we have found that once unemployment drops below 6%, companies find it hard to staff adequately to meet production demands. At the current 3.6% unemployment rate [1] a labor shortage is the single biggest production problem many companies are facing. For as many as eleven states, unemployment falls to … Continue reading “What does the New Year Bring to a Tight Labor Market?”
Have you Made Your Business Resolutions Yet?
If you want happier employees this year, you may consider doing some things differently than last year. Otherwise, if you do what you did, youβll get what you got. Employee engagement, better-work life balance, and improved communication might be at the top of the wish list. But what comes after establishing these resolutions? How to … Continue reading “Have you Made Your Business Resolutions Yet?”
12 unexpected insights βWhen it comes to shiftwork, do you know what you donβt know?
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 βWhen it comes to shiftwork, do you know what you donβt 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 β 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”
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 eco-system, one 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 which is often buried among multiple … Continue reading “12 Symptoms You May Not Know Are Connected”
Seasonal and Unbalanced Scheduling: A Case Study
Operation Managers and Human Resource Managers know that if your workload has seasonality, then you need a plan to deal with it. Maybe your strategy is to maximize gains or maybe its to minimize lost opportunities. Whatever your priority is, we can help you develop a staffing and scheduling strategy to achieve it. The case … Continue reading “Seasonal and Unbalanced Scheduling: A Case Study”
Shiftwork Solutions Survey System
Shiftwork Solutions uses surveys to engage the workforce as well as to find out what is really going on from their perspective. This process facilitates the identification and implementation of the ideal shift schedule solution.
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 todayβs 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”
“I Need a Nap!” — It’s time to sleep on shift.
Recently I was meeting with a team of union leaders and managers to discuss their shift schedules and our process for evaluating shift schedules and finding better alternatives. One of the things I often do during the introduction part of the meeting is to ask people to tell me what they want to discuss over the … Continue reading ““I Need a Nap!” — It’s time to sleep on shift.”