Core Practice Partners Breaking News

Flexible Shift Schedules Becomes Large Focus in H2 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Core Practice Partners LLC) — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 12:36:00 +0000

Core Practice Partners continues to see the growth in requests for flexible shift schedules for seasonal customer demand. As the global economy continues to change and shrink clients are calling. They don't have millions to spend on consulting, but need to save millions out of their operations. Inventory levels are being reduced to record lows to save costs, while clients still expect on demand access to goods. "This is not a shift in philosophy," stated John Frehse, Chief Strategist at Core Practice Partners. "This is taking the old philosophy and bringing it to the extreme." Clients like Campbell's Soup and Kraft are calling. The call centers aren't immune to this phenomenon either. Reducing idle time in those organizations has also become a focus. It translates into occupancy, but the cost is the same. For all of these companies, these increases in demand for cost reduction have meant at least the partial death of the 8 hour shift. They simply aren't flexible.

George Sandhu Takes Time Out For Kids

noreply@blogger.com (Core Practice Partners LLC) — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 12:31:00 +0000

George Sandhu and his friends at Core Practice Partners took time out for charity on Monday July 6th. "Habitat for Humanity is an important cause especially in these difficult times," stated Sandhu. John Frehse of Core Practice Partners said,"I think we got more out of this than the nice family that will soon move in!" The day included laying tile floors, helping to install cabinets, and finishing some painting.

What is Habitat for Humanity International?

A nonprofit, ecumenical Christian housing ministry.
We seek to eliminate poverty housing and homelessness from the world and to make decent shelter a matter of conscience and action.
To accomplish these goals, we invite people of all backgrounds, races and religions to build houses together in partnership with families in need.
Habitat for Humanity was founded in 1976 by Millard Fuller, along with his wife, Linda.
Today, we have built over 300,000 houses around the world, providing more than 1.5 million people in 3,000 communities with safe, decent, affordable shelter.

How Many Millions of Dollars Will Make You Change Employee Shift Schedules?

noreply@blogger.com (Core Practice Partners LLC) — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 01:48:00 +0000

The last two weeks has been filled with frustrations. One client has a $21,000,000 opportunity that is completely capturable. They aren't sure if it is worth it. We have our work cut out for us because it is also going to create GREAT flexible schedules for the employees.

How about the 6 million in increased profits based on a shift in labor utilization strategy we created. Yes, please client. This is a great opportunity.

the hardest is the client that is losing business and it is all about productivity. We can do the deal and save the money. We do it well, but the goal isn't to make millions more in revenue it is to control labor costs and flex for customer needs. Flexible schedules, flexible schedules! In the end, our clients all need some form of low cost flexibility that agents can buy in to.

WE can help.

Shift Work Schedules and WFM - Society for Workforce Planning Professionals

noreply@blogger.com (Core Practice Partners LLC) — Mon, 04 May 2009 19:09:00 +0000

John Frehse, Chief Strategist for Core Practice LLC (that is me) got feedback from his most recent shift work and employee schedule workshop at the Society for Workforce Planning Professionals. The 14 executives in the room said the following:

1. Overall, how would you rate this session?
Poor 0
Fair 0
Good 0
Excellent 14

2. What did you like best about this session?
So helpful. Best session I've attended.
The presentation.
TLC -- True Cost of Labor.
I can use this!
Fun and informative.
Examples.
Best session yet!!
Showed me a new way of looking at costs.

Core Practice is happy it was valuable and look forward to our next workshop. It will be in Houston at the Six Sigma Conference.

12 Hour Shift Schedules - The 21st Century Answer To Employee Scheduling Efficiency

noreply@blogger.com (Core Practice Partners LLC) — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 16:08:00 +0000

Core Practice Partners is currently offering a master class in labor management and shift work. The introduction to labor strategies, uncovering hidden costs in current employee schedules, and change management techniques are all discussed. To learn more and to better understand where opportunities may exist in your company check out the Core Practice website.

Employee Scheduling and Shift Work Strategy

noreply@blogger.com (Core Practice Partners LLC) — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 14:13:00 +0000

Core Practice Partners, the leading employee scheduling shift management firm in the United States has joined forces with InVision Software to broaden the suite of solutions offered to its customers. This merger will not change the objectivity of Core Practice in software selection efforts InVision is focused on the Retail and Contact Center spaces primarily.

With clients like Campbells Soup and Nestle have cemented the Core Practice leadership position in the Food Processing industry. Labor management in these core companies, where outsourcing is next to impossible, has become more critical in recent months as the economy has suffered.

To learn how Core Practice can help your firm please contact John Frehse at 212-534-0539 or email him jfrehse@corepractice.com.

Employee Scheduling Hidden Costs

noreply@blogger.com (Core Practice Partners LLC) — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 22:47:00 +0000

Core Practice Partners will soon release the Top 3 Hidden Costs in the Contact Center Space. The article focuses on getting the right service level, flexible employee shift schedules, and implementation strategies.

Go to Core Practice Partners to learn more.

Will GM, Ford, and Chrysler Reduce Costs and Get Bailed Out Before It Is Too Late

noreply@blogger.com (Core Practice Partners LLC) — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 19:03:00 +0000

The Big Three need to move fast to reduce costs and provide a clear path to profitability before they lose control.

Although much like the steel workers union that were so clever they negotiated themselves into such high compensation they eventually got themselves fired, the auto industries slower rise to gluttony has proved more sustainable.

Transparency into wages at every level - not just the Executive level - will allow for a more honest look at the reality. Many employees, charged with assembling cars make over $100,000 a year with overtime and benefits calculated into total compensation.

Executives with millions in compensation are rewarded for failed policies and for continuing a mentality that doesn't work. The fact they took private jets to D.C. doesn't really bother me. Heck, if millions of jobs are at stake, I don't want them waiting on a Delta or Northwest flight that may never take off. The reality is that their time is valuable enough that private jets make sense. It doesn't send a great message, but neither does the UAW efforts to raise compensation so that their employees aren't cost viable anymore.

We need labor reform combined with innovation. More efficient cars that provide what the market demands - comfort with a low total cost of ownership. To do this cost cutting is critical. Everyone at the Big 3 from the top down needs to be adjusted for the new world with new realities. That means new schedules, pay cuts, and concessions that may hurt in the short term, but will mean a viable auto industry.

Core Practice Partners has a plan. We designed the labor strategies and schedules for BMW and have worked with parts of GM in the past. If you want the plan, give us a call. 212-534-0539.

The Courage to Reduce Controllable Costs – The Wisdom to Do It Right

noreply@blogger.com (Core Practice Partners LLC) — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 02:00:00 +0000

Sitting in the boardroom of a major global food manufacturing company, the CEO was meeting with the senior members of operations. As the room settled down, she stood to address the team, “Grant us the ability to accept the things we cannot change, the courage to change the things we can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”

The COO remembered this mantra from several self-help groups, but was hesitant to comment. The whole team looked confused, not sure where the meeting was headed.

The CEO continued, “There are things happening in our industry we can’t control. The cost of raw materials is skyrocketing; transportation costs and energy prices are at record highs. Yes, they all impact our business, but we have almost zero control over these costs, so those are the challenges we need to accept as reality, at least for now. Today, we need to focus on what we can change.”

“Now comes the wisdom part. Where are our major controllable costs?” It didn’t take long for the group’s spirited brainstorming to produce the biggest opportunity for change they could own. Labor effectiveness just jumped out. However, labor issues, particularly the change management aspects, were always the most sensitive. The CEO pressed the group to create a “Top 5” list of controllable cost reduction categories directly tied to labor effectiveness and ideas on how to motivate the plant management teams to take action. This is the list of opportunities they came up with:

1. Seasonal and Variable Demand – Workload Fluctuations
a. Reducing idle time
b. Reducing overtime
c. Minimizing inventory/maximizing freshness
2. Low Cost Sanitation Practices
3. Improve Uptime with Better Maintenance Schedules
4. Low Productivity from Afternoon and Night Shifts
5. Turnover, Training, and Hiring Costs

This boardroom exchange, a typical last resort effort to capture cost savings during economic downturns, is commonplace in today’s world. Management teams wait until all other options have been exhausted before talking seriously about effective labor strategies. Labor strategy discussions can be difficult due to the change management required to implement these types of initiatives. However, with annualized savings from full labor optimization projects ranging from 12 -17% of total payroll, delaying evaluation of your largest controllable cost is very expensive. Although not exclusive to the food industry, companies in this sector are being hit the hardest due to the rising costs of raw materials.

The group reached out to Ethan Franklin, Managing Partner of Core Practice Partners for insight. They needed someone who had been through this exercise before and could comfortably fill in the blanks about what they were about to undertake. He spent a few hours in a workshop format sharing case studies of clients with similar challenges. Then he told the group the following:

“Exploring this “Top 5” list seriously and in detail with real data may encourage management teams to make the right cost savings decisions now. Knowing where opportunities exist is the first step in the process to achieve these savings. Actually capturing them is the most difficult step.”

Next, he broke the areas out in more detail. This is a summary of his feedback.

Seasonal and Variable Demand – Workload Fluctuations

Before designing the right scheduling systems for your facility, a lot of homework must be done. What does the seasonal demand curve look like? How high or low can demand go? Should overtime be built into the base schedule, making it easier to flex down? The specific needs of the business should always dictate the scheduling systems. Unfortunately, many companies take schedules from one facility and implement them in another. This simplistic approach usually results in hundreds of thousands, if not millions of wasted labor dollars each year the wrong scheduling system is in place.

When you look at specific plant demand profiles, which requirements best suit your needs? Do you need to be able to flex vertically (more hours on short notice each day), horizontally (flexing out at the end of the week), or have the ability to increase workforce density (more employees during the currently scheduled base hours)? The typical client challenge is that traditional schedules don’t get them where they needed to go. 8 hour shifts, including 3 shifts each day, are probably the least flexible and understanding the financial implications of the current scheduling system is critical.

The Cost of Time analysis is a strategic tool for identifying savings opportunities. The goal of staffing any operation is to match perfectly the workforce (the available labor hours to complete the work) with the workload (the number of people required to meet production demand). It is highly unlikely that any schedule will exactly match the workload. Adverse costs result from a mismatch between the two. In an understaffed situation (more work than people scheduled), overtime must be used. The Adverse Cost of Overtime is the difference between an hour of overtime and an hour of straight time. If staffing levels are higher than the workload, then people are being paid, although no work is accomplished. This Adverse Cost of Idle Time is the fully loaded cost of a straight time hour of labor – very expensive.

The #1 financial mistake companies make is to believe that a reduction in overtime will save money. The financial reality of overtime is that even after adding in the time and one half premium, overtime is often less expensive than straight time since there are no additional benefits or other costs, including vacations, that are included only in the first 40 hours. Overtime numbers stand out on financial reports and cause management to overlook the real opportunity to reduce idle labor costs – the number one labor cost hurting American manufacturers.

Idle time is the real profit killer. Idle time can originate from equipment downtime, overstaffing, poor relief staffing and seasonality. Whatever the cause of idle time, it is a cost with no benefit. All benefits and wages are still a cost to the company during this period of no productivity. Companies pay full benefits and full wages with no return on the investment. On the other hand, overtime is a flexible tool that allows management teams to capture swings in workload. Overtime is only used when workers are needed. Therefore idle time during these periods is highly unlikely. A slight additional cost is counterbalanced by fully utilized employees. However, as with every strategic scheduling tool, there are limits, so your decision to use overtime strategically, must be made by weighing carefully every possible operational scenario.

Problems arise when schedules are created to handle what is happening today with little or no thought for what will happen tomorrow, next month, or next year. A review of past practices is required to help build forecast models, which are critical to the development of the right scheduling system. Consider future changes, such as product lines that are being phased out in the next 12 months or consolidation of products and services. Although forecasting will never be 100% accurate, one must understand the magnitude of the flexibility required when designing schedules. Different schedule systems have different abilities to flex up and flex down as well as significantly different cost profiles. Before starting to design a schedule system, understand the workload. A carefully planned schedule system should have the flexibility to handle both the foreseeable business changes as well as the unforeseen changes with minimal disruption.

Low Cost Sanitation Practices

Production downtime during sanitation periods limits capital utilization and typically creates idle labor time. Even as a leader in the food manufacturing space, sanitation optimization was overlooked. Current practices are typically seen as not negotiable. Although timely sanitation is required, management teams usually sanitize based on the schedule routine. Often there are opportunities to reduce labor costs and increase uptime, even in situations when sanitation processes are considered “optimized”.

Mr. Franklin remembered that several years ago the business unit manager of a 400 employee subsidiary of this food manufacturer implemented a system change. He thought he had fully optimized the sanitation process. He implemented extended runs to reduce the frequency of sanitation and cut the process to 4-hours. Unfortunately, the production labor schedule was not changed. This meant the production, sanitation and maintenance schedules still were not synchronized. So, while the plant saved a little bit of money, they left an amount six times larger unclaimed. The schedules that Core Practice Partners eventually designed reduced production idle time and cut start-ups and shut-downs in half, while increasing capital utilization by almost 10%. In addition to all the cost savings for the company, employees had more days scheduled off each week and still maintained a 40-hour paycheck with overtime opportunities for those who wanted it. Having continuity between connected groups is critical. Sanitation practices and schedules are at the heart of creating a facility without any unnecessary and costly constraints.

Improve Uptime with Better Maintenance Schedules

Maintenance teams are often the highest skilled employees in any facility, and in order to retain them, most management team compromise effective scheduling practices to keep them happy. The result is that most maintenance teams have schedules that are not conducive to maximizing production uptime. Maintenance teams often work Monday through Friday with a concentration of employees on day shift.

Corrective maintenance and other unplanned challenges are very expensive. Having staff that mirror the production schedules makes sense, but some of the most important maintenance department workload should involve preventive maintenance and tear-down activity. These activities can only take place when production is not running. For companies on a 120 hour production schedule (Monday through Friday with three 8 hour shifts), the only possible time for this work is on the weekends. Companies often absorb maintenance idle time during the week with some overstaffing, and then are forced to have employees come in unscheduled on Saturdays and Sundays to work for time and one half and double time. Some maintenance managers might respond that they can find plenty of things for the mechanics to do during Monday through Friday, 9 to 5, but highest priority preventive maintenance tasks can only be done when the lines are not running. Having a day shift mechanic rebuild the backup motor to the backup motor is not the best use of a scheduled 40-hour week.

The right answer is typically a mix of repairs and preventive maintenance scheduling that regularly schedules employees on weekends at straight time. Also, a better distribution of maintenance employees over each 24 hour period can reduce idle time on day shift and better cover the 2nd and 3rd shifts. Often management teams retort that although that sounds like a good idea, they have no idea how to implement such a perceived radical approach. Innovative scheduling techniques can give employees an additional 91 days off, including an extra 13 weeks of vacation – all for the same pay. Yes, on some of these schedules weekend work is built in, but you get more than half your weekends off. This is one way to balance operational needs with employee quality of life.

In the end, if you can’t get the right maintenance people in the right place at the right time, your production teams (the largest population in your facility) will spend unnecessary time idle, waiting for lines to be fixed and running again.

Lower Productivity Levels from Afternoon and Night Shift

Often management teams look at headcount requirements to make sure lines are staffed properly. Even when each shift has the same number of employees, productivity and quality levels often vary greatly. Have you looked at productivity by shift? Some of these variations have to do with starting up the operation on a Sunday night using the less senior third shift employees. Other scenarios also include lost productivity based on inexperience including inefficient change over activity, start ups and shut downs, and other skilled activities that may be unfamiliar to newer shift workers.

In extreme cases, in industries such as nuclear power plants and refinery operations, skill balance is so important that rotating shift schedules are always used. They are very rare in the food manufacturing business. These schedules require each employee to work all the different schedules over the course of several weeks, so that no shift is preferred over another. One week you may be on day shift, the next week on afternoon and the week after that you may be on nights. Skills on each shift are blended, and no group is left exclusively with new hires. Employees in most cases are not excited about these types of schedules, but understand the requirements that have required them to make adjustments. It is critical in a rotating shift environment to get it right - to include the needs of the employees and to make sure the rotation is both healthy and safe.

For employees who are not on a rotating schedule, it is rare that a new schedule with a rotation can be implemented. One reason to move from a fixed schedule to a rotating schedule is to address critical safety concerns that can’t be solved by training. (This would be in industries such as nuclear power or the refining.) However, as mentioned above, these industries usually start with a rotating schedule. In other industries, starting people on fixed shifts and later having them rotate can start a riot. It would take a massive change management program to move employees from a fixed schedule to a rotating schedule – and unless it is absolutely necessary we advise you to avoid that situation. However scheduling strategies, along with a well designed training program, can deliver the right skill balance without requiring a shift to a rotating schedule.

It is possible to create incentives for employees to work off-shifts. However, paying them more is not a good policy because it doesn’t address the real issue. When shift differentials are part of compensation, they are misused 99% of the time and simply are not effective. When people have low morale due to their schedules, it is the schedules that require fixing, not the pay. Typically, extended shifts allow off shift employees more days off where they can be on the “normal” schedule, one that allows them to spend time with their families and go to sleep during the night hours.

In the end, skill imbalance is a often a less noticeable area of labor cost, but when savings are critical to success, this area cannot be ignored.

Turnover, Training, and Hiring Costs

It isn’t only employee productivity that drives success, but employee retention is also critical. The cost of turnover has many facets. Recruiting, hiring, and training are key categories and can easily range between $2,000 and $5,000 per employee when all costs are included. With the right labor strategies, employees will want to stay and perform. Having schedules that fit in with family and social schedules and provide not only the right time off, but predictable time off can make you the employer of choice. Most management teams aren’t experts in scheduling and end up doing the best they can with the schedule they inherited. Adjusting employee schedules in ways they weren’t designed for can cause real heartache for employees.

Conclusion

Returning to the boardroom, the executives had only accomplished the easiest part of the challenge. Identifying key areas to save money is helpful, but the actual capturing of the cost savings is what matters. Too many companies try to cram in solutions after seeing the big cost saving opportunities. They typically leave their employees in the dark as to the reasons why. Proper education about the business reasons for change needs to be coupled with clear employee feedback so solutions are blended to serve all groups involved. Remember, you may only have one chance to get it right, don’t make mistakes you may not be able to fix later. Have the courage to make the tough changes. Have the wisdom to know the difference between real opportunities and low value changes that will disrupt your workforce.

Reducing Controllable Costs Through Employee Scheduling - No Longer a Choice

noreply@blogger.com (Core Practice Partners LLC) — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 15:12:00 +0000

The stock market tanks, investor confidence is down, and shift work operations are still showing a sluggish response to get their houses in order. Low cost labor strategies are one of the few areas available to management teams. Employee scheduling can reduce costs AND improve morale. Go to http://www.corepractice.com to download whitepapers or call John Frehse directly and for free to discuss your challenges. He can be reached in his New York City office at 212-534-0539.

Employee scheduling may be your best chance at making budget this year. Can you afford not to at least look at it. John Frehse offers a half day labor strategy workshop that will change the way you think about your employees and teach you some proven methodologies you can start using now.

The Four Day Work Week: What to Watch Out For

noreply@blogger.com (Core Practice Partners LLC) — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 20:23:00 +0000

The four day work week is the new hot topic both on the shop floor and manufacturing plants and in the offices of employees trying to reduce commuting costs. Although in some cases the 10 hour shift and the 4 day work week make perfect sense, here are some examples of questions you should ask yourself both as employer and employee:

1. How will a four day work week change inventory levels - do you need to build up additional product to handle the three days off?
2. Does a 4 day work week mean Monday - Thursday or are weekends included?
3. Is this something we can do long term or are we setting the wrong expectation?
4. How are work and pay policies handled? How do we account for vacations, holidays and other time off benefits with longer shifts?
5. What are the health and safety implications of longer shifts? Does it work in our environment?
6. Can our suppliers meet this dramatic adjustment in supply change needs?
7. If overtime is required, can we still end up working Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays?
8. How does this change support functions like other office personnel, maintenance requirements, sanitation (for food manufacturers), and supervisory roles?
9. How much money will a compressed work week save employees on gas? (hint: it should be at least $1,000 on average)
10. What are the strategic advantages to having a compressed work week of 10 hour shifts or 12 hour shifts? Are employee schedules and the function of employee scheduling easier?

If you have questions, don't hesitate to contact Ethan Franklin, considered a subject matter expert in these areas. His direct office line is 312-255-1646. You may also reach John Frehse as always at 212-534-0539

How to Reduce Labor Costs and Other Controllable Costs in a Shift Work Environment

noreply@blogger.com (Core Practice Partners LLC) — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 15:09:00 +0000

Don't panic! The right answer for most companies with heavy amounts of shift work is to follow a detailed plan. The Core Practice Partners methodology follows the following deliberate plan for maximum results. Have questions? Call John Frehse directly. He is a Senior Partner with the firm and will answer questions and share ideas.

Employee Scheduling Software - Is It Necessary?

noreply@blogger.com (Core Practice Partners LLC) — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 19:10:00 +0000

The more we hear from clients in the manufacturing space, the more they tell us that they need something to make employee management easier. Most feel like administrators instead of managers, with hefty amounts of time devoted to schedule adherence, adjustments, and other tactical issues. Companies like Kronos, Schedulesoft, and Invision Software are bringing innovative solutions to the marketplace. Are people ready to buy into their offerings? Many of the companies providing solutions are often seen as tactical - time and attendance firms - and even if they have the right solutions, potential buyers are struggling to justify the purchase. This is interesting considering the Call Center industry can't live without WFM or WFO software and it is understood that these applications will be used.

Is the manufacturing sector missing the boat? Time will tell. Check out Core Practice Partners for more information on labor strategy.

12 Hour Shift Schedules - Love Them or Hate Them

noreply@blogger.com (Core Practice Partners LLC) — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 20:38:00 +0000

When I asked people on blogcatalog what they felt about being willing to work a 12 hour shift schedule, this is what they had to say. For a better look at it, go to The Blog Catalog Discussion

User Comments
22 days ago tonytovar
heck no! lol
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22 days ago momscrazylife
Here's the question. Do YOU want to work a 12 hour shift?
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22 days ago scheduledoctor
I am a partner in a firm where I work more than 12 hours each day, but I don't get the days off!!

I wish I worked 8s. The point of the question is that if you have to work 40 hours a week, how do you want to do it. Shorter shifts but work more days or longer shifts with more days off. You are working the same amount of time. With gas prices, people can save a 1000 bucks on gas over the course of a year and have more days off, but some people don't want to work longer than 8 anyway. I was curious. I do appreciate your use of capitalized letters to emphasize yelling at me, but I am just asking the question.
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8 days ago MadameX
I just noticed this comment, and even though it's old it struck me as bizarre enough that I had to comment. If a person bounced a question back at another in conversation, the "you" would be verbally emphasized. That's not especially easy to convey here, where HTML is required to italicize or bold a word and then it often stays with us for the rest of the thread. Capitalization of a single word seems a perfectly natural way to reflect that vocal inflection. On the other hand, the idea of "yelling at you" for one word seems so absurd as to require extreme acrobatics to arrive at that conclusion. Why work so hard to be offended?
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8 days ago Norski
Good points, all around.
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22 days ago TimMc
My wife is a Registered Nurse. She works three 12 hour shifts per week, 7pm to 7am. She likes it. It works out very well for our family.
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22 days ago rmaxwell142
I work 12 hour shifts right now and let me tell you that it's not fun. Yes, the days off are great! But the lack of sleep and the no life on the days I work isn't fun at all. Plus, 12 hours is a long time! Working 8 hour shifts is more normal. But that's just my opinion.

Rebecca
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22 days ago scheduledoctor
So you would rather lose the days off and commute more often because you would be on the normal 8s?
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22 days ago CrotchetyOldMan
Depends on how demanding the job is.
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22 days ago tonytovar
i agree
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22 days ago scheduledoctor
great point. We work with mining operations where 12s are out of the question. However, in some call centers and lighter manufacturing facilities people can handle them easier. Gallo Glass, where they make the bottles for the wine, is a place where they work 12s in very difficult conditions due to the furnaces and all the heat. The employees wanted them badly, so management said okay. I guess in many cases it really depends on what the employees want (that is why I was curious and ask the question here).
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8 days ago gtcathey
I just left a Sand and gravel mining job, and we worked 12-15 hour days 7 days a week, overlapping with shifts. We ran 24 hours a day......now, I'm unemployed, so I save gas by blogging.
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22 days ago jmj1459
When I worked at a grocery store, moving boxes it wasn't a problem to work 12 hours. As a programmer, I can tell you that my best code is written after midnight, but not after working 12 hours. My brain shuts down. Of course when I worked at the grocery store, I was 17. Now, lets just say ... I've got a kid to keep me awake at night.
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22 days ago Majik
I would rather work 12 hour shifts on a continental schedule than 5 10-12 hour shifts a week.
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22 days ago EDBeale
I don't know how, but my mom did it for almost twenty years 7pm-7am three days a week. It kind of never really worked itself out because she'd miss most of that first day by sleeping. I'm sure that it wouldn't be too bad if it's something like 8am-8pm, though.
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22 days ago MadameX
Ha, if only it meant that. 12 hours is about my minimum day, and it doesn't mean any extra time off.
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22 days ago Norski
Indeed!
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22 days ago gmoney
3 days on 4 days off I will take that any day of the week!!!
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22 days ago PetLvr
only 12 hours a day? Oh ... to be working for an employer once again, instead of being self-employed....

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22 days ago jaffermaniar
I used to work 12 hour shifts in the assembly line and packaging a couple of years ago during the nights between 6:00 PM and 6:00 AM. I worked 4 days a week.

I liked it actually because there are a few people at night, production is slow and there are not as many "supervisors". And I made a few good friends.

I'd sleep though the morning but I'd get to enjoy the afternoon sun and a three day weekend.

Would I do it again - no I wont. Unless it did not involve the amount of labour (lifting) and standing on my feet for the whole shift like my previous job required
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22 days ago maddys
ya iam working 12 hours
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22 days ago scheduledoctor
Do you like them? I do labor management work for companies like Kraft Foods and BMW and am curious as to what you think about them (the good, bad and ugly). I occassionaly implement 12s, but not always.
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22 days ago Mattaw
Nope, I'd rather work normal hours and enjoy life more everyday honestly.
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22 days ago techfun
My partner Brian has worked four 10 hour shifts per week off and on for years and he enjoys it. It means he always has at least one weekday off to run errands, see the soctor when needed, etc.. all stuff thats harder to do on weekends and evenings.

The key benefit for us is that its also cut the gas usage on his longish commute by a third since he starts earlier or works later and avoids Philly rush hour on the Schuylkill Expressway and therefore spends less time idling in traffic.
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21 days ago scheduledoctor
Does anyone want to work fewer days a week to save money on gas, or would they rather work all 5 days, but have more time off each day after work?
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21 days ago JanelleV
I would hate to work 12 hour shifts -- but if I had to, then I would.
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9 days ago scheduledoctor
So now it is you either love them or hate them. I guess it is good the at least people have a strong opinion on employee schedules and employee scheduling
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9 days ago slashdox
I don't really have a choice. Its up to my employers to give me the star and end time.
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8 days ago CleverElsie
How about this idea? Instead of glorifying the 40-hour work week, we look for ways to increase productivity while minimizing time spent at work. The general workforce was promised for years that technological advances would cut our work days in half by allowing us to get more done in less time. We're still waiting...
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8 days ago dlowe
I have talked about this before. WHat happened with all that?
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8 days ago scheduledoctor
We talked about it before, but in pockets of other questions I asked the group. It seemed like it needed its own area.

As for productivity and how it is supposed to shorten the work week, that will probably never happen. What does happen is that we are working more hours and have a lot more "things". If you relate quality of life to material things, we have a lot more "stuff" now than we did 20 or 30 years ago. Many would argue that quality of life has nothing to do with material acquisitions, but are actions prove that we are still trying to amass the most stuff. Human nature and competition means thata we will always be working at least 40 hours.
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8 days ago MadameX
We do get more done in less time, Elsie...and employer expectations grow to match.
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8 days ago dlowe
when I said "I have talked about this before. WHat happened with all that?" I meant in personal conversations with people, not on here.

My work day varies. Some days I work an 18 hour day and some days I login as fast as I logout. As long as I get my work done no one cares. I do work for a great company though. And I don't get overtime and I spend lots of time with my family.

Between telecommuting and riding my vespa, I hardly spend any money commuting.
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8 days ago MadameX
All of that is true for me, too, dlowe, except that getting the job done (at the moment, at least) generally requires more than 12 hours a day.
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8 days ago dlowe
Do you get comp time?
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8 days ago Programminghelp
don't mine I might sleep on the job though.
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8 days ago timethief
I worked flextime (4 - 10 hour days per week) for years and I loved it.
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8 days ago Anok
Working 12 hour shifts means getting an additional 87 days off a year with the same pay

Only if your employer offers paid vacation, salary, or 12 hour shifts aren't the norm, or you always work a 40 hour work week, instead of another schedule.

My husbands last job was 12 hours a day, five days a week. No "extra days off" that was his schedule. His job before that required 16-18 hour days, 4-5 days a week. No extra days off because of it.

You either worked those hours, or you didn't get paid.
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8 days ago scheduledoctor
If you could get the days off, would you like it?
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8 days ago Anok
Yup. I would like it even more if we never needed money for anything, and everyday he had was "off" or at the very least able to spend it at home or with me and Punky.

Dare to dream...
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8 days ago kdawg68
also depends if you are "exempt" or non-exempt" I suppose. I went from getting paid massive OT as a non-exempt employee to being paid nothing for OT as an exempt - and told that a certain amount of voluntary non-paid OT was "expected" for your position (in other words - you can't say "but my day was over a 5" if something isn't done.)
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8 days ago globalgirl
Forget the 12 hour shifts for more vacation time; let's adopt the European way and have 5 weeks off and work 8 hours a day.

I couldn't see being at my day job for 12 hours a day. My own company or non-profit? Yes.
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8 days ago scheduledoctor
It seems like people either love them or hate them and it is very personal.
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8 days ago iagosmom
not anymore! no! no! no!

LOLz.
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8 days ago scheduledoctor
Sounds like you hate them! I am glad you are free from the 12 hour jail.
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8 days ago MadameX
Scheduledoctor, I know you're concerned primarily with wage earners, but what do you think about the related issue of fake exempt employees who earn salaries in the twenties and thirties and are expected to put in a 60-70 hour week (or more)?
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8 days ago scheduledoctor
It would be nice to believe that if those people were being taken advantage of they would find work elsewhere. Unfortunately, we know this is not often the case. The good news is that labor laws are allowing for big settlements for abusive practices. One security force in California won a $10 million lawsuit because the company was not paying for all of the shift worker's time. California probably goes a little overboard, but the fact is that the rest of the country (and this is a state regulated labor issue) is being scrutinized and classifications are not set in stone. Exempt workers in many cases are becoming Non-Exempt (from overtime) allowing them to make moeny for all the hours they work over 40. Don't forget that no matter what state in the U.S. you work in, overtime is always calculated at at least 1.5 times after 40 hours if you are a non-exempt employee. Parts of Canada do not have this same rule and allow averaging pay from week to week over the course of 4 weeks to avoid some overtime costs.
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8 days ago Norski
MadameX,

"...fake exempt employees..." Huh? New term to me. Are they employees who are fakely exempt, entities that appear in the books, but aren't real people, or what?

I think you're referring to the 'professional' who's given a set amount of money each quarter, or year, or whatever - on paper is only expected to work 40 hours a week - and given a workload that can't be done in under 100.

But, I could be wrong.
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8 days ago MadameX
You're on the right track, Norski. Exempt employees are supposed to be professionals with substantial control over the performance of their jobs and such, but often people are given titles and classified as exempt for purposes of avoiding overtime, even though they are in fact doing jobs that don't fit that classification at all. For example, an "office manager" might be salaried and not paid overtime, but her actual job might require her to be at her desk from 8-5 every day in addition to whatever additional hours are required to get the job done...thus, she has the obligation to "work as much as it takes" without pay that true exempt employees have, but not the flexibility to come in at noon on Tuesday if she worked until midnight on Monday. All the downsides with none of the benefits, essentially (no control, no flexibility unless someone specifically approves it, but also no overtime and an expectation of working however many hours are needed)
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8 days ago Phoenix1962
I would love to work 12 hours a day as long as it is not over 40 hours for the week.
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8 days ago scheduledoctor
Some people work over 40 every other week (36, 48, 36, 48). The good thing about this is that even though they average 42 hours, they are paid 44. This is because they are paid 36, 52, 36, 52 based on 8 hours of OT every other week that equates to 12 hours of pay. You only average 42 hours which one might assume is 2 hours of OT and 3 of pay. You essentially get paid an additional 2%! Not bad over the course of a year.
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8 days ago Norski
I've pulled 12 hour shifts - for a company, and (more often) for myself.

I haven't complained about the overtime for someone else - generally - because I was paid time-and-a-half for the extra hours (non-union shop with a fairly smart boss). And, I could use the money.

When I've done that sort of thing for myself, my body generally lodges a complaint for me. We've worked out a temporary compromise. More of a truce, actually.
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8 days ago scheduledoctor
A lot of people may work 3 or 4 12s a week, but a lot of complaints come from those that work 5 and 6 of them.
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8 days ago TimMc
Since I work at home now for myself, my schedule varies. Generally I put in 8-12hrs/day. Sometimes it is way more than 12. But, if it's a really nice day and I want to go do something else, I have the freedom to do so (I just catch up later).

I'm thrilled.

How to Create an Effective Employee Shift Schedule

noreply@blogger.com (Core Practice Partners LLC) — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 14:22:00 +0000

Please excuse the formatting on this employee scheduling issue. For a full version with all four categories of employee scheduling strategy, you can pull it off our corporate website at this location: www.corepractice.com

Dedicating resources and time towards continuous improvement will always be constrained within businesses, both large and small. All too often the day-to-day obligations, including fighting fires and dealing with constant operational changes, limits improvement activity to purchasing costly capital equipment and then hoping productivity improves enough to justify the cost. While capital improvements should have a significant role in your business strategy, the right labor schedule can minimize a variety of existing problems and result in substantial cost savings. These benefits hit your bottom line year after year.

Business leaders miss millions of dollars in opportunities by doing the wrong thing such as:

• Copying a schedule
• Listening only to employees
• Implementing a scheduling with out working with employees on the solution
• Doing nothing with the hope that problems will eventually go away.

Changing employee schedules is like forecasting; it is easy to do, but very difficult to do well.

You only get one shot at making a successful schedule change. Most facilities can achieve an 11% to 17% improvement in labor costs by implementing the right schedule. With millions of dollars on the line, you must follow the four critical focus areas: Operations and Labor, Employee Buy-In, Health & Safety and Implementation.
Core Practice Partners LLC is in Operation and Labor strategy, specializing in shift work and scheduling. If your organization operates outside the 9-5, Monday through Friday work week, contact John Frehse, Chief Strategist and Executive Coach in Labor Strategy at: jfrehse@corepractice.com or call 1-212-534-0539. You can also learn about our free half day executive workshop on our website at: www.corepractice.com.

12 Hour Shift Schedules - The Gas Friendly Schedule

noreply@blogger.com (Core Practice Partners LLC) — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 17:25:00 +0000

Please remember that although 12 hour shifts are long, frankly 50% longer than 8 hour shifts, they will save you over $1,000.00 each year on gas if you spend $12.00 each day on round trip commuting. This isn't to say 12 hour shifts are right for everyone, but they are worth a second look. For more information on shift scheduling, please see www.corepractice.com.

Employee Scheduling Becomes Spotlight Issue For U.S. Manufacturers

noreply@blogger.com (Core Practice Partners LLC) — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 17:10:00 +0000

In an effort to reduce controllable costs, executives are searching high and low to find new alternatives for cost reduction. Frankly, there aren't a lot of places to look. The largest category of potential cost reduction for most facility is labor and for that reason, management teams are looking for new ways to improve. The website www.corepractice.com is a potential resource for management teams to get started. They offer a half day workshop that covers both best practices and case studies that are industry specific. The only cost of the workshop is travel and the workshop is conducted by someone with over 10 years experience in the field. Employee scheduling is hard enough. Use the workshop to maximize your current assets while reducing controllable costs.

Employee Scheduling Strategies Directly Impact Morale

noreply@blogger.com (Core Practice Partners LLC) — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 18:51:00 +0000

Whether it is a story about Wal-Mart using Kronos Software to schedule employees for 3 hour shifts at 2 a.m. or HSBC using Blue Pumpkin Software to schedule 12 hour shifts for employees that cannot work more than 8, software cannot and has not been the sole silver bullet that solves the labor crisis in the U.S. and around the world. The last blog about pay vs. work/life balance improvements is key to this argument. software is a great tool to crunch the numbers and make decisions more efficiently, but it doesn't take into account strategy. Strategy must be combined with the software to to not only capture cost savings but gain critical buy in from employees. Yes, you can achieve both employee morale improvements and cost savings, but it isn't ever a simple solution. It requires careful interaction with employees and the ability to ask the right questions so that as cost savings are captured, schedules are customized to employee preferences.

Core Practice Partners works with companies like InVision Software, ScheduleSoft, and Kronos to add a strategic dimension to the powerful software tools they provide.

It's Not About the Money

noreply@blogger.com (Core Practice Partners LLC) — Thu, 29 May 2008 13:01:00 +0000

To improve employee morale and productivity, increasing compensation may be precisely the wrong tack.

By John Frehse

The COO of a leading international manufacturing company recently called with a problem: He was under considerable stress because he was facing a union drive at one of his plants in Ohio. It was clear to him that employee dissatisfaction there was terribly high and that the union had made significant inroads. He wanted to know how much he had to increase pay and other benefits to make sure the union vote didn’t pass.
We spent the following weeks researching the company’s labor practices and employee attitudes to understand more. The COO was right about one thing: the workers were unhappy, with 72 percent saying things were getting worse on the job. But he was surprised to learn that 77 percent of the employees felt the current pay and benefits were perfectly fine. Increased compensation would not solve the problem. If salaries weren’t right, attrition would be a key indicator, but employees weren’t leaving or threatening to.
So what did the workers want?
Over the past ten years, we’ve conducted an in-depth study into the attitudes of more than 100,000 shift workers at over 150 companies around the world. Through face-to-face surveys taken during work hours, we sought primarily to gather information about what employees like and dislike in their work environment, the changes they hope to see, health and safety issues and how work schedules impact personal lives. Of all the thousands of pieces of data we collected, one stood out: 81 percent of employees surveyed felt that their pay and benefits were adequate. In fact, compensation paled in comparison to good management-employee communications when we determined what really affects productivity. In other words, while most companies try to inflate employees’ morale by shoveling more dollars at them, less expensive strategies will do.
Thus, when we looked into the problems at our client’s company, we were not surprised at our findings. There, 47 percent of the employees surveyed were working more than 11 hours of overtime each week. At some companies, that can be an attractive aspect of the job because it brings in extra income. But in this case, 56 percent didn’t feel that way, saying they were working more overtime than they wanted. And they were particularly negative about the extra time at the plant because, according to 62 percent of the workers, their schedules weren’t sufficiently predictable to permit them to know when they would work and when not. In an employee base populated primarily by single parents, workers were struggling to maintain adequate child care while finding time to spend with their kids.
Based on this information, we were able to immediately convince the COO to implement plans for more consistent schedules that met the needs of the employees as well as the imperatives of flexibility and cost for the business. We rejiggered the traditional eight-hour, five-day workweek into 12-hour shifts over six days and staggered employees among the shifts. In so doing, the COO could be certain of having enough people available to put in the extra time necessary to produce a new consumer food product that was in high demand. Fluctuations in volume could be handled by adding a Sunday shift, while still giving employees three days off each week. The employees, in turn, would know precisely when they would be putting in their 40 hours each week. In addition, the COO could offer those with special childcare concerns the option of volunteering for weekend shifts. Within months of implementing this policy, cost per unit and output per employee improved while absenteeism and labor costs dropped.
Improving schedules was only part of the solution. Like many other large businesses, the company had fostered an “us vs. them” attitude among the workers towards management, which made employees less than enthusiastic about pursuing the organization’s goals. This attitude was driven by management’s tendency to make changes at the factory after consulting only a small, hand-selected group of employees, leaving out the vast majority of shift workers. As a result, the survey revealed that a mere 26 percent of the shift workers felt that the management team cared about the employees, a full 13 percent below the norm in the databank created by our numerous surveys, and just 19 percent believed the management team communicated well with employees. Meanwhile, 52 percent of employees said they did not feel like they were an essential part of the company.
Some of these results reflected workers’ perception and not reality. For example, as evidence of senior management taking them for granted, the workers offered the disparity in the amount of time spent on the job. They wondered why they were at the plant nights and weekends while senior managers were only there Monday through Friday, 9 to 5. The managers countered that, in fact, they worked at least 55 hours every week, but they were in their offices and not easily visible to the assembly lines. “It’s not a big deal,” one of the managers said. “The workers on the floor just don’t understand.”
Perhaps, but that attitude only exacerbated the sentiment that the front office doesn’t care about the shop floor employees. A lack of communication was also to blame: Senior managers typically didn’t approach employees for their input about operations and factory changes or their thoughts about their jobs because they feared the worst – that they would be asked to tackle a complex, painful alteration of some time-worn procedure or subject to a diatribe about working conditions. Moreover, scheduled monthly update meetings usually failed to address employee concerns. Although factory workers said they liked sitting down for a half hour, eating doughnuts, drinking coffee, and getting paid for it, they admitted that they would prefer to have managers show up at the assembly line more frequently at random times so they could see and hear first-hand the issues at the front.
Before our employee study, management’s primary ideas to boost morale included adding a new break room and repainting existing ones. This wouldn’t have helped: Our survey found that 74 percent of employees felt that working conditions were good at this facility. But after learning that the core of worker dissatisfaction was related to the growing gap between employees and their managers, the COO changed direction. He instituted a new communications strategy focused on providing information to employees that they felt was useful. As an example, the agenda of the quarterly plant wide update meeting was transformed. Instead of sixty minutes of high level numbers and charts that looked the same each session, the results were condensed so that concerns about work life and other critical employee issues could be addressed. In addition, once every four weeks senior managers were required to work shifts similar to the people that report to them.
With the new schedules and more open communications, the employees were mollified. The vote to unionize was defeated by a large margin. Moreover, the manufacturing firm realized over $1.6 million in cost savings and profit during this process, with $675,000 directly related to morale improvements.
Deterioration of employee satisfaction is a slippery slope. Productivity is the first to suffer, but it certainly isn’t the only aspect of the business affected. Turnover, training costs, product quality and attendance are also heavily hit. Most companies make the mistake of thinking that throwing money at labor challenges is the only sure solution. In the short term, that may be true. But for a sustainable program, with a continuing return on investment, something much more creative – born of listening closely to what the employees say they want – is the only real option.

Resources

John Frehse, “Shift Worker Productivity Need Not Be an Oxymoron,” s+b, Leading Ideas Online, 6/5/07: This article looks at the causes of low productivity and how management teams lack the appropriate knowledge and skills to solve this problem. http://www.strategy-business.com/li/leadingideas/li00028?pg=all

T.H. Monk and S. Folkard, Making Shiftwork Tolerable (CRC, 1992): This guide examines the experiences of shift workers and the workplace problems they encounter. http://www.amazon.com/Making-Shiftwork-Tolerable-T-Monk/dp/0850668220

Tom Rankin, New Forms of Work Organization: The Challenge for North American Unions (University of Toronto Press, 1992): Details the changing world for unions, new compensation practices and the difficult environment for shift workers in North America in the late 20th century. http://www.amazon.com/New-Forms-Work-Organization-Challenge/dp/0802073980/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1210904728&sr=1-2

David Wainwright and Michael Calnan, Work Stress: The Making of a Modern Epidemic (Open University Press, 2002): Explores the unhealthy shift work environment and the psychology behind the epidemic of low paying jobs. http://www.amazon.com/Work-Stress-Making-Modern-Epidemic/dp/0335207073

Core Practice Partners Breaking News: 12 Hour Shifts

noreply@blogger.com (Core Practice Partners LLC) — Mon, 12 May 2008 17:47:00 +0000

Core Practice Partners Breaking News: 12 Hour Shifts

12 Hour Shifts

noreply@blogger.com (Core Practice Partners LLC) — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 15:34:00 +0000

12 Hour Shifts Breakthrough For Employee Scheduling Helps Companies in The U.S., Canada, and the U.K. Improve Morale and Productivity

For Immediate Release - Monday, April 28, 2008

Core Practice Partners has cracked the code. 12 hour shift schedules have tremendous success in some environments, but fail in others. The manufacturing environment can be the same, the demographic can be the same, and the plants can even be across the street from each other, but one may find success with 12 hour shifts while the other fails. Why? Demographics are important as is the type of work environment whether it is a call center, manufacturing plant, mine, or distribution facility. What is more important is the need to get the schedule rotation right (day on and day off pattern or night and day shift rotation or both) and to follow strict change management procedures. Employees need to be involved in the process. The combination of expertise and experience at Core Practice Partners has allowed them to consistently provide successful operations management consulting to Fortune 500 companies around the globe. 12 hour shifts can save companies a lot of money, but if they don't know how to design implement the right solutions, cost savings become stranded.

Shift Work Pay Is False Solution For Improving Shift Work Schedules and Employee Schedules In General - It's Not About The Money!

noreply@blogger.com (Core Practice Partners LLC) — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 18:38:00 +0000

Employees will always want more money, but an increase in pay doesn’t solve the real issues that affect morale and therefore productivity. According to shift workers, failure to identify relevant employee issues is the number one reason managers aren’t
positively affecting long-term labor improvements. If you don’t ask the right questions, you’ll end up holding unproductive employee meetings that don’t address the real issues, or even increasing pay, praying that it will improve morale.

Identifying the relevant issues is a good start, but how big are the issues you are facing? Benchmarking is a great way to measure your unique environment against a national industry average and provides focus and priority for developing solutions. However, solutions must be based on operational strategies. Transforming business goals into a vision that employees will understand and embrace allow companies to achieve cost savings while improving morale.

The 2007 Core Practice Partners Benchmark Database consists of more than 100,000 shift worker responses from over 150 companies. The anonymous data collection process ensures employees give honest feedback on morale and labor scheduling topics such as: management effectiveness, overtime preferences, current schedule satisfaction, the importance of predictability and how life outside work is directly impacted by their work environment. Results can be sorted by industry, geographic location, company, and the transitional issues each client
faced at the time of the survey.

The database allows for a detailed look at how corporate behavior translates into employee morale and provides a roadmap for productivity improvements. Management teams can now effectively address the relevant issues and create a more productive, satisfied workforce.

Case Study : Food Manufacturing Shift Workers With Morale Issues Threaten To Unionize and Productivity Is Down.

A food manufacturer in the Midwest was struggling. Several key management roles had not been filled in the last year and the team was spread thin. Employees were threatening a union drive and productivity was down. The manufacturer needed to investigate what could be done quickly. Within several weeks, a study was completed to better understand the business and all of the employees were surveyed so management could clearly understand the issues.

Comparing established benchmarks to client-specific data raised significant red flags. Many of the responses rated worse than the database averages. Quantifying each issue using benchmarks as a measuring stick provided the critical perspective required to begin creating solutions that could solve the current crisis.

Contact Core Practice Partners for the results of the survey (free)

Even when paid fairly, it is human nature to still want more pay and benefits. However, employees understand the local economies and pay rates a lot better than commonly thought. 77% of the employees at this company stated they felt the current pay and benefits were good. With 77% being so close to the benchmark of 81%, why, the management team wondered, would they want to unionize? But that was the key point. Management didn’t understand that in almost all cases today, employee morale is not tied to pay and benefits. Trying to solve morale issues with a pay increase only delays the inevitable distractions associated with turnover, low morale and unionization. These are expensive problems to have.

By asking the right questions management discovered that 72% of the employees said things were getting worse (with relation to their lives at work). 72% is far worse the 40% benchmark, so we looked at more detailed responses to discover why.

47% of the employees surveyed were working more than 11 hours of overtime each week. At that point we added the 11 hours of overtime to their base labor schedule to see the effects on days off, weekend work and predictability. We continued our probing and found that 56% said they were working more overtime than they wanted. At many facilities employees want overtime and when scheduled the right way, the desire to work 10 to 15 hours of overtime is not uncommon. Was overtime being deployed in the right way at this facility? 62% of the employees said that their schedule wasn’t predictable in allowing them to know when they would work and when they would have time off. Overtime is a great way to meet the flexibility needs of the business, while providing employees with extra hours they desire, but it must be scheduled in the right way. If employees have no predictability with their current schedule, they won’t have the ability to plan anything personal for the weekend. No amount of pay could make up for lost time with family, and paying them more money is a way to distract them short term, but doesn’t
address the schedule problem.

To solve the predictability and pay off issues above, schedule options were reviewed which first met the needs of the business and then factored in the preferences of the employees. Working longer shifts enabled the workforce to meet the business needs for flexibility, while giving employees more total days off with built-in predictable five day weekends once every three weeks. By combining business needs with employee preferences these schedules became desirable. Some employees bid into those departments requiring weekend work just to get the predictable 5-day weekend breaks. In this example, we see how innovative scheduling techniques that combine the business realities with employee feedback allow real improvements in employee lifestyles. Productivity increased without extra cost to the company. In fact, labor cost decreased with fewer shift changeovers based on utilizing longer shifts.

Improving schedules is only one part of any solution. If employees feel an “us vs. them” attitude about management, they will be less incented to work towards the company goals. 71% of employees stated that they felt they were part of their crew or team. Is this number good or bad? Is there any correlation between perception and communication, and what about employee feelings towards the company as a whole? Combining specific data points and using benchmarks unlocked hidden issues and gave the management team a complete picture.

Traditionally, supervisors are the lifeline of information for shift workers and are considered part of their team. They are perceived to have a better relationship with employees and because they work the same schedule, they may be the only management figure employees see on a regular basis. They wondered why they were working nights and weekends while senior managers worked Monday through Friday, 9 to 5. The assumption was that no one in the office cared about them and the work they did (except their immediate supervisors who work with them on every shift). The management team thought this was “not a big deal” as they were working at least 55 hours every week and were often there late at night and on weekends. Managers regularly stated that “the workers on the floor just don’t understand.” The truth was that managers weren’t visible to shift workers and working long hours in their offices provided little consolation to the shop floor employees. Only 26% of the shift workers felt the management team cared about the employees (74% said the management team did not care). Although 39% is the benchmark (still very low), this number was critical in getting to the answer. Combining this low 26% with the only 19% who believed the management team communicated well with employees brought some clarity to the root issues causing unrest and union talks. No increase in pay was going to solve this costly distraction from productivity improvement initiatives.

52% of employees surveyed said they did not feel like they were a part of the company. Poor communication separates office staff from shift workers. Management teams typically don’t communicate well with employees, often fearing the worst and therefore not asking employees for feedback. Employees may feel removed from the goals of the organization and that can destroy morale and productivity. The scheduled monthly update meetings did not address employee concerns, although employees liked sitting down for a half hour, eating doughnuts, drinking coffee, and getting paid for it. Further analysis at this client revealed that employees didn’t want senior managers onsite every night and weekend. However they did feel that if senior managers showed up occasionally on the off shifts to answer questions, employees would feel more apart of the company.

Before the employee study, management had considered ideas to boost morale including adding a new break room and repainting the existing ones. This further illustrates the importance of asking the right questions. 74% of employees felt that working conditions were good at this facility. Although below our benchmark if 80%, 74% is within the acceptable range to be considered normal. This information ruled out the possibility that the cause of widespread unrest was based on working conditions. You can’t effectively listen to employees without asking the right questions. The leadership team wasn’t listening to employees and almost spent money in an area that wasn’t a problem.

The answer included several initiatives, some of which were implemented immediately and others that were gradually introduced. Senior managers utilized a new communication strategy and began working non traditional shifts once every 4 weeks. With these new ideas in place the employees felt they were finally heard and the vote to unionize didn’t pass. It didn’t even come close. Although pay increases and other paid benefits could have postponed the inevitable union vote, the only thing that could have ended the drive for good was something that didn’t cost anything. By understanding the root cause, the management team was able to provide a focused solution and no, it wasn’t about the money.

The deterioration of employee morale is a slippery slope. Productivity is the first area to suffer, but it certainly isn’t the only area impacted. Turnover, training costs, product quality, and attendance issues are also heavily hit. This client realized over $1.6 million in cost saving and profit making opportunities during this process, with $675,000 directly related to morale and productivity improvements.

When you cost out the impact from each area, the answer is clear: Management teams must spend more time working with employees to communicate, educate, and show that they care. It sounds simple, but communicating can be tough. Business realities aren’t always good news. Having the courage to share variability in customer demand can mean asking employees to be flexible. But when the right schedules for each employee group are coupled with an effective communication plan, this flexibility can dramatically reduce labor costs and improve a company’s profitability, while increasing employee morale. For this client, the reality was that clear communication about company direction, schedule changes, and clarity on potential
issues made employees more productive and saved the client money. Most importantly, they learned that throwing money at labor challenges doesn’t create solutions, but delays and distracts employees from being productive members of their teams.

Making Best Practices Your Core Practice
It’s Not About The Money
115 E 86th Street Suite 53 / New York, NY 10028 / (212) 534-0539 / Fax (312) 275-7888

Shift Work Scheduling Strategy - Four Key Areas

noreply@blogger.com (Core Practice Partners LLC) — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 03:21:00 +0000

A Guide To Implementing The Right Labor Schedule

The article, Focus On Four: A Guide To Implementing The Right Labor Schedule can be obtained by going to the Core Practice Partners website for a free formatted download or write or call 115 E 86th Street Suite 53 / New York, NY 10028 / (212) 534-0539 / www.CorePractice.com

Making Best Practices Your Core Practice

Critical areas: Operations and
Labor, Employee Buy-In, Health
& Safety and Implementation.

Operations & Labor

Many cost saving opportunities are difficult to see at first. With a trained eye and the right methodology, productivity and labor effectiveness can improve significantly. Businesses
typically focus only on those measurements reported to higher management. While tracking and reporting are necessary, a rigid approach often results in missed opportunities outside the
traditional set of parameters. Knowing what data to gather and how to interpret it is critical to providing necessary information for sound business decisions. Look at your current
system for deploying your labor assets from a new perspective. This is not a suggestion to try some “neat ideas.” With labor dedicating resources and time towards continuous improvement will always be constrained within businesses, both large and small. All too often the day-to-day
obligations, including fighting fires and dealing with constant operational changes,
limits improvement activity to purchasing costly capital equipment and then hoping
productivity improves enough to justify the cost. While capital improvements should have
a significant role in your business strategy, the right labor schedule can minimize a
variety of existing problems and result in substantial cost savings. These benefits hit
your bottom line year after year. Savings between 11% and 17% at stake, you can’t rely only on past analytical practices. For example, many companies pride themselves on keeping overtime
to 8% or less. This type of thinking can actually cost the company money and lower morale. With today’s health care costs rising, the total benefit load paid on behalf of employees can be astronomical. Fixed cost benefits like healthcare and vacation are based on 40 hours of work.
Additional benefits do not accrue if full time employees work overtime, so overtime is
not 50% more expensive than straight time. Often, overtime is actually less expensive. The
high cost of benefits that are only associated with straight time are not part of the overtime
calculation. Depending on how high some of those benefits are, they can elevate the cost of
straight time more than 50% higher than the base wage. Therefore the 50% premium for
overtime is balanced by the 50% reduction in benefits. The biggest concern for facilities
from a cost perspective should not be overtime, but idle time. This is when an employee is not
productive. Assuming one idle hour, the facility must pay for the benefits and the wage of that
employee – all for non productive work. At least with overtime, the assumption is that
productive work is occurring. Therefore, the adverse cost of that work may be zero.
Overtime is always more cost effective than idle time. Put differently, understaffing is
always more cost effective than overstaffing.

Employee Buy-In

With millions of dollars on the line it is critical that your employees participate in the
change process. Employees will wonder how the impending change will affect them and will
be skeptical as to whether or not management will incorporate their preferences. Inevitably,
rumors will start and objections will surface. This point is confirmed by our extensive
database of responses from shift workers who state that their number one source of
information comes from the grapevine. Regular and frequent communications with employees
can help disprove rumors and minimize tension inherent in the change process. This is critical
because a mere 35% of employees feel that management communicates well with hourly
employees. Providing a comprehensive survey that is specifically based on the unique needs of your business and targeted to your employees’ specific challenges is the most meaningful
collection of data that can be used for effective change. In our experience, when employees
are part of the process, capturing long lasting value becomes achievable. Gaining buy-in from
the workforce means they will help drive the results. Of course you cannot make everyone
happy. However, the most direct path to failure is to make decisions based on leadership’s
perceived knowledge with an ear listening only to the vocal minority.

Health & Safety

Scheduling solutions, which might be healthy and safe at one facility, might not work well at a
different facility. The following needs should be considered when factoring the solution for
each company.

• The type of work
• Employee demographics
• Work environment
• Experience level
• Current safety measures
• The historical frequency of accidents

For example, remote facility locations often force long commute times for workers. Employees may push for 12 hour shifts to reduce total commutes each week. management must look at the
implications of total travel and work time to understand potential health issues. The same facility in a more populated region may have more flexibility with schedules. Contact centers that handle language translation services often require frequent breaks throughout each shift based on the intense intellectual nature of the work. For some, longer days with split shifts work well where a large break can refresh staff. Scheduling decisions depend on the factors at your facility. If the reality of your business is around the clock operations, employees need to be properly trained to handle added complexities. With the importance of maximizing the
utilization of your capital and demands for 24 hour service increasing, it is not surprising
that the number of people working alternative schedules continues to grow. There is no
perfect schedule that will solve all the problems of shift work. A 24 / 7 operation will always
require someone to be at work on Saturday at 4a.m. Fortunately, there are ways to
manage the realities of shift work while improving employee morale. With the proper schedule at your facility, it is possible for around the clock employees to improve their health and safety. Specific techniques for working the off shifts can be adapted to your facility’s unique challenges and help employees adjust to their new schedule, minimizing the disruption to the quality and
quantity of their sleep. This not only is the right thing to do, but it can have financial rewards as
well by reducing drops in performance.

Implementation

Labor schedule changes are often an emotional and stressful event for employees, regardless
of the degree of change. Even a simple start time adjustment can challenge some employees.
Schedule changes can also be stressful for managers and supervisors if there isn’t a thorough implementation plan. Managers must understand all implications of a new schedule, such as the impact on support departments, as well as startups, shutdowns and pay policies. A detailed plan must be developed to ensure all departments are ready for the change. This plan must include a well thought out communication strategy. All members of the leadership team must understand the change and be able to communicate that change effectively. Meeting with each employee to
discuss all facets of his or her new work schedule is important to facilitate the transition from
old to new. Human Resources must also be involved to determine how policies, such as vacation pay, need to be customized for the new schedules. Implementing new schedules without understanding all the implications or being able to answer employee questions will result in confusion and mistrust.

Conclusion

You only get one shot at making a successful schedule change. Most facilities can achieve an
11% to 17% improvement in labor costs by implementing the right schedule. With millions of
dollars on the line, you must follow the four critical focus areas: Operations and Labor,
Employee Buy-In, Health & Safety and Implementation.

Making Best Practices Your Core Practice

Focus On Four: A Guide To Implementing The Right Labor Schedule
115 E 86th Street Suite 53 / New York, NY 10028 / (212) 534-0539 / http://www.corepractice.com/

Core Practice Partners LLC is the world’s leader in operation and Labor strategy,
specializing in shift work and scheduling. If your organization operates outside the 9-5,
Monday through Friday work week, contact John Frehse, Chief Strategist and Executive
Coach in Labor Strategy at: JFrehse@Corepractice.com or call 1-212-534-0539 Executive Workshop You can also learn about our free half day executive workshop on our website at:
www.CorePractice.com/workshop.htm

Shift Work Discussion Group Highlights Scheduling Issues

noreply@blogger.com (Core Practice Partners LLC) — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 07:53:00 +0000

The new Shift Work Scheduling Discussion Group located at the site titled Scheduling Center of Excellence is highlighting the lack of information available to management teams regarding shift schedule management, schedule creation, and flexible schedules. Health and safety issues are also taking a top position of interest in the blog. Because it is a completely free community, all levels of organizations are participating. Both shift workers and mangers and VP level executives are asking questions and getting real answers.

The site, managed by Core Practice Partners LLC, has provided a bridge between employees and managers and is slowly removing the "us vs. them" mentality of those that are participating.

Core Practice Partners Uses rssHugger to Publicize Shift Work Scheduling News

noreply@blogger.com (Core Practice Partners LLC) — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 07:46:00 +0000

rssHugger is a great tool for publicizing blogs and considering the lack of information about shift work and shift scheduling strategies, management teams can be grateful that both the Core Practice Labor Strategy Blog and Scheduling Center of Excellence discussion group will both gain users.

RssHugger does a great job getting information to those that want it and the permission marketing style works well for our community.