Insights on Excellence | "Insights on Excellence" Archive

Introducing supply and demand to labor management

by Stephen Hawley Martin
for Virginia Business
May 29, 2007

Have you ever seen that TV commercial with a husband and wife sitting at a table, pouring over a document. An eager salesman sits across the table waiting for their reaction. They hand the paper back to him, show him the door and say, "next" to the waiting throng of mortgage brokers standing in line outside their door.

In the world of work-force management technology, something approaching that scene is beginning to occur. Software providers are beginning to focus on the supply and demand concept and put it to work for companies and employees.

The software companies are trying to produce a tool to supply the appropriate type and amount of labor based on the needs of a business. Shift bidding, or more aptly put competitive shift bidding is at the doorstep.

In scheduling systems that allow employees to bid for shifts, a workload template is created indicating how many workers in each job category are needed, at what times they are needed, and at what locations. Employees can log onto the system, review the open slots on the schedule, and submit bids for particular shifts.

This is different than basic self-scheduling where employees either sign themselves up or request shifts without regard to pay. In this case, for highly desirable shifts, a company may be able to acquire its labor for the lowest cost by allowing the employees to submit their best "price."

Such bidding systems are able to allow those with more seniority to request a shift before people with less seniority can do so. Union rules might even require that a certain class of employee gets first dibs. So the system can automatically let these employees in for a set period of time to make their requests before opening up for others to do so.

Alternatively, a system can be programmed to take into account employee preferences. Employees enter the days and times they'd most like to work. Once their preferences are established, the scheduling program takes these preferences into account. Why is that important? Two reasons: Reduced absenteeism and improved job satisfaction. That equals lower costs and more engaged employees.

Of course, rules can be applied to all of this. For example, state or union regulations may require that only people with specific qualifications work a job or shift. A scheduling workspace can be programmed to insure a worker with the right skill set is scheduled for a shift. The company sets up the criteria specific to its needs and the regulations to which it must adhere.

In health care, for example, these needs are based on the patient population and acuity, for example. The employer may need respiratory therapists or G-tube certified staff on the ward with the addition of new patients. Only a sophisticated, rule-driven system can facilitate ensuring such compliance in a self-scheduling process. The risks of delivering the wrong type of workers to the work site are almost nil.

What work-force management technology is capable of doing is moving ahead at a lightning pace. A new book from Oaklea Press by Lisa Disselkamp, called Working the Clock, is intended to give executives insight into the many ways it can help them run their businesses more efficiently.

-----------------------------------------------------

Stephen Hawley Martin is a former principal of The Martin Agency in Richmond and the author of more than half a dozen books including his newest, Lean Enterprise Leader: How to Get Things Done Without Doing It All Yourself. He is editor and publisher of The Oaklea Press, a book publishing business dedicated primarily to helping business executives increase productivity.