24/7 Workforce

Well with this kind of evidence anyway. A recent post "Are you concerned about the extension in flexible working rights? Don't be. It's an opportunity to raise productivity and lower costs." goes on to highlight the benefits flexible working has for us all. It appears "It had an immediate impact on our productivity and bottom line figures - and has proved sustainable," said Moira Williamson, HR Manager for the Scottish Legal Aid Board.

On the other hand KPMG audit report of the SLAB draws attention that savings were achieved with significant reductions in staff numbers, the SLAB 2008 Annual Report records an average increase of around 64.3% in PDSO staff wages and benefits, allied to an increasing tax payer cost as the number of grants are decreasing.

For many flexible working can have benefit for both employer and employees alike, but a poor choice of candidate to advance the usual flexible working claims all the same.

National Health Service (UK) bosses are recruiting a layer of management to ensure doctors do not work too hard according to The Times editorial - citing the Scarborough North East Yorkshire Trust appointment of a “working time directive project manager” in 2006-7. Similarly Mid Essex Hospital Services NHS Trust are currently advertising a similar £44k a year post.

So how does a private sector blue chip implement compliant scheduling strategies, including software and training in a busy and modern port facility, at a tenth of the cost faster than it takes the public sector to sharpen a project manager's pencil? Perhaps the £20.7 million debt write-off North East Yorkshire Trust enjoyed in return for not threatening to lay-off 600 nurses means you don't have to try too hard.

The defeat today for the UK 48 hour opt-out clause brings the protagonists head on about how many working hours we do. "Britain works the longest hours in Europe..." up goes the shout, others point to higher unemployment if it is allowed to go through. The strange thing is, it is all predicated on the 7 day week that went out with the brown (no pun intended) football. Michael Collins in Problems of Flexible Working..., brings things up to date and demonstrate the poblems we have defining the future with past traditions about working. For now I am happy to settle for just wanting to know what this 48 hour week looks like.

Well it looks to me working less hours and more time off can be worse than working more hours and getting better time off. It isn't the number of working hours that will pre-occupy the future workforce, but working patterns - which is not the same thing. In fact I see the day approaching where people will choose lifestyle by pattern choice not numbers. They are just so much easier to understand.

Our webmistress works hard pouring over her metrics and analysis to gain every edge she can with keywords, links, page density and relevance to do with workforce factors - that's our business. But nothing could prepare her for the spike of hits that has turned into a wave of web crawling that would normally get her a bonus for discovering some new SEO technique. The hits zeroed in one area and rapid fire followed ever since.


The reason turned out to be a simple one. Working patterns are getting hammered as realization dawns an age old relationship does exist between headcount and cash. Headcount is in the crosshairs. Karen Bartlett reminded her readers the existence of this relationship in her editorial "Flexible working: Blessing or curse?" Also there does seem to be a trend for phased working as an alternative to wholesale job cuts . The irony is, markets not legislation is driving flexible working. Not the flexible working many had in mind, but flexible working nonetheless. Flexible working is indeed a double-edged sword that cuts both ways.

“...with firms predicting faster falls in volumes, values and profitability in the next quarter, we can expect to see significant job losses in the coming months.”

It is not the numbers of staff but how they are coordinated that makes a difference. This principle is the same for whatever size of business. Without a system of planning for staff coordination, throwing more numbers in is as bad as throwing more numbers out – often worse. Nothing is more frustrating than for business managers and fewer staff to see hard won business being lost as headcount cuts are repeated to get costs under control.The first thing to do is to get a system that enables staff coordination to be planned as far ahead as possible, at least 6 months and a year or more is better still. Staff cuts may be unavoidable but a swift balance to the business can be re-established and maintained by managing these basics:

1. Know when staff are working
2. Monitor staff working hours
3. Know the cost before deploying staff, not after
4. Introduce flexible working patterns
5. Plan training days don’t cancel
6. Manage don’t just record sickness
7. Schedule leave and record not the other way round
8. Innovate working strategies don’t guess
9. Focus on team management
10. Communicate well defined content

We all know failing to plan is planning to fail. A workforce is a good asset which generates a lot of information, so forget manual paper and pencil or spreadsheets to provide a rough guide who and when turns up for work.

On the other hand it is not necessary to trigger a corporate budget to get your system in place. With our help and expertise you can have more say over the factors that impact the business most.

We have recently published a white paper, “Enabling Business Managers to Automate Staff Scheduling for Improving Business Profitability.” The white paper describes how business goals are achieved when business managers are provided with the technology to deliver a staff scheduling strategy. It describes how costs can be controlled and harmony in the workplace maintained.

“Staff scheduling is not an IT or HR problem, it is a business manager’s problem“, said Tim Mills, COO and co-founder of Intellicate. He went on to say, “There is a need therefore for a company to ensure business managers have access to the technology that enable them to adopt a structured approach to staff scheduling and workforce deployment. Intellicate recognize that business managers need to deliver variable staff schedules over long time ranges and Schedule24 provides the workflow for adopting such a structured approach.“

Topics covered in the white paper include:

• How to overcome barriers to good staff scheduling
• Requirements for a Scheduling Solution
• Deliver flexible working and safeguard profitability
• Plan and maintain well-defined team schedules
• Explore innovative ways of working with your staff
• Deliver 30% increase in 24/7 staff levels from existing employees

If you would like to download a copy of the white paper, click here.

From Intellicate's white paper...

To compete in a global economy many businesses are operating 24/7 or extending the working day to deliver more products and services. At the same time staff desire more flexible working. Scheduling staff to meet business requirements has become a complex task. Staff scheduling is not an IT or HR problem, it is a business manager’s problem. Furthermore, business managers who undertake this process manually will spend considerable time to deliver good schedules. This white paper describes how business goals are achieved when business managers are provided with the tools to deliver staff scheduling strategy. It describes how costs can be controlled and harmony in the workplace maintained.

White paper contents:

• Introduction – Business and Staff Scheduling
• Staff Scheduling Workflow Is Important
• Enabling the Business Manager – Requirements for a Solution
• The Schedule24 Solution
• Using Schedule24 Software
• Where is Schedule24 Software Useful?
• Case Studies