SCHEDULING REMEDIES FOR HUMAN SERVICE ORGANIZATIONS FROM A LEADER IN AGENCY WORKFORCE MANAGEMENT SOLUTIONS www.mitcsoftware.com
INTRODUCTION Despite embracing technology, human service organizations today still frequently find managers drafting work schedules on paper before transferring them to simple spreadsheets or stand-alone scheduling systems. In building a manual schedule, the manager must somehow keep track of its many elements, including average daily client needs, mandated staff/client ratios, employee skill mix, union and regulatory requirements, the agency s own policies, and the department s budget. In addition, the needs of individual employees must be taken into consideration. As managers create schedules, they must balance employee skills, seniority, and shift preferences. There are constant adjustments to accommodate, such as vacancies, requests for time off, vacations, and leave. By the time they have finished, managers have devoted hours to creating the schedule only to see it disrupted by a call-off the day it goes into effect. Think about it. On a typical day, a manager might be confronted with numerous unexpected situations. These may include two employees calling in sick a few hours before their shifts start. The outbreak of flu may be more severe than expected, and an email warning that an employee s certification expired may suddenly appear. Managers working with a manual or partially automated staffing process face a nearly impossible task of responding quickly with the right number of skilled workers to match situations that change continuously. It doesn t stop there. Scheduling and staffing demand managers constant attention as they field requests for time off for the next scheduling period while working on today s staffing needs. The processes are perpetual - managers make the plans and execute them and are all done concurrently. Managers working with a manual or partially automated staffing process face a nearly impossible task of responding quickly with the right number of skilled workers. MITC scheduling solutions have integrated advanced staffing and scheduling capabilities that make these tasks easier for managers by providing instant visibility into budgets, requirements, hours, work history data, employee skills and preferences, and labor costs. Given the right real-time information, managers can react quickly to the unpredictable situations that put a workforce schedule in flux. Agencies can meet financial, clinical and operational objectives by leveraging the right solutions to automate and streamline scheduling and staffing practices. Deliver Quality Care. A growing body of research shows that employee workforce characteristics have a considerable impact on client outcomes. An optimal skill mix and greater experience have been linked to fewer adverse events, and lower costs. Ensuring that clients are tended to by appropriate staff with the proper skills is essential to providing quality care. WWW.MITCSOFTWARE.COM 1
Quality Control. Task Scheduling is a subset of Advanced Employee Scheduling. Task Scheduling allows managers to create to-do lists to confirm that the tasks were completed. Managers can inspect what was done and what wasn t at their convenience. Control Labor Costs. With labor comprising 50 70 percent of an agency s overall expenses, it s imperative that these dollars are maximized. An advanced scheduling solution assigns the most cost-effective and qualified employees to specific shifts, thereby reducing overtime. With predictable shifts and more equitable distribution of overtime, employee turnover is reduced. Automated staffing and scheduling also captures actual time worked, and accurately applies complex work and pay rules to reduce errors and pay inflation. Managers who have access to real-time labor cost information can take corrective action before extraneous payroll costs are incurred. Minimize Compliance Risk. Failing to comply with shifting labor regulations, staffing ratios or billing requirements can have significant financial and operational implications. Yet it is all but impossible to apply and enforce all labor policies across the agency consistently and fairly with manual scheduling systems. Advanced staffing and scheduling automatically applies the necessary rules, regulations, and policies to all staffing decisions and helps managers schedule only employees whose certifications and licenses are current. Consistent enforcement translates into reduced employee grievances and claims, and fewer lawsuits, fines, and sanctions. Increase Workforce Productivity. Stable work environments and good work-life balance ratios help to retain employees. Advanced staffing and scheduling solutions minimize employee stress associated with under or overstaffing. Employees can also participate in managing their own schedules, and have more control over their work experience. Less time is spent building and staffing schedules, freeing managers and employees to be more productive and allowing the staff to do the work they enjoy with their clients. Consistent enforcement translates into reduced employee grievances and claims, and fewer lawsuits, fines, and sanctions. TAILORING A WORKFORCE SCHEDULING SOLUTION Human Service Agency departments will vary in their practices and processes for scheduling and staffing. Supported Living and Residential Programs will have more complex needs than a Day Program. But even Day Programs that are less sensitive to daily events can benefit from advanced scheduling solutions and improved processes. For example, allowing employees to review information on open shifts contributes to employee satisfaction, as does a schedule that rotates tasks fairly among employees and automatically gives preference to their desired work schedules. The ability to manage the entire workforce effectively is a critical factor in optimizing employee performance. The steps are the same no matter how complex or simple the staffing needs. Consequently, Human Service Agencies should leverage an enterprise-wide scheduling solution one that s flexible enough to meet the needs of all departments. WWW.MITCSOFTWARE.COM 2
SELECTING THE RIGHT TOOLS Before adopting a scheduling solution, appoint a crossfunctional team to thoroughly evaluate staffing and scheduling needs and processes, investigate the best-fit solution, and communicate and champion its deployment. A cultural shift in scheduling practices may be required to create a more balanced staff. Perks, incidental overtime, and favoritism need to be replaced with visibility, transparency, and accountability. EMPOWERING EMPLOYEES Agencies need creative and flexible staffing models that support a safe and healthy work environment and equitable staffing. Automating scheduling and staffing processes can help fulfill these criteria for any agency focused on retaining satisfied employees. With advanced scheduling, employees can access a work schedule online, view open shifts, request time off, and provide scheduling preferences and availability. Employees who participate in the scheduling process report higher job satisfaction and are more likely to remain on the job. Managers are happier when they don t have to deal with numerous verbal and written requests from employees who need to adjust their schedules. Advanced staffing and scheduling solutions can also be configured to alert managers automatically if a schedule deviates from the safe-practice policy of sufficient rest periods between shifts. Of equal importance, the rules governing the schedule should be transparent to employees as they request shifts. This leads to greater appreciation for the department s policies and the belief that they are being fairly and consistently applied. REDUCE ABSENTEEISM Schedule prompting enables agencies to delivery text or email reminders to employees automatically about their next shift, location, times, and include work instructions. ON-DEMAND STAFFING With advanced scheduling, employees can access a work schedule online, view open shifts, request time off, and provide scheduling preferences and availability. Snow days, client illnesses, doctor s visits, shopping trips, parent and guardian visits, and transfers can put the most meticulously built workforce schedule in a constant state of instability, from the very day it goes into effect. Streamlining processes and leveraging automated staffing tools allow managers to react to real-time information to generate optimal staffing. As requirements change during the day, an automated solution not only identifies available employees but also produces a list of the most competent and cost-effective employees to fill any gaps in coverage. Access to real-time data reduces communication errors and increases response time available to fill an open shift, allowing the manager to meet fiscal responsibilities and deliver quality care. If staffing needs should decrease in one department, an automated scheduler can identify employees with the appropriate skills to transfer to other departments. For instance, a snow day may mean attendance at a Day Program will be cancelled or restricted while additional coverage will be needed in the Residential or Supported Living Programs. WWW.MITCSOFTWARE.COM 3
NEXT GENERATION SCHEDULING While generic time and attendance systems can effectively capture and catalog vital labor information, it s up to the manager to figure out which data to access, and how it can be applied to scheduling and staffing decisions. MITC s next generation scheduling not only creates an early warning of potential problems, it automatically applies an agency s rules and pay practices, which narrows down hundreds of possible solutions to the most appropriate course of action. Guided decisions save managers valuable time and help them make choices that best serve the needs of the agency. New advanced scheduling and staffing tools also have more intuitive and adaptable applications that are easier to learn and use, and they offer interactive communication between employees and managers who use mobile technology. Managers can now push out coverage requests to all eligible employees using voicemail and the internet. Each department determines how shifts will be filled, on a first-come first-served basis or assigning the most senior employee to respond within a specific time frame. The process of assigning available shifts is fair and transparent, which can be especially important in unionized work environments. With mobile technology, the time taken to fill most open shifts with a qualified staff member is typically less than five minutes. SUMMARY Adopting advanced scheduling and staffing tools can benefit any agency, no matter how complex or simple its staffing needs. Look for an integrated workforce management solution that can meet your agency-wide needs, while still accommodating the department-specific processes. Forecast modeling, employee self-service, and on-demand staffing capabilities will ensure adoption of the tool, deliver accelerated results, and increase workforce productivity. Employees are happier, regulatory and contractual requirements are met, and managers spend a fraction of the time they formerly did on scheduling and staffing processes. Moreover, an MITC solution can help ensure that staffing decisions are made fairly, appropriately, and cost effectively. Providers that adopt an agency-wide approach to their scheduling and staffing practices, and leverage automated tools, can expect to substantially control labor costs, minimize compliance risks, increase workforce productivity, and deliver quality care throughout the organization. ABOUT MITC MITC provides modular workforce management solutions and services to support all the needs of agencies time and attendance, advanced employee scheduling, service documentation, payroll rules and reporting engine, workforce analytics, payroll and billing integration, and more. For 25 years, MITC has grown to serve over 1,500 organizations (with anywhere form 5 to 10,000 employees) in the USA, the UK, Africa, Australia, Canada, Ireland and New Zealand. They have selected MITC to help control costs, save time, improve productivity and ensure compliance. Visit www.mitcsoftware.com to learn more. WWW.MITCSOFTWARE.COM 4