Employee scheduling software
Employee scheduling software automates the process of creating and maintaining a work schedule. It is used mainly by organizations with hourly or shift-based workforces to reduce the manual effort of building schedules and to track related information such as time off, availability, and scheduling conflicts.[1] Scheduling data accumulated over time can be exported for payroll or used to analyze past activity. While some systems make optimization decisions, others primarily coordinate and record schedules.[1][2]
Modern employee scheduling software often includes mobile applications, and may add related human resource management functions such as applicant tracking, time and attendance, and limits on overtime.[3]
Purpose
[edit]The core of an employee scheduling problem is closely related to the nurse scheduling problem, which is NP-hard. This computational complexity, which arises from assigning employees across many possible shift patterns subject to differing rules, is a significant factor in how scheduling software is designed.[4] The general aim is to minimize labor costs while meeting staffing requirements, and effective use typically combines the software with managerial judgement rather than relying on automation alone.[1]
History
[edit]Before dedicated scheduling software, employers tracked hours and shifts using physical records such as punch cards and mechanical time clocks, which recorded hours worked but did not build schedules. From the 1980s, as lower-cost computers and storage became available, these records were increasingly kept in computer programs, and systems emerged that both stored work history and generated schedules. From the 2010s, the spread of mobile devices and cloud computing allowed scheduling to be managed and distributed through web and mobile applications, and some systems began to incorporate machine learning.[5]
Punch cards
[edit]The earliest form of automated employee scheduling and managing of employee hours was the punch card. The idea first created by Basile Bouchon developed the control of a loom by punched holes in paper tape in 1725. Herman Hollerith improved the design.[6] IBM manufactured and marketed a variety of unit record machines for creating, sorting, and tabulating punched cards, even after expanding into electronic computers in the late 1950s. IBM developed punched card technology into a powerful tool for business data-processing and produced an extensive line of general purpose unit record machines.[7]
Magnetic tape
[edit]During the 1960s, the punched card was gradually replaced as the primary means for data storage by magnetic tape, as better, more capable computers became available. Mohawk Data Sciences introduced a magnetic tape encoder in 1965, a system marketed as a keypunch replacement which was somewhat successful, but punched cards were still commonly used for data entry and programming until the mid-1980s when the combination of lower cost magnetic disk storage, and affordable interactive terminals on less expensive minicomputers made punched cards obsolete for this role as well.[8] However, their influence lives on through many standard conventions and file formats.[9]
Auto-scheduling and intelligent rostering
[edit]In the 2010s, the adoption of mobile devices and 3G, 4G, and 5G networks[10] made it possible to approach scheduling differently. Some software solutions made the lives of business owners and managers easier.
Complexity
[edit]Scheduling software uses algorithms to determine not only who works but also the specific jobs and tasks assigned, though the output generally still requires review and manual adjustment.[5] Rostering problems differ along several dimensions, including how days-off scheduling is integrated with task assignment, how the roster is constructed, and the type of staffing demand.[1] Because each workplace has its own rules and constraints, software usually must be configured to the individual organization.[5] Finding a solution that minimizes cost, respects employee preferences, distributes shifts fairly, and satisfies workplace constraints is difficult, and those building rosters often rely on decision support tools.[1] Changing conditions, such as a significant increase in headcount, can require models and configurations to be updated.[4]
Features
[edit]Features vary by vendor. Commonly described capabilities include:
- A Gantt chart or calendar view of the schedule
- Handling employee requests for time off and shift swaps
- Identifying over- or under-staffing, sometimes using inputs such as weather forecasts to estimate demand[11]
- Days-off scheduling and shift templates
- Interfaces to payroll or management accounting software, and reports for invoicing and payroll[3]
- Identification of unassigned shifts[3]
- Workplace analysis and reporting[12]
- Mobile application access
By consolidating scheduling data, such software can support management decisions and automatically generate schedules that satisfy as many constraints as possible.[13] Employee scheduling may also be provided as part of a broader enterprise resource planning or human resource management system.[3]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- 1 2 3 4 5 Ernst, A. T; Jiang, H; Krishnamoorthy, M; Sier, D (2004-02-16). "Staff scheduling and rostering: A review of applications, methods and models". European Journal of Operational Research. 153 (1): 3–27. doi:10.1016/S0377-2217(03)00095-X.
- ↑ Glover, Fred; McMillan, Claude; Glover, Randy (1984-02-01). "A heuristic programming approach to the employee scheduling problem and some thoughts on "managerial robots"". Journal of Operations Management. 4 (2): 113–128. doi:10.1016/0272-6963(84)90027-5.
- 1 2 3 4 Disselkamp, Lisa (2013-03-20). Workforce Asset Management Book of Knowledge. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 9781118420508.
- 1 2 Weber, N.; Patten, L. (2005). "Shoring Up for Efficiency". Health Management Technology. 26 (1): 34–36.
- 1 2 3 Robidoux, L.; Donnelly, P. (2011). "Automated employee scheduling: Welcome to the future". Nursing Management. 42 (12): 41–43. doi:10.1097/01.NUMA.0000407580.30932.ce. PMID 22124301.
- ↑ Trogemann, Georg (eds.); et al. (2001). Computing in Russia. Verlag. pp. 47–49. The article is by Gellius N. Povarov, titled Semen Nikolayevich Korsakov- Machines for the Comparison of Philosophical Ideas
- ↑ Essinger, James (2004). Jacquard's Web: How a hand-loom led to the birth of the information age. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-280577-0.
- ↑ Aspray (ed.), W. (1990). Computing before Computers. Iowa State University Press. p. 151. ISBN 0-8138-0047-1.
- ↑ Lubar, Steven (1993). InfoCulture: The Smithsonian Book of Information Age Inventions. Houghton Mifflin. p. 302. ISBN 0-395-57042-5.
- ↑ "eMarketer Updates Worldwide Internet and Mobile User Figures - eMarketer". www.emarketer.com. Retrieved 2018-11-11.
- ↑ Steven Greenhouse (October 27, 2012). "A Part-Time Life, as Hours Shrink and Shift". The New York Times. Retrieved October 28, 2012.
- ↑ Stedman, C (1999). "Retail Scheduling Systems Get Makeovers". Computerworld. 33 (2): 14.
- ↑ Maes, Pattie (July 1994). "Agents that reduce work and information overload". Communications of the ACM. 37 (7): 30–40. doi:10.1145/176789.176792. S2CID 207178655.