Tool to optimize the shift schedule
Hello everyone! I work as a manager in a small company, and now we need to optimize the shift schedule for employees. We faced the problem that changing shifts manually has become too difficult: some employees require days off on certain days, others - only night shifts, and sometimes someone gets sick at the very last moment, and everything has to be redone. I heard about Shifton - it seems to be a system for automatic shift planning. Has anyone already tried it in practice? Question: how realistic is it to use Shifton taking into account all the individual wishes of employees, and how does it cope with unpredictable situations, such as illness or urgent replacement?
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We had a similar problem in our company, and we started using shift schedule creator six months ago. What can I say about this - the system really helps, but like any other technology, it is not perfect, and requires some attention so that everything works as it should. In terms of automation, https://shifton.com/shift-scheduling copes wonderfully with the distribution of shifts, based on the specified rules and restrictions. For example, you can establish in advance that a certain employee cannot work night shifts, or vice versa, he prefers to go out only for evening shifts. The system takes all this into account when creating a schedule, and the result is quite good. But if during the work someone unexpectedly goes on sick leave, or if someone changes their preferences, then, of course, Shifton can get lost. It does not always react perfectly to changes in real time. When something goes beyond the pre-planned schedule, the system offers possible replacements, but it is not always possible to find a suitable option without human intervention. For example, if an employee falls ill and you need to quickly find a replacement, the automatic algorithm can suggest people who, in its opinion, are free, but this is not always true, because they may already be on another shift or do not want to work on this specific date. This is where manual settings come to the rescue. If something goes wrong, you can manually adjust the schedule, find the right person and make changes. This is the biggest disadvantage of automation - it does not always have time to take into account all real circumstances.
I wonder how Shifton works with schedules when employees have different work schedules? We have some people working 5/2 shifts, and some people working 3/3 shifts, and we need to take that into account when creating a schedule.