Employee Schedules: The Top 10 U.S. Management Mistakes of 2007 Released By Core Practice Partners LLC

Every year Core Practice Partners releases its list of the top scheduling mistakes of the last 12 months. The workshops and seminars combined with ongoing project work with companies like Kraft Foods has made this firm a valuable labor strategy resource to the public.

Number one is copying a schedule from another facility. Your business and employee needs will be different than theirs. next is having all schedules one shift length, typically 8 hours. Third is taking the one size fits all approach. This is heavily flawed, but widely accepted. The Weekend Warrior Crew concept is next. This involves low skills, high costs, and high turnover. Another common error is trying to keep overtime below 5%. Instead, look at the most expensive labor cost which is idle time considering all the benefit costs. Number 5 is creating a lack of flexibility flexibility. Most companies have schedules that are only effective if the volumes don’t change. Number 6 is not having an understanding of health and safety issues of days on and days off. Many companies refuse to work 12 hour shifts because they feel they are unsafe, but don’t have as much of a problem working 7 shifts in a row (many work 13 shifts in a row during the busy season). Next on the list is the use of inflexible and costly HR policies. The HR manual may be the single greatest driver of labor productivity and cost savings if written and managed properly. Number 8 is not having a part time/temporary worker strategy. Organizations with high seasonality and less need for skilled employees miss huge opportunities by not having this option. Number 9 includes inefficient break and lunch relief. If you have the wrong break and lunch structure, it may be a costly mistake and one you can’t correct. Finally at number 10, the us vs. them mentality rounds out the list. The more shift workers know, the more bought in to the company vision they will be.