Employees and management see shift schedules from entirely different perspectives. When employees discuss their ideal shift schedule, they talk about things like shift length, work patterns, and shift start/end times. That's because these features are related to their primary concern:  time off.

• Shift length affects the number of scheduled days off and percentage of weekends off.
• Work patterns influence the length and frequency of the breaks.
• Shift start/end times determine when they get to go home.
  
  

When managers of shiftwork operations discuss the organization's shift schedule, they are primarily concerned about the coverage requirements, staffing levels, absence rates, and overtime. That's because these features affect their main concern: the organization's resources.

• Coverage requirements define the amount of resources needed (total work hours per week).
• Staffing is the primary resource available to the organization.
• Absence rates determine the staff's availability and the amount of overtime needed.
• Overtime is seen by some as an unnecessary cost and by others as a strategic tool to boost the weekly work hours and/or cover absences.
  
  

Employees rarely consider the impact of their preferences on the organization's resources. Go to any employee forum and read the posts related to work schedules. You'll read about a group that adopted 10-hour shifts and how all the employees love them. Or how another group thinks a 6-on-3-off pattern would be better than the 5-on-2-off pattern they work now - because of the 3 consecutive days off. You also might find requests for a copy of someone else's schedule. No one ever mentions coverage requirements, the impact on absence coverage, or how many employees these choices would require. It's all about days off, weekends off, or not having to work too many days in a row.

So how can managers accommodate both the needs of the organization and the preferences of the employees? The only way to satisfy both sides is to start with what's feasible for the organization, and then seek out options that will satisfy employees. If you start with what employees want, you might get inconsistent or insufficient coverage, coverage that's not matched with the workload or staff size, or schedules that consume more resources than available.

Notice that I'm only indicating where to begin the search for a new schedule. Starting with what is feasible may narrow the scheduling possibilities or preclude certain approaches, but it doesn't mean the employees will have terrible schedules. And it doesn't mean they won't have any choices. What it does is join the management team with the workers in finding a solution that is best for both the organization and the employees.