How can scheduling models reduce overtime and labor costs?

Overtime and labor costs are among the biggest challenges for workforce management. How can you optimize your staffing levels, meet customer demand, and avoid overpaying your employees? One possible solution is to use scheduling models, which are mathematical methods that help you plan and allocate your resources efficiently. In this article, we will explain what scheduling models are, how they work, and how they can reduce overtime and labor costs.

1 What are scheduling models?

Scheduling models are tools that help you design and implement your workforce schedules. They use data and algorithms to determine how many workers you need, when you need them, and what tasks they should perform. Scheduling models can be based on different criteria, such as demand, availability, skills, preferences, or costs. They can also vary in complexity, from simple formulas to sophisticated optimization techniques.

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✅Ritesh Srivastava

Singaporean HRBP & Talent Acquisition APAC || Sr. Client Account Manager || Ex-Capgemini; Ceridian Dayforce; Hewlett Packard; Manpower
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There are various scheduling models, including: 1. Fixed Shift: Employees have a set schedule with fixed working hours and days. 2. Rotating Shift: Employees rotate through different shifts, such as morning, afternoon, and night shifts. 3. Split Shift: Employees work two separate shifts in one day with a break in between. 4. On-Call Scheduling: Employees are on standby and called in when needed. 5. Flexitime: Employees have flexibility in choosing their start and end times within certain limits. 6. Staggered Start/End Times: Employee start/end times vary slightly to accommodate workload fluctuations or preferences. These are just some examples of scheduling models used in workforce management systems.

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2 How do scheduling models work?

Scheduling models work by analyzing your data and objectives, and generating feasible and optimal schedules that match them. For example, a scheduling model can use historical data on customer demand, employee availability, and service levels to create a schedule that minimizes waiting times and maximizes customer satisfaction. Or, a scheduling model can use employee skills, preferences, and contracts to create a schedule that balances fairness and flexibility. Scheduling models can also incorporate constraints, such as legal regulations, budget limits, or quality standards.

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Curtis Evans

Veteran workforce management professional
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In my experience, scheduling models allow the flexibility to evaluate the alignment of schedules with multiple business objectives and improve decision-making by leveraging data. I have evaluated scheduling scenarios to reduce budgets, enable additional capacity to facilitate business expansion, and pilot alternative service solutions. Using a model for these activities means scenarios can be evaluated in hours or days versus weeks or months when done manually.

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3 How can scheduling models reduce overtime and labor costs?

Scheduling models can reduce overtime and labor costs by helping you avoid under- or over-staffing, which can lead to wasted resources, low productivity, or poor service quality. By using scheduling models, you can forecast your demand accurately, match your supply to your demand, and allocate your workers optimally. This way, you can reduce the need for overtime, which can be expensive and detrimental to employee well-being. You can also reduce your labor costs by improving your efficiency, reducing your idle time, and increasing your utilization rate.

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Terry Workman, PMP, CSM
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Scheduling models can reduce overtime and labor costs through: Accurate Demand Forecasting: Using historical data and advanced algorithms, scheduling models predict customer demand, allowing organizations to staff appropriately. Correct forecasts help prevent overstaffing during slow periods and under-staffing during peak times, minimizing the need for overtime. Optimal Staff Allocation: Scheduling models help allocate the workforce efficiently based on predicted demand. This ensures that the right number of agents are available during high demand, preventing the need for overtime. Efficiency Improvements: By aligning schedules with demand, models reduce idle time and improve efficiency. Agents are deployed when they are most needed.

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4 What are some examples of scheduling models?

When it comes to scheduling models, there are many to choose from, depending on your industry, context, and goals. Linear programming models use linear equations to optimize an objective function, such as minimizing costs or maximizing profits, while integer programming models require variables to be integers. Network models use graphs or networks to represent resources, tasks, and dependencies and find the shortest or longest path. Simulation models use random variables and scenarios to mimic a real-world system and evaluate its performance. Lastly, heuristic models rely on rules of thumb or trial-and-error methods to find good or near-optimal solutions.

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5 How can you choose the right scheduling model?

Choosing the right scheduling model is dependent on several factors, such as the quality and availability of data, problem size and complexity, computational resources and time, and stakeholder involvement and acceptance. Reliable and sufficient data is necessary to feed the scheduling model and validate its results. The decision variables, objective function, and constraints must be defined clearly and realistically. The appropriate software and hardware must be available to run the scheduling model and generate schedules. It is also important to consider the speed and accuracy of the scheduling model, as well as the frequency and urgency of scheduling decisions. Stakeholders such as managers, employees, and customers must be involved in the scheduling process, taking into account their expectations, preferences, and feedback.

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6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?

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How can scheduling models reduce overtime and labor costs?

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1 What are scheduling models?

2 How do scheduling models work?

3 How can scheduling models reduce overtime and labor costs?

4 What are some examples of scheduling models?

5 How can you choose the right scheduling model?

6 Here’s what else to consider

Workforce Management

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How can scheduling models reduce overtime and labor costs?

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5

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1 What are scheduling models?

2 How do scheduling models work?

3 How can scheduling models reduce overtime and labor costs?

4 What are some examples of scheduling models?

5 How can you choose the right scheduling model?

6 Here’s what else to consider

Workforce Management

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