Shift exchange trial#

So while their odds dropped if they waited until the last minute, the data shows that employees could usually find someone to cover a shift. 72% of shifts posted a week or more in advance were picked up by other employees - though that number dropped to 50% for shifts posted one to three days in advance, and fell to 30% for shifts posted a day or less in advance. Overall, shift swapping appeared to be a huge win for staff.įrom the business’ point of view, the shift swap policy didn’t do much to disrupt store operations. 95% of part-time associates said the ability to trade shifts helped them adjust their work schedules around their personal lives, while 97% praised the system for helping them get more hours when they wanted them. The company was concerned that older employees would be reticent to participate surprisingly, 46% of workers over the age of 50 used the app to swap shifts.

Shift exchange trial#

In addition to implementing rules around schedule stability - for instance, disallowing on-call shifts - they gave employees at several Gap locations access to a smart phone app that let them offer shifts they didn’t want to all their co-workers, who could grab them on a first-come, first-served basis.īoth enthusiasm and participation among employees was high: during the 30-week trial period, 62% of employees used the new shift swapping app. Last year, researchers from the Center for WorkLife Law teamed up with The Gap to answer that question for themselves. And as we’ll see, shift swapping may not be a drain on your business at all.īut if you’re going to implement a shift swap policy, the question remains: How do you balance the needs of the business against employees’ needs for flexibility? How a win-win shift swap policy adds value If your scheduling practices are contributing to higher turnover, the total costs will probably lose you more in the long run than shift swapping would. Data shows that replacing someone in that kind of high-turnover, hourly position costs about 16% of the employee’s annual pay, which translates to between $2,000 and $3,500 for one employee making $10 per hour. In one survey of retail managers, 62% said they’d had sales associates quit due to ongoing scheduling conflicts. However, you probably do more damage overall by not giving employees some control over their schedules. Some managers may think that allowing shift swaps creates too much uncertainty for the business. But a reasonable shift swap policy can enable managers to meet the needs of both their business and their employees. Last minute scheduling changes make it harder for them to meet family obligations, work a second job, make it to class, or manage other aspects of their daily lives. On the other hand, employees need flexibility too.

That means you sometimes need the flexibility to change the schedule in the days leading up to a shift.

On the one hand, you have to preserve margins by keeping the schedule lean and assigning only as many people as you need to meet customer demand. Scheduling hourly staff is a difficult balancing act for managers.