Proposal – Changing to a ten hour shift schedule



Implementing Ten Hour Shifts

Proposal

To: Phoenix Alarm Room Management

From: Steve Ryan

Date: October 28, 2008

For many years, the Phoenix Fire Department Alarm room has operated using a calendar consisting of three shifts of eight hours days. For a twenty-four hour operation, this represents the easiest way in which a work schedule can be established. It grows and shrinks well with the required minimum staffing. It makes vacation planning easy to follow. It makes overtime scheduling a breeze. Most importantly, it makes determining the size of the entire workforce necessary for any particular day easy to calculate.

So, why switch to a different schedule? There is really nothing wrong with our calendar now, but we are missing out on a very large potential benefit in not using ten hour shifts. To start with the obvious, working ten hour days means that instead of two days off, your weekly schedule will be made of four working days and three consecutive days off. What isn’t necessarily as obvious is how the simple addition on an extra day off per week affects an employee over the course of a year. The percentage of days off increases dramatically when comparing an eight hour shift model to a ten hour shift model. The following chart carries out the math of the increase in days off over the course of a year.

|Shift Length |Working days per year |Days off per year |Percentage |

|8 hour shifts |52 weeks x 5 days = 260 |52 weeks x 2 days = 104 |28.5% of the year |

|10 hour shifts |52 weeks x 4 days = 208 |52 weeks x 3 days = 156 |42.9% of the year |

|12 hour shifts |52 weeks x 3.5 days = 182 |52 weeks x 3.5 days = 182 |50.0% of the year |

As you can see, there is a substantial increase in the number of days off when you make the jump from an 8 hour day to a 10 hour day. It is an increase of 54 days, or about 50% more per year.

The side effects of this potential benefit are substantial. As the pressures of what we do for a living continue to increase with widening goals and responsibilities, the time that we get to spend outside of our duties at work will also gain more importance. The effects of stress in the workplace can not be under estimated:

|Memory problems |Procrastination, neglecting responsibilities |

|Indecisiveness |Using alcohol, cigarettes, or drugs to relax |

|Inability to concentrate |Headaches or backaches |

|Short temper |Muscle tension and stiffness |

|Irritability, impatience | |

The bottom line is that working a schedule with more time off will translate into happier and more well-adjusted workers, because of the overall reduction in stress. Stress is the number one cause of employee turnover in our organization. This change would go a long way in reducing this potential turnover, and making our already dynamic group employees even better.

Introduction (cont.)

As I started to study the problem of making this type of conversion a reality, I learned that there are really two separate challenges facing organizations attempting to make this sort of change. The first is the obvious logistical concern of dividing a 24 hour day evenly into ten hour shifts. The second is traditionally the most underestimated. It has to do with the culture of the workplace and more importantly the routine of the people working there. This proposal will deal with both major sets of challenges in an attempt to demonstrate how it is possible to make this change with the right type of preparation.

I have designed a shift calendar consisting of approximately 70% ten hour shifts that satisfies all of the logistical concerns present with this change. The attached calendar also addresses a few of the cultural concerns as well. There are other obstacles present with this challenging project, but this is a very good place to start.

Logistics - The Schedule

The schedule builds upon the traditional eight hour shift schedule by introducing four new ten hour shifts. These shifts are designed to take advantage of shift overlap to create a 16 hour peak period, where staffing is effectively doubled. This peak period corresponds roughly with the alarm room’s busiest times of activity.

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The attached shift calendar on the following pages uses this created peak period of time in conjunction with our traditional three-by-eight hour schedule to create an integrated solution that has potential benefits for all employees. Features of this calendar include:

• All shifts maintain the same start and end times throughout the course of the work week.

• All shifts have consecutive days off.

• The calendar is comprised of 71% ten hour shifts. (40 of 56 shifts.)

It is important to note that any shift proposal that fails to meet any of the cultural concerns stated would probably be too much of a disruption to the culture of our workplace. The last thing that we want to do is increase the stress levels of our employees. But, based on our informal survey conducted earlier in the year, more than 85% of the employees polled were willing to make the workplace changes necessary to make a ten hour day a reality. And more than 65% of them actually wanted to work ten hour days. The attached calendar was specifically tailored with these numbers in mind. This should represent a positive solution to both the cultural and logistical challenges that the implementation of this proposal will present.

Culture – Potential Problems

This type of conversion is not without some drawbacks. Of primary concern is how employees will adjust to working 20% more hours in a given shift. This is a daily commitment – if you are working one of the new schedules, every day that you are scheduled to work you will be asked to work two more hours than you were previously being asked to do. However, because there are an above average share of employees already working overtime hours before and after their shifts, I believe that the impact of the additional two hours would be minimal, and would be more than offset by the addition of a third day off. The new calendar also deemphasizes the importance of overtime hours before and after shifts by increasing the regular staffing levels.

A new schedule would also create a series of other adjustments that would need to be addressed prior to implementation. Those adjustments include:

• The rules for vacation bidding may need to change with different combinations of people off.

• The process of staffing vacant shifts by offering overtime may change due to new staffing levels.

• Payroll adjustments will need to be made, especially concerning the swing and night shift differentials.

• New seating schedules will need to be created.

• Break scheduling will also have to be revised, again based on the projected new staffing levels.

• Redistribution of the span of control of supervisors and employees based on the new shifts.

One of the best things about working in our organization is that we truly are a combination of people with diverse talents. So I would like to make a suggestion about how to tackle the adjustments that need to be made above. I suggest that we involve as many people as possible in helping to figure out all of the small parts of the whole change. By using the actual affected dispatchers and making them active in this decision, it would generate the necessary positive environment for the eventual cultural shift. A number of dispatchers are already on board and are excited about the potential benefit, and utilizing their energy in facilitating the necessary adjustments makes perfect sense.

I appreciate your consideration of this proposal as the first half of a potential solution for the implementation of a ten hour shift schedule in our operation. If you have any further questions about any of the ideas I have presented here, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Thanks,

Steve Ryan

Attachment: 56 Employee Schedule

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Off Peak

Off Peak

Peak Hours

Night Shift (1900 – 0500)

Swing Shift (1500 – 0100)

Day Shift (0900-1900)

Morning Shift (0500 – 1500)

0500

0100

1900

1500

0900

0500

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