C-Desk Technology
We are here to help you grow your business, improve efficiency and create a better work/life balance for your shift workers.
VisualrotaX is shift pattern software for creating and running an efficient shift pattern. VisualrotaX is run in Excel and stacked with features to make running your shift pattern effortless.
- Easy to create new shift patterns
- Shift patterns can be uploaded into the program
- Automatically creates individual calendarsInformation on:
- How many on a shift each day (can be separated by skill)
- Adds up sickness, and holidays, for both the individual and the entire shift pattern
- Gives individuals hours
VisualrotaX is run in Excel to make running and creating shift patterns effortless.
Shift Patterns can either be uploaded directly into the software from our Shift Pattern Book or quickly created by hand. The shift information is inputted into VisualrotaX and then the shifts recorded in the shift pattern sheet added at the top of the sheet. If the number of shifts worked each day does not meet the requirements then these days are highlighted in red. This can happen when you are creating the shift pattern, or when you are running it as someone goes either off sick or on holiday. This table means that you can tell at a glance when you are and when you are not meeting you workload requirements. This makes creating shift patterns very quick.
One of the main features of this software are the individuals calendars. These are automatically created for all individuals from the shift pattern. They inform the individual when they are expected to work, the start and finish times of the shifts and when they are absent due to holidays or sickness. They also summarise the hours that individual is due to work and the holidays they have left to book.
Our course Shift Scheduling introduces you to creating and managing a shift pattern.
If you have a shift operation, then you need VisualrotaX. With our course Shift Scheduling, you not only have a copy of VisualrotaX included with your subscription, you also have detailed videos showing you how to use the software and shift pattern examples.
New for 2019, How to Manage your Shift Pattern
Learn new skills and on completion receive a certificate for your Personal Development Records. Find out how to manage holiday and absences. Discover new flexible working techniques and tools to help you combat everyday problems.
Training Courses
Creating a shift pattern or shift schedule from scratch is a very daunting task. You need to understand how to plan out your shifts, understand how to include cover arrangements for holidays and absence, and know the laws which will be applicable. Then there is the tremendous task of introducing your new way of working to your staff. Fortunately we can teach you how.
One Day Seminar: Efficient Shift Scheduling
Efficient Shift Scheduling from concept to implementation: Learn how to design and introduce a new way of working shifts. From workload to absence management, this seminar is designed to help senior managers initiate an efficient shift schedule.
One Day Seminar: Strategic Absence Management
Strategic absence management covers how to mitigating effect of absence on your business. Absences are expensive and time consuming. Each time someone is missing, you have to make a decision about how you will cover for their absence. Last minute absences can be especially expensive and difficult to cover. However we can teach you how to minimise the cost of absence.
Everyone is entitled to their holidays, and there are a lot of holidays to fit into one year. Trying to organise holiday cover is a full time job, and not a very popular one.
In this one day seminar learn how to fit everyone’s annual leave into your shift schedule and cover for any eventuality. Learn how to cover for absences without using overtime. Work out your staffing budget and learn how to stick to it.
Proactive absence management is about anticipating your absences and learning how to mitigate their effect. We will teach you how to ensure that you always have the correct number of staff, with the right skills, in the right place and at the right time.
Books:
How to Manage your Shift Pattern: Holidays & Absence
"How to Manage your Shift Pattern" is the first shift pattern textbook. It is an essential management reference book that no manager should be without. It is unique in its analysis of the problems facing shift pattern managers today. This book outlines the main problems in running a shift pattern and offers a set of solutions to encompass all circumstances. Complete with summary pages, worked examples and example shift patterns this book will help any manager run their shift pattern perfectly and effortlessly.
The main problem all shift pattern managers face is: how do I accommodate all of the holidays within the year and without effecting the operation. The answer is of course to plan for the holidays in advance. With the correct shift pattern and with the proper holiday management planning in place a shift pattern manager can manage the holidays of over a 100 people on less than ½ hour per day. This book contains a range of solutions for holiday management along with examples and detailed explanations of how to implement them with in your organisation.
Holidays Sorted!
Once the holidays are sorted out your next problem will be absences. Absences have always caused problems because often they are at short notice and whatever cover arrangements are in place there is always that chance that they will still break down at the vital moment. In "How to Manage your Shift Pattern" we have discussed the different types of absences, including what an absence rate of 3% actually means in practice. There are a wide range of solutions, along with examples of how to incorporate the cover arrangements into your shift pattern.
Along with holidays and absences, this book also covers a host of other issues including:
Banked Hours | Training | Skills Mix | Fatigue | Terms and Conditions of Employment | Annualised Hours
However, what makes this book truly unique is that it answers the age-old question "How many staff do I need?" In this book you will find all the calculations you need with several worked examples. So you can ascertain quickly and easily if you are under or over staffed.
Consultancy
C-Desk Technology is an established Business Consultancy that enables government and our clients to understand shift operations so that they can manage their shift operations effectively, efficiently and successfully.
We provide our clients with innovative solutions that help improve the performance of their shift operation and increase profitability.
C-Desk Technology consultancy service enables organisations to run an effective shift operation that can operate unhindered with thorough contingency planning. We help set up proactive holiday and absence management procedures that allow shift operations to run at optimum capacity. This allows the organisation to meet their strategic objectives through effective and efficient operations.
We advise our clients on fatigue, work/life balance and well-being to ensure that their employees have the best work patterns to suit the operational needs. Small changes in start and finish times or the order of shifts can make a big difference to how your employees feel while working shifts.
Our aim is to save you time. Time you would have spent analysing your workload, time you would have spent creating a shift pattern, time you would have spent managing holidays, time you would have spent arranging cover.
We can’t turn back time; but we can help you plan for the future.
Please contact us today and find out how we can help you manage your shift operations.
Our Clients
10 Downing Street | CSM | Novartis | Johnson & Johnson | NCR | University of Sheffield | ICI | McCain | AJ Barr | Continental Tyres | National Grid | NPower | Coors | Royal Bank of Scotland | Worldwide Fruit | Heidelberg | Barclays | HSBC | SOCA & Diplomatic Police | Fujifilm | Scottish Power | Warburtons