Setting Up a Shift Bid Schedule

This section details the complete process for creating a new bid schedule, from initial setup to launching the bid.

Creating the Bid Schedule

1. Navigate to Schedule Setup:

   To begin, go to Menu > Set Up Schedules.

2. Initiate a New Schedule:

   Click on New Schedule.

3. Define Schedule Basics:
   • Name: Assign a descriptive name. Including a date range or other specific descriptors (e.g., "2025 Q3 Bid," "2025-06-01 Team Leads") will help differentiate it from other bids.
   • Date Range: Select the start and end dates for this shift bid. This period can be any duration your organization requires (e.g., one week, two weeks, a month, a full year).
4. Option to Copy an Existing Schedule (Recommended for Recurring Bids):

   To save time, you can copy a previously created schedule.

   • First, open the existing schedule you wish to duplicate from the "Set Up Schedules" page.
   • Then, click New Schedule.
   • Check the box for "Create as copy of the currently-loaded schedule." This action will import all settings, positions, and shift patterns from the selected schedule into your new one.
   • The sub-option “Also copy employee assignments” should typically not be selected for new shift bids, as assignments will come from the new bidding process.
5. Finalize Creation:

   Click Create Schedule. If you did not choose to copy a previous schedule, the screen for your new schedule will initially be blank.

Defining Positions and Shifts

1. Select Groups for the Schedule:
   • Click on the Groups selector (dropdown menu) and choose the employee groups that will have shifts available in this bid schedule.
   • The selected groups will appear on the left side of the schedule setup area.
2. Add Shift Slots within Groups:
   • Next to each Group name on the left, you'll find a down arrow icon. Click this icon to create a new shift slot within that group.
   • Repeat this action to create as many shift slots as are needed for each group.
   • Initially, these shifts will have generic names like "Group Name Shift #1," "Group Name Shift #2," etc..
3. Rename Shifts:
   • To give a shift a more specific name (e.g., "Day Shift Alpha Team," "0800-1600 Main St Beat"), click the down arrow icon next to the generic shift name and enter your desired label.
   • Cascade Renaming: After renaming the first shift in a sequence, you can use the icon with a down arrow and a sideways 'A' (next to the name field). This will apply similar sequential logic to rename all shifts below it within that group (e.g., if you named the first "Position 1", the next could become "Position 2").

Creating Shift Patterns

Once shifts are named, you'll define their work patterns. A shift pattern consists of an Activity (e.g., "Work," "Supervisor") and a time span (e.g. "0800-1600") for each day.

1. Access Pattern Settings:

   Click on a shift line to begin setting its pattern. The cells where the pattern begins is indicated by a yellow box.

2. Define Pattern Parameters:
   • Pattern Start and End Date: These should default to match your bid schedule's length but can be adjusted if a specific pattern within the schedule has a different duration.
   • Repeat Days: Specify the cycle length of the pattern (e.g., 7 days for a weekly repeating schedule, 14 days for a bi-weekly pattern).
3. Enter Daily Schedule Details:
   • For each day in the pattern cycle, assign an Activity and set the start and end times.
   • Mark off-days by clearing the cell (see controls below).
4. Save the Pattern:

   Click Save to store the shift pattern for that line.

5. Copy Pattern to Other Shifts:
   • If other shifts use an identical or very similar pattern, click into the yellow pattern box of the completed pattern.
   • Then, Control+Click (or Command+Click on Mac) the name of another shift line. This will make an exact copy of the pattern to the selected shift. You can then make minor adjustments if needed.

Controls in the Shift Pattern Tool

Familiarize yourself with these tools to efficiently create patterns:

• Red X: Clears the content of a cell (e.g., to mark an off-day).
• Green right arrow: Copies the content of the current cell to the cell immediately to its right.
• Double clipboard icon: Copies the content (Activity and time) of the current cell to all other cells in that pattern row.
• Double clipboard with checkmark icon: Copies only the timespan of the current cell to all other cells in the row that share the same Activity.
• Gold 'A' icon: Applies the selected Activity to the entire row (all days in the pattern).
• Double arrows (left and right): Shifts all defined workdays (and off-days) in the pattern one day to the left or right.
• Copy down arrow icon: Copies the entire pattern of the current line to the line directly below it.
• Copy up arrow icon: Copies the entire pattern of the current line to the line directly above it.

Group (Classification) Bid Option

This feature simplifies bidding when a group contains multiple identical shifts.

1. Access Group Settings:

   For each group listed on the left side of the schedule setup, there is a pencil icon. Click this to access the settings for that specific group.

2. Enable Identical Shifts:

   In the group settings, check the box next to the “Identical shifts in group” option.

   Set the number of shifts that fall under this identical classification.

3. Benefit:
   • This configuration allows employees to bid for the group (classification) as a single choice (e.g., "6am Team Lead") rather than having to rank each individual identical shift within that group. If they win the bid for the group, the system will assign them to one of the identical shifts. This makes the bidding process quicker for employees.
   • (More details on how employees interact with Group-Based Bidding are covered in Group-Based Bidding (Classification Bidding).)

Managing and Initiating the Bid

Once the schedule is built with all positions and patterns, the next step is to configure how the bid will run and to start it.

1. Access Manage Bidding:

   Under the Save menu (dropdown menu on the "Set Up Schedules" page), select Manage Bidding.

2. Select the Bid Order:
   • “By Seniority” (Default): This option orders employees based on their "Begin Date" (also known as Hire Date or Anniversary Date) as recorded in their employee profile.
   • “Manual”: Allows you to drag and drop employees into any specific order you require.
   • Custom Grouping (Bid Ranking as a Number): If you have set up custom bid ranking groups (under Menu > Groups, using the "Bid Ranking as a Number" feature), you can select that specific grouping here. The order of employees within those pre-defined groups (and the order of the groups themselves) will dictate the bid order.
3. Add Employees to the Bid:

   From the list of available employees on the right:

   • Click on individual names to add them to the bid list on the left.
   • Use the Group selector to filter the list of available employees (e.g., show only "Team Leads"). Custom groupings set up for bid ranking can also be useful here to pre-sort employees for easier selection.
   • Click Add All to move all currently displayed/filtered employees to the bid list.
4. Set the Bid Mode and Duration:

   Choose one of the following bid types:

   • Ranked:
     • All participating employees can log in and bid simultaneously during an open bidding window.
     • Employees rank their preferred shifts (or classifications) in order of preference.
     • Set the "Days to Bid" (e.g., 7 days) to define how long the bidding window remains open for everyone.
     • When the bidding window closes, shifts are automatically assigned. The system starts with the first employee in the bid order and assigns them their highest-ranked preference that hasn't already been taken by an employee with higher seniority/rank. This process continues down the list.
   • Sprint:
     • Employees bid sequentially based on the established bid order.
     • Set the "Hours to Bid" (e.g., 24 hours). This is the amount of time each employee has to make their selection once it's their turn.
     • As soon as an employee makes their choice, their timer stops, and the bidding opportunity immediately moves to the next person in line. They will then have the full "Hours to Bid" allocated.
   • Standard:
     • Similar to Sprint, employees bid sequentially.
     • Each employee has a set time (e.g., 24 hours) to bid before the next employee in the list can bid. The bidding schedule is fixed from the start and will not change based on how quickly an employee makes their choice.
5. Begin Bidding:
   • Once all settings are configured, click on Begin Bidding.
   • This action immediately starts the bidding process.
   • All employees included in the bid will receive an email notification (and an SMS text message if they have enabled their phone number and text notifications in their "My Settings").
   • The notification will inform them that the bid has started and, for sequential bids (Sprint/Standard), whose turn it is.
   • Employees will see the new bid on their Shift Bidding page.

Bidding Results

• Bid Time Completion: Once the allocated time for bidding is complete (either the overall window for Ranked bidding or after the last person has bid in Sprint/Standard), employees will no longer be able to change their bid selections through the standard bidding interface.
• Viewing Bid Results:
  1. Once the bid process is complete, navigate to Menu > Shift Bidding.
  2. Select the specific bid you want to review.
  3. You can view the final assignments on this page, seeing which employee was assigned to which shift.
  4. Click the download button to save all bid data to your local computer. This will typically download an Excel spreadsheet containing detailed information about the bid, including assignments, timestamps, and other relevant data for record-keeping or import into other systems.

• (Managing an active bid and post-bidding procedures, including manual adjustments, are covered in more detail in other sections)