Labor Scheduling, Part 2

Abstract

This paper, second in a series, focuses on using forecasts of customer demand for service to estimate the number of employees needed to provide that service. There are three basic approaches to translating demand forecasts into employee requirements: using productivity standards, using service standards, and using economic standards. As described in this paper, the staffing levels determined by using the economic standard provide the best economic performance. The aim of using an economic standard is to deliver the service most economically. Although productivity and service standards can sometimes match the performance of an economic standard, they do so only in narrow ranges of business volume.