Shift pattern consultants
Experts in creating shift patterns that deliver wide ranging benefits
Tech-enabled professional services delivered by leading shift pattern consultants
Improve operational efficiency
Increase labour productivity
Support shift worker wellbeing
Our experience
Shift pattern consultants can make the difference
So many aspects of your organisation are impacted by shift patterns.
But do your shift patterns reflect changing demand, new ways of working and the preferences and expectations of your shift workers?
Legacy shift patterns often lie behind costly reliance on overtime and agency, capacity gaps that impact production or service levels and employee retention and recruitment issues.
The shift pattern consultants at optashift will help you overcome these challenges by creating shift patterns that are optimised and balance organisational requirements with the needs of your shift workers.
Interested in creating shift patterns that are optimised?
Schedule a free 30-minute session with one of our shift pattern consultants who’ll give you valuable feedback and tips.
Shift pattern consultants focus on delivering benefits
Work with our shift pattern consultants to create shift patterns that are optimised and deliver wide ranging benefits.
Improve operational efficiency
Shift pattern consultants will help you work out shift patterns that significantly reduce unnecessary overtime.
Our experts will also create shift patterns that limit the use of agency resource to when it is really needed…so it delivers maximum impact and return on investment.
The shift pattern consultants at optashift could help you generate a 10% or more reduction in your total labour costs.
You can also improve operational efficiency by working with our shift pattern consultants to align working hours with other aspects of production or service delivery to maximise asset utilisation and supply chain efficiencies.
In some cases this can reduce labour waste by as much as 45%.
Increase labour productivity
Creating shift patterns that align labour supply to demand is vital if you want to improve organisational productivity.
Optimised shift patterns will maximise capacity from contracted hours and avoid underutilisation.
In some environments our shift pattern consultants can help generate a 60%+ improvement in productivity.
Shift patterns that reflect your workforce’s needs can also improve productivity by helping reduce sickness absence and improving morale and motivation.
In some cases shift pattern consultants at optashift have helped deliver a 55% reduction in sickness absence.
Support shift worker wellbeing
Our shift pattern consultants can work with you and your employees to find solutions which support job satisfaction, skills development, health, wellbeing and work-life balance.
Creating shift patterns that balance operational requirements with employees’ needs can reduce absence levels and support recruitment and retention.
Shift pattern consultants at optashift will help you work out shift patterns that support your employer brand and provide differentiation in tight labour markets.
Looking to improve efficiency, increase productivity and support shift worker wellbeing?
Schedule a free 30-minute session with one of our shift pattern consultants.
Shift pattern consultancy & professional services
optashift is home to the largest collective of shift pattern consultants in the UK who provide a range of technology-enabled professional services.
For over 30 years these experts have been creating shift patterns for organisations of all sizes across a wide range of industries.
We are a purpose-led business that is solely focused on providing services that improve every aspect of shift work.
Our shift pattern consultants will help you assess your current situation and work out shift patterns that deliver significant and sustainable benefits for you and your workforce.
Analyse
Our shift pattern consultants will use data and advanced analytics to appraise your current shift patterns and identify opportunities for optimisation.
Create
We are experts in creating shift patterns and accompanying policies and processes that unlock wide ranging benefits for your performance and people.
Engage
Our shift pattern consultants will help engage and collaborate with your employees to co-design solutions that are effective and reflect your shift workers’ preferences.
Shift pattern consultancy software
Rostering, scheduling and workforce management software is not capable of creating shift patterns that are fully optimised when used in isolation.
Achieving this requires shift pattern consultants with specialist understanding, operational experience and a focus on shift worker engagement.
It’s why we developed a range of proprietary technology that our shift pattern consultants use on your behalf when creating shift patterns.
The tools provide you with enhanced visibility, efficiency and assurance…but with no need for software contracts, systems integration, configuration and user support.
Use of this shift pattern consultancy software is embedded in our professional services fees, so you won’t face additional licence, rental or subscription costs.
View
This data analytics tool quickly surfaces key insights for creating shift patterns whilst providing granular measurement, monitoring and reporting capabilities.
Plan
This unique software helps our shift pattern consultants quickly generate fully optimised and bespoke solutions and supports interactive co-design with employees.
Hub
This engagement platform helps our shift pattern consultants efficiently gather shift worker sentiment and preferences that inform the process of creating shift patterns.
Want to know more and see these tools in action?
Schedule a free 30-minute session see how our shift pattern consultancy software could help you.
Shift pattern consultants with experience
We fully appreciate the complexity, sensitivity and time commitment involved in creating shift patterns.
The shift pattern consultants at optashift are some of the most experienced and widely respected professional service providers in the UK.
We work in partnership with customers, providing agile support that reflects your precise needs…whilst focusing on delivering measurable impact and forging productive stakeholder relationships.
Our experience
Want to speak to an expert about optimising shift patterns?
Schedule a free 30-minute session with one of our shift pattern consultants.
FAQ
Q: What do shift pattern consultants do?
A: Shift pattern consultants provide access to decades of insight and experience in creating shift patterns.
They blend operational understanding with data analysis to work out optimised shift patterns that balance a range of factors such as demand, productivity, overtime, absence and shift working best practice, policy processes and systems.
Our shift pattern consultants can also engage directly with your Trade Unions and the wider workforce to ensure creating shift patterns is a collaborative process that considers shift workers’ needs.
Q: Who are shift pattern consultants?
A: The shift pattern consultants at optashift has been creating shift patterns for decades, working across diverse sectors and operating environments.
Their professional backgrounds vary with many coming from senior operational roles in industry.
Our team of shift pattern consultants blend a range of disciplines spanning everything from shift work data analytics and shift pattern design to employee engagement and change management.
Q: Where do you start when creating shift patterns?
A: Understanding the impact of your current shift patterns is key.
A structured shift pattern assessment will reveal what impact they are having on your performance and people including overtime costs, staffing capacity, productivity, compliance risk, absence and employee satisfaction.
From this assessment our shift pattern consultants can qualify potential benefits, help build a rationale for change and use the findings as a platform to work out shift patterns that address challenges and seize opportunities.
Q: How do you work out shift patterns?
A: The shift pattern consultants at optashift work out shift patterns using a proven and robust methodology that incorporates data analytics, best practice and employee co-design.
There is an almost infinite way of creating shift patterns for any given organisation, so our shift pattern consultants use data and their subject matter expertise to help identify options that are optimised, compliant and most likely to align with the needs of your workforce.
Q: Can you create a shift pattern in Excel?
A: Yes and no! If your need is basic (e.g. your operating environment is stable and unchanging) creating a shift pattern in Excel might be adequate.
However, when you factor in dynamic variables like changing demand, abstractions (absence and holidays) and skills mix, optimising shift patterns in Excel becomes increasingly challenging.
That’s why shift pattern consultants at optashift use our specialist shift | Plan software to overcome complexities and ensure the process of creating shift patterns is quick, accurate and effective.
Q: Can you work out manning numbers for shifts?
A: Yes. A big part of our shift pattern consultants’ role is labour demand planning.
They will work with you to establish what your ‘true demand’ for labour is, how this fluctuates and if it aligns with your labour supply.
This ensures our shift pattern consultants can create shift patterns that always optimise manning numbers for shifts.
Book a session with our shift pattern consultants
Sometimes it’s easier just to ask an expert.
We offer a free, confidential and informal 30-minute consultation call with one of the shift pattern consultants at optashift who has decades’ of experience creating shift patterns.
The shift pattern consultant will use a checklist to provide a quick remote appraisal your situation.
They will then send a tailored and prioritised summary of recommendations to you within 24 hours of the call.
Use this form to secure a free session with one of our shift pattern consultants.