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Needs

Needs define your staffing requirements - how many agents with which skills you need at each time of day. The schedule is built to satisfy these needs.

What is a need?

A need specifies:

  • Which skill is required
  • How many agents are needed
  • When they are needed (time and days)
  • Where (which workplace)

Example: "On weekdays from 9:00 to 17:00, we need at least 5 agents with the Sales skill at the Main Office workplace."

Create a need

  1. In the left menu, go to Settings > Configuration > Needs.
  2. Click Add Need. The New Need form opens.
  3. Fill in the basic information:
    • Holidays only - Switch on if the need applies only on public holidays
    • Type of Day - Leave Days Picker and select which days of the week the need applies to
    • Skill - Select the required skill
    • Workplace - Select the workplace
    • Period - Select a period, or leave All to apply the need to all periods
  4. In the Requirements section, define time blocks. For each block:
    • Min - Minimum number of agents required
    • Need Start - Start time of the requirement, in 15-minute steps
    • Length - How long this requirement lasts. Switch on Use range to enter Need End instead.
  5. Click Save.

Add multiple time blocks

Click the + button next to the last block in the Requirements section to add additional time blocks for the same need. This is useful when staffing requirements vary throughout the day.

Example: A need might require 3 agents from 8:00-12:00, 5 agents from 12:00-18:00, and 2 agents from 18:00-20:00.

Need settings

Field Description
Workplace Workplace where this need applies
Period Period for this need (All = all periods)
Skill Required skill
Type of Day / Days Which days of the week the need applies to
Holidays only Apply this need only on public holidays
Min Minimum number of agents
Need Start Start time
Length / Need End Duration of the block, or its end time with Use range
Description Optional description

Warning

A need scoped to a period is deleted together with that period. When you remove a period in Settings > Configuration > Periods, the confirmation dialog reports how many needs go with it, and the deletion cannot be undone. Needs with All periods are not affected.

View needs

Needs are displayed in several places:

  • Settings > Configuration > Needs - List of all needs
  • Schedule - the coverage rows above the employees compare what is scheduled with what the needs require (see Coverage)
  • Needs view - In the schedule's Day view, switch the row selector to Needs to see one row per skill with its peak requirement, assigned hours, and covering shifts (see Working with Schedules)

Mirror needs and shifts

When your shift structure directly reflects your staffing requirements, you can create a need and a shift in one step. Both options are available only when creating a record, not when editing one.

Create a need from a new shift

  1. Go to Settings > Configuration > Shifts and create a new shift.
  2. Switch on Create mirror Need.
  3. Select the Skill and Workplace, and enter Min Employees.
  4. Save.

The system creates a need matching the shift's time and duration.

Create a shift from a new need

  1. Go to Settings > Configuration > Needs and create a new need.
  2. Switch on Create mirror Shift.
  3. Enter the Shift Type Name and the Abbreviation with its colours.
  4. Save.

The system creates a shift with the start and length of the need's first time block, on the need's days. If the shift cannot be created, the need is still saved and a warning tells you so.

Tips

  • Start with broader needs and refine them based on actual coverage data.
  • Use the coverage rows in the schedule to see if your needs are being met.
  • Consider creating separate needs for different skill combinations if some skills are often needed together.
  • Remember that the automatic scheduler tries to satisfy all needs - overly strict requirements may make it impossible to generate a valid schedule.