final report - university of michiganioe481/ioe481_past_reports/w9302.pdf · job classifications....
TRANSCRIPT
HousekeepingAttendence
Analysis
Final Report
April 28, 1993
Client: Edward GradyDirector of Housekeeping Services
Coordinator: Richard J. Coffey, PhD.Director of Management Systems, UMH
Brad Lars ChristensenChad Howard ChristensenPaige Abbate Herzenstiel
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Sublect Page Number
Executive Summary 1
Introduction 4A. Purpose
1. Definition of Absences 4B. Objectives 5C. Background 5D. Current Situation 6
Findings and Conclusions 10A. Percent Total Absent by Reason 10B. Absence Patterns by Month 11C. Absence Patterns by Shift 12D. Absence Patterns by Building 14E. Absence Patterns by Day of the Week 16
Employee Survey 18A. Questions 1-6 18B. Questions 8-10 19C. Question 12 21D. Question 13 22E. Question 13, including also 11 23F. Questions 14 and 15 25G. Questions 16-19 26H. Questions 20-22 27I. Questions 23-26 28J. Question 27 29K. Question 29 30L. Question 30 31
Alternatives and SuggestionsA. Do Nothing 34B. Recognition or Incentive Program 35C. Rotating Weekends 38D. Flexible Schedules 39E. Group Work 41F. Rotating Between Jobs 43G. Pay for Knowledge 46H. Reduce Employee Classifications 48I. 4-Day Work Week 49J. Temporary Workers for Weekends 50K. Allow 1 PDT per Quarter or Eliminate PDT 52
AppendicesEmployee SurveyDaily Census Report TemplateEmployee Survey Template
1
To: Joseph Diederich, Director of Hospital ServicesEdward Grady, Director of Housekeeping Services Department
From: Brad Christensen, Chad Christensen, Paige Herzenstiel,Management Systems
RE: Recommendations for the reduction of absences in theHousekeeping Services Department.
Date: April 28, 1993
The purpose of this study was to determine the reasons behindabsences and suggest ways that the housekeeping servicesdepartment could reduce absences. The Housekeeping ServicesDepartment perceived an unacceptable level of absences andrequested this investigation to determine causes and developsolutions to this situation.
Definition of an absence: a person not being at work when scheduledto be there or an open position when work is not being completed;this includes sick, emergency vacation, Personal Discretion Time(PDT), open, and unpaid absences.
The expected outcomes and results of the study are:1. Determine when, where and why absences occur in
the Housekeeping Services Department.2. Develop suggestions to decrease absences.3. Develop suggestions to improve customer
satisfaction and employee work environment.4. Improve the efficiency and quality of work for the
Housekeeping Services Department.
Suggestions were developed through analysis of Daily Census Reports(attendance reports), a survey distributed to AFSCME employees inthe Housekeeping Department, and interviews with variousdepartments in the hospital.
Our group recommends three alternatives to reduce absences in theHousekeeping Services Department. These suggestions may beimplemented together or separately.
Recommendation 1. Flexible SchedulingRecommendation 2. Group WorkRecommendation 3. Job Rotation
In addition to these recommendations we suggest a follow-up studyon an incentive program that is currently in place in the Food andNutrition Department.
Recommendation 1. Flexible Scheduling
Definition: Change in the permanent schedule starting and endingtimes up to a certain number of hours; a permanent change inschedule for certain employees meeting established criteria.
This will have an immediate impact for 7 to 10 percent of employeeswho have chronic problems with starting and or ending times due tochild care, taking children to and from school, and other situations. Ashort implementation plan for the pilot program, would include: V
1. Set criteria and number of hours that can be shifted2. Involve employees in decision making3. Supervisor and employee set up individual schedule with
the Director’s approval4. Allow a grace period of two weeks for employees to return
to original schedule5. Check attendance of employees following the
implementation to determine ifthe program is effective.
3
Recommendation 2. Group Work
Definition: Employees working either together, or towards a commongoal (i.e. finishing a certain floor).
The incorporation of group work may improve the workenvironment, encourage employee attendance, and minimize theeffects of absences. Over fifty percent of employees are interested insome form of group work. This may be especially effective onweekend schedules where not only the highest rates of absenceswere recorded but also expressed the most interest in group workprograms. A short implementation plan for the pilot program, wouldinclude:
1. Determine goals of a team2. Determine composition of teams from these goals3. Establish an autonomous team4. Check attendance and productivity of the team
Recommendation 3. Job Rotation
Definition: Workers within the same classification, building, shift,and schedule, rotating assignments.
Rotation would bring more variety in the work environment,increase skills, and minimize the effects of absences. Although feweremployees supported rotation as compared to group work, it makesemployees aware of the total process and decreases stress and strainon muscles due to repetitive motions of the same job, as well asreducing boredom. This may be especially effective with theweekend Fri-Mon employees, as sixty percent were interested in jobrotation. A short implementation plan for the pilot program, wouldinclude:
1. Gather list of volunteers2. Determine rotation group3. Allow employees to decide themselves, the rotation plan4. Check attendance of employees involved in pilot program
INTRODUCTIONPURPOSE
The Housekeeping Services Department has observed levels ofabsenteeism among the Housekeeping staff, judged to beunacceptably high, and desires to lower these levels. As aconsequence, Mr. Edward Grady, Director of Housekeeping Services,directed our group to analyze the data and underlying causes ofabsenteeism in the Housekeeping staff. The purpose of this report isanalysis of the following items to determine the underlying causes ofabsenteeism and provide suggestions to decrease absenteeism in theHousekeeping Services Department
1. Identify the patterns, cycles, and characteristics ofabsences in the Housekeeping Services Department.
2. Identify the underlying causes of absenteeism in theHousekeeping Services Department.
3. Suggest ways the Housekeeping Services Departmentcan decrease employee absenteeism.
4. Determine if managerial or institutional problems arethe cause of absenteeism in the Housekeeping Services
Department.
DEFINITION OF AN ABSENCE
An absence is the situation where an employee is scheduled but doesnot attend work. Included as an absence are: open positions(considered as a missing employee), Personal Day Time (PDT), sick,and unpaid time. Funerals, vacations and emergency vacations areexcluded because they cannot be controlled.
PDT is a particular concern to management. A personal day is not avacation, nor an emergency vacation. No permission is necessary. Anemployee may take 3 PDT’s per year, but only 1 PDT per month. ThePDT day is taken from an individual’s vacation bank.
Partial-Day Absences are still included in the absence statistics. Forexample, a four hour absence would be counted as .5 day absence.
5
OBJECTIVESThe objective of this report is to analyze sick time data in order
to develop guidelines for the reduction of absenteeism in theHousekeeping Services Department. The foremost goal is todetermine the causes of absenteeism. In order to accomplish thatgoal, we pursued the following five outputs/results:
1. Analysis of January-Decemberl992 Daily CensusReports data, the daily attendance reports, todetermine the patterns, cycles, and relationshipsamong absences and relevant variables. Thevariables include shift, work area determined byAssistant Director of Housekeeping, month, day of theweek, and reason for absence.
2 Personal interviews with the HousekeepingDepartment, Human Resources Department, and UnionRepresentatives. Analysis of surveys to determine theunderlying causes of absenteeism.
3. Determine the key effects of Housekeeping ServicesDepartments’ absenteeism rates in areas such as cost,effects on Housekeeping’s’ ability to perform itsduties, and the effects on other departments of theUniversity of Michigan Hospitals. This will providebackground for suggestions to decrease the rate ofabsenteeism in the Housekeeping Services
Department.4. Determine the obstacles in lowering absenteeism rates
for the Housekeeping Services Department. This itemwill provide background in the development ofsuggestions for decreasing absenteeism.
5. Provide suggestions for reducing al?senteeism in thecontext of resolving or minimizing the key effects ofabsenteeism.
BACKGROUND
This report is a reassessment of an earlier study on theanalysis of Housekeeping Services absenteeism completed inFebruary 1991(Asik. Chung, and Seth). The earlier study did notinvestigate the causes of absenteeism, rather it investigated patterns,cycles, and relationships among absences and variables such asworker classification, month, day, and schedule.
Housekeeping management requested this project for thefollowing:
1. Improve internal Housekeeping Services efficiency.2. Improve quality of work of Housekeeping Services.3. Cost reduction.4. Improve customer environment and employee work
environment.
There are several interested parties involved in this project.As a primary customer of the Housekeeping Department’s servicesthe Nursing Department have input in this project. The AmericanFederation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), theunion to which the Housekeeping staff belongs, has concern for itsmembers and have input with this project as well.
There are several key issues pertaining to absenteeism uponwhich this investigation was based. Most importantly, theHousekeeping personnel are irreplaceable by machines or other staff,therefore when staff are absent work is not completed unless theyare replaced. Cost and quality are the secondary issues. Costsincrease if Housekeeping duties are uncompleted or employeeturnover is high. Indirect costs include fines, liability suits,retraining unfilled empty positions, customer dissatisfaction and lostfuture customer business. Quality falls when absenteeism is highdue to disrupted maintenance cycles, incomplete work, and thetraining learning curve due to open positions. The issue of employeejob satisfaction and morale is also important if absentee levelsincrease due to overwork from covering for absent staff or unfilledpositions.
CURRENT SITUATION
At this time there is no computerized time keeping system in place;payroll sheets, time sheets, and absenteeism are all done by hand.As a result, information on trends, patterns, or cycles of absenteeismis difficult for supervisors and directors to determine. TheHousekeeping Services Department works in every hospital buildingfor at least one shift. Currently 3 shifts are in place: day, evening,and midnight. Employees usually stay in the same building, but maymove to other buildings if problems arise.
7
Three job classes are present: - Wall Washer (WW)Custodian 2 (C2)Unit Custodian (UC)
Description of each Job ClassUnit Custodian: lowest seniority
general duties (garbage, bathrooms)patient roomsNo heavy equipment
Custodian 2: higher senioritymainly floor carl’ carpet carebuffing and shampoo machines
Wall Washer: highest senioritypaid the mostsome C2 jobsheavy equipment to clean walls and ceilings
The Housekeeping employees are unionized, and positions are filledby seniority and bidding (except at hiring in). The employees mayhave transferred from another job at the University, or may move upin class by bidding. Temporaries are also utilized to fill positions.Temporaries may only work for three months at a time, based uponthe current AFSCME union contract.
The union bargaining agreement does not allow movement amongjob classifications. The main reason being the difference in paybetween the three classes. The jobs are not skill specific, except theuse of equipment (no licensing necessary). Frankly, the gap in skillsis not that great and transfers can be made quickly. In fact, aCustodian 2 may temporarily do a Wall Washer job if they are paidthe WW rate.
Several points should be noted:•UC does the same job 99% of the time•C2 splits time between C2 and WW duties•C2 can be forced into doing UC jobs due to absences•WW can do C2 or UC jobs
Much of the work is done on an individual basis, although workgroups are sometimes set up by floor and WW have project groups.
8
EXPECTED IMPACT AND OUTCOMES
There are three specific proposals/suggestions in this report:flexible scheduling, job rotation within classifications, andgroup/team work.
Job rotation within classification and group/team work aresuggestions which resolve employee concerns regarding workenvironment. Many employees expressed concerns about jobsatisfaction and boredom. The Hospital must have fully trained andexperienced employees in all areas to complete work effectively. Ifemployees are not trained or experienced costs occur due to workincompletion or the effects of the learning curve on completed workdone by inexperienced employees. Job rotation among classificationwill provide a fully trained work force and provide variety/changesfor employees to combat boredom and increase job satisfaction.
Group/Team work will also improve employee’s workenvironment and job satisfaction. An indirect effect could includeimproved attendance due to the subsequent improvement of workenvironment and increased job satisfaction. A worker who istrained, willing, and motivated to work should have higherattendance as well as higher work completion. An employee that ispart of a team/group is empowered by their job ownership and theadded responsibility given to the employee. Rotation will provide anemployee with a higher level understanding of their total workenvironment. This understanding empowers employees andprovides the basis for employee suggestions, continuousimprovement and total workplace optimization.
The expected outcomes of this report are separated into twocategories, attendance information and attendance improvement.Attendance information provides data to describe when absencesoccur and at what cost, what the reasons there are for theseabsences, and what trends explain these absences. Information alsoincludes employee concerns, suggestions, and ideas regardingattendance and scheduling. The impact of this information is a betterunderstanding of employee scheduling needs. This information baseshould provide a basis for implementation of suggestions whichlower absenteeism. The cost analysis of absences can be used todetermine the economic merit of suggestions. The information maybe used for a better understanding of Housekeeping’s current(j situation and as a basis for attendance improvements.
The second outcome of the report involves suggestions toimprove the attendance of Housekeeping Services staff. Theexpected impact of these suggestions is their use as the basis for aprogram to reduce the number of absences in the HousekeepingDepartment-or at the very least minimize the costs of absences. Thesuggestions should lead to increased employee, management, andpatient satisfaction as absences are decreased, work completed, andemployee concerns are resolved. These suggestions should providea basis for the implementation of a program to decrease absences.
FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS
PERCENT TOTAL ABSENT BY REASONAnalysis of the Daily Census Reports from January through
December 1992, resulted in the following trend upon consideration ofthe total year and all the reason’s provided by the Daily Reports. Thereasons for absences that require the most research include: openpositions, sick time use, unpaid time, and personal day time use(pdt)as these reasons are the major categories of reasons for absences.
Table 1. Percent of Total Absences by Reason for Entire Year 1992
Reason For Percent of TotalAbsences*Open 43%Sick time use 32Unpaid time use 1 0Personal Day time Use 6**()ther 1 5
*Open refers to an open position; a position that needs to be filled. It takes six months tofill an open position. It is counted as an absence because an employee is not there, and isneeded.**()ther includes emergency vacation, vacation, funeral, and other activities not listed.
The open position category is the largest reason for absences,however these are planned absences and controllable. The openpositions may contribute to the other reasons of absenteeism, forexample higher sick or unpaid time due to overwork fromemployees covering open positions.
Sick, unpaid, and pdt use are the next major categories ofabsenteeism. Unlike open positions, these are unplanned absencesand are not directly controllable. Sick time, if the sickness islegitimate, is totally uncontrollable. Unpaid time and pdt time arecontrollable, in a sense, if the causes for the use of this time is foundsolutions to absenteeism in these categories is possible.
11
Absence Patterns by MonthFindings and Conclusions
OVERALLThe percentage of employees that are absent is relatively
stable throughout the year at an average of 11.9%. August shows apeak, the data is incomplete for that month. This indicates theoverall pattern of absences is consistent and predictable. Variationof absence rates, if there is any, occurs within shifts, building, oroccurs in the reasons for absences.
SICK TIMEThe percent of total absences due to sick time by month is
extremely stable at around thirty percent of total absences eachmonth. The only deviation is the month of December, Holiday timeand vacation time is higher in December, which consequently skewsthe data.
This indicates that sick time use is constant throughout theyear. The sick time use can therefore be predicted as thirty percentof the overall rate per month (30% of 11.9%). Sick time may beestimated as 3.57% of scheduled time.
PERSONAL DISCRETION TIMEThe percent of total absences due to PDT time by month
displays an obvious trend. The percentage of PDT absences of totalabsences is high early in the year, the first three months, and thenfalls in the later months of the year.
It appears as though employees use all their personaldiscretion time early in the year. The fall at the end of the yearcould be due to employee’s excessive use in the beginning of theyear. An employee may use up their PDT (personal discretion time)early in the year and must consequently use other forms of absenceslater in the year. This relation could directly correspond to the useof employee unpaid time (unpaid time increases at the end of theyear). Further analysis should be made to determine the linkbetween unpaid time and personal discretion time.
UNPAID TIMEThe percent of total absences due to unpaid time by month
displays the opposite trend as PDT time. The percent of totalabsences due to unpaid time increases in the middle and latermonths of the year rather than the beginning. The peak periods of
Dat
aR
easo
nY
ear-
Exc
el
________
Num
ber
san
dP
erce
nta
ges
ofA
bse
nce
sfo
rY
ear
Mon
thN
umbe
rN
umbe
rN
otem
erge
ncy
Sch
edul
edR
epor
ting
sick
pdt
vaca
tion
open
fune
ral
unpa
idoth
erJa
nuar
y6750
798
253
130
7269
1911
42
Feb
ruar
y6986
756
287
159
9207
584
6M
arch
74
75
942
392
147
11302
1661
1A
pril
6667
741
301
87
17256
873
3M
ay73
81829
276
8319
32
917
964
June
7484
892
320
6521
341
710
333
July
7557
92
1.5
293
45
21.5
430
1369
34A
ugus
t4517
652
189
22
10359
547
4S
epte
mb
e6392
751
—249
1721
350
1784
.55
Qto
ber_
6976
-757
210
2814
338
1311
518
Nov
embe
r5832
668
228
2117
281
875
28D
ecem
ber
6206
859
188
24
15332
1778
28
0T
ota
l80223
95
66
.53
18
6828
182.5
3794
145
999.5
418
Per
cent
Ab
sen
t0.1
19249
0.3
3303716
0.0
86
55
20
30.0
1907699
0.3
96
592
28
0.0
15
15
70
60
.10
44
79
17
0.0
43
69
41
4P
erce
nt
ofT
otal
Abse
nce
sby
reas
on
Uni
vers
ityof
Mic
higa
nH
ospi
tals
Hou
seke
epin
gS
ervi
ces
Dep
artm
ent
Per
iod:
Jan.
1to
Dec
.31
1992
Sou
rce:
Dai
lyC
ensu
sR
epor
tsD
ate:
3/3/
93I
n
.4
PE
RC
EN
TA
BSE
NT
BY
MO
NT
HP
erce
nt
Abse
nt
—m---
PE
RC
EN
TA
BSE
NT
Uni
vers
ityof
Mic
higa
nH
ospi
tals
Hou
seke
epin
gS
ervi
ces
Dep
artm
ent
Per
iod:
1992
Sou
rce:
Dai
lyC
ensu
sR
epor
tsD
ate:
Apr
il28
,19
93
>->
-z
>-w
>-F
-act
aa
ao
<z
-Jcc
ww
ww
ci.
DD
DD
D<
<Z
aD
‘ii
I-w
wcn
C_)
>0
-W
ci-
00W
-
LLz
Ca
Perc
en
tA
bse
nt
each
Mo
nth
in19
92
0. 0.1
.1 t 4) (I,
-o 4) U 4) 0
•T
otal
C
Lo
w
.-
COCo
a_
00
.) U,
0)
oci)
U)
.- 0.
0)
00)
>ci
)•
ci
Coci
)-o
CD
U)0
DC
OO
)
Jan.
Feb.
Mar
.A
p.M
ayJu
ne
July
Aug
.S
ept.
Oct
.N
ov.
Dec
.
Month
(0 0 0) ct U,
U)
C ci) C)
c)
COc)
ci)
n
Per
cent
ofT
ota
lA
bse
nces
by
Rea
son
for
1992
a) 0 C a) 0 .0 4 a) 4- 0 I 0 4- C a) 0 I- 41)
a-
sick
pdt
em.
vac.
open
Num
ber
Sch
edul
ed:
80,2
23N
umbe
rA
bsen
t:9,
566
Per
cent
Abs
ent:
11.9
%
•P
erce
ntag
es
C t:0)
0.
(U0)
U) o
ID
CU
,.
.20
G
— 0.—
0.
U)
>.
CD0
C’)
(0
—C
OID
OC
tID
Iflu
)O
0.4
0.3
3186
0.1
182
41
8
fun
eral
unpa
idoth
er
Reaso
ns
Per
cent
ofT
ota
lA
bse
nce
sdue
toth
eS
ick
Cat
egory
,N
um
ber
per
Mon
th
0
0
0.5
(nu
mb
erab
sen
t)N
umbe
rA
bsen
t:9,
566
Sic
kA
bsen
ces:
3,18
6P
erce
ntof
Abs
ence
s:33
.3%
•si
ck
cic
uo ci
U,
ow
a,;ø
0
ci
0)
CU()
>w
a,
,-w
iw
.22
COE
IL
CO
D
Jan.
Feb
Mar
cApri
lM
ayJu
ne
July
Aug
.S
ept.
Oct
.N
ov.
Dec
.
Month
s
n
Per
cent
ofT
ota
lA
bse
nces
due
toth
eP
DT
Cat
ego
ry,
Nu
mb
erper
Month
n
0)
U)
(num
ber
abse
nt)
0 C’)
Num
ber
Abs
ent:
9,56
6PD
TA
bsen
ces:
828
Per
cent
ofA
bsen
ces:
8.6%
0.3
0.2
0.1
0.0
0,
CJ
—
I-.
-:j
•pd
t
Cu
,G
ca.
(0Q
.Ca
—(0o i
a,C
u,
cat?
(0.—
z.2
a 0
a>
-.w
—O
—a,
C’)
(0 Hh
CO
Wo
D10..
u,c
,
Jan.
Feb.
Mar
.A
pril
May
June
July
Aug
.S
ept.
Oct
.N
ov.
Dec
.
Month
s
C 0 a. 0•
Open
C
QU
)U
)Q
10 (4
ow
— o.E
0)
Q.
0)
U)-
.-
a)V
U)O
CO
G)
D10
0.6
n
Perc
ent
of
To
tal
Abse
nces
due
toO
pen
Posi
tions,
Num
ber
per
Month
(nu
mb
erab
sen
t)3
59
Num
ber
Abs
ent:
9,56
6O
pen
Pos
itio
ns:
3,74
9P
erce
ntdu
eto
Ope
n:39
.66%
Jan
.Fe
b.M
ar.A
pril
May
June
July
Aug
.S
ept.
Oct
.N
ov.
Dec
.
C,)
0 0 a) Ix C,,
U)
C a, 0C
,)c,)
Ca
C,) 1k
Month
fl
Per
cen
tof
Tot
alA
bse
nce
sdue
toU
npai
dT
ime,
Nu
mb
erper
Month
.U 0.
C
Mon
ths
(num
ber
abse
nt)
Num
ber
Abs
ent:
9,56
6U
npai
dA
bsen
ces:
1,00
0P
erce
ntof
Abs
ence
s:10
.5%
•un
paid
(ow
‘ 0 ci.
ia) U
) (0ow
ci)‘)
0)0
3C
’)•C0.’O
)
-o_o
>sw
O5
(1)
U).
•0
2c
0aj
DIcL
UID
‘1-
LI)
Jan.
Feb.
Mar
.A
pril
May
June
July
Aug
.S
ept.
Oct
.N
ov.
Dec
.
12
unpaid time use are May and June in the summer and September,October, and November at the end of the calendar year.
The high rate at the end of the year may be due to the factthat personnel have already used up their vacation, PDT and sicktime. The summer month peaks in June and May are an unexpectedproblem, the question should not be the lack of alternative vacationor sick time. The summer unpaid times could be due to workenvironment, the worker cannot obtain any recreational time in thesummer without using unpaid time. This is an institutional andplanning problem which could ultimately be controllable throughadministration of vacation time.
OPEN POSITIONSThe percent of total absences due to open positions exhibits one
peak at 56% of total absences and one valley at around 30% of totalabsences. The highest percentage of total absences due to openpositions occurs in the months of July and August. On the other handthe lowest percentage of open positions of total absences occurs inJanuary and December.
These peaks could be due to employment, hiring practices orjob market swings. Employees leaving work for school may explainthe peak in open positions in August.
ABSENCE PATTERNS BY SHIFTAbsence Patterns of the Day ShiftFindings and Conclusions
OVERALL ABSENCESOverall absences on the day shift increase and decrease in an
alternating pattern. June, August and December have the highestoverall absence rate on the day shift. More importantly, a pattern ofone month with high absences followed by one month of lowabsences emerges. The pattern is as follows: May is low, June ishigh, July is low, August is high, then September is low.
There is a definite cyclical pattern for the absences on the dayshift. The cycles are predictable but unexplainable except by thepatterns of sick time use.
SICK TIMESick day use by the day shift employees is positively related to
the monthly trend for the overall absences of the day shift. A monthof high sick time use is followed by a month of low sick time use.April-high, May-low, June-high, July-low, August-high, September-
low, October-low, November-high. This pattern of sick time usecould explain the alternating trend in the overall absences. Theother reasons for absences on the day shift do not indicate this trend.
PERSONAL DISCRETION TIME AND UNPAID TIMEPdt and unpaid time use on the day shift displays the same trend asthe overall monthly pdt and unpaid usage for the entire sample set.There is high use of pdt time in the earlier months and low use in thelater months of the year 1992. As with the overall monthly totals,unpaid days rise as the year goes on.
OPEN POSITIONSThe percent of total absent on the day shift due to open positions isrelatively stable throughout the year.
Absence Patterns of the Afternoon/Evening ShiftFindings and Conclusions
OVERALL ABSENCES/SICK TIME1’OPEN POSITIONSThe overall absences, sick time use, and open positions on the
evening/afternoon shift are stable with no patterns.
PERSONAL DISCRETION TIMEOn a similar note, the pdt time demonstrates the same trend of
high use in the early months tailing off in the later months.
UNPAID TIMEThe unpaid time use on the afternoon/evening shift shows the
same relationship as with the overall total year trend. The unpaidtime has two peaks, one in May/June and the other inSeptember/October/November.
The trends of the afternoon/eveningshift directly support andcorrespond to the monthly absence patterns. This indicates theabsence patterns are stable, and in a sense predictable.
fl
C CD Cn 0
U U)
CD 11 CD U) -‘ I\)
co
(0 CD
0C
-D2?
H-o
Uo
H
a-
0c
-o(1
)—
I-o
zi
Uö•
0CD
-D—
17C
zi
U)
—
0
)<X
)<><
><Q
x><
><U)
><
C) U) 0 U) U) (1)
0C
-uCi
)H
0zi
UC
mCD
C—
4c
zi
U)-
0
x><
><><
m><
><<
><>
<p
)<_
><><
><><
><><
><>
<p
x><
x><
><><
><><
><
Cl)
CD V
x><
><)<
xx
x><
x><
><><
><><
><><
><><
>< ><->
<)<
><><
><><
><
U U) m CD
0 U)
CD CD
><
U U)
<
><x
><>
<m
>c><
<><
><
(D
><><
-
x><
><—
.
><><
><p.
(I)
0 CD U U) 0 CD U)
C (1)
CD 0 U) z 0 CD Cl)
U) 3 CD 3 C-
CD 0 >< CD 0 C U)
CD C CD C) CD U) CD
-o CD 0 a.
U) 0 C CD C)
C,)
CD
CD
1’) x a 0 CD U
)
CD U)
CD 0 CD C) CD U)
CD 0 U)
C-
U)
CD C,
CD C,)
)<><
><><
><Ei
,i
><><
><U
)D)
><><
‘<z
>< >< >< ><
0 Cl)
CD CD CD 0 (I)
CD ••1 C,
CD C,) U CD U)
-S 3 CD x x CI)
CD 0 0 a.
.0 :5 CD U)
-S CD U)
CD CD 0 CD U)
CD 0 Di
C-
(I) CD C) CD U)
><><
><><
mC
><><
<D)
><
D
><><
><><
><><
><
><><
><><
><U
><><
U)
><
)<><
><><
><m
)<)<
><><
<>< ><
><><
><)<
><><
><—
.
><F-
><>< ><
>< ><x x >< x ><
)<><
)<><
><>C
X><
>(
)<)<
><X
)<><
><m
x)<
><
<‘C
‘<C
D
><><
‘C><
><><
‘C)<
F-
‘<
C U)
0 C, z 0 0 CD
C m C C
x tO CD U)
-S CD U)
CD 0 CD C) CD U)
CO CD 0 U) C-
U)
CD C) CD U)
><><
><,<
><U
><><
><U
)-‘
C.
><><
‘C)<
><‘C
m‘C
)<><
><><
<‘<
><
(D
><><
‘C><
><><
><
><F-
><><
><><
m7
1><
><><
><<
CD
CD
><><
><‘C
>< ><F
><><
><)<
‘CU
‘C><
><-
><><
><><
><m
‘C><
,<<
‘C
D
><><
><><
,<‘C
><—
.
><><
F-
(0 0 C.
Cfl
CD CD (I, 0• Co CD 0 U) a. 0
‘C)<
><><
><U
><)<
‘C><
U)‘.
<
‘C><
><><
><rn
><‘C
‘C<
><‘C
><U
><‘C
><><
><><
><,<
‘<F-
><><
><,<
><U
,<><
><><
><U
)><
><
><><
><><
><IT
)><
><-
‘<><
a><
><><
><)<
‘C><
><><
> C-
(I) CD C) CD C,,
C.
U)
U)
0
><><
><><
><><
,<><
><><
‘C>< >< ><
,<><
‘C><
>< ><
‘Cm
)<<
‘C(D
>< ><
•To
tal
LI0
±0
- ft U)
.c
0 C)cJ
C’)
0)
0
).2
Per
cent
Ab
sen
tby
Shif
tin
1992
Num
ber
Ab
sen
tby
Sh
ift
In19
92
(num
ber
ab
sen
t)
0 U)
0.1
•
0.0
Num
ber
Sch
edule
d31
,141
37,5
57
Shif
t
11,4
97
0
Per
cen
tof
Abse
nces
due
toS
ick
Tim
eb
yS
hif
tin
1992
4-
.4-
U)
.0 I) U C .0 4 .4- 0 I 0 4- C U I) a.
Num
ber
Ab
sen
t
Day
Ev
e.
2,8
08
5,4
33
ISi
ck4- C
(flO
.o C0
U)
.C-
0— o
0).-
0.0
)CU
aV .c
—C
00
0(U
Dft.
CO
D
Mid
.
1,3
20
Sh
ift
n
Per
cent
ofT
ota
lA
bse
nce
sdue
toP
DT
tim
eby
Sh
ift
in19
92
(num
ber
abse
nt)
0.12
0.1
0
>‘
.0 m0.
084, U C 4) .0 U
)0 I-
0.04
0 4- C I)
0.02
4) a..
000
Num
ber
Abs
ent
•PO
T
Day
2,8
08
•E
ve.
5,4
33
Shif
t
C a U)
.
4).2
0 a-a)
>a’
aU
)
. DZ
Q
0 U)
C a C)C
,)..o,
U) a z 00
Mid
.
1,3
20
I’)
0•0oo1o0
0
0_I0 ——
L0
0
0
0
C0
CDCD
z30•0
a. 00
PercentofTotalAbsencesbyShift
00pPP00
t
(Cfl
0
C30•0-I
0a.00
0
UniversityofMichiganHospitalsHousekeepingServicesDepartmentPeriod:1992Source:DailyCensusReportsDate:3/4/93
D
D
n
Per
cent
ofT
ota
lA
bse
nce
sduo
toU
npai
dA
bse
nce
sby
Sh
ift
In19
92
0.3
0.2
U)
.0 0 0 0 0 0 .0 a 0 I 0 a 0 0 I 0 0.
0.1
0.
Num
ber
Abs
ent
•U
npai
d
E
00
0
Lt C 0
U) 0
.0)
(q
(ft ‘0
0•
_
Co00
DX
QC
OD
Day
Ev•.
2,8
08
5,4
33
Shif
t
Mid
.
1,3
20
Absence Patterns of the Midnight ShiftFindings and Conclusions
SICK TIMESick time use increases as a percent of total absences in the
later months, peaking in November and December. This trend isinconsistent with the monthly absence patterns and the patternscorresponding to the other shifts.
The midnight shift may consist of lower seniority employeeswho cannot bid for vacation time over the holidays. The employeesmay use sick time as a substitute for vacation time. Addedfamily/social concerns over the holidays may force the midnightshift workers to use sick time to be with their families.
PERSONAL DISCRETION TIMEPdt time use demonstrates the repeated trend of high use in
the early months then a tailing off of the use later.
UNPAID TIMEUnpaid time use on the midnight shift demonstrates the same
relationship as with the overall total year trend. The unpaid timehas two peaks, one in April/May/June and the other inSeptember/October/November.
OPEN POSITIONS/OVERALLThe percentage of total absences on the midnight shift due to
open positions is steady throughout the year. The open positions areplanned, therefore this trend is normal if turnover is not excessive.
ABSENCE PATTERNS BY BUILDING
Absence Patterns by BuildingFindings and Conclusions
The housekeeping staff has been divided for analysis into threeregions:
Area I includes:M/W/H, Med Inn, MPB, MCHC, Bank, Trailer(Day and Evening Shifts)
15
Area II includes:UH, Kellogg, Turner(Day and Midnight Shifts)
Area III includes:UH, Taubman, Kellogg, Turner, UHEC, Riverview,
NIB(Evening Shifts)
Area II and Area III overlap. This information is the finestseparation we can develop from the Daily Census Reports-the dailyattendance records.
OVERALLArea II and Area III have the largest total percent absent per
month. Area III has the largest total percentage absent in eight ofthe months in 1992. (January, May, June, July, August, September,November, December)
This rate of absences could be due to the work environment ofthe employees. The University Hospital may create more stress foremployees (more emergencies and discharges) which results in moreabsences. Taubman and the NIB in Area III are mainly office areas,employees may not feel needed and consequently not come in towork consistently.
UNPAID TIMEThe major leader in unpaid time use by percent of total
absences is Area II. Area II leads the other two areas in eightmonths of 1992 in unpaid time use by percent of total absences.Area II has a majority of the midnight shift workers. There may bea correlation between the unpaid time use and shift, though this isnot indicated from the absence data on the shifts.
OPEN POSITIONSThe major leader in open positions by percent of total absences isArea III. Area III leads the other two areas in ten months of 1992in open positions by percent of total absences. This high percentageof open positions may skew Area III’s overall percentages. Area IIImay seem to have high absence rates compared to the other areasdue to the number of open positions, a controllable number.
fl0 C Cl
)CD ID :3
0 CD 2,
C :3 a-CD CD :3 C) C
Co C)
CD
-u CD 0 0 C CD 2,
0 13 CD C)
Ca co (0
2, CD -I Cl)
CD ‘I,
0 -C) CD :3
C 2, 0 a-
-vCl
)—
I0 CD
0 (0 2,
-oCI
)—
40 4
•
CD
C 3 0) 0
>< ><
z CD CD 0
><
>()<
><)<
CD CD
><><
><><
><>
0><
)<>(
><><
CD CD
=CD
——
--
--
--
---
>3
><><
><—
0•
><><
><CD
m0)-i
><><
>(
><><
>X
)<><
-, ID CD
>< >(
-I 0 CD :3 C, C 0.
0 0 x C)
CD 0 -I C 1 :3 0 -1 0 CD Dl a a. :3 2 :3.
0 :3.
ID
>1
>< ><
><
C,)
0 C C) CD C 0 CD 2) Cl)
C (a)
ID 3 0 CA >< :3- a- :1 a :3-
CD CA CD CD CD 0 CD 0 (0 CD ID 0 CD a- Cl)
CD :3 C) (0 C’)
><x
xx x
>( >< >< ><
CD 0) > CD 0) > CD CD
‘C ‘C ‘C ><>(
‘C >C ‘C
‘C ‘C ‘C ‘C
CD CD :3 a C a. CD CD C x C a. 3 CD :3 C,
. CD 0 -I C -1 :3 ID -I C x m C,
0 z w m 0 :3 :3 a 0 :3.
lb
> CD CD > CD CD
-U CD CD CD
U 0) CD ‘1 CD 0 C 0) 1\)
(0 (0 CO C.-,
0 CD a 0 CD (I) :3-
CD CD 2,-
CD
>C >< ‘C
‘C
><
ID U,
ID a :3 :3 0 C, x C) w CD :3 -4 -
I CD ID 0 CD 0) :3 a. ID C ID :3 2 0 :3.
U)
>< >< ‘C
‘C
‘C ‘C ‘C‘C >
( ‘C
‘C ‘C ‘C
‘C ‘C ‘C
‘C
‘C ‘C ‘C
0 CD 0 0•
CD‘C ‘C ‘C
‘C ‘C ‘C
‘C ‘C
> CD CD
> CD CD > CD CD
‘C >C‘C ‘C ‘C
‘C
>C ‘C ‘C ‘C
C-
Dl
:3 C CD 1 ‘C ‘1 0 0 -1 C DI •1 ‘C
> CD 0) > CD CD > CD
C.
C :3 ID
‘C ‘CI a (0 Cl) CD CD C) CD C) CD :3 (0 0 CD a- Cl) CD :3 C, CD Cl
)
>C ‘C ‘C ‘C ‘C ‘C
‘C ‘C ‘C ‘C
Cl)
CD C,
0 :3 a- :3-
0 :3-
CD Cl)
CD 0) CD 0 CD C,
CD D CD 2,
(P 0 CD 0 CO CD :3 C) CD Cl)
‘C ‘C ‘C ‘C
‘C ‘C ‘C ‘C
‘C ><‘C
‘C ‘C ‘C
‘C ‘C ‘C
> CD CD > CD CD > CD cal
CD :3 a 0 0•
CD CD :3 C, CD
‘C ‘C >.
‘C ‘C
> ID 0) > CD CD > CD 0)
‘C >— ‘C ‘C
z 0 C CD 3 0 CD -1
,C‘C ‘C
>C>C
>C
)<)C
>C)C
,CC
‘C)<
><>C
‘C‘C
‘C
‘C ‘C ‘C ‘C‘C >C
‘C ‘C ‘C ‘C
CD CD > CD CD > •1 CD CD
‘C
,<>C
‘C ‘C ‘C
‘C ‘C >C
‘C >C
> 0 U)
CD :3 C,
ID U) 0 ‘C w C 0 21 (0
‘C ‘C
‘C‘C
CD 0) > CD 0) CD CD
>C ‘C
C C C ‘a C CA
‘C ‘C ‘C
‘C ‘C ‘C ‘C
> CD CD > CD CD > CD 0)
‘C >C ‘C
0 CD C, CD 3 0 CD -I
a’ C w C a. :3 a CD CD CD 0 :3 CD :3 a. 0 :3.
,C>C
)C)C
)C>
><,C
‘C-,
)CCD CD
,<>C
)C‘C
)C>
‘C>C
-,
>C‘C
CD 0)
,C>C
>C>C
>C>C
>C-
>C)C
CD 0)
CD -1 C, :3-
‘C ‘C ‘C
‘C ‘C ‘C >C ‘C
‘C ‘C ‘C
‘C ‘C ‘C ‘<
-‘C
‘C ‘C ‘C ‘C ‘C ‘C
‘C ‘C ‘C ‘C >C >C
> CD CD > CD 0) > CD 0)
nn
(‘fl
0.2
Per
cent
Abse
nt
for
each
Buil
din
gin
1992
a) (I) .0
0.1
C a) C) a)
0.0
MC
HC
/ME
DIN
N
Num
ber
Schedule
d:
16,4
03
•A
bsen
t
UH
/K/C
AP
H/T
Q_cu
.
U)
Oo
o)
iD
ci)
C cU
)C
)•— Cu
o.
= Cuw
a
W(fl
Coo
Dx
ci)
14,8
60
Bu
ild
ing
NIB
/UH
/TA
UB
46,9
85
c) 0)
0)
U)
0),- C,)
0.
.2Cu
l_—
CuC
ua-a
Perc
ent
and
Num
ber
for
each
Buil
din
gin
of
Tota
lA
bse
nces
19
92
due
tosi
ck
tim
e
C(0Q
)
-(G
U)
O
iQ
CO
oW
0.9
0)
00)
>.
G)
‘—
U).
‘-
a)0
a)
00
CO
WD
r0
U)
0 a- ci) (1)
Cl)
C ci) C-)
C,)
0)
Cci
0) u)c
l
0 U)
To
tal
Num
ber
Abse
nt
1,7
07
ISi
ck
MC
HC
/ME
DIN
NU
H/K
/CA
PH
/TN
IB
/UH
/TA
UB
1,6
53
Buil
din
g
6,0
11
-4PercentofTotalAbsences
—a,
Co
C)mm
to.
DC(o—0DCD
(00(0
-I0.0
0
.0D
.0000
0
0
m
C
a,C
UniversityofMichiganHospitalsHousekeepingServicesDepartmentSource:DailyCensusReportsPeriod:1992Date:3/3/93
Per
cent
for
each
and
Num
ber
ofT
ota
lA
bse
nce
sB
uil
din
gin
1992
due
toPD
Tti
me
in
173
(num
ber
ab
sen
t)
:.:
U, a) U C 4) U,
-ø (a 0 I 0 C C) U 4, a-
0.12
0.10
0.08
0.06
0.04
-
0.02
o.ocr
•
•PO
T
MC
HC
/ME
DIN
N
0G)
1 5a5
tc-
o iDci ‘I
U._ EC
oø
U) D
)cJ
0)
NIB
/UH
/TA
UB
Cj)-
ci)
-o4)
U)O
j.
DC
OcD
OC
C’
Buil
din
g
UH
/K/C
AP
H/T
Nu
mb
eA
bse
nt
1,7
07
1,6
53
6,0
11
1(
SICK TIMESick time use was evenly distributed throughout the buildings.
Area I narrowly led Area II in sick time use by percentage of totalabsences. This data could be skewed due to the high percentage ofopen positions in Area III. This corresponds to all the data on sicktime use-there is no variation in use by month, shift, or building.
PERSONAL DISCRETION TIMEArea I led all areas in PDT time use by percent of total
absences from January to July 1992. Area III led all areas in PDTtime use by percent of total absences from September to December1992. Area I and Area III displayed an overall trend of decreasingPDT usage as the year progressed. There is no explanation of thevariation in PDT use. There may have been a shift in employeeduties, supervision, or random variation that was not indicated onthe Daily Census Reports.
ABSENCE PATTERNS BY DAY OF THE WEEK
Absence Patterns by Day of the WeekFindings and Conclusions
OverallFriday, Saturday, and Sunday had the highest rates of
absenteeism. The Daily Census reports indicate higher uses of sicktime, Personal Discretion Time, and unpaid time occur on these threedays.
The weekend days would normally have the highest rates ofabsences as there are more distractions from work. Friday andSaturday are the final day of the work week for many employees,therefore these days would be taken off for thre day weekends.Sunday is taken for religious purposes and because it is thebeginning of the work week for some employees. Monday andTuesday also had higher rates of absenteeism as these are also thebeginning of the work week for many employees.
Sick Time Use and Open PositionsThere is no day of the week which has a single identifiable
reason accounting for its sick time or open position absences. Forexample, sick time use varies throughout the week. Some monthsrecord high rates of sick time use on Mondays, while other monthsrecord high sick time use on Fridays or Saturdays. There is no
CO CD
0 Co CD CD CD 0 Ca U)
CD C.)
CD Cl) C)
CD CO 3 CD D >< >< >< ‘a :3.
CD CO 0 CD C,
CD :3 CO CD 0 CO 0 CO C,
CD :3 C,
CD CO
Q CD •3:
0 -D CD :3
3< >< 3< 3< 3<
0 :3 U)
:3 0 :3
U,
CD -a CD 3 a.
CD
C :3 0 a-
C :3 CD
0 CD 0 -4.
CD CD 0 0) :3 a.
CD CD CD 0 x a :3.
0 0 e 0 Co CD :3 C, 0 CO
JJ CO :3 CD CO CO 0 0 CO 0 CD CD
00 -D CD :3
C :3 -D a.
U)
C.)
-U 9c :3 0 a.
C’)
C)
0 -o CD :3
-U 9U
)C
)C :3 CD Cl
)
0 C,
:3-
CO D I 0 CO CO Co
0 -D CD :3
3< 3< 3<
3< 3<
n(I
)C
)
U)
:3
C 0 0.
K 3< 3< >< 5< 3<
Sc 5< 3< 3< 3< 5< 3<
3< 3< Sc
3<
3< 3< 5<
‘C 5< 3< 3< 3< 3< 3<
0 C, 0 a-
CD -S
3< 3< 3<
U)
:3
C))
0 H (IS CD a- H -n CD CO
IS)
C C
(IS 0 0.
IS)
:3 0 C)
CD 0 C.)
CD CD I’) x >< II U)
CD C-)
0 a. I :3 CD Co CD 0 IS
)0 Co CD :3 C) CD CO
3<.3
<<
0.
0..
.z
Ci)
0 C)
CD C)
CO 0 CD :3 CO CO II CD -D 0 C’)
5< H :3.
a I :3-
CD CC)
CD IS)
CD -o CD CD CO Co CD 0 IS)
0 (ft
C,
CD :3 C) CD m
U)
C :3
3< 3<
0 IS)
CD IS)
0 :3-
CD
(0 C.) z 0 CD 0 a IS)
CO :3-
CD :3-
CD CO IS) 3 CD D 3 0 CD 0 >< Co :3-
CD CO CD (0
1J IS)
CC)
CD
CD
5< 3< 5<
3< 3<
H C,)
CO
3< 3< 3< 5< 3<
3< >< 5< 3< 3< 5<
3< 3<
-1 :3-
C T1 U)
IS)
CD CD a- H C -n U)
IS)
3< 5< 3< ><
0) C 0 :3 —I
CD CD a- H :3-
-I.’
:3.
U)
CO
5< 3< 3< 5< 3< 5<
z 0 CD 3 0 CD —I
5< 3< 3<
0) C 0 -i I: CD CD H :3-
-n C),
CO
C Ca C CO
5< 5< 5< 5< 5< 5< 3<
5< 3< 3<
C,)
:3 0 :3 H C CD CD a H :3-
F ‘1 C))
IS)
>< 3< >< 3< 3< 3< 5< ><
5< 3< 3< 3< 3< 3<3< 3< 5<
3< 5< 3< 3< 3<
>< 5< 3< 3< 3< >< 5< 3<
3< 3< 5<
3< 3< 5< 5< 5< 3<
3’ 3< 3< SC 3< 3<
U)
C :3 0 :3 H C CD CD a.
H :3-
F -n :3.
U)
CO
C-
CD C CD -S ‘1 CD a.
.5 C 0) -S CD •1 C,
:3.
U)
C :3 .0-
:3
5<
>< 3< 3<
K 5< 3<
K 3< 3<
H C CD CD
:3.
C
SC 5< 5<
-n C))
IS)
H C
U)
C :3 0 D CD a.
H :3-
F -I,
U)
IS)
>< ><3< 3<
5< 5< >< 5< 3< 3<
‘1 Cl)
CO
>< 3< 3< 3< 3< SC
U)
0 H C CD CD a.
—I
C :3.
Cl)
IS)
3< 3< 3< 5<3<
5<3<
3<
18
EMPLOYEE SURVEY
Introduction
In order to learn the issues of employees, we conducted a survey.The issues we were trying to learn about were related to schedulingand work conditions (i.e. starting times, chronic problems, personalproblems affecting work completion or attendance, etc.). Thesurveys were distributed during meetings conducted solely for thepurpose of completing the survey. In this manner we were able togain responses from 221 employees (see distribution on next page).All responses are held in confidentiality.
Survey Results:#1 What is your current employment classification?# 2 Are you a permanent/regular or temporary worker?# 3 Your Present Schedule is:# 4 When does your current work shift begin and end?# 5 Where do you work (Building and Floors)?
These questions were used to provide the demographical data.
#6 Do you feel that some jobs within your classification areeasier than others within your classification on your shift?
By BuildingNearly half of the employees in Mott answered yes to this question.This was 15% higher than in UH, MCHC, or Taubman which answerednearly the same (35% said yes). The NIB workers felt that their jobswere the most evenly balanced (only 1 out of 9 feel his job was moredifficult).
By ClassificationUnit Custodians are the most likely to feel that the jobs within theirclassification are not balanced (40%) while Wall Washers are onlyhalf as likely (20%) to feel that way. Around a third of C2 feel jobsare not balanced effectively.
U) a) >‘
C)
C 0 U)
ci)
U)
C-) a) 0
0)
U)
a)0
)
Oca
a)C
acL
ow
Cl)
Co
r0 .;
0-
-a) a)
c)
U)
0)
•9
o_0
ci)
•1
ooca
Per
cent
resp
ondin
g“y
es”
bycl
assi
fica
tion
to:
doyo
ufe
elce
rtai
njo
bs
wit
hin
your
clas
sifi
cati
on
are
muc
hea
sier
than
oth
ers
.ww
C2
DU
D
Job
Bal
anci
ng
To
pic
19
By ShiftAll three shifts responded about the same, 35% said yes on eachshift.
By ScheduleThe Mon-Fri schedule felt its jobs were more evenly balanced thanany of the other schedules. The others were 10-15% above Mon-Friresponding yes 38-46% that some jobs were easier.
Conclusion:In general we do not believe that there are significant problems withthe amount or types of work that are being done by eachclassification, answers throughout the survey did not indicate any.One-fifth of wall washers feeling that there are imbalances betweenjobs within their classification seems acceptable. The otherclassifications could be expected to be slightly higher as comparisonsbetween classification may be made in error. The fact that themajority feel that the jobs are balanced fairly in every classificationsays a lot about the effectiveness of the consulting firm that split upthe work several years ago. The work environment itself and themethods used to do the work is more likely to be a cause of stress orproblems than any single job or job classification being more difficultthan another. Changing the work methods and environment such asimplementing groups or rotating jobs within a classification may beeffective.
#8, 9, 10 Percent willing to rotate jobs within theirclassification? Do you know the people on your shift withinyour classification? Do you think you can work with them?
Overall
By BuildingNearly half of those in Mott and NIB would be willing to rotate jobs.Only about 30% of those in the UH would want to rotate. In betweenare Mott and Taubman with just under 40% of the employeesworking there willing to rotate. Employees know 75% or more oftheir co-workers on their own shift and in their own classification.Around 40% of those in UH, TAUB, and NIB believe that they canwork with the others within their classification and shift. Nearly 60%of those in Mott and MCHC believe that they can.
By ClassificationCustodian 2s are twice as willing as Wall Washers to rotate (40% to20%), while about a third of Unit Custodians would be willing.Custodian 2s also believe that they can work together within theirclassification about twice as much as Wall Washers (60% to 30% thistime). Again about one third of Unit Custodians think that they couldwork together.
By ShiftThose on the day and evening shifts are nearly twice as willing torotate jobs as employees on the midnight shift (38% to 20%).
By Schedule60% of Fri-Mon workers would like to rotate, 37% of Mon-Fri would,while only 22% of Sun-Thurs and Tues-Sat would.
C
C,) a) >‘
0)
C C 0 C.
U, a) 4- C a, C.)I a) a-
C0
)U
)a)
C)
C.
Coa)
00
C’)
CCO
0.
.L
.C,
)
0.s
.z
4-.
CO
00
DZ
CO
Q
Per
cent
Res
pondin
g“y
es”
byS
ched
ule
to:
wil
ling
toro
tate
Jobs
wit
hin
clas
sifi
cati
on
onow
nsh
ift
doyo
ukn
owth
ese
peo
ple
,do
you
thin
kyo
uca
nw
ork
wit
hth
em
•M
on-F
ri
•Fr
i-Mon
•Su
n-T
hurs
Tue
s-S
at
Will
ing
Kno
wW
ork
With
Top
ic
21
ConclusionThe survey indicates that there is a demand for this type of change,especially for the Fri-Mon employees (these employees also were themost interested in groupwork). Although willingness is not amajority in any of the groupings above, except the Fri-Mon workers(60% yes), we believe the percentage of workers with positiveattitudes toward this change is much higher than the figures seem toindicate, because many people did not fill in every question or maynot have been familiar with the concept.
# 12 Number of Time per Week you are pulled away fromyour regular job.
OverallAbout 30% of employees are never pulled away. Another 20% arepulled away once per day. Another 20% are pulled away 2-3 times aweek and the rest are needed once a week.
By BuildingFollows the same pattern as above for all buildings.
By ClassificationFollows the same general pattern as above for all classifications.Wall Washers are pulled away much less than the otherclassifications, nearly half are never pulled away. Although thosewho are pulled go more frequently (2-3 times week). UnitCustodians are pulled away less frequently than Custodian 2s.
By ShiftDay shift is usually pulled at least once a day, while the evening andmidnight shifts are pulled only 2-3 times a week at the most.
By ScheduleFollows the same general pattern as above for all schedules.Over 50% of those scheduled Thurs-Sat are pulled once per week,while over 50% of those scheduled Fri-Mon are pulled once a day
ConclusionWe wanted to determine if employees were becoming frustrated orcould not complete their jobs, which would lead to absences. As canbe seen, employees are not being pulled away very often, butperhaps group work could improve flexibility and the ability to get
22
areas complete when someone is called to do a task (the rest of thegroup members could cover for that one person).
#13 What is the Hardest day of the week for you tocomplete all of your assignments?
OverallMonday was the most difficult day to complete assignmentsaccording to nearly a third of those responding. One quarter felt thatFriday was the most difficult. Sunday appeared to be the easiest dayto complete work assignments.
By BuildingBy ClassificationFollows the same pattern as above for Wall Washers, while UnitCustodians felt that Mondays and Tuesdays were the most difficult.Custodian 2s felt that Monday through Friday were equally difficultand Saturday and Sunday were only half as difficult to complete.
By ShiftThe Day shift felt that Sunday (40%) was the most difficult, followedby Monday and Friday. The evening shift felt that Monday (40%),Tuesday, and Saturday were the most difficult. The midnight shiftfollowed the same overall pattern as above.
By ScheduleThe Monday-Friday schedule felt that Monday was by far the mostdifficult day to complete their work, Monday being twice as difficultas any other day of the week. The Friday-Monday schedule haddifficulty completing its work on Monday, Friday, and Saturdays.The Sunday-Thursday schedule had the most difficulty on Sundaysand Thursdays. The Tuesday-Saturday schedule found Tuesdays,Saturdays, and Fridays most difficult, although the distribute wasquite even for this schedule.
ConclusionThis information complements the data obtained from the DailyCensus Reports nicely. Monday has a high rate and number ofabsences compared to the rest of the week, hence it is harder foremployees to get their work done. This in turn makes it more likelythat more employees will continue to take Monday off to avoid thestress. Even though Sunday had the highest percent absent of anyday of the week, it was reported to be the easiest day to complete
4) 4) 0 0.
4) 4) 0 •1 C C) 4) 0.
I•::
0
Per
cen
tof
Res
po
nd
ents
indic
atin
gD
ayof
Wee
kis
the
mo
stdi
ffic
ult
toco
mple
tew
ork
.
0 c. 0
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0.0•
F-.
(0F— (0
d—
__
__
_
0
—1
,
Uni
vers
ityof
Mic
higa
nH
ospi
tals
Hou
seke
epin
gS
ervi
ces
Dep
artm
ent
Per
iod:
Feb
ruar
y19
93S
ourc
e:H
ouse
keep
ing
Surv
ey19
93D
ate:
Mar
ch10
,19
93
Day
ofW
eek
PercentofRespondents
C,Om
•m —e-m—
—0
—o
—
CD0
-.———
C,—.
C,00
00
pp0Ca)
0
0
-.
C’,
I
0U,
-1,••1
UniversityofMichiganHospitalsHousekeepingServicesDepartmentPeriod:February1992Source:HousekeepingSurvey1993Date:3/18/93
ci)C
D
D
CbcnCfl
23
tasks. Why then would Sunday have the highest percent ofabsences? Human intuition and the desire of most workers to haveweek-ends off, might suggest that sentimental reasons may be a bigfactor. If it is the easiest day to complete tasks, then it might followthat fewer employees need to be scheduled on Sunday. It isinteresting to note however that the day shift felt that Sunday wasthe most difficult to complete work, while the other shifts did notrespond this way. This is most likely due to high absenteeism, so itmight be reasonable to determine if the day shift work on Sundayreally must is necessary or if workers could be transferred from dayto other shifts just for Sundays. As with day of the week that is themost difficult to come in on, the days of the week that are hardest tocomplete tasks are those at the beginning and end of each schedule.These are also the days with the most absences.
#11 &13 Why is it hard to complete all your assignments?(May Check more than One)
OverallOver half (54%) of those responding could finish all theirassignments. Two thirds of those who responded that they could notcomplete their assignments said it was because of too much work.The next highest reason was covering for others, which was twice aslikely to be given as a reason as too few workers or covering for aprevious shift.
By Building80% of employees working in Mott stated that they could completeall of their duties. The reasons given for not completing work werecovering for absent workers and covering for a previous shift.About half of employees working in the University Hospital couldcomplete all of their work. Too much work and covering for absentemployees were the highest reasons (30% of workers) while too fewand covering for a previous shift were also sited (20%).Nearly 60% of workers in MCHC can complete their work, with thereasons for not completing work being similar to those of theUniversity Hospital in the same proportions.80% of employees working in Taubman could complete all of theirtasks. Covering for absent employees and too much work were twiceas likely to be the cause of incomplete work than too few scheduledor covering for a previous shift.
About half of employees working in the NIB could finish all theirwork with, all the reasons stated above in equal proportion.
By ClassificationNearly 6O%’ of Unit Custodians could finish their jobs, compared toabout half of the Custodian 2s, and less than half of the WallWashers. C2s are twice as likely to give cover another shift as areason for not completing work (30% to 15%) as WWs or UCs. Unitcustodians are less likely to cover for those absent than C2s or WallWashers. Covering for absent workers and too much work were thelargest complaints overall. Too much work was the Unit Custodiansmain reason for incompletion.
By ShiftHalf of those on the day shift can complete work, while nearly 60%can finish assignments on the evening and midnight shifts. Onlyabout a fifth of those on each shift felt that there were too fewworkers. One third of those on each shift gave covering for othersthat were absent as a reason for incompletion. The day shift is twiceas likely to claim (30% to 15%) covering for a previous shift as areason than evening or midnight workers.
By ScheduleTuesday-Saturday schedule was the least likely to finish assignments(with oniy 40% completing), compared to half of the Friday-Mondayworkers being able to complete and nearly 60% of those who workMonday-Friday and Sun-Thursday. The Friday-Monday and Tuesday-Saturday schedules have a higher rate for all reasons than any otherschedule, but not in different proportions. The overall patterns arethe same for every schedule.
ConclusionsTaubman and Mott were most likely able to finish their workbecause the work most likely includes cleaning offices which is a lessexternally paced job. Too few workers was half as likely to be givenas a reason as covering for others. This response implies a problemwith work completion (increasing stress, increasing absences) isoccurring due to absences rather than an unfair amount of workgiven to any one shift, classification or building. The job balancingquestion further supports this theory. Those who are less likely tocover for others can complete assignments as stated above in theclassification section.
n
U, I) U) C 0 0.
U, U, U,
U, 0 4- C 4, U C 0.
C
--
U,
U,
oW
C,,
C L’10)
-LL
CO
WD
t0.
C’) 0)
0) > W U) 0’)
C0)
U, a, a,
—(I
) 00 h
.. h
0.8
Per
cent
ofT
ota
l“Y
es”
resp
onse
sto
Wor
kco
mple
tion
for
shif
t,T
oofe
wpe
ople
per
shif
t,T
oom
uch
wor
kp
ersh
ift
Cov
erfo
rla
teor
abse
nt,
Co
ver
for
Pre
vio
us
shif
t,an
doth
erre
asons
for
not
com
ple
tin
gw
ork
duri
ng
the
shif
t.C
’) CD CD 0
•P
erce
nt
Surv
eyQ
uest
ions
too
few
too
muc
hco
ver
coy.
prey
Topic
s
nn
n
a, I) U,
C 0 a- U)
U) a) >-
N. 0 0) 0 I 4, a.
—C
’)C
0)
00
)
00
00
•C
-0
-
‘-0
—C
OO
CU
DZ
U)O
peo
ple
per
shif
t,re
asons
shif
t.
Per
cen
tof
Tot
al“y
es”
resp
on
ses
toW
ork
com
ple
tio
nfo
rsh
ift,
Too
few
Too
muc
hw
ork
per
shif
t,an
doth
erfo
rnot
com
ple
tin
gw
ork
du
rin
gth
e
0.5
0.4
-
0.3
O.2
0.1
0.0
•Fi
nish
Too
few
Too
Muc
h
0C
over
DC
oy.
Prey
.
•O
ther
ID
ay
—
Eve
.
IM
id.
ShIf
t
25
#14 Day that you are least able to come to work.
Just over 40% of those responding said that they are always able toattend work. One quarter did not respond to this question at all.Sunday is the day that 15% of employees said that they have troubleattending. Monday and Friday are the next highest with 5% each.
By BuildingFollows the same pattern as above for all Buildings.
By ClassificationFollows the same pattern as above for all classifications. 10% of WallWashers have problems coming in Thursday, Friday, and Saturday(but still 5% on Monday).
By ShiftFollows the same pattern as above for all shifts. Day and Midnightshifts have particular problems coming to work on Sundays, twice asmuch problem as the evening shift has. As expected the evening andmidnight shifts on Friday have more trouble coming in, while onSaturday the day shift is less able to come to work. The evening andmidnight shifts are less likely to come in on Mondays than the dayshift.
By ScheduleThe first and last days of each schedule are the most difficult toattend for all employees on every schedule.
ConclusionsIt is encouraging to see that almost half (40%) of employees said thatthey can come in every day. It shows a lot of pride since that wasnot even a selection. Employees wrote it in themselves. Monday andFriday absence rates may be higher than on other days due tooverlapping of beginning and ending schedules. Changing the workenvironment may be more effective than changing schedules becausethis is an emotional desire to have a longer weekend.
# 1 5 Would you be willing to work another day that week ifyou could have that day off? If Yes, Which day wouldyou be willing to exchange?
Most employees misinterpreted this question or left it blank.This question was disregarded as the data is flawed.
26
#16 Those Mon-Fri and Thurs-Sun who would workSaturday if they got a Monday off by Rotation.Out of 161 responses, 23 would while 138 were opposed.
# 1 7 Do you have another part-time job?Less than two percent of employees have part time jobs, andnone indicated that it affected their schedule at theHousekeeping Department. Scheduling around jobs does notseem to be a major problem at this time.
#18 Is there a Family problem that comes up every weekbecause of your schedule? (mark all that apply)Overall15% gave child care as a problem, additionally 7% gave taking childto school. 2% cited elder care.
By BuildingFollows the same pattern as above.
By ClassificationFollows the same pattern as above.
By ShiftFollows the same pattern as above, with taking child to school higherfor the third shift employees,
By ScheduleNearly 40% of those scheduled Friday-Monday have child careproblems, compared to 20% of Sunday-Thursday workers and 10% ofMonday-Friday and Tuesday-Saturday workers.
ConclusionsFamily care problems are aggravated on the Fri-Mon schedule.A flex time change would be appropriate to solve many chronic andfamily problems.
# 1 9 How long does it take you to get to work?
The mean time for employees to come to work was 2 1-22minutes
(0 C 0 0 (I, a, I...
•1- 0 C a, C,
I- a, 0.
Perc
ent
ofre
spo
nd
en
tsby
shif
tth
at
indic
ate
att
endence
pro
ble
ms
due
tofa
mil
ycare
issu
es.
0.2
1
0.1-
•Fi
rst
Shift
Sec
ond
Shift
Third
Shift
chil
d/sc
hool
r
elde
rca
re
Fam
ily
Car
e
nn
Per
cent
ofR
esp
on
den
tsci
ting
thes
ere
asons
for
not
com
ing
tow
ork
when
asked
about
fam
ily
con
cern
s.
C C 0 0.
0, 4 0 C a I 0, a
0.2
0.1 0.0
•pe
rcen
t
C)
.-
0)
0)
(0—
CO>
‘
U)
0.
Co
1I1!
o-u
rCo.
L.
-cD
00
_•
CO
CoO
CO
DX
Q.U
)O
child
care
scho
olel
der
care
oth
er
Fam
ily
Conce
rns
n
Per
cent
and
Num
ber
ofw
ork
ers
onM
on-F
rian
dS
un-T
hurs
schedule
sw
how
ould
work
Sat
ifth
eyhad
Mon
off
Tot
alR
espo
nses
Mon-E
n:
135
Su
n-T
hu
rs:
26
(nu
mb
er)
68
ci) D -o ci) C.)
(I)
0 (U ci) C 0 U)
C U)
-D C 0 0 U) a) 0 a) 0 ci) 0
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0.0
•M
on-F
ri
•S
un-T
hurs
CC
)cj
,ci
)0)
0-ci)
00
)tc
U)
ci) L0)
)Q)
0)
uo
.—co
0_
0
C0Q
CD
XcI)0
Wor
kS
at.
toge
tM
on.
oft
Oppose
d
To
pic
A
27
#2 0 Do you own a car?
98% of employees indicated they own a car, but the car maynot run well. Transportation was indicated as a recurringproblem for 10% of employees. Nearly ten percent ofemployees indicated that car pooling would be desired. Carownership does not correspond to reliability of transportation.
# 2 1 Would you be interested in car pooling, if a systemwas set up?
9.52% of employees indicated they would be interested in a carpooling system. Transportation was indicated as a chronicproblem in attending work. This supports that data.
#22 How do you use Personal Discretion Time(May Mark More Than One Reason)
OverallOver 60% of those responding use Personal Discretion Time foremergencies, nearly half use it for family care, and one quarter ofthe time it is used for vacations. Transportation problems accountfor 15% of its use, and sickness 10%.
By BuildingFollows nearly the same pattern as above for all buildings.
By ClassificationFollows nearly the same pattern as above for all classifications.
By ShiftFollows nearly the same pattern as above for all shifts.As expected Day shift uses PDT more for family care andemergencies than does the Midnight shift.
By ScheduleFollows nearly the same pattern as above for all schedules.Thurs-Sun, Tues-Sat, and Mon-Fri are nearly 20% more likely to usePDT time for emergencies than the Fri-Mon schedule.
(0 C 0 4) 0 U,
U,
C 0 U) 4) a. •1
- 0 4) 0) •1 C 4) 0 4) a-
fln
Use
ofP
erso
nal
Dis
cret
ion
Day
Tim
e
n
CD C
0.8
‘
0.6
-
0.4
0.2
0.0
-
Uni
vers
ityof
Mic
higa
nH
ospi
tals
Hou
seke
epin
gS
ervi
ces
Dep
artm
ent
Per
iod:
Feb
ruar
y19
93S
ourc
e:H
ouse
keep
ing
Sur
veys
1993
Dat
e:M
arch
1019
93
c) 0)
2d
__
4’
‘3.
‘3.
C”
0
Rea
sons
for
use
ofpd
tsi
cktr
ans
fan
ily
emer
.va
ca.
oth
erC
are
U,
C,)
7-
0 0
pdt
use
Rea
sons
Per
sonal
byE
ach
giv
enfo
ru
seof
Dis
cret
ion
Tim
eS
hil
l
•D
aysh
ift
•E
ve,
shif
t
•M
id.
shif
t
nn
a) E I-. a 0 a) U)
D a) U I- a) 0. U) C 0 U) (a a)
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0.0
Iii
sick
tran
s.ta
m.
care
— C0)
(a0) >
.o_e
a)U
)0
.
0.
0.C
L.
:C
O.g
0)
U)
_
..-
Cz
.o_0
CO
OC
UD
ZC
I)D
emer
.vac
.oth
er
Pdt
use
n
Rea
sons
giv
enfo
ruse
ofP
erso
nal
Dis
cret
ion
Tim
eby
Sch
edule
C 0 U)
U)
C .0 I) E I 0 0 I) U) C 4) U I) 0
sick
tran
s.ta
m.
care
vac.
oth
er
•M
on-F
ri
Fri-M
on
Sun
-Thu
rs
Tue
s-S
at
C0
)a,
0)
t>
,:2
_C
a,Cl
) oa,z
CC
’) C.,.
0.C
-a,
OW
a,
r0)
oD
0.
0c’.
i>
‘a,
Z—
a,
C’)
U)-
cooc’$
DtC
i)D
emer
.
PDT
use
fln
•M
on-F
ri
Fri-
Mon
Sun
-Thu
rs
DT
ues-
Sat
—c’
)C
0)
0)
.t>
ci
0)
0W
3
o.E c
i.C
I-0)
0)0)
,,
0)
o.
c’J
o_>
.]
C)
zC
OO
CO
Dxu)cl
Rea
son
sgiv
enfo
ruse
ofP
ers
onal
Dis
cret
ion
Tim
eby
Sch
edule
C 0 0, (0 > 4) E I 0 0 0 0, 0) C 4, 0 0) 0.
0.8
0.6
0.4•
0.2
0.0
:si
cktr
ans.
tam
.ca
reem
er.
vac
.o
ther
PDT
use
ConclusionsFrom the survey information we believe that is would be valid tokeep the PDT policy as it is. Answers were consistent throughout allbuildings, shifts, and classifications. Personal Discretion Time use canbe predicted and accounted for as it is used consistently and in thesame pattern throughout all buildings, shifts, and classifications asdetermined by the Daily Census Reports. It should be noted that themidnight shift uses the least PDT time, that would be consistent withthe overall use of this time for emergencies and child care (lessproblems occur at night, relatives can care for children at night, etc.).We still believe that PDT time can be reduced through flex time anda change in work method (teamwork. rotation).
# 2 3 Do you know how others use their sick time?
Most employees did not answer this question, therefore thisquestion was thrown out since the data was skewed.
# 2 4 How do you feel about your starting time for aworkday? Is it hard to make it on time?
Ten percent of employees indicated that their starting timecreated difficulty.
# 2 5 If you could change your schedule, how would youchange it?
Most employees left this question blank, therefore thisquestion was thrown out.
#26 Do you have a problem that comes up every week?Mark all that apply.
By BuildingWorkers in MCHC and Taubman have more chronic starting timeproblems than any of the other buildings (16% to 9%). Child careproblems are more likely to be the cause of absenteeism in Mott andthe University Hospitals than in the other buildings. Chronictransportation problems, like starting time problems are moreprevalent in MCHC and Taubman.
fln
n
Per
cen
tof
Resp
on
dents
that
indic
ated
chil
dca
re,
tran
spo
rtati
on,
seco
nd
jobs,
and
oth
eras
chro
nic
reaso
ns
for
abse
nces.
U)
a,
0-
0.12
0.10
Uni
vers
ity
ofM
ichi
gan
Hos
pita
lsH
ouse
keep
ing
Ser
vice
sD
epar
tmen
tP
erio
d:F
ebru
ary
1993
Sou
rce:
Hou
seke
epin
gS
urve
ys19
930.
08D
ate:
Mar
ch10
1993
-S C
0.06
O.0
4
0.02
0.00
—.
chil
dtr
ans.
oth
er
o-:
—0
o
0)
0 0
4
a,
0 d
job
Chro
nic
reaso
ns
for
ab
sen
ces
0.2
Per
cen
tof
Sch
edule
resp
ondin
g“y
es”
tohav
ing
ach
ronic
pro
ble
mby
reas
on
m C •0 C 0 a.
0) I 1,
-C 0 U,
0 C 4) 0 4) 0.
0.1
Mon
-Fri
Fri-M
onSu
n-T
hurs
Tue
s-Sa
t
—C’
)C
0)
3.(
a)a.
Cc
0)
.;
E_C
L-
a) a)
o.
a.
0c’
>.
wr
--.
C)
Co.
CO
oa)
Dtc00
0.0
St.
Tim
eC
hild
tran
slo
both
er
Chro
nic
Pro
ble
ms
n
U) 4) > 0)
t.0
OO 4) 4)
o0
0.0
4-
Per
cent
ofT
otal
ofth
ose
resp
on
din
g“y
es”
toh
avin
ga
chro
nic
pro
ble
mby
shif
tby
reas
on
0.2
.-
C,,
C0)
a,0
)
0.
caa,
Ccfl a
_C‘-
a,
—0
)co
o.
>.
a,=
—m
C’)
CO
OC
UD
EC
OD
ID
aySh
ift
UE
ve.
Shif
t
Mid
.Sh
ift
0.1
0.0
St.
tim
ech
ild
tran
sjo
bot
her
Ch
ron
icP
roble
ms
29
By ClassificationOnly ten percent of each classification had problems with startingtimes. Custodian 2s are more likely to have chronic problems withchildren and transportation than Wall Washers or Unit Custodians(15% compared to 10%)
By ShiftThose on the Evening shift are 3 times as likely to have problemswith starting times (18% compared to 5%) than Day or Evening shiftemployees. Midnight shift employees are twice as likely as day shiftworkers (19% compared to 11%) and 4 times as likely as eveningshift employees to have a chronic child care problem. Ten percent ofthose on each shift stated they have a chronic transportationproblem. About 2% on each shift have other part-time jobs.By ScheduleAbout one tenth of employees on each schedule have chronicproblems with starting times. Friday-Monday and Sun-Thursdayworkers have more child related problems than those on the otherschedules (15% compared to 10%). About 10% of those on eachschedule have a chronic transportation problem, with Tuesday-Saturday schedule being slightly higher.
ConclusionThe Daily Census Reports show that the absence rate for the eveningshift is the highest, while the midnight shift has the highest unpaidtime percentage. The reason for the evening rate may have a greatdeal to do with starting times, implementing a flex time plan for atleast this shift may reduce absences to the levels of the other shifts.The midnight shift may have high unpaid time numbers due tochronic child care problems, which could possibly be solved by flextime also. Taking children to school in the morning is an easycondition to schedule around because the time does not vary.
#27 Those Mon-Fri and Tues-Sat who would work adifferent shift on Saturday or be willing to RotateSaturdays.
Question was not understood, and probably taken negatively Tenpercent of those who work Mon-Fri (from our sample at least 13)would be willing, to work on Saturday on a different shift, if they gotanother day off.
o—.-‘
CD(
(D—
mom
CD
-‘—am,ic
-b—z
a0
CCD
—
-‘a)
PercentageofRespondents
p0
p
C)C,
aI
UniversityofMichiganHospitalsHousekeepingServicesDepartmentSource:HousekeepingSurvey1993Date:3/20/93
-I-’,
0
0
#29 How many workers currently are in groups? Howmany would enjoy their job more if they were in one? Howmany think it would make their jobs more efficient?
By BuildingGenerally less than 20% of employees are working in groups in anyarea, with TAUB working in groups about one-half as much. Overhalf of all those who responded said that working in groups wouldmake their jobs more enjoyable and efficient.
By ClassificationNearly 30% of Wall Washers are already working in groups, as areabout 20% of C2s and Unit Custodians. About half of the C2s and UnitCustodians believe it would make their jobs more enjoyable. One theother hand, only a fifth of Wall Washers thought that it would maketheir jobs more enjoyable. Nearly 60% of C2s think it would maketheir jobs more efficient, while about half of Wall Washers and UnitCustodians think it would.
By ShiftEmployees on the Day shift are twice as likely to work in groups thanthose on the Evening or Midnight shifts (25% to 12%). Nearly half ofthose on the Day shift feel it would make their jobs more enjoyableand efficient slightly less on the Evening and Midnight shifts also feelthis way.
By ScheduleAbout 20% of employees on each schedule work in groups. Overthree-fourths of employees scheduled Fri-Mon would enjoy theirjobs more in groups and think it would make them more efficient.Around 40% on the other schedules think this.
ConclusionFrom the Daily Census Reports it was determined that the day shifthad the lowest absence rate. Those classifications and shifts thatwere more familiar with group work were more likely to think thatthis change would make their jobs more efficient and enjoyable.Weekend workers, the Fri-Mon schedule were particularly interestedin groupwork (75%) so we can infer some type of work environmentimprovement which may encourage more employees to attendSundays, Mondays, Saturdays, and Fridays.
_C
T)
C)
U)
ci)
QC
ci)C
o OW
D
0)0)
-o.
--
ci,
0)
C)
oco
Q0
>a
(t)
ø..
C0h0)
DD
OoW
DIU
)L
Perc
en
tof
resp
on
den
tsby
schedule
who
are
wo
rkin
gIn
gro
up
san
dth
ose
wh
obel
ieve
that
thei
rjo
bw
ould
bem
ade
more
en
joy
ab
lean
def
fici
ent
byte
amw
ork
•M
on-F
riFr
i-Mon
Sun—
Thur
s0
Tue
s-S
atU
)4-
V 0 0 U) ci) cc 0 4- c ci) C-) a) 0
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0.0
Top
ic
PercentageofRespondents
: (31a)CD
Cu,
ow-I—
0
—w h.—
3w
(DC)—C
CDCD
—
C.
o-CD
It
p
CDCD-e00(D
——
-
0
0
UniversityofMichiganHospitalsHousekeepingServicesDepartmentSource:HousekeepingSurvey1993Date:3/20/93
Co c)
D
Th
(I,
C 0 a. Co 0 N 0 0 Co C Co U I 0 0
cv)
0)
C(I
)—
(I)Q
.o
w ci0
)
0).2
a.C
)0 0)
o.
0c’
a-I
--..
U)-
CO
OC
U
Perc
en
tof
each
shif
tth
at
are
curr
entl
yw
ork
ing
ingro
ups,
and
perc
ent
that
feel
gro
upw
ork
would
mak
eth
eir
jobs
mo
reen
joyab
lean
def
fici
e
SD
ay
5E
ve.
Mid
.
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0.0
Gro
up
Enjo
yE
ffIc
ient
Topic
31
#30. Mark all the spaces that apply for your supervisorquestion.
OverallNearly half (48%) of all those who took the survey feel that theirsupervisor is respectful to employees and helps the employees gettheir jobs done. However, only a little over a third (38%) say that apositive work environment is created. Understanding employeeschedules and the task of actively asking for ideas from employeesscored a little above the work environment (40 and 42 percentrespectively).
By BuildingTaubman’s supervisors had the best scores followed closely byMott’s. These two areas were consistently higher than the others by10 to 20 percent . The NIB employees scored its supervisors thelowest in every category compared to all other building employees.Between buildings a trend seemed to occur. In a category whereTaubman and Mott supervisors would receive a 75% positiveresponse, the UH and MCHC supervisors would receive around a 45-50% positive response, while the NIB would score a 35-40% positiveresponse. This type of response remained proportional for eachquestion.
By ClassificationThe classifications all felt about the same about their supervisors,each keeping with the overall trends above. Wall washers didhowever find supervisors more helpful in getting their jobs done.
By ShiftThe evening shift responded more positively to all questions aboutsupervisors than the day or midnight. The day and midnight shiftsscored their supervisors nearly the same, but still consistently 15-20percent lower than the evening shift. Evenings were particularlymore positive in the receptive to ideas and the helpful to finish jobquestions. The trends for each shift followed the same trend as theoverall answers.
By ScheduleThe Tues-Sat schedule scored higher in every category than the restgenerally about 5-15%. None were particularly low, and the trendsfollowed the overall trends above. The Fri-Mon is about 10% lower
32
than the others in the actively looking for employees input,respectful to employees, and work environment questions.
Conclusion:When the employees are respected, and their ideas are listened to bysupervisors the positive responses are high in all categories. Whenthe supervisors are not active in soliciting employees’ ideas the workenvironment is scored low and responses tend to be negative overall.Unfortunately, NIB and Taubman are in the same area when DailyCensus Reports are completed. So the data on absences for theseindividual buildings cannot be compared. The evening shift had thehighest rate of absenteeism however, but also gave the highest ratingto its supervisors. Upon closer inspection, it should be noted thatopen positions were highest in the evening shift. When thepercentage of employees who are sick for each shift is determinedyou can note that there is no change between shifts; but whenpercentage of employees who use PDT is determined it turns out thatthe evening shift uses a lower percentage of PDT time (25% less) thanthe other shifts. Therefore, supervisor attitudes and behavior canhave an effect on PDT time, PDT time can be varied.
nn
Per
cent
of“y
es’
resp
onse
sto
char
acte
rist
ics
ofH
ou
sek
eep
ing
Super
vis
ors
onS
urv
ey.
O.5
-f’1
L±
_.
.478
4
help
acti
ve
unde
rst.
resp
.cr
eate
get
job
asks
for
empl
oyee
resp
ectf
ulpo
siti
vedo
nefo
rid
eas
sche
dule
sw
ork
envi
ronm
ent
Su
perv
iso
rC
hara
cte
rist
ics
C
—E
—>
‘ wCl
)0.
OW
3 ii!!! gii
>-ii
z(0
31
3C
OW
O(0
0c) 0
c’J
0
0.4
-
S 4) S C
0.3
-
0) C >.0.
2-4
- C 4) U L. 4)
0.1-
0.0
-P
n
C •0 C 0 0.
0 0 C 0 0 I 0 a-
Perc
en
tag
eof
Tota
lco
mm
ents
.
.28
9O
.3-i
”I,
Uni
vers
ity
ofM
ichi
gan
Hos
pita
lsH
ouse
keep
ing
Ser
vice
sD
epar
tmen
tS
ourc
e:H
ouse
keep
ing
Sur
vey
1993
Dat
e:3/
28/9
3
0) d
F
U)
0 0
0.2
-
0.1
- 0.01
I.-.
d0)
0 0
•T
otal
s
No
resp
.S
tatu
sQ
uoM
on.-
Fri
.10-h
r.
Co
mm
en
Is
33
Alternatives and Suggestions
The following is a list of alternatives and suggestions that we havecompiled through interviews, surveys, and study of scheduling. Inthe following section each option will be discussed in terms ofadvantages, disadvantages, and feasibility of implementation.
I) Do Nothing
II) Recognition or Incentive Program
III) Rotating Weekends
IV) Flexible Schedules
V) Group Work
VI) Rotating Between Jobs
VII) Reduce Classifications
VIII) Pay for Knowledge
IX) 4-Day Work Week
X) Temporary Workers for Weekends
XI) Allow I POT per Quarter
XII) Eliminate PDT
34
I) Do Nothing
The total average absence rate was 11.9% for the year 1992. Someabsences cannot be avoided such as emergency vacation, funeralleave, and some portion of sick time use. The absence rate can bebroken down as follows:
emergency vacation 0.235% Assume we cannot changefuneral 0.235% Assume we cannot changesick time 4.5% Assume we can changePDT time 1.0% Assume we can changeunpaid time 1.2% Assume we can changeopen positions 4.73% Assume we can change
Total 11.9%V
This leaves .47% that cannot be changed, or about 3% of the totalabsences that cannot be reduced.
Reducing absences by one percent (out of 100%) saves $6,807 peryear solely due to work not done due to absences (see next pageAbsences and Costs). Further savings would be realized by thereduction of temporary and bridging workers.
The reduction of current absences by ten percent would save anestimated $68,074. A reduction of 25% would save $170,186. A tenpercent reduction is probably possible at a negligible cost with minorchanges in schedule, while a twenty five percent reduction would bea good long term goal which could be attained over time with achange in the environment and attitudes. We will explain why webelieve this in the following sections of Alternatives.
The reduction of larger than ten percent will require maintenancecosts and initial costs in time, effort, and coordination. We believethat these costs are still small compared to the marginal savings.
Recommendation: See Further Recommended Alternatives.
Abs
enc.
,And
Cost
s
____________
Hou
rly
Wag
eN
umbe
rof
Wor
kers
Per
cent
ofW
orkf
orce
Uni
tC
usto
dian
$9.0
1165
0.5
2$
9.6
5(.
1)+
$9
.31
(.3
9)+
S9
.O1
(.5
2)=
Cus
todi
an2
$9
.31
124
0.3
9W
all
Was
her
$9
.65
30
0.1
Tot
alW
orke
rs=
319
Wei
ghte
dA
v.of
Wag
esP
erce
ntA
bsen
t=0.
11
9P
erce
nt
that
Per
cent
that
Cos
tof
Abse
nce
isv
anab
le=
0.1
143
isfi
xed=
0.0
047
$9.2
8per
hour
Abse
nces
Cu
rren
tV
alue
ofA
bse
nce
sN
umbe
rSch
edul
ed=
80223
916
93
77
$708,7
31
Red
ucti
onin
Abs
ence
sT
otal
Ab
sen
ceD
ecre
ase
inN
umbe
rof
Abs
ence
sV
alue
ofab
sen
ces
Val
ue
ofD
ecre
ased
Abse
nce
s1%
redu
ctio
n907
892
37
7$
70
1,9
24
$6,8
07
2%re
duct
ion
898
6183
37
7$695,1
16
$13,6
15
3%re
duct
ion
889
4275
37
7$688,3
09
$2
0,4
22
4%re
duct
ion
88
03
36
73
77
$681,5
02
$27,2
30
5%re
duct
ion
8711
45
83
77
$674,6
94
$3
4,0
37
10%
redu
ctio
n8
253
917
37
7$640,6
57
$6
8,0
74
12%
redu
ctio
n8069
1100
377
$6
27
,04
2$
81
,68
915
%re
duct
ion
7794
13
75
37
7$
60
6,6
20
$102,1
11
20%
redu
ctio
n733
61834
37
7$572,5
83
$136,1
49
25%
redu
ctio
n687
72292
37
7$538,5
46
$170,1
86
Uni
vers
ityof
Mic
higa
nH
ospi
tals
Ho
use
kee
pg
Ser
vice
sD
epar
tmen
t—
___________
5-A
pr-
93
nD
ata
Rea
so1
jar-
Exc
el
________
Num
bers
and
Per
centa
ges
ofA
bse
nce
sfo
rY
ear
Mon
thN
umbe
rN
umbe
rN
otem
erge
ncy
Sche
dule
dR
epor
ting
sick
pdt
vaca
tion
open
fune
ral
unpa
idot
her
Janu
ary
67
50
79
8253
130
7269
1911
42
Feb
ruar
y6986
75
6287
159
9207
584
6M
arch
74
75
94
2392
147
11302
1661
1A
pril
66
67
741
301
87
17256
873
3M
ay73
818
29
276
8319
329
1796
4Ju
ne7484
892
320
6521
341
710
333
July
75
57
921.5
293
45
21.5
430
1369
34
Aug
ust
4517
65
2189
22
10359
547
4S
epte
mbe
63
92
751
249
1721
350
1784
.55
Oct
ober
69
76
75
7210
28
14338
1311
518
Nov
embe
r5
83
2668
228
2117
281
875
28
Dec
embe
r6
20
68
59
188
24
15332
1778
28
0T
ota
l8
02
23
95
66
.53186
828
18
2.5
3794
145
999.5
41
8P
erce
nl
Abse
nt
0.1
19
24
90.3
3303
71
60
.08
65
52
03
0.0
19
07
69
90.3
9659228
0.0
15
15
70
60
.10
44
79
17
0.0
4369414
.
Per
cent
ofT
otal
Abse
nce
sby
reas
on
Uni
vers
ityof
Mic
hig
anH
ospi
tals
Hou
seke
epin
gS
ervi
ces
Dep
artm
ent
Per
iod:
Jan.
1to
Dec
.31
1992
Sou
rce:
Dai
lyC
ensu
sR
epor
tsD
ate:
3/3/
93I
Pag
e1
35
H) Incentive/recognition Plan
Definition: To reward employees for perfect attendance (over aspecific period of time)
Currently there is one incentive plan in place at the Food andNutrition Department of the University of Michigan Hospitals. Nodata could be obtained concerning the effectiveness of this plan, evenso we feel that this program should be considered further. NormaGrills, Director of Food and Nutrition Dept., can be contacted toexplain the program in detail and would probably compile thecurrent comparison data. A plan was in place for the Food andNutrition Department 1983 through 1984, and some data was keptfor that plan. In this report sick time was reduced 15%.
Food and Nutrition Recognition/Incentive Plan•Monthly AwardsAwards for perfect attendance for entire month:
certificate$3.50 meal coupon
•Year End AwardsAward for six months non cumulative perfect attendance in a periodof 12 months:
$10•Award for nine months non cumulative perfect attendance in aperiod of 12 months:
$50•Award for twelve months cumulative perfect attendance in a periodof 12 months:
$90•Dinner for employees who received awards at the end of the year.
36
Advantages:• Awards do not have to be large, may be much less than
absence costs.• Recognition is cheap or free, certificate is paper costs and
bulletin board is cheap.• Provides a reward for good workers, positive reinforcement for
good work.• Plans have already been set up in the University of Michigan
Hospital.• The plans implemented in the University of Michigan Hospital
have been described as successful. Sick time use byFood/Nutrition employees was reported to fall by fifteenpercent upon implementation of an incentive/recognitionprogram in 1982-1984.
• Support and help from Food and Nutrition Services isavailable.
• Employees developed the criteria for the recognition/incentiveplan in Food and Nutrition.
• Improve employee/supervisor relations if supervisor handlesawards.
Disadvantages:• Immediate reward/positive reinforcement of behavior-
employees ask for quick rewards.• Extra cost to provide awards and recognition.• Extra supervisor time to check attendance records.• Must pay for employees that will always come to work as well
as those persuaded by rewards and incentives.• Mention was made of payments of accrued sicktime at the end
of periods of time, this would not lower costs or solveproblems. Paying employees extra for not tak4ng time off isjust like paying employees for not going to work.
Recommendation:Further exploration of an incentive/recognition plan isrecommended upon examination of advantages and disadvantages.
37
If this alternative is deemed useful after examination of current datawe suggest this type of implementation.
IMPLEMENTATION PLANStep 1: Obtain information on set-up and costs of recognition plans.Currently an employee recognition plan is set up in Food & Nutritiondealing with employee attendance. The Contact person is NormaGrills, Director of Food and Nutrition Services.
Step 2: Set up employee, union, supervisor, and lead team workgroup to define and develop a recognition/incentive plan foremployee attendance. (As in the F/N Department)Step 2a: Reach total understanding and agreement on theprogram.Step 2b: Budget and set up for employee recognition and incentiveawards.
Step 3: Communicate and explain the recognition/incentive plan toall supervisors and employees during monthly meetings, postings,and letters.
Step 4: Begin incentive/recognition plan at beginning of year, allowemployees a clean slate of sick time/ personal discretion day time/or unpaid time.
Step 5: Six months •after implementation of plan-study, totalattendance records to determine the effects of recognition/incentiveplan.
III) ROTATING WEEKENDS PLAN
Definition: Rotating weekends- those workers who are regularlyscheduled to work weekends exchange one day per weekend (onceper month or biweekly) to work on a weekday, while those workerswho are regularly scheduled to work weekdays would exchange oneday per week to work on a weekend (once per month or biweekly).Assume that they are the in the same classification.
Advantages:•Employees on weekend shifts desire to have a weekend day off.22% of employees scheduled from Friday through Mondaycommented on 1993 Housekeeping Survey that a Saturday or Sundayoff is desired.•Add variety to employee work in the form of a job rotation
Disadvantages:•A changing schedule would require more planning and supervisorywork.•Increase family care problems, create more child care problemsover the weekends. Family care is a major issue in employeeattendance.•Supervisors may need to rotate along with the employees.•Resistance from current employees; seniority and bidding usuallyallows an employee to move into positions of not working weekends.•Employees oppose a rotating weekends plan:
Source: 1993 Housekeeping Survey90% of Monday-Friday employees oppose rotatingweekends plan80% of Tuesday-Saturday employees oppose rotatingweekends plan
Recommendation:Do not implement any type of weekend rotation plan. Mostemployees (percents shown in disadvantages section above) stronglyoppose the idea of weekend rotation.
39
IV) Flex Time
Definition: Flex Time-change in the permanent schedule startingand ending times up to a certain number of hours; this is a change inschedule not an option of coming in an hour early or an hour later.However, Note: More flexibility was mentioned in the surveys interms of being able to finish full eight hours if tardy.
Through our survey we determined that 10% of all employees haveproblems with their starting times. Seven percent of employeessurveyed had the chronic problem of taking children to school.Percentage of workers with the problem of taking children to schoolby shift.
day 6.4%evening 5.7%midnight 9.75%
Problems with starting times (getting there on time); percentage byshift.
day 6%evening 17%midnight 4% -Some people wish to start later to take
children to school is why this percentage issmaller than above.
Advantages include immediate impact and low costs (costs are timeand co-ordination).Disadvantages include preparation of supervisors, more difficult tosupervise workers, and may interfere with teamwork.
Recommendation: Implement Flex TimeThe disadvantages of training of supervisors (one time
expense) and possible teamwork problem (the team can overcomethis problem together) are temporary.
Difficulty of supervision is temporary until supervisor becomesaccustomed to schedule. The advantages outweigh the disadvantagesbecause of the low cost and the fact that this is a chronic problemthat can be controlled (unlike chronic illness). The ten percent ofemployees that have chronic starting time problems and schoolproblems account for more than ten percent of absences.Conservatively we could estimate a reduction of absences by 10%,saving $68,074 (See Absences and Costs spreadsheet).
40
Implement a policy change for tardy workersAllow tardy workers to at least finish shift and complete eight-hour day if possible. The current penalties for chronictardiness could still be followed but at least work is completed.
Implementation PlanStep I: Establish criteria for being able to use Flex timeEmployees must have a reasonable objection or reason to changetheir schedule (under management’s discretion).
ex. employees must establish that they havea second job schedule convextake children to schoolchronic medical schedule conflictsschool schedule conflictride regularly with a person that have these problems
Step 2: Set the number of hours that the starting and ending timesmay be changed.
Step 3: Inform the employees of criteria and the possible times, maywish to involve them in re-creating the criteria.
Step 4: The employee and supervisor must work together to getpermission and set schedule. May want to set up some kind ofcommitment or agreement.
May wish to include a grace period of two weeks, during whichthe employee could go permanently back to his/her regular schedule.
Step 5: Within six months, check the attendance records of theseemployees to determine any flaws or revisions.
41
V) Group Work
Definition: Employees working either together, or towards acommon goal (i.e. finishing a certain floor).
Currently less than 20% of employees in the Housekeeping ServicesDepartment are working in groups. Over 50% of employees however,would like to work in groups because they feel it would make theirjobs more efficient and enjoyable. The day shift workers arecurrently more likely to be found working in groups than those onother shifts. It should be noted that these day shift workers had alower rate of absenteeism according to the Daily Census Reports. Thesurvey also showed that they were more likely to be able tocomplete their work. Groupwork is a work environment/motivationissue.
Advantages:•Group work would be a good motivational tool that could be used toincrease attendance. It is our opinion that the social needs of thejobs are not being met. The need to be needed by others, and to bepart of a system can be met by groupwork. Employees, for the firsttime, may become aware when other people are absent and becomemore sensitive to the problems that occur because of missing people.Employees may feel more important. Employees may alsounderstand their purpose in the process of keeping the hospitalclean.
•An important part of setting up teams is giving the team structureand a goal which it can focus on and achieve. The goal should not beabout learning everyone’s names, but determining ways in whicheveryone can work together better to make jobs easier, do jobs morequickly, or get jobs done when members of the group are absent.
•Teams would be an efficient way to implement rotation strategiesto increase variety of jobs for workers (it would require that theteam be in the same classification right now). The group itself coulddetermine how it would split up the jobs (12-18 rooms to 6-9 roomsin different areas if two employees switched areas in the middle ofthe day). The group could decide how to allocate people to achieveits purpose when members are absent.
42
Disadvantages:•May cause initial resentment of employees opposed to group work•Personality conflicts may arise between group members•Occasional turnover may threaten group unity
Recommendation:We recommend some form of teamwork, whether it be voluntary orrequired. Voluntary would be a good starting point due to the slightmajority that was noted.
Imniementation Plan:1) Determine the goals of a team
finish floor of building (all of jobs) vs. doing a certain jobtogether
2) Determine composition of a teamby floor, by building, by classification, by the job they do
3) Instruct group members to decide themselves who will do whatand when.
4) Follow up on employees to determine if productivity at leaststays the same, and attain input from employees to see whatthey like or dislike about the new system; implement pilot testof concept.
5) Check absenteeism for the next few months compared to workersnot on teams, to determine if the number of absences has beenreduced for group employees.
43
VI) Job Rotation
Definition of Job Rotation: Job rotation is defined as workerswithin the same classification, building, shift, and schedule, rotatingassignments.
Currently, there is little room for employees to enjoy a varietyof duties. There is much rigidity as far as who does what, where andwhen. As a possible solution to reduce the amount of repetitiveboredom in the workplace, job rotation has been addressed. A possibleexample of job rotation might include: a day shift supervisor tellstwo workers that certain areas of the NIB need to be cleaned. Theworkers then decide among themselves who should do what area,and what day of the week or which week or month in general. Thiswould enable workers some freedom of choice, in an attempt toreduce resentment of supervisors and increase enjoyment of theirjob.
In the surveys, as part of the job rotation question, it wasasked if employees were willing to rotate jobs and if the they knewand would be able to work with the people on their shift. Ifemployees were able to work with their colleagues, then it wasthought they shouldn’t have much trouble allocating the assignmentsbetween themselves.
The results indicated that of all housekeeping employees, atleast one third of the workers from each building indicated awillingness to rotate jobs. Of the Fri-Mon workers, 60% were willingto rotate, although only 37% of Mon-Fri employees wanted to rotatejobs (We are not sure that employees however interpreted oursurvey question as intended. They may have thought it to mean,rotate jobs between classification instead of solely within your ownclassification). It is interesting to note that only 40% of thoseworkers in Mott said they were willing to rotate jobs. However, 60%of the same workers said they thought they could work together.Those 20% whom did not want to rotate jobs may not be consideringthat rotation may increase the enjoyment of their job by adding variety.The hospital would also hopefully benefit in reducing absenteeismdue to apathy and boredom. Also noteworthy is the fact that twiceas many Custodian 2s as Wall Washers were willing to rotate, and againtwice as many Custodian 2s as Wall Washers believed they couldwork together. Thus the willingness to rotate could well be relatedto employees’ perception of their being able to cooperate with eachother. These employees however may be convinced otherwisethrough time.
44
Advantages of job rotation:•Decrease monotony•Challenges employees to set goals and develop skills•Has potential of improving employee relations with supervision andamong themselves, it facilitates teamwork and goals.•Allows employees to use different muscles and senses, preventingstrain and reducing stress.•Employees become more aware of the total process, they then canhelp each other, communicate better, and solve problems/makeimprovements together.•It develops standard work procedures between workers.•The above advantages may alleviate absenteeism due to avoidanceof monotonous, boring job or of colleagues and/or superior tension.
Disadvantages of job rotation:•May cause initial resentment of employees against idea•Harder for management to determine scheduling of assignmentsand to know who’s responsible for what
Recommendation:We perceive that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages for jobrotation and that rotations in manufacturing operations are common.Our surveys also show that there is some willingness to try it. Inaddition, Judy Levy, the AFSCME union president, has said the unionwould not be opposed to this type of plan. It is very possible for thisto result in a savings of money for the Hospital, due to the potentialimprovement in the work environment. In summation, due to thefact that not all shifts, schedules, buildings, and classifications have amajority (over 50%) willing to rotate, we recommend job rotation beintroduced on a volunteer basis.
Implementation Plan:1. Gather list of volunteers2. Split each classification in each shift, schedule, and building, into
small groups.3. Allocate a certain amount of different assignments to these group
members.4. Instruct employees to decide themselves who to do what and
when (notice that this entails groupwork).5. Follow up on employees to determine if productivity at least stays
(, the same, and attain input from employees to see what theylike and dislike about the new system
6. Check absenteeism for the next few months to determine if it hasreduced. The time to wait before improvements show, mayvary, as the new implementation may have lagged affects.
45
46
VII) Pay for Knowledge
Definition: Pay for Knowledge-employees receive compensation onthe basis of job knowledge and skills rather than seniority orclassification.
Advantages: This would allow new employees to increase pay attheir own rate instead of by seniority and bidding process. It allowsflexibility to allow others to do jobs when other employees areabsent. This option would allow workers to do the higher priorityjobs in case of absences. A pooi of reserve workers would not beneeded, or the reserve could just consist of the lowest skill/wageemployees. This also allows employees to maintain a focus or goal,and also may reduce boredom if some type of rotation system wasimplemented.
Disadvantages: A criteria for knowledge and training would haveto be established which would be costly. The wages of currentemployees would likely rise. The skills that some may learn wouldnot be used on a consistent basis, you may have to pay a higher wagefor someone doing the same job. The costs of paying everyone thetop wage would not be cost effective for the amount of absences thatcould be reduced.
Recommendation:We do not have sufficient data related to the impact on absences torecommend that this alternative be implemented.Right now this alternative would be costly for the reasonablereduction in absences (we have no data on how much this mightreduce absences) that could be attained. If the wages were increasedto $9.65/hr for everyone eventually the total salary cost wouldincrease by $295,520; absences would have to be reduced by 41% tocover this extra expense. By itself, reducing classifications canprobably not do this.
This would be a difficult goal to achieve due to such factors as:1) there already is a classification system2) the employees must be trained3) the employees must meet certain requirements to reachhigher pay level4) must keep track of each employees knowledge5) existing union contract would have to be changed
47
This alternative could solve some of the problems due toabsenteeism, but may not solve the root causes of absences as weknow them. Most of the value comes from the option of havingskilled workers that can fill in for absentee workers. The alternativemay decrease absenteeism to some degree by giving employees achallenge and goals to work for, but the total amount of decrease cannot be estimated at this time. The only way that pay for knowledgemight help pay for itself is being implemented along side a rotationsystem so that workers can use the new skills (then you are notpaying a higher rate for certain jobs).
48
VIII) REDUCE !CHANGE EMPLOYEE CLASSIFICATION
Definition: Change classifications of the currentWall Washer, Custodian II, and Unit Custodian
Advantages:•Make employees’ jobs more interesting. Housekeeping Survey 1993indicated that boredom was a problem on the job.•Create a pooi of fully skilled employees, problems related to thelack of members of a special classification will be eliminated.•Reduce paperwork of calculating the number of hours employees towork on jobs in certain classification.
Disadvantages:•There will be a pay difference as all employees move up to WW
hourly pay. The lead time will also be included in this.The yearly amount of increased costs would be approximately$295,520•Must pay employees performing Unit Custodian and Custodian Twotasks, Wall Washer rate pay.•There may be resentment from the twenty-one current WallWashers (This should not block progress of 320 total employees)•Employees are required to learn new skills rather than by biddingor volunteering.•This solution reduces the effects of absenteeism by providing askilled workforce rather than resolving the root causes ofabsenteeism.
Recommendations:At this time we cannot make a positive recommendation on thereduction of classifications. We have no statistical proof that thisalternative will reduce absences. This solution may remedy theeffects of absenteeism without solving the causes. We believe thatabsences are due more to schedule and chronic problems thanclassification. Our survey revealed that every classification has thesame concerns and problems. The costs of paying a higher wage atthis time are significantly greater than the likely reduction in costthat a reasonable reduction in absences can provide (absences wouldhave to be reduced to 58% of the current number).
49
IX) 4-Day Work Week
From the employee surveys, 10% of all employees, spread out overall classifications and shifts, indicated a desire for a 4-day workweek with 10 hour working shifts. These requests were noted in thecomment section without unspecified reasons. Thus we are assumingthat the 4-day work week would consist present schedulemodifications to either Mon-Thurs, Tues-Fri, Sun-Wed, Thurs-Sun, orFri-Mon (which already exists); starting and ending times slightlyvaried.
Advantages:•Working 10 hours a day would increase job completion.• The greater overlaps in shift starting and ending by twohours/shift change might reduce the number of employees needed,which in turn would reduce costs.
Disadvantages:‘Increasing the workday by 2 hours would result in each employeereceiving an extra 2 hour’s pay, thereby raising the cost for eachworker if absent.•Discharging workers because of the extended work shift, wouldcreate tension with the employees, and might lead to strikes, poorworker productivity or even lawsuits. Keeping the employeesinstead, would result in an extra 6 hours of overlapping time whichcould result in a shortage of work and an overall decrease inproductivity/efficiency. Getting “the most for your money” for theUniversity Hospital, will have limitations in this respect.•Earlier starting time won’t reduce absenteeism problems for thetaking child to school; may increase instead. Later ending time mayalso adversely affect absenteeism because of problems with pickingup child from school.
Recommendation:We cannot give a recommendation backed with any statistical data.We brought up the issue based on employee comments and feltobliged to consider them.
50
X) Temporary Workers for Weekends
Our data shows that absenteeism is highest Friday, Saturday, Sunday,and Monday. There is some deviation of absence rates among shiftson these days however.On Sundays for example:In our survey employees stated that the day and midnight shiftswere more difficult to come in than for the evening shift. Thefeasibility of putting more workers on the evening shift (from theother shifts) might be considered for Sunday.
Some of the absences are due to employee behavior on these dayssuch as desiring a three day weekend and taking off the first and lastdays of their schedule. The problem is accentuated when oneschedule starts on a day that another ends, such as on Friday,Monday, and Sunday. The current schedules seem logical; however,little can be done about human nature except giving workers areason to come in on these days due to the nature of their work or anincentive.
Advantages:Temporary workers have better attendance records.
Disadvantages:Based on the current AFSCME union contract. Temporary workersmust be replaced every three months. The training costs of workerswould be lost. The union representatives are strongly against theuse of Temporary workers whom have no benefits of any sort (basedon our talk with Ms. Judy Levy). The schedules that already existwould have to be modified. There is a question of what is theweekend, is Monday and Friday included. There is a question ifweekend absences would actually be reduced in a new set ofworkers. Child care is a common problem for current Fri-Mon.workers. As a large cause of absenteeism on this schedule, this mayprove to carry absences over to temporary workers.
Recommendations:Advantages of this plan do not outweigh disadvantages.The current Fri-Mon schedule workers gave the most interestingresponses to every question on the survey and we suspect that thismight be a profile of weekend workers responses and issues ifimplemented. Their responses included:
51
•more negative feelings toward supervisors•more feelings of job imbalances•show a desire to change work
-high desire for rotation within classification on shift andschedule-75% want to work in groups
•are able to complete daily assignments less than other schedules•hardest days to complete were Mon., Fri., Sat.•have more child care problems than any other schedule
We believe that working with the current employees, and solvingtheir problems would be less expensive in terms of training, thequality of work that is done, and goodwill. Solving the currentproblems due to scheduling is better than the “band-aid” solution oftemporaries. We believe that the other alternatives that weresuggested would be more effective and efficient than the use oftemporary workers.
52
XI and XII) PDT Concerns
Personal Discretion Time (PDT) is a very emotional and volatile issuefacing not only the Housekeeping Department, but others that alsohave AFSCME workers. Although there is clear evidence that most ofthe PDT time that is taken is used in the first quarter of the year,there are several reasons that may not change;1) PDT absences make up only 8.5% of the total number of absences
see graph: Absences for 19922) PDT is part of an employees vacation, therefore there is no net loss3) Our survey indicates that PDT time is used in a reasonablemanner.
see graph: Use of Personal Discretion Time
The main problem with PDT use is the inability of supervisors to planfor it at various points in the year. The Department can plan to carryextra employees during the first quarter of the year to solve thisproblem. Forcing employees to take only one PDT day per quarterwould create a problem that must be dealt with all year, on nonconsecutive months.
It should be noted that in the first quarter of 1992 POT may havebeen blamed for a high number of unexplained unpaid absences.PDT was not the sole cause of high absenteeism in the first quarter.
Also it should be noted that when employees feel that theirsupervisors treat them with respect and encourage their ideas, PDTuse is less, as shown by the afternoon shift. These workers gavetheir supervisors the highest ratings.
Recommendations:Keep Personal Day Time intact without changes. Data from surveysand information from interviews, do not provide evidence that thischange will reduce absences overall. At worst, the absences due toPOT time by month and day of the week can be estimated. from ourdata and extra workers can be allocated to keep productivity levelsup. see graphs This will cost more, but the work is done.Personal Discretion Time use can be reduced, which would produceless variance in the number of absences. A reduction in PDT timeshould come from the preceding alternatives.
Ez
We believe that PDT can only be reduced by changes in the work,scheduling, and environment that allow for more individualresponsibility and input.
53
Housekeeping Department
Management SystemsHousekeeping Scheduling Survey
Monday February 8, 1993 7:15 a.m.Monday February 8, 1993 11:00 p.m.Tuesday February 9, 1993 5:30 p.m.Thursday February 11, 1993 7:15 a.m.
Developed by:Chad ChristensenBrad ChristensenPaige Herzenstiel
This survey was developed to analyze the scheduling system used by theHousekeeping Department. We are trying to determine the strengths,weaknesses, advantages, and problems that arise from the current system.This survey will be used to propose and make recommendations for changesin scheduling. Please fill out the survey as completely and in as much detailas possible. We are interested in and appreciate all your answers, thoughts,and ideas. We encourage you to provide us with as much honest, clear, andexplicit information as possible; this will enable us to make helpful and fairrecommendations. This survey is anonymous and confidential. Thank youfor your time.
1. What is your current employment classification?
____a)
Unit Custodian (UC)
_____b)
Custodian 2 (C2)
______c)
Wall Washer (WW)
2. Are you a permanent/regular or temporary- worker?
_______
3. Your present schedule is:
_____a)
40 hours/week, Monday-Friday
____b)
32 hours/week, Friday-Monday
____c)
16 hours/week, Friday-Monday
_____d)
Other: hours/week: days: -
4. When does your current Work Shift begin and end?
to
5.. Where do you work? (Building and Floors):
6. Do you feel that certain jobs within your dassification are much easierthan others?
_____Yes _____No
If you answered ‘Yes” please explain why, and give an example:
8. Would you be willing to rotate between jobs within your classification, ifoffered?
____Yes _____No
9. Do you know all the people on your shift within your classification?Yes No
10. Do you think you could work with and rotate jobs with the people onyour shift within your classification?
____Yes ____No
11. Can you get all of your work assignments done, that you would like to do,by the end of the day?
____Yes ____No
If the answer was No”, please check off all that apply:too few peopletoo much work
____
have to cover for other people who are late of absent
_____
previous shift did not get all of their work done, so you must finishother reason
12. How often are you pulled away from regular job duties to deal with spills,emergencies, etc:
_____
once a week
____
2-3 times a week
____
once a day
13. Which day of the week is the most difficult to complete all of your work?
___Sun ___Mon ___Tue ___Wed ___Thur
Fri Sat
Why is this the hardest day?
14. Which day of the week are you least able to come to work?
_____
Why?
15. Would you be willing to work another day that week if you could havethat day off?
____Yes ____No
If Yes, Which day would you be willing to exchange?
16. If you work Mon-En, would you be willing to work on Saturdays(everyother Saturday or one Saturday a month) and get a Monday off?
___Yes ___
No
___
I dont work Mon-Fri
17. Do you have another part-time job?
____Yes ____No
If, yes, how does this job affect your schedule at the Housekeeping Dept.?
Is it hard to match the two job schedules and hours? _Yes _No
18. Are there scheduling difficulties due to family? Mark all that apply:child care____ take child to school_____ elder care_____other reason(s), please explain
—
19. How long does it take you to get to work (in minutes) ?________
What form of transportation do you use?
____walk ____car______bus ____
get a ride from someone else other
20. Do you own a car?
____Yes ____No.
If yes, do you ever not make if towork due to car problems?
____
onc a year
____
2-3 times a month
____
once a month
____
4-5 times a month
____
never other
21. Would you be interested in car pooling, if a system was set up?
22. How do you use PDT time? Check all that apply:
______sick
transportation problems family problemsemergencies _vacation
______——_____________
other, please explain23. Do you know how other employees use sick time (not PDT)?
Check all that apply:
______sick
transportation problems family problems____emergencies _vacation
________________________________—
other, please explain
24. How do you feel about your starting time for a workday? Is it hard tomake it on time? Yes
_____No
If yes, why
25. If you could change your schedule, how would you change it (examples:what shift would you prefer, days etc.?, what days would you prefer towork?, what time would you prefer to start and end work?)
________
26. Is there a certain problem because of your schedule, that comes up everyweek that you have to work around or face to get to work? Mark allthat apply:
____children
Why?transportation Why?
_other part-time job Why?__other
Please describe why?
27. If you are regularly scheduled on Saturdays would you like to work adifferent shift?
_______
a different day of the week?________To get a Saturday off, you must have someone else come in.
28. Would you be willing to rotate Saturdays if you normally workedMan- Fri?
_____Yes _____No
29. Do you regularly work in groups of two or more people?
___Yes ___
NoWould you enjoy your job more if you did?
___Yes ___No
Do you think this would enable you to work more efficiently (get moredone in less time)? _Yes — No
What part(s) of your job do you think would benefit most fromtea in work?
30. Are your supervisors: ? (Check every one that is true)Helpful and supportive in your completion of work assignments
____
Active in seeking your comments, suggestions and ideasUnderstanding of your scheduling requirementsRespectful of you and your co-workers
____
Create a positive work environmentAdditional comments:
______
31. How could your job be made more enjoyable and interesting?
General (On any topic)Comments /Recommendations:_.....
00
C)‘p
C‘A
Cl)‘p
2
nn
Surv
eyT
empl
ate
______
Why
can’
tyo
______
#6
#8
#9
#10
#11
Too
Few
Too
Muc
hC
lass
ific
atio
nS
tatu
sS
ched
ule
Bui
ldin
gE
asie
rR
ota
teK
now
Rota
teF
inis
hP
eopl
eW
ork
1=U
C1=
Per
man
ent
1=M
on.-F
ri1=
Mot
t1=
Yes
1=Y
es1=
Yes
1=Y
es1=
Yes
1=Y
esPr
oble
m1=
Yes
Prob
len
2=C
22=
Terii
poar
’ora
r2=
Fri-
Mon
.(3
2)2=
CA
PH2=
No
2=N
o2=
No
2=N
o2=
No
O=N
oPr
oble
mO
=No
Prob
lem
3W
W—
____
4=S
un.-
Thu
rs.
4=A
llD
ate:
Feb
.19
935=
Sat
.-M
on.
5=M
CH
CS
ourc
e:H
ouse
keep
ing
Sur
vey
6=T
ues.
-Sat
.6=
AG
HU
nive
rsit
yof
Mic
higa
nH
osp
itIs
7=T
aubm
ari
House
kepg
Serv
icespit
mefl
t8=
NIB
9=P
atie
ntT
ower
s
P‘1
nS
urve
yT
empl
ate
.
I
ifi
nis
h?
—_
__
__
__
__
Tim
espe
rw
eek
Whi
chda
yis
ifm
ulti
ple
day
sC
over
For
Cov
erF
or—
Pul
led
Aw
ayH
arde
stto
—____
Oth
ers
Pre
vio
us
Shi
ftO
ther
Fro
mR
egul
arC
ompl
ete
all
Mon
.T
ues
.W
eds
Thurs
.Fr
i.S
at.
Sun
.1=
Yes
Prob
len
1=Y
esP
robl
em1=
Yes
Pro
bler
1=O
nce
per
wee
k1=
Mon
.1=
Yes
1=Y
es1=
Yes
1=Y
es1=
Yes
1=Y
es1=
Yes
O=N
oPr
oble
mO
=No
Pro
blem
—O
=No
Pro
blem
2=2-
3ti
mes
2=T
ues.
O=N
oO
=No
O=N
oO
=No
O=N
oO
=No
O=N
ope
rw
eek
3=on
cepe
rda
y4=
Thu
rs.
Dat
e:F
eb.
1993
5=Fr
i.S
ourc
e:H
ouse
keep
ing
Sur
vey
6=S
at.
Uni
vers
ity
ofM
ichi
gan
Hos
pita
l7=
Sun
.-
House
kee
pin
g_S
ervic
es_D
epar
tmen
t
P-2
Surv
eyT
empl
ate
#14
#15_
Wil
ling
—#
16#
17D
oyo
uP
ay_L
east
able
To
Wor
kW
hich
day
wou
ldyo
uex
chan
ge
Wor
kS
at.l
fH
ave
ano
ther
Do
est
toco
me
tow
ork
Ano
ther
Day
Mon
.T
ues.
Wed
sT
hurs
.Fr
i.S
at.
Sun
.M
on.
off
part
-tim
eJo
baf
fect
you
1=Su
n.1=
Yes
1=Y
es1
=Y
es1
=Y
e1=
Yes
1=Y
es1=
Yes
1=Y
esl=
Yes
1=Y
es1=
Yes
2=M
on.
2=N
o2=
No
2=N
o2=
No
2=N
o2=
No
2=N
o2=
No
2=N
o2=
No
2=N
o3=
Tue
s.3=
Not
App
.4=
Wed
s.D
ate:
Feb
.19
935=
Thu
rs.
Sou
rce:
Hou
seke
epin
gS
urve
y6=
Fri.
Uni
vers
ity
ofM
ichi
gan
Hos
pita
ls7=
Sat
.H
ouse
kee
pin
Ser
vice
sD
epar
tmen
tA
)’4
rV
dIdV
V
P.-
3
n
Sur
vey
Tem
plat
e
.H
owm
any
tim
.___________
per
yea
rca
n’t
mak
eit
tow
oD
oes
itF
amil
yC
are
Pro
blem
sT
ime
toget
#2O
dQ
you
due
toca
raf
fect
ho
urs
Chi
ldC
hild
toS
choo
lE
lder
Car
eO
thel
tow
ork
(mm
)T
ransp
ort
atio
now
na
car
Pro
ble
ms
1=Y
es1=
Yes
1=Y
es1=
Yes
1=Y
es(m
inut
es)
1=w
alk
1=Y
es1=
Onc
e/ye
ar2=
No
2=N
o2=
No
2=N
o2=
No
2=ca
r2=
No
2=O
nce/
mon
th3=
bus
3=ne
ver
Dat
e:F
eb.
1993
4=ri
de4=
2-3
/yea
rS
ou
rce:
Ho
usep
Survey
5=ot
her
5=
4-5
/yea
rU
nive
rsit
yof
Mic
higa
nH
osp
ital
s6=
Oth
erH
ou
sek
eep
ing
Ser
vic
esD
epar
tme
it
in
P.-
4
0S
urve
yT
empl
ate
S C #21
How
do
you
use
sic
kti
me
—H
ow
do
oth
ers
use
sic
kt
me
Carp
ool
Sic
kT
ransport
Fam
ily
Em
erg
ency
Vacati
on
Oth
er
sic
kT
ransport
Fam
ily
Em
erg
en
cV
acati
on
1=Y
es
1=
Yes
1 =Y
es
1=Y
es
1=Y
es
1=Y
es
1 =Y
es
1 =Y
es
1 =Y
es
1=Y
es
1=Y
es
1 =Y
es
2=
No
2=
No
2=N
o2=
No
2=
No
2=
No
2=
No
2=
No
2=
No
2=
No
2=
No
2=
No
Date
:F
eb.
1993
Sourc
e:
Dail
yC
ensus
Report
s_
__
_
Univ
ers
ity
of
Mic
hig
an
Hospit
als
Ho
usek
eep
inS
erv
ices
Dep
art
men
t
‘5
Sur
vey
Tem
plat
e
#24
How
is
.
ytariflg_
Are
ther
ean
yW
eek!
yP
rob
lem
sW
ork
Sat
.W
ork
Sat
.#28
#29
Oth
erti
me?
Chi
ldT
rans
.Jo
bO
ther
Shi
ftC
han
ge
Day
Cha
ngR
otat
eS
at.
Gro
ups
1=Y
es1=
Goo
d1=
Yes
1=Y
es1=
Yes
1=Y
es1=
Yes
1=Y
es1=
Yes
1=Y
es2=
No
2=B
ad2=
No
2=N
o2=
No
2=N
o2=
No
2=N
o2=
No
2=N
o
Dat
e:F
eb.
1993
Sourc
e:H
ou
sek
eep
ing
Sur
vey
.
Uni
vers
ity
ofM
ichi
gan
Ho
spit
als
Ho
use
kee
pin
Ser
vic
esD
epar
tmen
t
fl
PA
Sur
vey
Tem
plat
e
________
You
rS
uper
viso
rIs
Mor
eE
ffic
ient
Hel
pful
Act
ivU
nd
erst
and
ing
Rec
epti
ve
Cre
ate
Env
ir.
No
tes
Sh
ift
1=Y
es1=
Yes
1=Y
es1=
Yes
1=Y
es1=
Yes
1=D
ay1=
Day
2=N
o2=
No
2=N
o2=
No
2=N
o2=
No
2=S
at-S
unof
f2=
Eve
ning
3=1
wee
kend
3=M
idni
ght
Dat
e:F
eb.1
993
3w
eekd
ays
Sou
rce:
Hou
seke
epin
gS
urve
y4=
keep
sam
eU
nive
rsit
yof
Mic
higa
nH
ospi
tals
5=w
ork
M-F
çk
pjg
_S
erv
jçD
epar
tmen
t6=
wor
kT
ue-S
at7=
star
tea
rlie
r8=
Sun
-Thu
rs
-_
__
_
1O=w
ant
4011
=w
eeke
nds
off
12=
Mon
-Thu
rs.
13=w
ork
2nd
P‘7