• Managers should invite shiftworkers, especially nightworkers, to be creative, that is -- to see around the corner.
• Shiftworkers should be encouraged to voice their opinions, even when opinions are not shared among their peers.
• Human Resources should be on site once or twice monthly.
• Flexibility is a positive management skill. (One manager said, "We have a 'policy exception' request process. The employee fills it out, and it is reviewed by many layers of management. Sometimes it’s granted and sometimes it’s not.")

Along with union reps. and task forces, establish flexible policies, especially for night crews. 

Tally Pries and Troy Land, 3rd shift supervisors

Shiftworker.com: What are some characteristics of shiftwork supervision?

Pries: The shift runs 11 p.m. - 7 a.m. but our hours are much longer than that.

Land: Yes, and you have some of the same difficulties as the employees.

Pries: It's also frustrating on 3rd shift because communication can be difficult. We should be able to provide the information our associates need, and we can't always do that.

Shiftworker.com: Why not?

Pries: For example, we have no engineering support on 3rd shift. We especially need that when we are running a new product.  The first shift supervisor is copied on the specification and are aware of the new product coming through, and they have engineers that answer their questions.

Shiftworker.com:Is there any good new about shiftwork?

Pries: Yes, we are more self-dependent.  People are more apt to jump in and do things. They help each other.

Land: We can be more flexible for things like going to school.

Shiftworker.com: What about sleep? Any trouble sleeping?

Pries: Well, you can bank all the sleep you want, but it's never good sleep.

Land: When you are working with 75 people is a building, all of whom are trying to sleep a different schedule from the rest of their family and friends, it gets a little edgy around here.

Shiftworker.com:What is the impact of shiftwork for your organization?

Pries: A single shift would not be feasible.  The machinery that's warm will generally hold specifications.

Shiftworker.com:Anything you might change about shiftwork?

Pries: The biggest issue in my mind is communication.  On the "off shift," you have the same amount of people working with less information and you're making decisions without having the resources to make too decisions.

Land: Something that is changing is the greater understanding of us night co-workers . . .  from day people who used to work night.

Pries: We don't get the same kind of sensitivity from other shifts as we get from each other.

Some of the discussion in this class centered around pay differentials and the impact on keeping good people. A wide variety of pay differential was reported.  Some weekend workers receive 25% more pay than weekday workers, (10% more now, and a additional 15% quarterly, while others receive the same as the weekday employees. In general shift differential was paid for 2nd and 3rd shift.   The pay differential was not seen as an essential component for keeping good people.

Other factors were assessed. Labels and negative names for shifts was seen as decreasing job satisfaction which can lead to turnover.  One class member said, "Consider the impact of belonging to the "off-shift." "clean-up crew," "dog watch" or "graveyard shift. It is not very affirming for self-esteem."

Other factors discussed by managers/supervisors in class include: Alienation of "off" shifts, employees having issues with daycare, poor inter-shift communications, the night shift getting "dumped on" and clean-up crews not feeling like they are included in the work force.  More and more managers have become sensitive to these issues. 

Helpful Hints:

• Have human resources visit all shifts on a predetermined schedule.
• Provide private telephone space for evening workers, so that they may call home.
• Rename shifts with positive labels.
• Access the unity and equality of all shifts.  Aim to become more flexible than equal.

• High turnover
• Getting and keeping experienced people on nights
• Limited resources available on nights (no engineers or upper management)
• Intershift communication
• Shift scheduling
• General morale

The list has remained consistent over the years.  Management, though, is making a cultural shift to address the needs that are unique to shiftworkers.

The senior vice president of one company established a Giraffe Club, awarding a stuffed giraffe to anyone willing to stick out their neck with creative ideas.  In another company, managers dressed up as clowns and served piazza to the 2nd and 3rd shift.
Another example of creativity, is the story of the manager duo who bought 120 Burger King hamburgers for their workers. The money came out of their pocket and was not a business expense, but found that it raised morale was worth their efforts.

Another example of changing managerial styles is to design policy that allows for individual, and not just group needs. Being attentive to afternoon and evening workers not only prevents turnover, but it "future-proofs" a business.

Helpful hints:  Be a risk-taking giraffe and stick out your neck.

Hire resource people just for night work.

When 3^rd shift supervisors are left out of the information loop, decision—making becomes a crap shoot, and the consequences can be significant. For example, A 3rd shift supervisor at a truck manufacturing plant was holding three new trucks in a fenced-in area until the arrival of a part called P-10. Four days later, the supervisor called a manager on "days" ask about the missing P-10. He was informed by the manager that a decision had been made 3 days ago to forgo the part, and he was pointedly asked why the trucks were still in the area. The supervisor has since thought that he may bend more rules in the future and release trucks at his discretion which is against the rules. Such no-win situations affect performance, morale and production. More importantly, communication gaps will eventually impact the bottom line and decrease the competitive edge.

Getting messages to all supervisors on all shifts must become a priority issue. Some companies, put new policies on the computer "daily report." Others use a tape recorder to transmit messages to all shifts. Typically, "days" get the message in person and 2^nd and 3^rd shifts receive a taped message. Others rely on a log book.

It becomes critical that decision-makers on the day shift become sensitive to the issues of transmission of messages. Rule bending need not become a part of the corporate culture if the theme of a 24-hour operations is "We are in this together . . . on all shifts." When communications reach all employees on all shifts, the rules will also fit.

Guest Manager: Kim Pandola, shift manager for
Merrill Corporate in Hanover Maryland

I am a second shift manager and work from 4 p.m. to 12 p.m.. Our 2nd shift workers begin anywhere between 12 p.m. and 8 p.m.. We also offer four 10-hour days as an alternative to five 8-hour days.

From a management standpoint, the sheer logistics of putting tighter a "staffing" list to ensure coverage or approving a request to change shifts or hours is sometimes overwhelming. In order to meet the needs of our employees, we have 17 different start times in production, 22 different start times in typesetting, 16 different start times in proofreading and varied start times in other departments. It is extremely important to recognize the "precedent" we set in our attempt to be flexible.

I support work schedules that are determined by employees who hold themselves accountable to each other to make sure a team is intact to handle the job that need to get done. The number of hours, day or the week, and times of the day can be determined by a team of people that are committed to meeting the needs of the business. Management needs to determine the appropriate parameters, but the employees need to determine what works best for them. I think this provides the highest level of flexibility and control the employees have over their own lives. Then they would be responsible for getting what they need.

At the beginning of every shiftmanager class designed for managers or trainers, I share two biases:  1)  work should do more than give us pay; it should give meaning to life, and 2) we are in this together.  I recently added another principle:  treating workers as assets is the bottom line.

Organization Development magazine (vol. 27, number 1, page 22) presents a common public image of management as hard-nosed because they are responsible for data, money, bottom lines, payoff, production, competition, and structure. This popular, yet erroneous idea, is proliferated by textbooks and business teachers.  Managers in a shiftmanager training class at the University of St. Thomas Management Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota, give a much different priority of managerial concerns. Top issues for them including intershift communication, worker feelings of isolation and alienation, lack of night food service, turnover rates, childcare, schedules for training, and irritable night workers.  Many of these problems can be resolved by treating workers as assets.  Suggestions put forth in this class included scheduling training at night by trainers willing to work nights before taking a day off.  Another manager suggested food service improvement for night workers by filling vending machines at the beginning of the night shift.  Lower turnover rates can result in 24-hour companies that pay attention to what is commonly called the "off-shift."  Efforts could include having executives make occasional appearances at night, featuring night shifters in the company newsletter, and scheduling over laps so workers can debrief one another.

There is still an assumption among many organizations that business is done during the day, even though most of the work is done at night.

There appears to be a day shift and an "other." This perception is apparent in the names we give for the hours worked by "other" (26% of the labor force in the U.S.).

___Back shift ___1st, 2nd, 3rd ___A, B, C, D ___2nd shaft ___Alternative work schedules (AWS) ___Graveyard ___Days, afternoons, nights ___Off-shift ___Off-hours ___Dog watch ___Clean-up crew ___Swing shift ___Hoot owl shift ___Shrimp shift ___Red, green, yellow, blue

Add your own term for shiftwork schedules _________________________________

*Go back and check all the names which are respectful and do not show favoritism towards any one shift.

How does what we call a shift impact how workers feel about the hours they work?

Companies are beginning to acknowledge that not adapting to "shiftwork" is costing money. Shiftworker and shiftmanager education has been identified as an organization development intervention.

Training must be accompanied by cultural changes in all support systems of shiftwork, from vending machines refilled for midnight crews, to the expectation that engineers work at night.

If it is believed that in the future "we are in this together." We must provide managers with tools for managing 24-hour operations and shiftworkers with tools for lifestyle adjustment.

* Learn about circadian rhythms and let night workers know that you know that they are working against their naturally occurring body rhythms.

* Once or twice a month have human resources on site at midnight or 1:00 a.m. Have EAP on site during night shift to attend to needs of night crews.

1. Reduced manufacturing productivity. A conservative estimate of all American manufacturing would be a 5% loss of productivity due to reduced human alertness and performance. When allied to the approximately $100 billion value added by manufacturing in the United States each year, an economic cost can be estimated at $50 billion/year.
   
2. Employee turnover and retraining costs. Because of the chronic sleep deprivation and fatigue caused by shiftwork schedules, the employee turnover rate is increased in round-the-clock operations. A very conservative estimate would assume an additional 1% annual turnover rate among the 20 million shiftworkers, resulting in $5000 hiring and retraining costs equaling $1 billion/year.
   
3. Safety Costs: In a study of shiftworkers, it was found that at 0400, the average worker is about 60% more likely than usual to make a mistake. Conversely, from 0800 to 1100, he/she is 20-25% less likely than usual to err. Other studies show similar daily (diurnal) variations in such measurable performance parameters as vigilance, reaction time, frequency of errors, and falling asleep while driving. In most cases, 2400-0500 hours is shown to be a time of low safety and performance and the period from 1300 to 1500 is also a time of hazard. Adapted from Shiftwork and Mining: An Overview of History and Recent Development. Jon Wagner, U.S. Bureau of Mines.
   
4. Social Costs: It can be deduced that risk factors increase when family problems and job dissatisfaction as well as sleeping problems increase. Both family disorders and reduced satisfaction with shiftwork tend to increase sleeping problems, which is in accordance with our previous argument that the shiftworker might reduce his/her sleeping time on behalf of contacts with the family.

• Adapted from Job Satisfaction in Shiftwork and its Relation To Family and Health, M. Kundi, M. Koller, R. Cervinka and M. Haider, Institute of Environmental Hygiene, University of Vienna, Austria.

• Adapted from Does Shiftwork Shift Risks? June, 1988 by Michael K. Coplen, Vice President, SynchroTech, Lincoln, NE

• "In order to improve communication between shifts, we rotated all 48 managers onto all the shifts for one month.  Many things have changed since.  We now have much better communication between all shifts.  They are using many different techniques."
• "The computer network Business Plan works for us.  We have three permanent shifts. Each department puts comments into the business plan for the day. Everyone is expected to check the plan daily."
• "We decided to rotate managers while the shifts stayed static.  Managers became aware of the need to improve intershift communication. Another benefit is managers don't get to build territories."
• "Voice mail is an important communication tool for us.  We do a lot of business using voice mail, especially for messages between shifts."

• "We have shift supervisors overlap schedules by 15 minutes and debrief from one shift to the other."

• "We installed a large white message board in the hallway where everyone can see it as they pass by. It also serves as a rumor board. You can write anything you want on it and you will get a response from management or whomever it is related to."

• "We started a 'Gazette Newsletter' on the computer network. You can put anything you want in the Gazette; births, machines down, illness, vacations, etc."

• "Tape recorded messages have worked for us. We tape messages for the next  manager as well as messages to specific workers on the next shift."