Jail Staffing:
Attracting and Retaining Staff with Informed Scheduling
Rod Miller, James Hart, and John E. Wetzel
Many agencies are experiencing unprecedented difficulties recruiting and retaining sufficient staff. Some have vacancy rates higher than 30%; some have fewer than 50% of the employees needed to operate facilities according to policies, procedures, and post orders.
The last issue of American Jails presented the second jail staffing article that identified several ways to increase “supply” when it’s difficult to fill officer vacancies. The article also framed staffing issues in terms of Supply and Demand:
• Supply requires delivering the right people at the right times to meet demand. Supply is delivered by employees, contractors, interns, volunteers, and others who meet demand.
• Demand refers to what must be done at a given time, or during shifts. These tasks, duties, and responsibilities are described in policies, procedures, and post orders.
For the purposes of this article, “supply” is measured on the ground by identifying who shows up for a scheduled shift or event.
Managers and personnel officials must find and implement shift configurations that meet current employees’ needs and preferences and that are attractive to prospective employees, without sacrificing efficiency.
Schedules assign employees using shift configurations that consist of:
• Length of shift (number of hours.)
• Start and end times for each shift.
• Pattern of employee Workdays and Regular Days Off (RDO).
“Informed Scheduling” requires an understanding of:
1. The needs and preferences of current employees regarding schedules, working conditions, and other considerations. Schedules must be attractive to prospective employee. What do employees want?
2. The wide range of available shift configurations, and corresponding strengths and weakness of each. Without this knowledge, managers may not find the right configurations, or recognize the best options when they see them. What shift configuration(s) best meet the needs of employees and operations?
3. Opportunities offered by adjusting current operations to efficiently deploy current staffing resources, and finding shift configurations that best respond to operational demands. Who is needed, when, where, and doing what?
Many agencies employ more than one configuration to maximize staff satisfaction and efficiently deliver employees when needed, and to realize operational benefits. According to the 3rd Edition Jail Staffing Analysis1:
“A growing number of jails use more than one shift configuration as a creative solution to meet staffing needs. For example, the 4/10 (4, 10-hour days) pattern may work for an officer assigned to supervise an 8-hour inmate work crew because a 10-hour shift allows time to set up and wrap up each day. Similarly, a 9- or 10-hour shift might fit better into the hours of coverage needed for court movement, transport, or other functions that span more than 8 hours.”
The dynamics of scheduling change frequently; informed managers identify changes in the context and make appropriate adjustments.
The Third Edition Jail Staffing Analysis text identified six primary attributes of schedule configurations:
• SUFFICIENT: providing at least as many staff for each hour of each day that has been determined in the coverage plan (and the right type of staff). The schedule should never assign fewer staff than are required by the coverage plan. Some jurisdictions refer to coverage needs as their “minimum” levels of staff, below which they cannot safely operate.
• EFFICIENT: delivers the coverage plan without adding extra hours caused by shift configurations.2
• CONSISTENT: minimizing week-to-week variations throughout the schedule cycle.
• ATTRACTIVE: generating employee support by meeting their needs, being considerate of their personal preferences, and offering incentives to stay with the organization.
• HEALTHY AND SAFE: promoting staff physical well-being and performance; ensuring employees are alert and attentive when working.
• FAIR: meets the needs of all employees, to the extent possible. Fairness is usually in the eye of the beholder: a veteran employee might want a schedule that provide more weekend days that reflect seniority; a new employee might want a schedule that provides some weekend days right away, without having to wait for years.
Figure 1 Form 4A. Evaluating Shift Configurations
Name of Configuration:______________________ Date of Evaluation:_____________
Instructions:
4. As a team, identify all attribute that are important to participants and their colleagues. Add as needed to the list below, delete as appropriate.
5. Agree on a weighting scheme that adds up to 100. This will not be easy. The attributes with the highest possible score should be those that are most important to the team.
6. Fill out a form for each shift configuration that is being considered. Agree on the scoring. This might not be easy, either.
7. Compare the total scores as well as the scoring patterns for all options.
8. Discuss and remember that a combination of configurations might work best.
The Third Edition underscores the importance of schedules to employees (emphasis added):
“Do not underestimate the importance of scheduling decisions to employees. Employee morale can be shattered by changes in schedules, especially if the employees did not have a voice. It may be helpful to survey employees about their scheduling preferences and concerns. While you are at it, there are other questions that would be helpful to pose. Sample employee surveys are available through the NIC Information Center.”
Finding Common Ground
Employees should have ample opportunity to contribute to the discussion of revised schedules. As decisions are made, be sure to give employees plenty of notice before they are implemented so that they may adjust their personal lives to accommodate the new schedule. Done properly, changes in schedules may result in:
• Improved staff morale as job satisfaction increases.
• Less turnover, less sick time, and improved quality and quantity of work.
• Financial savings due to the efficient use of staff.
Figure 1 presents a tool that has been used by many jurisdictions to explore changes in shift configurations, and to help stakeholders articulate their priorities.
Managers must ensure that scheduling practices do not contribute to attrition and find schedules that attract new employees and meet the needs of current staff. Here are factors to consider when evaluating how attractive current scheduling might be to current employees:
• Length of workday. Some employees do not want longer shifts, such as 12-hour shifts.
• Number of days worked. Some shift configurations require fewer days of work each week, such as 12-hour shifts.
• Shift worked—time of day.
• Days off—consecutive days. Proponents of 12-hour shift configurations note that staff members actually work fewer days in the year, reducing transport cost and time and parking costs.
• Days off—weekend days. Many schedules produce the same days off for each staff person throughout the year (great for those who have one or two weekend days off, but not for those who end up with no weekend days off).
• Consistency of days off from week to week. Some schedules end up changing the days worked from week to week, making it more difficult for staff to adapt and to cope with their personal and family needs (but often resulting in a more equitable distribution of weekend days off).
• Consistency of workdays and hours from week to week. Some schedules employ a “swing shift” that overlaps two traditional shifts. This is sometimes unpopular with staff.
• Something to work toward. In addition to gaining seniority and moving into more desirable posts, employees who gain longevity in some jails are able to choose from a variety of shift configurations, such as a 4/10 (four, 10-hour days).
Figure 2 Sample Findings, MCDOCR/MCGEO Survey
1. How important is each of the following?
• Work conditions. Staffing levels are a key factor when your employees evaluate their work conditions. If some shifts provide insufficient staff, the employees who must work on those shifts become less satisfied with their working conditions during those shifts.3
• Ability to use earned time off. Some schedules require limits on the number of employees who may schedule time off.
One of the best ways to find out what is important to your staff is to ask them:
• Involve them with the evaluation and improvement of your schedule.
• Many agencies survey employees to find out what they want, and how they feel about the workplace.
Several years ago, the Montgomery County (MD) Department of Correction and Rehabilitation (MCDOCR) joined with the employee’s union (MCGEO), to explore the feasibility of 12-hour shifts. Rather than just asking if an employee wanted “8’s or 12’s”, they implemented a comprehensive survey that included information about alternative work schedules. Figure 2 presents a small excerpt of their findings.
The next article in this series will continue to explore strategies for making informed improvements in shift configurations and scheduling practices.
Does Your Schedule Promote Staff Health and Performance? There is ample research to prove that some work schedules are less healthy for staff than others. The research also identifies elements that reduce the ability of staff to properly and consistently perform their duties. The next article will summarize research findings about the impact of “shift work” on employee health and performance.n
Endnotes
1. 3rd Edition Jail Staffing Analysis. Miller, Rod. James Hart, and John E. Wetzel. CRS Inc. (www.correction.org). 2016. Developed with funds from the National Institute of Corrections (NIC), U.S. Department of Justice.
2. The 3rd Edition also presents a methodology used to evaluate scheduling efficiency, but this is only useful when staffing levels are near, or close to, staffing needs.
3. Several years ago, Lucas County (Toledo, Ohio) jail employees worked with their union, the UAW (United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implements Workers of America), to establish mandatory minimum staffing levels at the jail as a provision of contract. They place safety and security above other bargaining issues.
______________________________
Rod Miller has headed CRS Incorporated, a nonprofit organization, since 1972. He has authored many texts and articles on staffing analysis, standards, vulnerability assessment, case law, and jail work/industry programs. He is co-author, with Jim Hart and John Wetzel, of Jail Staffing Analysis, 3rd Edition, 2016, funded by the National Institute of Corrections (NIC). For more information, he can be reached at rodcmiller@gmail.com.
Jim Hart is a Jail Management Consultant with the University of Tennessee’s County Technical Assistance Service where he provides technical assistance and training to counties in Tennessee on jail management and operational issues. Jim is a Past-President of the American Jail Association and is a Certified Jail Manager with the AJA and a Certified Corrections Executive with the ACA. For more information, he can be reached at jim.hart@tennessee.edu.
John E. Wetzel started his career as a jail officer and worked his way through the ranks to become Jail Administrator of the Franklin County Jail, Chambersburg, PA. From there, he was appointed Secretary of Corrections, a post held for ten years, through two administrators. He stepped down in 2021, and he just launched a new nonprofit organization. For more information, he can be reached at johnwphronema@gmail.com.