We have been actively discussing the transition to the Shifton system

[thiefcrazy98]

Hi, colleagues! We have been actively discussing the transition to the Shifton system in our company for the last couple of weeks. We are currently testing the free version, and I personally have not yet fully understood how effective this automatic employee schedule generator really is. On the one hand, it sounds cool: everything is according to an algorithm, without manual input, it takes into account wishes, overtime, sick leave, etc. But on the other hand, does it really calculate everything? We have a rather complex schedule: 3 shifts, employees with different workloads and periods of unavailability. Who actually works with Shifton and has already implemented automatic planning? How does it show itself in real conditions, and not in presentations?

[EvanDuke]

I am one of those who switched to https://shifton.com/shift-scheduling almost six months ago, and I can share real-life experience — without the advertising tinsel. We manage a chain of small pharmacies around the city, 14 locations, each with its own schedule, different staffing requirements, and also “floating” pharmacists who replace colleagues in case of illness or vacation. Before Shifton, we really suffered: Excel files, endless approvals, shift transfers, someone didn’t show up — everything had to be redone from scratch. Now on to business. The automatic employee schedule generator in Shifton is not a magic “do it all for me” button, but it is a really powerful tool if you set it up correctly. The first week had to be spent setting up all the parameters: who can work how much, how many shifts in a row, who can replace whom, time limits, etc. This is, honestly, a tedious process, but it is worth it. Because then you just launch the generator — and immediately get a logical, balanced schedule. The most pleasant thing is adaptation. For example, if an employee wrote that he can't on Friday, the generator will take this into account when recalculating. Or if someone is sick, you just mark it in the system, and Shifton itself will look for the best replacement. We tested: in 90% of cases it's better than if I manually redid everything.

[tbes50203]

I agree, Shifton is not a panacea, but it is a great helper. We are also testing it. The automatic employee schedule generator does not give an ideal result yet, but it already helps to avoid manual routine and confusion.