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Stephen Taylor February 5, 2024February 6th, 20248 min read
What is a 24/7 Shift Pattern?
A 24/7 shift pattern refers to an organisation’s need for round-the-clock staffing covering every hour of the day. A 24/7 shift schedule ensures continuous coverage where employees work different types of shift pattern to meet demand across a 24-hour window.
24/7 schedules have proven critical in industries such as healthcare, emergency services, public safety, policing, manufacturing, aviation and road transportation.
Introduction | The best shift patterns for 24/7 working
This article is the second in our series of shift pattern guides. It helps to answer what is the best 24/7 shift pattern and how do you schedule a 24/7 shift? Totalmobile has helped hundreds of organisations identify what is the best 24/7 shift pattern for them and to schedule 24/7 shifts. Sometimes we find that other shift patterns may be more suitable and can identify alternatives to 24/7 working. Likewise, we help many organisations extend their working window by introducing a 24/7 shift schedule.
What are the different types of 24 hour shift schedule?
Operating a 24/7 service poses its challenges, but strategic shift and workload management can foster better employee well-being and boost overall productivity. Here are the popular 24-hour shift schedules utilised by organisations across industries, both small and large:
4 on 4 off Shift Pattern
The4-on-4-off scheduleentails employees working four consecutive days, succeeded by four consecutive days off. During the four workdays, longer shifts, often spanning ten or twelve hours, ensure continuous coverage. This cyclic repetition establishes a predictable pattern for both employers and employees.
2-2-3 Shift Pattern
Under the 2-2-3 schedule, employees follow cycles of two days on, two days off, and then three days on. This repetitive pattern ensures an even distribution of workdays and days off throughout the week, with each 24 hours covered by a single shift, eliminating gaps in coverage.
Dupont
The Dupont schedule, a 12-hour rotating shift pattern, involves four teams, each adhering to a four-week schedule to provide continuous 24/7 coverage. Two teams work concurrently, and after each four-week period, the schedule resets and the cycle repeats.
4-on-3-off
In a 4-on-3-off schedule, employees work four consecutive days, succeeded by three consecutive days off. This repeating pattern spans 21 days, incorporating day, swing, and night shifts. Notably, swing shifts occur in the afternoon and evening, allowing team members mornings or early afternoons free before starting their shifts.
Continental Shift Pattern
Thecontinental shift patternsegments the workday into three shifts—morning, afternoon, and night—requiring four teams or groups to cover 24 hours. The shifts rotate with two morning shifts, two swing shifts, and two night shifts, followed by two days off.
What is the best 24/7 shift pattern?
We’re often asked what is the best 24/7 shift pattern? There is no one answer to this and there are many shift pattern options which suit different organisations and their employees.
When exploring the best shift 24/7 patterns for you, consider firstly how your demand varies throughout the week, whether you require agency staff or overtime to cover peaks and troughs in demand and other factors such as absence rates and fatigue risk.
Assuming a flat 24/7 shift pattern cover requirement, the best 24/7 shift pattern tends to be either a 4 team or 5 team solution and each can use three shifts (usually 8 hours each) or two twelve-hour shifts, both of which would provide 24/7 shift pattern cover.
The best 24/7 shift patterns with 4 teams can be a traditional 4 on 4 off shift pattern or shorter runs of shifts and shorter breaks, through to variable consecutive shifts and rest days with some longer rest breaks.
4 team 24/7 shift patterns may repeat across 4, 8, 12 or 16 weeks. Holiday cover must be built into the shift team or covered by agency or overtime.
Similarly, patterns can be developed for 5 teams, but the key difference is that holidays are rostered and so the 24/7 shift pattern cover repeats every 5, 10, 15 or 20 weeks giving staff an average of 1 week off every 5 weeks.
What is the best shift schedule for 24 7 coverage?
The 4-on 4-off schedule stands out as one of the most widely popular shift patterns for 24/7 coverage. True to its name, employees engage in four consecutive workdays, succeeded by four consecutive days off. This scheduling approach is prevalent in industries demanding uninterrupted coverage, such as hospitals and public safety sectors.
Free Shift Pattern Guide
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How do you make a 24/7 shift schedule?
Your 24/7 shift schedule will depend on a wide range of factors including demand, holiday entitlement, employee preferences, the nature of the work undertaken and other details such as equipment or machinery availability and the work environment.
Due to this complexity, for many organisations trying to make a 24/7 shift schedule manually is a challenging and time-consuming process that often leads to productivity, efficiency and employee wellbeing issues.
Creating the best shift patterns for 24/7 working can often require specialist consultancy and software which considers many variables and unique operational factors to arrive at a 24/7 shift schedule that is optimised for a specific organisation and its workforce.
When Totalmobile is asked how do you make a 24/7 shift schedule, our shift work expert consultants use their shift pattern knowledge and our specialist shift planning software to work with customers and quickly arrive at the best shift patterns for 24/7 working. Once you have made a 24/7 shift schedule it’s then important that it is managed effectively as there will invariably be changes to demand and employee availability.
Demand Planning, Rostering and Employee Scheduling tools to maintain a 24/7 shift schedule are crucial elements in the best workforce management software such as Totalmobile’s Organise.
What is the best shift pattern to work?
The 4 on, 4 off shift pattern model is extremely common and is often used in 24/7 shift work environments.
We explainwhat is a 4 on 4 off shift patternin our previous post.
Whilst this shift pattern is popular with some employees, it may not suit all working environments or demographics. It’s important to ask your employees what is the best shift pattern to work? Through collaboration and co-design you’ll arrive at the best shift patterns for 24/7 working which balance the needs of your organisation, workforce and customers.
To identify what the best shift pattern to work is for our customers, we use theShift Pattern Design Toolin ourOrganisesoftware. This powerful shift pattern calculator and shift pattern generator is unique.
It uses algorithms to quickly find the best shift patterns for 24/7 working and can generate a wide range of alternatives to 4 on 4 off shift patterns that you and your employees can consider. It helps you make a 24/7 shift schedule which can be placed into a shift pattern calendar for ongoingRosteringandEmployee Schedulingactivity.
Our shift pattern experts can also help you withemployee engagement, involving your workforce in the process of finding the best shift patterns for 24/7 working or the best shift pattern for your specific organisation. We know shift planning and shift rostering can be challenging without the knowledge, experience and access to the best scheduling software and workforce management software.
What is the healthiest shift pattern?
An effective shift schedule finds the right balance between operational needs, employee preferences, lifestyle considerations, and factors like human ergonomics, sleep, and fatigue that impact safety and performance. A winning schedule must align with all these criteria.
For many, the optimal choice is a 24-hour rotating shift. It’s preferable to rotate forward through day, afternoon, and night shifts rather than backward (night, afternoon, then day).
Read More: Shift Pattern and Rostering – Becoming an Employer of Choice
What is the most popular shift pattern to work?
The 4 on 4 off shift pattern remains the most popular choice. Businesses requiring 24/7 staffing, like hospitals, emergency support centres, and security monitoring companies, often adopt a 4 on 4 off schedule. This four-day model offers a repeat pattern, providing a stable work routine and the assurance of knowing when the next shift is without consistently assigning the same team members to weekends.
While many think choosing or adjusting schedules involves researching and voting on alternatives, it’s a highly intricate and potentially divisive issue. If not developed properly, it can lead to counterproductive outcomes.
Ultimately, designing the best schedule for a specific operation demands careful attention. Who makes the choices and the method employed are crucial factors in ensuring the success of the shift schedule.
Free Shift Pattern Guide
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Stephen Taylor
Stephen Taylor, Head of Digital at Totalmobile, came on board in 2016 and brings over 20 years in digital marketing. Stephen is deeply versed in digital strategy and analytics. His SaaS and field service management expertise has made him a pivotal asset across Totalmobile sectors.
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