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How to manage shift replacements

This standard operating procedure (SOP) outlines the steps to efficiently manage shift replacements.

With this SOP, Hub Managers (HM) and Shift Leads (SL) are better equipped to find last-minute replacements for sick or no-show employees.

The SOP is divided in 2 sections:

  • Preemptive actions: steps to take before any shifts need to be refilled.

  • Reactive actions: steps to take after someone calls in sick or doesn't show up to work.

Preemptive actions

  1. Establish and maintain instant communication channels. Create and actively maintain the following WhatsApp groups:

    1. Internal group: ensure all Flink employees are added to this group upon hire and removed upon termination, in order to facilitate team collaboration in finding replacements.

    2. External (YoungOnes) group: group chat of your regular and reliable external Riders that can be immediately messaged upon learning that a replacement is required.

      1. Having an up-to-date group of YoungOnes is critical for being able to rapidly refill shifts, so it's important that you manage it actively.

  2. Apply the following actions to manage the shifts efficiently:

    1. Follow up on no-shows to prevent recurrence. After an employee fails to show up, contact them and explain the impact their behaviour has on the team, and set expectations for the future.

    2. Manage recurrent, unplanned absences. Consider removing employees with recurrent sickness or no-shows from critical shifts (especially morning shifts). These are the hardest shifts to find replacements on time for, and have the largest impact on operations.

    3. Discuss with absent employees their upcoming shifts. If an employee already has an unplanned absence, confirm with them if they're showing up to their upcoming shifts. If they won't, un-assign them and find replacements in advance.

  3. Apply the following actions to manage morning shifts efficiently:

    1. Do a check-in the night before. Morning shift assignments should be confirmed the day before to avoid disruption.

    2. Ensure adherence to the sickness policy. According to our sickness policy, employees must call in sick to the hub by 9AM on the day of the shift. For shifts starting before 10AM, employees must call in sick to the hub by 10PM of the previous night. Ensure the employees are aware of this policy and that they adhere to it.

  4. Train and educate your employees to follow these principles:

    1. Employee responsibility: employees calling in sick should take the first step in finding their replacements, as communicated during the hiring/onboarding process. This expectation should be set and reinforced with all employees.

    2. Expectation setting: reinforce shift management topics, such as the sickness policy, finding replacements, and the impact and consequences of no-shows during the onboarding and through the employee lifecycle.

Reactive actions

  1. Reactive communication

    1. WhatsApp groups: use your internal (Flink) and external (YoungOnes) WhatsApp groups to quickly communicate and find someone who can replace the shift.

  2. Escalation protocol

    1. Elevated external rates: if a replacement can't be found within 1 hour and under the standard €14 rate, you may increase the rate to €16 to improve the response rate. You may also offer this rate to externals on WhatsApp, as long as you explicitly mention that the rate has only been increased to fill in an important, last minute shift.

      1. Use your best judgement here based on the type and quantity of applicants you get in your city. We want to actively avoid applicants expecting a rate above €14.

  3. Leveraging YoungOnes effectively

    1. Direct communication: use the WhatsApp group with your curated group of freelancers to notify them of a last-minute shift.

    2. YoungOnes favourites pool: build your favourites pool and ensure the hub phone has their contacts for quick replacements.

    3. Weekday push notifications: if there's no reactions on weekdays (9-5), text or call the YoungOnes' Account Manager (Mirk, contact number 06-51769595) to send a push notification for the gig.

    4. Weekend push notifications: if there's no reactions on weekends (9-5), use the Live Chat on the YoungOnes platform to organize sending a push notification for the gig.

    5. Escalation for marketing support: if significant issues persist in filling shifts through YoungOnes, notify Mirk and other relevant contacts for additional marketing support in your city.

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