View and create bid processes

The Shift bidding view shows all bid processes.

• Click the name of the bid process or any of the links, like Settings or Agents, to see the details.
• For all bid processes, the number of agents and the number of shift patterns are shown.
• For inactive bid processes, the checklist is shown to indicate what is already configured and what is left to do.

• For active bid processes, there is a progress bar showing the three steps; Preview, Bidding and Closed. A filled blue circle indicates that the step is ongoing and a blue circle with a check mark indicates that the step is completed.

• Click Progress to see if agents have placed their bids.
• Click Preview results to see which patterns that are assigned and how many that are still unassigned.

• For finalized bid processes, you can see how many of the selected agents that were assigned shift patterns.

• Click Report to see how many of the patterns that were forced and how many that were unassigned.
• Click Results to see the assigned shift patterns for all agents.

• Use the filter to more easily find the bid processes you are looking for.

  • Click the Inactive, Active or Finalized button at the top of the list to only show bid processes with the selected status.

Create a new bid process and select for which dates it applies. After completing this step, the first four items on the checklist are green.

1. Click New bid process.
2. Enter a name for the bid process.
3. Select a Preview start date. This is the date when the agents can see the shift patterns that are available to bid on, but before they can place any bids. The purpose of the preview is to for example give the agents a chance to discuss with their family before they place their bids.
4. Select a Bidding start date. This is the date when the agents can start placing their bids.
5. Select a Bidding end date. This is the last date when agents can place bids in this process.
6. Select a Schedule start date. This is the date from which the patterns assigned in this bid process are scheduled.
7. Select a Pattern type. This controls which parameters to use for the shift patterns in this bid process. When scheduling agents according to the shift patterns, the scheduling process adheres to the parameters of the selected pattern type.
   • Start and end time—The start and end time of each shift are shown to the agents when they are bidding on the shift patterns. When scheduling according to the bid process, the start and end times of each scheduled shift follow the agent's assigned shift pattern.
   • Start time—Only the start time of each shift is shown to the agents when they are bidding on the shift patterns. When scheduling according to the bid process, the start time of each scheduled shift follows the agent's assigned shift pattern.
   • Start time and contract time—The start time and contract time of each shift are shown to the agents when they are bidding on the shift patterns. When scheduling according to the bid process, the start time and contract time of each scheduled shift follow the agent's assigned shift pattern.
8. Select the Use shift category check box if you want to use shift category as an additional parameter for the shift patterns in this bid process. This can be used for example to let agents bid on specific types of shifts.
9. Enter a Public note. This note is shown to the agent who are in the bid process.
10. Click Save.
11. Continue by selecting and ranking agents.

Select and rank the agents who are going to bid in this bid process. After completing this step, the checklist items Add agents, Rank agents, Unique ranks, and Ensure no missing ranks are green.

1. For the selected bid process, select the Agents tab.
2. Click Add agents.
3. Select the date for which to load sites and teams. The agents included are the ones who belong to the team, site or group page based on their settings for the selected date. In most cases, the best choice is to select the same date as the schedule start date for the bid process.
4. Select sites and teams, or group pages to include in this bid process. It is important that the shift patterns which agents bid on can be scheduled for those agents. Therefore, the agents who are included in the same bid processes must have similar contract rules and work hours.
5. Click Add all to add all the agents for the selected teams, sites and group pages or select some of those agents and then click Add selected.
6. Click Rank agents.

7. Click the Select a criteria field and select a criteria to rank by from the list. Available criteria to rank by are Start date, any optional columns and Random. The Start date criteria uses the Employment start date set in the web People tool. The Random criteria assigns a randomized number to each agent included in the bid process.

   NOTE   When agents are ranked by the values in an optional column, their rank for a bid process does not updated automatically if the value in the optional column changes. You must manually update the ranks. The ranks can only be updated for inactive bid processes.

8. Select to rank agents Ascending or Descending based on this criteria.

9. All agents must have a unique rank. If needed, click Add criteria to add additional criteria to rank by.

   EXAMPLE   Agents are primarily ranked by start date. Some agents started on the same day, and therefore have the same rank. The Random criteria is added to give those agents a unique rank.

10. Click Fetch rankings to load the criteria values and show the ranks based on those values.
11. Click Save.
12. Continue by selecting shift patterns.

Select shift patterns for the agents to bid on. After completing this step, the checklist items Add shift patterns and Ensure all shift patterns are valid are green.

1. For the selected bid process, select the Shift patterns tab.
2. Click Add shift patterns.

3. Select the sites and teams or the group pages to load shift patterns from.

   EXAMPLE   

   • Load shift patterns from a selected site to create a bid process for that specific site.
   • Load shift patterns from a selected Contract group page to create a bid process for part-time employees.
   • Load shift patterns from a selection of both a site and a Contract group page to create a bid process for the part-time employees in that site.
4. Select from which scenario to load shift patterns.
5. Select a date. Shift patterns will be loaded from a 7-day period starting on the selected day.
6. Click Fetch patterns to load shift patterns based on the schedule for the selected agents in the selected scenario.
7. Select the patterns that you want the agents to bid on. Normally, you can select all the patterns.

8. Click Add selected to add the selected patterns to the bid process, or Add all to add all the loaded patterns. The details shown for the shift patterns are based on the selected pattern type and if shift category is set to be included in this bid process.

   NOTE   By default the shift patterns are shown according to your configured time zone. Select the agents' time zone to show the start and end times for the shift patterns from their point of view.

9. Click the plus or minus button for a pattern to balance the number of added shift patterns with the number of agents. You can also click the check box to select patterns, and then click Remove selected shift patterns if you need to remove more patterns.

   The balance between the number of agents and the number of shift patterns is important for you to control which shift patterns that are assigned. This is your way to control good coverage. When the numbers match, the items Agents and Shift patterns in the checklist are green.

10. Continue by activating the bid process.

Activate the bid process. Active bid processes are shown to agents on the preview start date.

1. For the selected inactive bid process, click Activate bid process.

2. Click Activate to confirm.

   NOTE   See Manage active bid processes for more information on how to manage the active bid process and finalize it.