HosPortal has powerful features to allow users to have input into the creation of any roster. The self-rostering features comes in two types which are both covered in this article:
Selection-based rostering, where users pick their own shifts on a first-in first-served basis.
Preference-based rostering, where users express preferences for shifts, and these preferences are used to automatically build a draft roster for a roster administrator to review.
This article covers setting up both types of rosters. In both cases a roster administrator defines the rules of the self-roster process including any shift quotas, the timing of the 'window' when users will make their selections/preferences, and whether the administrator will review the selections at the end of the window or HosPortal will immediately publish them.
If you are doing a self-roster for the first time then please get in touch by clicking the smiley-faced button at the bottom-right of your screen.
The self-roster functions are under the self-roster menu on each roster page (A).
The self-roster menu
The self-roster page has separate tabs to show self-rosters that have been completed, and ones that are either in draft or currently active (B). The details of each self-roster that are shown include the name, the dates of the roster, the status and the nature of the selection windows (C). The options available to each self-roster are available in the action menu (D). Action can include:
Edit: Editing settings, or review the settings of a completed self-roster.
Duplicate: copy the settings from one self-roster to start a new one and apply them to a new date.
Manage selections: Review the selections made by users, performance against users' quotas, and create/review draft rosters based on users' selections.
Publish: take a draft self-roster and set it live.
Delete: for draft self-rosters only.
To start a new self-roster from scratch select the 'Add' button (E).
Starting a new self-roster, or editing an existing one
Once you are in the self-roster edit mode you are presented with a multi-step design process which you should complete from left to right (F). You cannot save a draft until you are at step 5 ('Staff'). Note that there are some combinations of options that cannot be unwound step by step: you may need to start again by selecting cancel in the event that you cannot change some options.
Step 1: Start
Setup mode: we recommend using the Simple mode for most applications. If Simple mode does not meet your requirements then get in touch with HosPortal support and we can assist with these settings.
Start and End: the range of dates for the shifts that you are seeking to fill.
Rosters: the names of the rosters that will be included in this self-roster. You can pick any number of rosters, from any roster group (e.g. Call or Allocations). All will be included in the one process with a single set of rules and using the same quota requirements.
Name: a description that will allow you and your users to identify this process, e.g. 'First Call rosters 2023'
Mode: either Selection or Preference.
Step 2: Shifts
Existing shifts (G) allows you to decide what to do with any draft or published shifts in the date range you have selected:
Ignore will exclude these shifts from the self-roster process altogether. Users cannot select these days and the quota calculations will not include these in the quota count.
Count will count these shifts to each users' quota and selections, but the users cannot change them. In a preference-based roster, the assigned users will remain on these shifts even if they pick other or additional preferences.
Convert will pre-select these shifts for each user, but the user can change these selections or preferences in the normal way once the window opens.
Shift settings (H) defines the shifts to be included, and how they are to be grouped. For instance the self-roster process could just include weekdays (as in this screenshot), or could exclude holidays.
The shift settings definitions are also used when selecting quota groupings in Step 3 (J), so should be set to coincide with the way you will think about your quota calculations. So if you want, for instance, weekends and public holidays to be treated differently for quota calculations then create a separate one shift setting for weekends and another for weekdays. If they will be treated the same then you can create a single shift setting across both of those types of days.
The calendar panel (I) provides a visual confirmation of the shifts included in this self-roster process.
Step 3: Quotas
Quotas are the minimum shifts that each users is expected to do over the roster. They are used in both preference-based and selection-based rosters.
If you do not have a quota then there is no minimum number of shifts that users are required to do. It also means that HosPortal's automated shift-filling systems cannot be used to create a draft roster or fill vacant shifts.
In the options associated with quotas (J):
Calculation mode: how each user will be assigned their initial quotas. Note that you can always manually adjust a quota for any individual no matter the way that the
Manual: you assign each user their quota individually
Weighting: you assign a relative weighting to each individual and HosPortal will calculate the quotas based on the total number of users and the number and type of shifts to be filled.
Band: you define bands or tiers that each have a quota, and then manually assign users to each band. For example, you could define that a user in 'Band A' needs to do 3 shifts, and a user in 'Band B' needs to do 5 shifts. You will then manually assign users to Band A or Band B.
Band derived from weighting: uses bands, but where the band that each user is in is derived from some other value, such as the number of surgical sessions that they do at a facility. So in the example above, you might still define that a user in 'Band A' needs to do 3 shifts, and a user in 'Band B' needs to do 5 shifts. But you would also define that someone with up to 7 surgical sessions will be Band A, someone with 8-12 surgical sessions will be in Band B, etc.
The details of the band settings are defined as part of Step 4.
Count mode: whether each shift is worth the same amount, or a different amount.
Shift setting: if shifts are not all equal in value, this is where you define how much each shift is worth. In this example (K) weekdays are worth 1 point, weekends are worth 2 points, and public holidays are worth 3 points. The grouping of shifts here is set when you define the shifts in Step 2 (H).
Quota group: you can define multiple quota groups where a user needs to do a minimum number of shifts in each group. For instance, it might be that each user needs to do a certain number of weekdays AND a certain number of weekends, in which case you will need to define two quota groups. If however a user can allocate their quota across any combination of weekdays and weekends then you only need one quota group, even if weekday and weekend shifts might have different values.
Step 4: Windows
The window is the period of time over which users select their shifts or preferences. For each window there is an opening and closing time (L) and reminders you can send users.
You can apply a limit (M) that restricts the number of shifts that users can pick, for instance to give all users a fair go at good shifts. If you select a limit you will end up with an option for a second window: the limit will apply to the first window and there will be no limit on the second window. (To apply separate limit for each window you need to use the advanced setup mode in Step 1).
When applying the limit (N), you can either limit users to a proportion of their own quota, or limit everyone to the same number of shifts.
If you use the proportional limit, the proportion will calculate the number of shifts by rounding up. For instance, if someone has a quota of 3 and the limit is 50%, then they will be able to select 2 shifts during the first window.
Step 5: Staff
This is where you assign the quota to the staff.
The current quota status is provided in the summary bar at the top of the page (P), which will be shaded green if the total quota allocated to all users will meet the number of shifts that need to be filled, and shaded red if they do not.
Rest quotas to zero, or make all quotas equal or apply any weightings by selecting the appropriate button (Q). If there are any weightings used, the quotas are presented in the format x/y (R) where 'x' is the quota that the formula or weighting calculates, and 'y' is the users actual quota after any manual adjustments.
If you want to exclude a user from the self-roster deselect their name (S). This does not automatically re-calculate quotas so you may need to re-use the Apply Weighting button (Q). If the quotas are no longer accurate as a result of excluding or including new users then the quota numbers (R) will be shaded yellow to note that they are incorrect.
Step 6: Closure
This is where you define the settings for the closure, whether you want the self-roster to be auto-finalised upon closure or not, and what communication what communication should be sent out once the roster is finalised.
If 'Finalise period and publish shifts' is set to Yes, the algorithm will automatically run upon closure to finalize the roster, and the shifts will be published automatically.
If 'Finalise period and publish shifts' is set to No, the self-roster will be closed without finalisation.
Once finalised, you may choose to send email or sms or both:
Step 7: Options
Any communication you wish to be sent out with the reminders can be defined here, such as email notes, attachments, or terms and conditions.
As an admin, you can also add our own notes to the self-roster, for example quota calculations or user notes.
You can also preview how the reminders will look like under 'Communications Preview':
You may also want to refer to this video on Creating and managing a self-roster process (video)