Transport companies are regularly on the lookout for new employees for their transport services. It is often the unattractive working hours - above all the changing shifts - that drive employees away. This is different at the Lucerne public transport company. Here, employees in the transport service sometimes stay with the company for the rest of their lives. One key reason for this is that their duty and holiday requests are taken into account up to 80 per cent of the time with the help of the personnel scheduling system.
The acceptance of our old roster among the 350 or so drivers was really poor. Even back then, the driving assignments varied increasingly from month to month. But all employees had to drive all services and shifts - individual ideas could not be taken into account. But that's exactly what we want to offer as an employer - as far as possible. Because, of course, an employee's needs change over the course of their employment in terms of working hours, especially if they work alternating shifts. Last but not least, health considerations also played a role: doctors also advise against strictly backward-rolling rotas. The constantly changing working hours associated with this can lead to problems such as sleep disorders over time.
Lucerne Public Transport AG - VBL
- Independent public limited company owned by the city of Lucerne (Switzerland)
- Approx. 500 employees, including approx. 350 in the transport service
- Fleet of 154 vehicles (as of 12/2020), including trolleybuses and buses
- 379,313 kilometres of route network
- Network extends across the Lucerne, Obwalden and Nidwalden fare network
Take Account of Changing Working Time Requirements
The introduction of a new system that is consistently geared towards demand and resources and offers both employees and the company maximum security and flexibility was the logical next step. Since then, the company has relied on the interaction between the Profahr personnel scheduling system with customised duty roster from Moveo Software and the DIVA duty scheduling system from Mentz. The system plans around 175 shifts on weekdays and between 110 and 145 on Saturdays and Sundays. In addition to the legally regulated driving times and rest periods, the new solution also takes into account the major fluctuations caused by sporting and cultural events in the region, such as football matches or Fas(t)nacht. "The options for entering duty requests in Profahr are also particularly valuable," emphasises the Head of Human Resources and Organisation.
Last but not least, health considerations also played a role: doctors also advise against strictly backward-rolling rotas. The constantly changing working hours associated with this can lead to problems such as sleep disorders over time.
However, this preference is not mandatory. Every employee can choose between the individual and the rotation-based duty rota, even if hardly anyone has opted for the rigid sequence of shifts from early to late in recent years.
"We can see very clearly from the input behaviour of our employees that there is a tendency towards early and late shifts. On the other hand, this time preference can also change very quickly due to changes in private life and without stress thanks to the freedom of choice," says Jenny, describing her observations since the introduction of the personalised duty rota.
The days of paper-based duty roster notices have also come to an end. Instead, both fixed software terminals at the company headquarters and tablet PCs were initially available for entries. Employees now use only their personal, mobile tablet for this purpose.
80 % of employee wishes fulfilled
More than ten years after its introduction, satisfaction with this solution is still at a high level. "If employees in a 365/24 company are satisfied with their working time arrangements, that is highly remarkable," says the Head of Human Resources and Organisation.
The individual holiday planning and duty swap exchange - two supplementary modules that the company now also uses - also have an influence on this development.They allow holiday requests to be entered individually and shifts to be swapped almost independently on the basis of a simple set of rules. With the help of this solution, VBL fulfils up to 80 % of its employees' desired working hours and the fluctuation rate is very low at five percent, well below the industry average.
This freedom of choice alone is greatly appreciated and has a positive effect on the health of VBL employees. We believe that we have now almost reached the optimum in terms of options for individual duty scheduling and holiday allocation.
The same applies to length of service or the significant reduction in last-minute cancellations, which saves dispatchers time, effort and nerves. Finally, the award for Best Employer 2020 by the Handelszeitung newspaper and the Statista market research institute was highly publicised. This is only awarded to companies that receive top marks from their employees.
This has not gone unnoticed by the partner companies, who now also want to benefit from the opportunities offered by the VBL. To this end, Verkehrsbetriebe Luzern is currently testing the connection of one of its transport officers with a client solution of the system. "If the pilot project is successful, we'll get all the other partners on board too," says Walter Jenny.
Best Working Conditions in the Transport Service
You can't do without shift work in the transport sector. Nevertheless, not every driver has to drive every shift in a fixed rotation. The Lucerne public transport company has recognised this and has given its employees a tool for co-determination via an individual duty roster and swap exchange in its personnel scheduling system.
They benefit from the following positive effects:
- a high level of satisfaction,
- a low fluctuation rate, which is rare in the industry, and
- less health-related absences.