Imagine being able to choose your own shifts at work instead of being handed a rigid schedule every week. For employees, that sounds like freedom. For employers, it might sound like chaos—but in reality, it can be the perfect balance of flexibility and efficiency when managed properly. 

The new concept is that of shift bidding, which has now made its way onto the workplace floors around the world. 

Rather than informing the employee regarding what their shifts would be, an employer put available slots in a system where an employee “bids” for the shifts they would prefer. 

It’s an approach in shift management whereby employee choice is integrated with business needs. Hence, win-win—if it succeeds.  

However, like any other workplace strategy, shift bidding has its share of pros and cons.

So, let’s break it down. 

What is Shift Bidding?

Shift bidding is a practice of scheduling where available shifts go up on a digital system; employees then select or request the ones they wish to work. Instead of every detail being decided by a manager, employees are given a lot more control to fit their schedules with personal responsibilities, energy levels, or simply preferences. 

If, for example, a retail store issued their weekly schedule, employees could then use an app to bid on shifts that they would like to hold. A morning person may grab the early slots, while another employee may wish to have evening shifts. Thereupon, managers can approve or allocate them automatically depending on the business rules, performance, or seniority.  

The Benefits of Shift Bidding 

Here are some advantages of the shift bidding approach:

1. Added Flexibility for Employees

Flexibility happens to be one of the most popular items about bid shifts. Employees would be able to share how their shift schedules match with what is happening in their lives, from childcare to education to pure choice. With the employees feeling that they are privy to when they work, their satisfaction with the job rises. 

For example, a student who works part-time in a call centre can bid for evening shifts after classes, while parents may prefer daytime slots. In this way, the possible scheduling conflicts that may arise due to different demands on workers’ time are reduced, which then increases employee reliability in such scheduling arrangements.

2. Higher Employee Engagement and Retention

A sense of appreciation arises in employees when given control. Shift bidding symbolizes trust and transparency, which could nurture engagement. Happier, more engaged workers are likely to remain in their jobs, thus avoiding the costs of turnover.

A logistics firm that switched to shift bidding encountered a 20% drop in resignations since employees appreciated being able to manage their long commutes with time spent with family.

3. Better Coverage During Peak Hours

Shift bidding can better serve the peak hours. Workers will always pick their preferences, the popular hours get filled up quickly, and management then only needs to adjust for the not-so-desirable slots. With some incentive, like overtime or performance-related bonuses, those shifts can be filled easily.

In customer support, scheduling weekend shifts used to be a nightmare. After starting shift bidding, employees who wanted extra pay voluntarily filled them in.

4. Reduced Managerial Workload

Traditional scheduling requires hours of planning, revisions, and “Would you like to swap shifts with me?” conversations. Shift bidding automates the majority of this process by allowing managers to simply submit the shifts that are available, and the automated shift bidding system automatically allocates the shifts, with the system doing the research and most of the allocation.

This significantly reduces the cost of administration. Also, it allows managers to think less about the schedules and more about managing performance, training, and customer satisfaction instead of micromanaging schedules.  

5. Fairness and Transparency

Employees often feel that traditional scheduling systems favour people or groups of employees. With shift bidding, everyone now has access to the same information for available shifts in the system. Bidding rules, first-come, first-served, or performance measures allow employees to feel that they are treated fairly.  

After implementing career and shift bidding systems in a warehouse environment, complaints of favouritism significantly dropped when all staff could see what available slots existed and were involved in the bidding process without hidden favouritism. 

The Challenges of Shift Bidding 

Like traditional scheduling, shift bidding comes with its own advantages, but it has its own challenges. Organizations that are thinking about implementing shift bidding need to give significant thought to the challenges.  

1. Uneven Shift Distribution

One of the top risks is that unwanted (i.e., nights, weekends, slow holiday shifts, etc.) shifts will remain unfilled. Employees will happily fill their preferred hours, but somebody must take the other shifts.  

Solution: Many companies will offer incentives such as rate increases, bonuses, or time-off credits to encourage employees to take the shift.

2. Potential for Conflict Among Staff

With multiple employees having the desire to work the same shifts, competition can breed tension. Where competition exists without transparency, resentment is often born.

Two senior nurses both bidding for the same morning shift will create tension if there is no defined tie-breaking process to resolve the issue. There should be rules, like a random spin, an order of rotation, or a defined priority on performance for assigning the shift.

3. Risk of Understaffing During Emergencies

Shift bidding requires that employees be proactive in utilizing the system. Employees who don’t bid for shifts in a timely manner, or just don’t want to work the undesired shifts, put companies in an awkward position to fill shifts at the last minute. 

Managers need to keep a backup plan, like assigning shifts manually when necessary or using temporary staff.

4. Technology Dependence

Shift bidding can only be effective with accurate workforce management software or app. Without this, managers cannot be in control operationally or distribute shifts to employees in a fair manner in real time. 

This requires businesses to spend money on technology and time for employees to learn, which is especially daunting for smaller businesses or employees who are less sophisticated with anything digital.

5. Risk of Being too Employee-Centric

While it’s important to empower employees, a business cannot ignore customer needs or the operational purpose of the workforce need. It will be a horrible sign to management to not consider employee preferences if they end in labour imbalances that negatively impact performance. 

A hotel could end up with too many front-desk staff during quieter hours and not enough housekeeping during peak checkouts. Balanced oversight is critical. 

Making Shift Bidding Work for Your Business 

For shift bidding to be successful, it must balance employee autonomy with organizational needs. Below are some best practices: 

• Use Incentives: Offering additional pay or perks for shifts that are less desirable ensures that you will have coverage. 
• Set Clear Rules: Seniority, performance, or rotation policies allow you to clarify bidding expectations and to avoid misunderstandings. 
• Technology: If you have a good workforce management system, bidding will be more organized, complete, and visible. 
• Monitor and Change: Review the data regularly to know if there are shifts that are always unfilled and adjust the incentive for those shifts. 

When done properly, shift bidding won’t just be about scheduling; it will signify a shift to a collaborative culture of visibility, employee autonomy, and trust. 

Final Thoughts

Shift bidding is changing the way organizations approach scheduling by providing employees with choice while managing organizational needs. The additional flexibility, enhanced employee engagement, improved fairness, and increased profitability are all positive impacts of shift bidding that make the organization’s work environment a better place to work for everyone involved.

Organizations need to be prepared to deal with challenges around the equitable distribution of shifts among employees, as well as ensuring they can support employee autonomy with technology.

The bottom line is, with the right tools and appropriate policies to manage shift bidding, it can facilitate unprecedented, new ways of thinking and reinforce the evolution of workplace management.

It embodies employee empowerment, lessens burdens on the manager, and contributes to even better alignment between staff and demand.

Frequently Asked Questions