Facilities Staffing Requirements for the Veterans Health Administration–Resourcing, Workforce Modeling, and Staffing Proceedings of a Workshop (2019) / Chapter Skim
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2 Modeling Methodologies
2 Modeling Methodologies
Pages 5-14
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. The topics covered included modeling methodologies for staffing and various work measurement techniques, along with factors influencing the choice of appropriate techniques, as well as future trends important in workforce modeling.
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Another trend in facilities management that will influence future staffing models is the use of advanced f acility/maintenance management systems. Norman stressed that investing in a robust system not only decreases the paperwork burden on maintenance workers, but is also "very powerful, because that kind of data can drive good answers to what you need for staffing things." Norman explained that certain areas of health care facilities in which it is imperative that the systems function properly, such as outpatient surgery centers, might require a more robust, and therefore more expensive, maintenance management system than other areas of a facility.
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Relatedly, when systems are developed for collecting staffing data, he said, those systems should not be so difficult that workers entering the data get frustrated and "put in the wrong data, just to get through their day." To conclude, Norman reiterated what he sees as a common theme of the session's discussions: staffing models need to be developed with a specific purpose in mind and created to operate within an organization's overall system of budgeting and planning. Moreover, the exact framework for the model -- whether it will be implemented strictly or used as a guide only -- should be determined up front, in order for the model to be of use to the organization.
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The six techniques Schmeidler discussed, in descending order of precision, are predetermined time study, stopwatch time study, work sampling, standard data, historical data, and judgment estimating. Since these tools necessitate varying levels of investment, it is important to determine resource constraints -- including the funding, staff, and time that are available for the effort -- prior to choosing a work measurement tool.
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FIGURE 2-3 Categories of work measurement techniques. SOURCE: Schmeidler, N
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Schmeidler used a technique documented by Mundell called fractioned professional estimate.6 In this technique, employees knowledgeable in the subject matter of the work describe the work using discrete steps, providing their estimates of the standard amount of time and the frequency of each step. Using this technique, a 1-hour employee interview resulted in 36 hours of labor data, which would have been extremely expensive to obtain with a time study.
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" Schmeidler responded that some organizations use the standards to measure individual performance, but there are some labor agreements that do not allow work measurement data to be used against an individual, so it is important to understand what the bargaining units and individual agreements will allow. In the private sector, he noted, performance data can ultimately be used to discharge underperforming employees, but this does not happen in the federal government, where work measurement data are often used to determine staffing needs from a budgeting standpoint.
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These two tasks alone -- building a work center description and a list of "must-dos" and then deploying that list across the organization -- can be of great help in terms of setting the stage for successful workforce modeling. Norman also noted the importance of standardizing work processes across locations and of implementing continuous process improvement methods.
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In discussing the use of a single model or multiple models, Fred Switzer (committee member) asked: "Where is the sweet spot between fitting your data into a single model or going ahead and biting the bullet and using multiple models for different parts of the organization?
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