Custom Order Shift Bidding
Build a custom bidding order within your business or organization.
Union
Agreement compliance
US-based
Sales, support & dev
$10
Per employee/year
Sorting
Intuitive sorting tool
Employee bidding order can be sorted with an intuitive tool. This is used in conjunction with a filter tool, helping you find employees by name or activity type.
Notifications
Realtime notifications
ShiftBID notifies an employee when it's their turn to bid. They can receive alerts via SMS or email.
Modes
Three bidding modes
There are three modes (called scheduling styles) that determine the method by which bidding happens: Standard, Sprint, and Ranked.
Flexible
Employees can bid from anywhere
Employees receive an SMS notification and an email when they need to make a shift selection.
Exportable
Download CSV with results
Once bidding is complete, the administrators can download a complete CSV with all schedule information.
Planning ahead
Schedule bids in advance
Set a scheduled date and time for bidding to begin.
How it works
This is a completely customized order set by you and your staff. It's up to you to decide the method by which you add employees. The entire list of employees is on the right, and you build your bidding order using the drag-and-drop tool. Employees can also be re-sorted within the bidding order.
Benefits
- Strategic based on staffing needs - Administrators can give priority to employees with specific skills or certifications.
- Intangible "fairness" metrics - Managers and administrators may have a better handle on how to best arrange a bid order, outside of a hard metric like seniority. Your admin team can use a human touch to set a fair bid order.
- Rewarding skill - Administrators can give preference to employees who possess a high level of skill, even if they are less senior than an earlier-hired employee.
Use Cases
ICU/ER/Specialized Shifts in Hospital
A hospital needs nurses for specific shifts in the ICU, ER, or a specialized clinic (e.g., oncology). These shifts require specific certifications, experience, or specialized training. The administrator prioritizes bidding for nurses who have the skills/certifications for those high-demand, specialized shifts first. Once these roles are filled, other nurses can bid on general medical-surgical shifts.
Manufacturing plant with an undesirable shift type
Imagine a manufacturing plant that has a consistently undesirable shift (e.g., graveyard, weekend, holidays) that often goes unfilled or tends to fall disproportionately on junior-level staff. The administrator can set a custom order in ShiftBID that rotates who gets "first pick" at these less desirable shifts over time, even if it's not strictly seniority-based. Or, they might prioritize employees who haven't worked many undesirable shifts recently.
The benefit here is a sense of fairness in the distribution of undesirable shifts. This can help reduce burnout and improve morale by showing that even junior staff are treated well.
Cross-training new employees in retail
A retail store wants to cross-train some of its newer employees on different departments (e.g., from the sales floor to inventory management). The schedule administrator could temporarily prioritize bidding for certain shifts to employees who are targeted for cross-training, allowing them to gain exposure and experience. The goal would be to facilitate employee development and create a succession pipeline.
Questions we get asked
Employees can be added individually or as groups, and can be sorted with a drag-and-drop tool to edit the bid order. The order is 100% customizable.
Yes, the manual sorting tool works with Standard, Sprint, and Ranked bidding modes.
Yes, you can switch between custom bid order sort and sort by seniority with a simple dropdown.
Yes, you can set the time and date you would like your organization to begin bidding. This is done under the Bidding Schedule area under Set Up Schedules.