How ShiftBID Would Save U.S. Border Patrol $228k (Case Study)
In 2016, a memorandum of understanding was issued between the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the National Border Patrol Council (NBPC). It outlined a temporary program for a shift-bid process in Texas, which went into effect until a new collective bargaining agreement was implemented.
We wanted to see how our software stacked up against the details in the shift bid memorandum and outlined the challenges, solutions, and results below. By comparing the current manual method of doing shift bids to a digital version with ShiftBID, we discovered ShiftBID can save CBP around $228,000 over a three year period.
Note: ShiftBID has not not worked with either CBP or NBPC, this is simply a case study on how we would approach the situation with our software.
Challenges
Balancing preferences with operational needs
The primary challenge is creating a system that honors employee seniority and shift preferences while ensuring the agency has the right number and type of personnel on each shift to meet operational requirements.
Administrative complexity
The current process is highly manual, involving “bid sheets” and supervisor-managed sorting. This creates administrative overhead, potential for human error, and a lack of transparency.
Ensuring fairness and transparency
Employees need to trust that the system is fair. Without a digital tool, it’s difficult to manage the complex rules, like the “Shift Preference Plan,” which prevents an employee from being denied their first choice on multiple consecutive bids.
Managing special circumstances
The process must account for a variety of exceptions, such as new hires, employees on temporary assignments, those on light duty, or agents with specialized skills who may need to be placed on a specific shift.
Dispute resolution
Without a clear, automated system, disputes over shift assignments can arise. A manual process makes it more difficult for both management and the union to quickly and effectively resolve these issues, potentially leading to formal grievances.
Solutions
There are two solutions that we would prescribe in this case:
Hybrid bidding strategy
CBP could easily leverage a hybrid of seniority-based bidding and qualification-based bidding within ShiftBID. This would create a system that helps to give employee preferences and yet fill the necessary positions needed. The hybrid strategy would also account for the aforementioned new hires, temp assignments, and light duty…as each of these could be assigned a “tag” in ShiftBID.
Solving administrative paperwork & personnel issues
By taking everything digital, it solves much of the manual labor of taking and organizing shift bids. This is all done through a digital process. There is also much more transparency in the process, since actions taken on the software have a digital paper trail. An automated system also helps resolve disputes much quicker, since calculations are done in a universal manner and actions taken are all above board.
Results
The CBP would be able to speed up the bidding process, make it more transparent, and save thousands of dollars in administrative payroll costs. At the time of this writing, ShiftBID costs $10 per user, per year. If the software was needed for three years, and there were 1,400 Border Patrol agents bidding in Texas, the total cost would be $42,000. For comparison, the cost to employ a full-time administrative position dedicated to managing manual shift bids would likely be between $210,000-$270,000 for three years. Therefore, ShiftBID could save CBP $228,000 over three years. (This is a low-end estimate, as there would likely be a dozen or more employees working on bids.)
Get bidding.
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Get bidding.
Start getting your business or organization set up for bidding. Create an account and invite others to do the same.