U.S. patent application number 10/653952 was filed with the patent office on 2005-03-10 for method and system for filling vacancies.
Invention is credited to Scott, Kevin.
Application Number | 20050055256 10/653952 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 34225950 |
Filed Date | 2005-03-10 |
United States Patent
Application |
20050055256 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Scott, Kevin |
March 10, 2005 |
Method and system for filling vacancies
Abstract
This invention concerns filling vacancies. It may be applied to
finding replacements during staff shortages, or to filling entire
rosters. It may also be used to fill casually occurring service
needs, such as the need-for a child minding placement. The
invention involves entering availability details into a candidate
data store, and entering vacancy details into a vacancy data store.
Automatic cross-matching of each vacancy to availability details
create a list of available candidates for each vacancy.
Automatically ordering the list for each vacancy ranks the
candidates according to predetermined criteria. The vacancies are
then filled with the top ranking available candidate. This may be
performed automatically or involve the transmission of invitations
and acceptances. The invitations may be automatically dispatched,
and the responses may automatically update the data. It may be
layered to integrate the filling of a vacancy with the provision of
a service for a related period of time. For instance, integrating
the filling of a teaching or nursing staff vacancy with the
provision of child minding services for the same period.
Inventors: |
Scott, Kevin; (Newington,
AU) |
Correspondence
Address: |
Michael Molins
Level 25 Chifley Tower
Sydney NSW
2000
AU
|
Family ID: |
34225950 |
Appl. No.: |
10/653952 |
Filed: |
September 4, 2003 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
705/321 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06Q 10/10 20130101;
G06Q 10/1053 20130101; G06Q 10/109 20130101; Y10T 137/7808
20150401; Y10T 137/7811 20150401; Y10T 137/87917 20150401 |
Class at
Publication: |
705/008 ;
705/009; 705/011 |
International
Class: |
G06F 017/60 |
Claims
The claims defining the invention are as follows:--
1. A method for filling vacancy periods having a defined start and
end comprising the steps of: entering availability details into a
candidate data store; entering vacancy details into a vacancy data
store; automatically cross-matching each vacancy to availability
details using a computer to create a list of available candidates
for each vacancy; automatically ordering the list for each vacancy
using a computer to rank the candidates according to predetermined
criteria; filling each vacancy in turn with the top ranking
available candidate.
2. A method according to claim 1, where the filling of each vacancy
is automatic.
3. A method according to claim 1, comprising the further step of
communicating an invitation to the top ranked candidate in respect
of each vacancy and filling that vacancy, by updating the candidate
and vacancy data stores, if a positive response is received within
a predetermined time otherwise, if a negative response is received,
or no response is received within the predetermined time, then
communicating another invitation to the next ranked candidate, as
above, until the vacancy is filled.
4. A method according to any preceding claim, where the candidates
are casual employees, permanent staff and contract workers, and
information about the working commitments of the permanent staff
currently employed by an employer are entered into a data store so
that vacancy information is entered into the vacancy data store by
nominating the absent permanent staff person's name and
automatically providing all their work commitment information.
5. A method according to claim 4, where the casual staff
requirement is automatically rationalized by analyzing the work
commitments of all the absent permanent staff over a given period
of time.
6. A method according to claim 1, comprising the further step,
where a vacancy cannot be matched to an availability, or no
suitable available candidates are found, of splitting the vacancy
into smaller sub-vacancies and cross-matching each sub-vacancy to
availability details to create a list of available candidates for
each sub-vacancy, then ranking.
7. A method according to any preceding claim, where the
predetermined criteria are defined by the employer.
8. A method according to claim 7, where the criteria include
experience and performance.
9. A method according to claim 8, where the criteria include a
`seek-first` criterion that gives a top ranking to candidates
identified by that employer.
10. A method according to claim 8 or 9, where the criteria include
ranking adjustments for a candidate available to fill successive
vacancies, whether for the same or a different position, over
several days in a given period of time.
11. A method according to any preceding claim, where templates of
the invitations are pre stored and the appropriate vacancy and
candidate information automatically inserted upon generation of the
invitations.
12. A method according to any preceding claim, where the
communicating of the messages is done automatically using any
suitable communications medium.
13. A method according to any preceding claim, where the first
ranked candidate is automatically preliminarily booked and
considered unavailable for the dates and hours included in an
invitation during the time that the invitation remains open to that
candidate, or until they transmit a response.
14. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 12, where multiple
conflicting invitations are sent to a candidate, and once the
candidate accepts one of them, a rejection is automatically
recorded for the others.
15. A method according to any preceding claim, where the candidate
data store stores one or more of the following types of
information: instances of inaccurate information provided by a
candidate, instances where a candidate declines an invitation,
instances where a candidate fails to appear for an accepted
invitation, and this information is used to affect that candidate's
ranking.
16. A method according to any preceding claim, where the candidate
data store stores details of invitations accepted by a candidate
and comments on their performance.
17. A method according to any preceding claim, where the cross
matching of availability utilizes electronic diaries, calendars or
rosters of employers, employees and candidates, and these are
automatically updated via the candidate and vacancy data stores to
keep them synchronized.
18. A method according to any preceding claim, where a second
implementation of the method is layered over a first implementation
to provide support services to candidates accepting a vacancy.
19. A method according to claim 18, where the first implementation
is used to recruit casual staff, and the second implementation is
used to find child-minding for the candidates to enable them to
accept invitations.
Description
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0001] This invention concerns filling vacancies. It may, for
example, be applied to finding replacements during staff shortages,
or to filling entire rosters. It may also be used to fill casually
occurring service needs, such as the need for a child minding
placement. It may be layered to integrate the filling of a vacancy
with the provision of a service for a related period of time. For
instance, integrating the filling of a teaching or nursing staff
vacancy with the provision of child minding services for the same
day.
BACKGROUND ART
[0002] Currently throughout education, medical, commercial,
hospitality and retail industries, one of the most onerous and
time-consuming tasks is finding replacement employees at short
notice. This activity frequently takes place under time constraints
and may not result in the best available person or best qualified
person being found.
[0003] Also, a large pool of potentially available personnel,
namely parents of young children, cannot be utilized because they
are unable to find child-minding services at short notice.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0004] The invention is a method for filling vacancy periods having
a defined start and end comprising the steps of:
[0005] Entering availability details into a candidate data
store;
[0006] Entering vacancy information into a vacancy data store;
[0007] Automatically cross-matching each vacancy to availability
details using a computer to create a list of available candidates
for each vacancy;
[0008] Automatically ordering the list for each vacancy using a
computer to rank the candidates according to predetermined
criteria; and
[0009] Filling each vacancy in turn with the top ranking available
candidate.
[0010] The filling of each vacancy may be automatic and may use a
computer. Alternatively, the method may be extended to include the
steps of communicating an invitation to the top ranked candidate in
respect of each vacancy and filling that vacancy by updating the
candidate and vacancy data stores, if a positive response is
received within a predetermined time. Otherwise, if a negative
response is received, or no response is received within the
predetermined time, then communicating another invitation to the
next ranked candidate, as above, until the vacancy is filled.
[0011] Using this method, the best ranked and available candidate
may be found for each vacancy in the shortest possible time. The
vacancy may be for an employee's position, for instance while a
permanent employee is absent, or where there is a shortage. In this
case the candidate is generally a suitably qualified person who
only wishes to work on a casual basis. Alternatively, the vacancy
may be for a service need, for instance rather than recruiting a
person to provide the services, it may be desirable to locate an
appropriate facility with spare capacity. In this case the vacancy
may be for child minding services for a single child, and the
candidate may be a child minding facility which has a child absent
for some reason.
[0012] Where the candidates are casual employees, information about
the working commitments of the permanent staff currently employed
by an employer may also be entered into a data store. This
information may include availability and job role information.
[0013] Vacancy information may be entered into the vacancy data
store by listing all the relevant data, or by nominating the absent
permanent staff person's name and automatically providing all their
work commitment information.
[0014] The casual staff requirement may be automatically
rationalized by analyzing the work commitments of all the absent
permanent staff over a given period of time.
[0015] Where a vacancy cannot be matched to an availability, or no
suitable available candidates are found, the vacancy may be split
into smaller sub-vacancies and the cross-matching repeated to
create a list of available candidates for each sub-vacancy. Then
the candidates are ranked to fill each sub-vacancy.
[0016] The predetermined criteria may be defined by the employer.
The criteria may include experience and performance. They may
include a `seek-first` criterion that gives a top ranking to
candidates identified by that employer. They may also include
ranking adjustments for a candidate available to fill successive
vacancies, whether for the same or a different position, over
several days in a given period of time. The ability to generate and
apply these grading rules gives the employer greater control of the
process than provided through an external agency while also
allowing their preferences to remain private as no third party is
informed. The ranked list may also be rearranged according to an
additional criterion of the employer after the automatic sort and
before the messages are communicated.
[0017] Templates of the invitations could be pre-stored and the
appropriate vacancy and candidate information automatically
inserted upon generation of the invitations. The use of automatic
messaging ensures that a greater degree of accuracy is achieved as
the re-entry of data is not required.
[0018] The communicating of the messages may be done automatically
using any suitable communications medium. For instance, fixed and
mobile phones, WAP, SMS, Internet, Intranet, email, I-mode, UMTS,
GPRS, 3G and other developing technological video streaming,
data/voice/video messaging systems, including remote access through
devices such as personal digital assistants and web phones and
wireless protocols
[0019] The first ranked candidate may be automatically
preliminarily booked and considered unavailable for the dates and
hours included in an invitation during the time that the invitation
remains open to that candidate, or until they transmit a response.
This avoids the problems associated with a candidate receiving
multiple conflicting offers from different vacancy data stores.
Alternatively, multiple offers may be allowed, especially where
those offers are to commence some considerable time in the future,
and once the candidate accepts one of them, a rejection is
automatically recorded for the others.
[0020] To encourage candidates to maintain the accuracy of their
availability information and hence also maintain the efficiency of
the system, each time candidate information is found to be
inaccurate or a candidate declines an employment offer, this could
be noted against their record. Similarly, if a candidate fails to
appear for an accepted offer, this may also be noted. These notices
could be used to affect that candidate's ranking.
[0021] A candidate data store may contain details of positions
accepted by a candidate and comments on their performance. The
candidate may make this information available to all potential
employers as a reference.
[0022] The cross matching of availability may utilise electronic
diaries, calendars or rosters of employers, employees and
candidates. These may be automatically updated from the candidate
and vacancy data stores to keep them synchronised. Payroll may be
compiled from these data stores.
[0023] Optionally, each employer, employee and candidate could
access their own past records through their respective diaries to
assist with their own record keeping.
[0024] Optionally, an employee may report their absence using such
a diary.
[0025] To provide privacy, any security systems, such as firewalls,
registration numbers, passwords and pin numbers could by used.
[0026] The method may be implemented in layers, so that a first
implementation layer may recruit casual teachers or nursing staff,
and a second implementation layer may operate to find child minders
for the teacher and nurse candidates to enable them to accept
invitations. The implementation layers may communicate with one
another so that a vacancy offered to a teacher may cause an
invitation for a child minding place. If the child minding place is
available the layers may communicate so that the teaching or
nursing vacancy is automatically accepted.
[0027] Another aspect of the invention is a computer system for
filling vacancy periods having a defined start and end,
comprising:
[0028] A candidate data store to accept and store availability
details data;
[0029] A vacancy data store to accept and store vacancy data;
[0030] A processor to automatically cross-match each vacancy to
availability details to create a list of available candidates for
each vacancy, to automatically order the list for each vacancy to
rank the candidates according to predetermined criteria, and to
fill each vacancy in turn with the top ranking available
candidate.
[0031] Each vacancy may be automatically filled. Alternatively, the
system may operate to forward an invitation for transmission to the
top ranked candidate in respect of each vacancy and to receive a
response, and to fill that vacancy by updating the candidate and
vacancy data stores if a positive response is received within a
predetermined time. Otherwise, if a negative response is received,
or no response is received within the predetermined time, to
forward another invitation for transmission to the next ranked
candidate, and so on, until the vacancy is filled.
[0032] The system may further comprise a communications subsystem
for transmitting the invitations and receiving responses to
them.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0033] An example of the invention will now be described with
reference to the accompanying drawings; in which:
[0034] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a computer system including
individual school and teacher systems; and
[0035] FIG. 2 is a flow chart of the procedure when using WAP, web
based, wireless protocols, PDAs, telephone/voice/data/video
messaging systems as automatic communication means.
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
[0036] The example concerns the education industry, and in
particular the employing of casual teachers to replace absent
employees on a day-to-day basis.
[0037] Referring first to FIG. 1, each school registered with the
system 1 is provided with a program for use on their internal
sub-system only 2, including a calendar/diary, on which they will
store their own confidential information about prospective casuals,
part-time employers or contract workers. Subjects, teacher types
and schools have specific nominated codes which are used throughout
the entire system, by both schools and teachers.
[0038] The school's sub-system will include information including
its Department of Education and Training number with a unique state
number concatenated to the beginning to uniquely identify the
schools. The school may also maintain details of the teaching
commitments of each member of staff on their sub-system. The
school's calendar/diary includes dates of in-service, holidays and
other relevant information such as long-service and maternity-leave
dates where a replacement will be needed. Each system 2 is
protected by a security screen 3 and a password.
[0039] Video streaming and/or presenting positive news and images
about schools and locations/districts that are difficult to staff,
in order to overcome stereotypes and to present a positive image.
These powerful tools have the capacity to greatly assist in the
recruitment and retention of casual teachers.
[0040] The school may also include on their sub-system a predefined
set of rules that will enable the school to grade all prospective
teachers according to various criteria selected by them. For
example the schools will rank the teachers, for internal purposes
of that school only, into categories. An example of eight possible
categories are:
[0041] 1. Highly recommended
[0042] 2. Recommended
[0043] 3. Not Yet Ranked
[0044] 4. Not previously employed at this school
[0045] 5. If required
[0046] 6. Not recommended
[0047] 7. Teacher has been requested not to be employed at this
school
[0048] 8. Not to be employed
[0049] Factors that can be taken into account when grading teachers
include, but is not limited by:
[0050] 1. Previous experiences with that school;
[0051] 2. Duration of previous experience with that school
[0052] 3. Levels taught;
[0053] 4. Last date employed;
[0054] 5. The need for child-minding or the amount of child minding
hours required;
[0055] 6. Information assessed from CVs and interviews, including
years of seniority;
[0056] 7. Specific qualification;
[0057] 8. Comments made by other schools based on previous
employment;
[0058] 9. Distance from the school (can be calculated from
postcodes; mapping as provided by Telstra white pages maps and GPS
approximations);
[0059] 10. Whether employee has specifically preferenced that
school
[0060] 11. Whether Employee has specifically preferenced certain
levels of teaching;
[0061] 12. Qualifications, such as subjects qualified to teach;
and
[0062] 13. Any additional desirable speciality qualifications or
interests such as specific languages, or poor track record.
[0063] All teachers registered with the system 1 have access via
their personal computers or laptops 4, to their own sub-systems
with individual calendars/diaries containing approximately two
years of dates upon which teachers place their availability
information for transfer and storage in an availability data store
5, when the teacher is connected to the system 1.
[0064] The teacher may also provide details of their child-minding
requirements, such as the date of birth of the child and the
duration on the calendar/diary which will arise in the event that
they accept employment for any of the availability times contained
on the calendar/diary. The teachers have the responsibility of
keeping the calendar/diaries accurate. However, the
calendar/diaries are automatically updated by the system in the
event that the teacher accepts or rejects an offer of employment.
These calendars/diaries are connected to the system 1.
[0065] An example of the information that the teacher would be
required to supply is as follows:
[0066] Name
[0067] Phone number:
[0068] Home:
[0069] Mobile:
[0070] E-mail Address:
[0071] Address (suburb and postcode only):
[0072] Postal Address (for internal school records only, used to
post salary cheques, superannuation information and other relevant
information.)
[0073] Type of Teacher (use code):
[0074] Pre-School
[0075] Infants
[0076] Primary
[0077] Secondary
[0078] Subjects qualified to teach (list codes):
[0079] What levels qualified to teach subject:
[0080] Formal credentials for these subjects:
[0081] Subjects prepared to teach:
[0082] Teaching preference for subject (level 1 to 3):
[0083] Department of education and training approval number:
[0084] Catholic Education Office
[0085] Independent Schools
[0086] Anglican Schools
[0087] No approval number currently required for the following
categories:
[0088] Before school care
[0089] After school care
[0090] Vacation Care
[0091] Long day care
[0092] Evidence of Lodgement of "Prohibited Employment Declaration"
form. It is an offence under the NSW Child Protection (Prohibited
Employment) Act 1998 for a person convicted of a serious sex
offence to apply for this position.
[0093] List where prepared to teach:
[0094] Specific Schools (list code):
[0095] Districts:
[0096] Locations:
[0097] List specific schools (if any) where not prepared to teach
(list code):
[0098] Option of including CV/resume
[0099] The teacher's system would reflect this information. On a
regular basis each teacher would update his/her availability, thus
maintaining the calendar/diary's accuracy. Also recorded are
approximately three placements taken by the teacher through the
agency system, which will ordinarily be the most recent ones. Each
previously completed placement may include a comment from the
school on that teacher's performance. The teacher cannot amend
these comments but can nominate the particular schools which are
displayed.
[0100] For accounting reasons the system also records the schools
at which the teacher employed through the system and the term of
each period of employment. In addition the number of days each
teacher was absent each year could also be recorded, if the
employer sought this service.
[0101] Referring now to FIG. 2, when a vacancy/vacancies arise/s 9,
the school uses the software applications installed on the school's
sub-system 2 to list the vacancy/vacancies on their calendar/diary
10 and to generate vacancy information for the relevant staff. The
type of information required would be as follows:
[0102] Type of teacher (use code);
[0103] Starting date of employment;
[0104] Number of days (including half days and hours);
[0105] Place of employment (name of school);
[0106] Classes to be taught;
[0107] Any special qualifications required (if any);
[0108] Location of childcare facility.
[0109] This information could be entered into the system directly
by the school in the event of a vacancy. Alternatively, if the
school's sub-system maintained a record of the teaching commitments
of the current staff, the school may select the name of the teacher
that is absent and enter the dates which the teacher needs to be
replaced. In this way, the system may retrieve automatically from
the system the details of that teaching commitment that needs
replacing, and accordingly the qualifications that the replacement
teacher needs. More than one vacancy could be entered into the
system in this manner.
[0110] The creation of vacancy information by a school on their
calendar/diary automatically activates the system 1. The system
receives the vacancy information and stores it in a vacancy data
store, and then performs a cross-check of the vacancy details with
the existing teaching commitments of the staff employed by the
school to provide the most appropriate and economical manner to
replace the teacher, in that the current staff may be able to cover
some of the absent teacher's commitments. The school's requirements
are cross-matched 11 against all teachers registered on the system.
Any teacher that is qualified to fill the vacancy, possesses the
special qualifications requested (if any) and is available will
appear on the list of generated people.
[0111] This list is then ranked using the categories predefined by
the school listed above 12 including a `seek-first-search` list of
particular teachers who are given the overall highest ranking for
that school. The school has the option to automatically re-sort any
random casuals within their particular categories in order to
overcome any bias. The names of the three teachers at the top of
the list are then displayed 15.
[0112] With each of the three teachers nominated by the system, a
list of three previous placements taken by the teacher is
displayed, along with an optional descriptive comment from that
school on the teacher's performance. If desired, the school may
re-prioritise the ranked teachers by changing their order on the
list.
[0113] The first teacher on the list is automatically selected 17
and is preliminarily booked while the offer of employment is
communicated to them in real-time. That teacher is now considered
temporarily unavailable by the system for the dates included in the
offer:
[0114] A completed Voice/WAP message is automatically compiled with
the relevant information inserted and is sent 19 to the teacher. An
example of a voice message sent to the teacher is as follows:
[0115] This call is for (teacher name)
[0116] An offer of employment from the NSW Department of Education
and Training. To continue enter your casual approval number and
press #
[0117] <upon successful entry>
[0118] Please enter your numbered pass code and press #
[0119] <upon successful entry>
[0120] (Name of school) offers you (number of full time days) from
(starting
[0121] To accept this offer press 1#
[0122] To reject press 2#"
[0123] <upon acceptance or rejection>
[0124] You have (accepted or rejected) the offer;
[0125] <details of offer repeated>
[0126] Is this correct? If correct, press <#> <if
successful, call ends>;
[0127] If incorrect press <#>;
[0128] To accept the offer press <#>;
[0129] To reject press <#>.
[0130] This message will be able to accommodate for a range of
possibilities including the `possible subjects` that that the
teacher might teach during the offered term of employment. There is
also the capacity to be guided through several incorrect attempts
before being cut off, repeating certain information and also to
advise of an inappropriate response.
[0131] Alternatively, once the generated list of available teachers
is created, the invitation to fill the vacancy information may be
forwarded to the school so that the school may manually telephone
the teacher themselves. If the school nominates to contact a
particular teacher on the list by using this `phone option`, the
system simply displays the teacher's contact details after the
principal has selected the preferred casual. Once the casual has
been selected, he/she is automatically considered booked by the
system and remains so until the principal `accepts` or `rejects`
the offer on behalf on the selected teacher. The cycle then
continues as described above until the offer is accepted by a
teacher.
[0132] Where automatic updating of the teacher's and school's
calendars/diaries is not possible., a school can select one or more
teachers from its generated ranked list and mark them as
`preliminarily booked`. These teachers are now considered by the
system as unavailable for a short period of time, for example five
minutes, while they are contacted in sequence.
[0133] The teacher has a short pre-determined time period, for
example two minutes, in which to respond to the offer. The allowed
response time may vary depending on the time available before the
vacancy needs to be filled and according to what time of the day,
or week the offer message is sent. For instance, if the offer
message is sent late at night, the acceptance message may not have
to be sent until 7 am of the next school day. The reply is sent in
real-time via a WAP/Internet message which is largely pre-stored in
template form on the teacher's sub-system and is automatically
generated with the appropriate information once an offer is
received and the teacher initiates a response.
[0134] The school system automatically responds to a negative
response 23 or lack of response 24 to an offer after the stipulated
time period expires. On the receipt of either of these responses
the teacher who did not accept is automatically suspended in limbo
25 and is considered unavailable by the system until the school
that made the offer has secured a replacement teacher by receiving
an acceptance to the offer of employment from another teacher. This
not only ensures that this teacher cannot re-enter the available
list of this particular school that day, but also means that at
least temporarily that teacher cannot be offered employment at
another school.
[0135] Rejections or failures to reply are recorded against the
teacher's name. After a predetermined number of such incidences the
teacher's `default status` is set to a predetermined value. Future
incidences of failure to reply or rejections will increase this
default status 27. The value of the default status could be used to
prioritise a teacher's ranking in future lists of available
teachers generated by schools. Once a teacher's default status
reaches a predetermined value, it can be used to suspend the
teacher from the system for a predetermined penalty period. The
length of this extended suspension would vary depending the number
of times the teacher has previously had such notices recorded. This
is a way of exerting pressure on the teacher to ensure that he/she
maintains an up-to-date calendar which genuinely reflects his/her
willingness to accept offers from the schools on his/her nominated
list. In the long term this should reduce the capacity for spurious
hits by schools on unavailable teachers.
[0136] If the school does not receive an acceptance to their offer
of employment from the contacted teacher within the predetermined
time period, the teacher is removed from the top of the ranked list
26 and the next teacher on the ranked list of available teachers is
preliminarily booked 17 and sent a WAP/voice message 19 containing
the identical offer. This cycle is repeatedly executed, working
down the list of available teachers until a reply of acceptance is
received by the school. However, the employer has discretion to
discontinue the process if the search gets below a certain level of
ranking.
[0137] Once an acceptance is received by the school 29, both the
school's and teacher's calendars/diaries are automatically updated
in real time to reflect the acceptance 31. An acceptance from the
employee is a binding agreement. The teacher's availability for
other days and times remains unaffected 32.
[0138] Acceptance may involve the teacher sending a reply via
WAP/WEB. Acceptance by phone is also possible 30, and 1900, 1800 or
13 numbers may be used to accept an offer of employment.
[0139] This could involve the use of registration numbers, pin
numbers and possibly CLI (caller-line identification) that would
provide similar security to that offered by banking services. The
use of CLI would mean that the person making the call from a
registered phone, such as a mobile that had received an offer of
employment could be identified automatically. Therefore it could be
assumed that the person was making a positive response to the offer
and a hold could be placed on the offer until the person had enough
time to complete the inputting of the security information and
completed the acceptance and possible payment procedures.
[0140] A possible example of an interactive voice message, to which
the teacher makes a response, inputting the correct registration
and pin numbers may be: `You have been offered 7 Full Time
Equivalent days at Plumpton High School commencing 2.4.2001. If you
accept this offer please press 1#. Reject 2#.` Because of costs
involved, the teacher may be encouraged to only respond when
accepting offers. If a positive response is not received within the
mandatory time-period, an automatic rejection may be imposed.
[0141] Once the teacher completes their placement, there may be the
option, if both parties are in agreement for the school to place a
comment on the teacher's performance on the system 33, so that it
is available to all future employers registered with the system.
Alternatively, if the teacher does not turn up at the school to
fulfil the employment offer, this will be noted against the
teacher. Repeated instances of failing to turn up may also affect
the teacher's ranking as did the teacher's default status 27. These
records can be used to purge teachers from the system who are
unreliable or are not genuinely committed to being available for
employment. A school may seek to clarify a teacher's record (i.e.
the default status and failures to appear noted against a teacher's
name). Such requests can automatically be generated by the system
and sent to the teacher immediately upon accessing their
sub-system. A teacher will also have the ability to appeal any such
records in order to maintain the system's accuracy.
[0142] For accounting and administration reasons the system is also
able to automatically update in real-time the school at which the
teacher is employed and the term of each period of employment. This
is recorded on both the school and teacher sub-systems which may be
accessed by them at a later stage to retrieve their past records.
The system, by providing the school the ability to record
information such as the number of days each permanent teacher was
absent or days where a casual teacher failed to appear, may
interact with the school's administration to both input and extract
information helpful to its departments such as the pay-roll system.
The information may also be shared with the department of
education.
[0143] The conditions created by the completion of the system's
cycle, may invoke a similar cycle, say for of filling a child
minding service vacancy, in a parallel system. For example, once an
offer has been accepted, the teacher may require child minding
while they travel to and from the appointment and while they are
teaching. The information of the resulting child-minding
requirements can be communicated to a parallel system that is
operating to employ child-minding staff by a childcare
facility.
[0144] This parallel system would receive child-minding information
from the result of employing one or more teachers. These
requirements can be rationalised out by the system to calculate the
amount of child-care staff required, taking into account the
possible child minding needs of the childcare staff. The amount of
child-minding staff will be largely dependent on the age and number
of the children that need minding. As the system stores the dates
of birth of each of the children that may require childcare, it
readily recognises the ages of all children requiring childcare on
any particular day. Thus by using the Government recommended
staff-to-children ratios such as 1:5 for children younger than 2
years of age and 1:8 for children between 2 and 3 years and 1:10
for children older than 3 years, the system can give an instant
readout of the hourly staffing requirements of the childcare
facility. The child-minding facility is able to control the
rationalisation process to amend this calculating algorithm (i.e.
the facility may prefer to employ more than the legal minimum).
Having calculated the amount of staff required, the childcare
centre may activate the creation of a new cycle in the system that
goes through the steps 9 to 33 above to find replacement staff.
[0145] Further Options
[0146] If the system cannot exactly match the school's request with
teachers' availability, the system can notify the school, who can
then choose the option of activating the `nearest possible
availability match`. This option would seek to find a teacher who
is available for some of the required days. For instance, the
search of the data store may find a teacher who cannot work the
whole week as requested by the school, but is available for the
first four days of the week. Such a teacher would be ranked above
someone who is available for only one to three days or a teacher
who is available for the last four days the school requires, but
not the first day, as the most immediate problem confronting the
school is to find a teacher for the most immediate days. Having
booked someone for the first few days, the school then has a few
days breathing space in which to find another teacher to take the
fifth day, or make some other arrangements within the school.
[0147] If a school was frequently presented with this problem it
could nominate to have an option of finding the best possible mix
of teachers automated. In such a case the system, after
unsuccessfully searching the system for a teacher for the requested
five days, would automatically search for a teacher for the first
four days, then three days etc. Having secured such a teacher, the
system would then search for a teacher to complement this teacher's
booking and thus match the school's request by employing two or
more teachers. However, the school would have the option of
pre-determining the maximum number of teachers the system could
employ to fill the extended vacancy. In this way the school could
avoid the situation arising in which five different teachers are
employed to fill a five-day vacancy
[0148] Teachers may also be given the option of creating a priority
list to rank prospective schools. In this way, if two or more
schools are searching for a Physical Education (PE) teacher and
these schools have the same teacher ranked first on their generated
availability list for a vacancy, then the school which the PE
teacher had previously ranked the highest in his/her priority
order, will have their offer of employment sent to that teacher
first.
[0149] If offers are conveyed a long enough time before an
employer's nominated response time and date, the teacher could be
shown a list of schools seeking his/her services and details of the
offers of employment. That is to say that if offers were conveyed
on the previous day or evening and a mandatory employer nominated
response time was 7 am the following morning, the teacher may have
the opportunity to review the list of schools which are making an
offer to him/her as their first priority and examine the details of
the offer in order to decide which offer he/she may accept. Whist
the schools will be ranked according to the teacher's predetermined
priority order, the terms and length of employment may differ. Thus
a teacher may elect to take the third ranked school which is
offering a longer period of employment, or a year level which
he/she prefers to teach.
[0150] A teacher may also elect to chose the option in which the
system ranks schools currently offering employment according to the
duration of time or the number of FTE (full time equivalent days)
the particular school is offering. This FTE ranking can either be
done within specific priority categories previously allocated to
schools by the teacher, or across the full spectrum of schools
making offers of employment.
[0151] The system is updated as teachers accept or reject offers.
For instance a teacher who accepts the third ranked offer is in
effect rejecting all other offers and his/her calendar/diary is
automatically blocked for these particular days. As a consequence,
all the remaining offers which this teacher had are automatically
rejected. Subsequently the next highest ranked teacher for these
remaining offers will have his/her list of offers automatically
updated to reflect that he/she is now being offered employment at
one or more of the schools still seeking a teacher.
[0152] Early offers of employment are likely to arise as a result
of maternity of long service leave by an employee. These early
offers are most suited to the Internet type of communication means
and will have a mandatory set time, such as 7 am of the day when
the employment is to commence, in which the system reverts to the
automated or manual phone system continuing the cycle until a
suitable teacher for the vacancy is found. In continuing the cycle,
offers of employment not accepted by a teacher after that period
would automatically be made to the school's next ranked
teacher.
[0153] Likewise, for offers of employment in which the starting
date of the employment is a considerable time in the future, there
may be attached to the offer a time and date at which that offer
will lapse and therefore be made available to the next ranked
teacher. In order to enable teachers to choose the employment offer
most suited to their needs, there would be no penalties or
suspension for teachers rejecting all but one of the early offers
made to him/her before 7 am on the day nominated by the school.
[0154] To eliminate the need to have someone such as a school
principal/executive or human resource manager to input arising
vacancies once they have been notified of such vacancies, it would
be possible to amend the system in such a way that trusted and/or
nominated staff could, with or without notifying the employer
through a system of security codes, be allowed to enter the
vacancies which they may generate through illness, misadventure,
overlapping contractual problems or travel difficulties, which
after validation checks, would be automatically entered on the
employer's calendar and the process of cross-matching is
automatically initiated. In this way the workload of the
principal/human resource manager would be greatly reduced. In some
businesses this may lessen the number of HR managers required.
[0155] For businesses in which highly qualified people are working
to tight schedules and need to rely on national and international
travel in order to get them to their next appointment, this fully
automated `auto-replace` system would allow the most suitable
replacement for a delayed or sick employee to be found in the
shortest possible time, without reference to a third party.
[0156] In areas of employment such as schools and many businesses,
the employees could log onto their site and indicate the days they
are to be absent. This information would be held in the system
until the employer has the opportunity to review the number of
people to be absent, the term of each absence as well as the
reasons for the absences before initiating the process of
cross-matching to find a replacement employee. In this way the
employer has the opportunity to review staff requirements for the
specific period. This may provide the employer the opportunity of
making some internal rearrangements within the organisation so as
to rationalise the number or replacement staff required. In such a
circumstance it would be advisable to encourage staff to give early
notification of absence, for example 6:30 am, so that the school
has some time to review staffing options before the cross-matching
to find replacement staff.
[0157] If a late notification of absence was received by the system
the employer would be sent a `late notification of absence` message
notifying the employer of the details and the possible need to
reassess staff requirements. The employer may either then ignore
the option to vary the previous staffing request; alter the request
for replacement staff by adjusting school's vacancy details; or
choose to simply replace the absent staff member.
[0158] The method and system are readily adaptable to use as a
rostering system, in which the initial and on-going rosters are
prepared by the employer using the availability calendars/diaries
of the employees, prospective employees and contractors.
[0159] Any business, large or small, or any employer can use
previously outlined calendars and ranking systems to allocate
hours/positions to staff.
[0160] While this system has been described with particular
reference to the employment of teachers within the education
system, it should be appreciated that the system could be altered
to recruit or manage any form of staff within any area of
employment.
[0161] This system can be used in such a way that individual
employers for example a large hospital and other health services.
The system would operate in the same way but be designed to
accommodate for the different needs of the health industry such as
the use of a 24-hour calender and the inclusion of information on
the health facilities, wards and medical qualifications of the
potential staff. Additional skills of the potential staff may also
be included such as second languages that are relevant to the
health care facility. The grading algorithm used by health
facilities may bias the permanent staff. Accordingly, the permanent
staff may also place on the system their preferences for shifts. In
the event of a vacancy the system will go through the procedures
outline in steps 9 to 33 above. The recruiting of casual nurses
through this system may benefit greatly from a parallel system
offering child-minding services. As the nurse availability
calendars are 24 hours, the parallel system recruiting casual
child-minding staff may also operate on a 24-hour calender. The
child-minding service could also be offered to the full and part
time staff of the health facility to promote a more flexible
rostering system ameliorating many of the difficulties associated
with the recruitment and retention of nursing staff. In addition,
childcare could be offered to the children of the childcare
workers.
[0162] Alternatively the system could be also be used to fill any
shifts that cannot be covered by the permanent full-time and
permanent part-time staff. For example, after compiling a roster, a
Director of Nursing (DON)/Nursing Administrator may discover that
there are vacant shifts (holes). The DON/Nursing Administrator uses
a `Quick Fix` facility indicate the number of RNs required for each
shift. The relevant dates are input and then the system takes into
account the nurses' qualifications and availability along with each
nurse's nominated maximum number of consecutive days and the
maximum number of days per roster he/she is willing to work to
allocate shifts to nurses who match the DON's request. A nominated
`buffer` usually about 8 hours is used to ensure that nurses do not
receive consecutive shifts.
[0163] Once the cross matching has been completed, details of the
offers of employment can be posted on each nurse's sub-system. As
rosters are required to be completed some weeks before the actual
first day of work during the relevant roster, it would be possible
to give the nurse approximately 24 hours to accept or reject each
or all of the shifts simply by pressing an `accept` or `reject`
button on his/her personal Internet/Intranet page.
[0164] After a nominated period the DON would receive a read-out of
the details of the shifts that had been filled (accepted) and the
shifts that were still unfilled. The DON would then have the option
of getting the system to repeat the search for available nurses and
again make offers of employment via the Internet or Intranet, or
use a messaging system or using the `Phone Option` to speak
personally to nurses whom the system has identified as available
during the relevant vacant shifts.
[0165] As childcare details are associated with all nurses who have
requested childcare during the relevant shifts, these details can
be taken into account prior to offering employment to the nurse, as
well as used to update the Director of the childcare facility of
incoming children and any particular care requirements relevant to
each child. The system can also provide details of available
childcare workers so that the required childcare workers can be
phoned or messaged.
[0166] When searching for replacement nurses the system first
considers whether the potential employee (being a nurse) has the
special qualifications required and experience in a particular
ward. This will exclude all registered nurses that do not hold the
nominated requisite qualifications. The system may alternatively
search for those nurses who posses the preferred qualifications.
The system will initially search for nurses who hold the
`preferred` additional nursing speciality qualifications. When this
list is exhausted, the system will seek nurses without the
`preferred` additional nursing qualifications, until such time as
the vacancy is filled or the pool of available RNs is
exhausted.
[0167] Other employers that may utilise the system are government
and semi-government bodies, retailers, service providers, casinos
and professional bodies may enter into a contract in which the
service is provided directly to them. This could be seen as an
in-house service or an out-sourcing service and would be negotiated
on an employer by employer basis. Such a scheme would highlight the
individual employer's level of control over the process, whilst at
the same time enabling the employer to quickly obtain staff without
the current excessive fees associated with outside bodies such as
nursing or employment agencies.
[0168] On the other hand the service could take the form of a more
general format in which the system seeks to enlist as many casuals,
part-time and contract workers as possible and then basing the
revenue on either charging them a membership fee, placing them on
phone contracts, or charging the employer and/or employee a
placement fee or percentage of wage/salary fee. Obviously such an
approach would still require the cooperation of large-scale
employers. However, it would differ from the previous approach in
as much as the employer is not contracted for the provision of
service specifically designed for their company and over which that
company has a larger degree of control.
[0169] The system can be expanded to add favourable features in the
future directed towards the specific industries that are the end
users of the system.
[0170] This could include a chat room to attract users to this
service and provide a forum where appropriate issues could be
discussed and a more expansive calendar including social, seminar
and conference dates. Systems contracted to specific large
employer, employer groups/bodies or even union groups could include
industry related news on upcoming seminars, conferences, notices
for upcoming permanent employment positions and relevant
advertising. The system could also be adapted to include
information about job and/or house swapping in appropriate holiday
periods. Specifically targeted advertisements of interest to the
users could be included and would also serve as a generator of
income. Professional advice such as resume updating and career
management could also be introduced to the system in order to
encourage people to use the system.
[0171] It will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that
numerous variations and/or modifications may be made to the
invention as shown in the specific embodiments without departing
from the spirit or scope of the invention as broadly described. The
present embodiments are, therefore, to be considered in all
respects as illustrative and not restrictive.
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