Scheduling Without Chaos!

Hi there, I’m Amanda. I am a Lead Quality Assurance Analyst and multiple hat wearer (depending on operational needs) at ShiftX. I’m a happy part of this cutting edge & fun startup, ShiftX, which is led by some of the smartest, and most talented innovative minds in the tech industry.

My career, interestingly, has come full circle. How so? Back in my early 20’s, I was hired to be an America West Airlines reservations call center sales agent. It was one of the most demanding jobs I’ve ever had (if you’ve ever worked on the phones, I’m sure you can relate). However, this experience set the direction of my career (who’d-a-thunk-it).

Through the difficulties and challenges this job presented, I am forever grateful for the experience. You might be wondering how this has any relevance to today. Well, a particular pain point regarding the scheduling process, that not just reservations agents experienced, but also customer service & gate agents and many others with rotating schedules or shifts, was that it was 100% MANUAL. It was a manual process for both the Admins creating/assigning the schedules, as well as the agents who bid on the schedules.

I recall this process being one of the most stressful occasions. Admins would type out hundreds of schedule lines with various shifts and days off, then print and staple thousands of these papers. Once we as agents got our hands on these pages filled with shifts, we’d study them and carefully make our selections. We would go around asking our peers (the folks that had higher seniority than ourselves) what their likely selection would be so that we can attempt to figure out what shifts would potentially be available to us. We would be assigned a bidding day and time, and we would go to a conference room where the admins would be sitting behind some tables with the schedules printed out in front of them. These schedules would be all marked up with the assignments of all the previous agents who bid before me. I’d go in, see what lines were available, and make a selection based on whatever shifts that were remaining. There were occasions when I was on a long call with a customer and would be late to make my shift bid selection. Oh, the agony! I knew that lower seniority agents were getting the opportunity to get the shifts for which I planned so carefully. It was a reality that I’m certain all agents have experienced at one point or another.

Fast forward a lot of years later; I am now part of a team that solves that very issue and more. ShiftX does the scheduling without any of the chaos. What does that mean? We are focused on the airline industry. Our goal is to make the scheduling process easy, save time and improve employee satisfaction. So that means taking the entirely manual process and automating it. Admins will no longer spend countless hours creating shifts and assigning them. Agents will no longer need to spend days studying several pages or tap on shoulders asking others what they will bid. The best part is not missing or being late to make your scheduled bid selection because of a long customer call. Agents now can prioritize their schedule bid line preferences ahead of time. So, if the agent is unable to make their live bidding window, no problem! The system auto-assigns in order of seniority and by the agent’s preferences. What a huge relief!

I’ve lived through the trials and pains of being an agent, which has ultimately brought me to a team solving the problems of past Amanda. I get to be part of the solution in removing those problems of old. When I reflect on my time as an airline agent, I feel so fortunate and grateful for the foundation and education that it has given me. At ShiftX, I contribute to solving the scheduling problem for my old co-workers and all airline employees. For me, this is truly an exciting time!