1. ¹Department of Management, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya; Diagonal 647, 08028 Barcelona, Spain
2. ²Department of Management, Institute of Industrial and Control Engineering (IOC), Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya; Diagonal 647, 08028 Barcelona, Spain

Correspondence: Rafael Pastor, Tel. + 34 93 401 17 01; Fax. + 34 93 401 66 05; E-mail: rafael.pastor@upc.edu

Abstract

At call centres, work schedules change frequently and are often announced at the last minute, which causes absenteeism and turnover. We analyzed the call centre of a major Spanish electricity company. This centre requires a long initial training period and therefore turnover is especially damaging. New scheduling methods were adopted that limited the variability of individual timetables. Lower turnover and absenteeism were expected to compensate for the disadvantages of limitations to changes in timetables. We developed a software tool to assign timetables. An interval of time was assigned to each worker. The software calculated the coverage demand associated with these assignments. Next, the software establishes work on weekends and public holidays, weekday days off and, finally, individual timetables. This process is fully automatic, but every detail is displayed. Middle managers approved of the new policy and the tool. Nonetheless, turnover decreased less than expected and absenteeism, rather than decreasing, increased.