METHOD, SYSTEM, AND COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCT FOR EFFECTIVE TASK MANAGEMENT

• US 20090276281A1
• Filed: 04/30/2008
• Published: 11/05/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 04/30/2008
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Koster Abad, Eduardo M., Ramakrishnan, Sreekanth, Foltz, Christopher T.
• Application Number:
  US12/112,922
• Publication Number:
  US 20090276281A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/9
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/063112 Skill-based matching of a person or a group to a task

Abstract

A method for effective employee assignment including determining a number of employees needed to perform each of a plurality of tasks, determining a skill flexibility index (SFI) of each employee, determining a job quality index (JQI) of each employee, determining a minimum acceptable (min. JQI) for each task, and for each task, in an order from highest min. JQI to lowest min. JQI, assigning each employee to the task having a JQI higher than or equivalent to the min. JQI in an order from each employee with a lower SFI and a higher JQI to an employee with a higher SFI and a lower JQI until the number of employees needed to perform the task is assigned or there are no more available employees to assign to the task having a JQI higher than or equivalent to the min. JQI of the task. A corresponding system and computer program product.

Claims

1. A method for effective employee assignment, the method comprising:

determining a number of employees needed to perform each of a plurality of tasks based on a demand amount for each task;

determining a skill flexibility index of each of the employees comprising a scaled index of a total number of skill certifications of each employee to perform the plurality of tasks, wherein a greater skill flexibility index indicates a greater skill flexibility;

determining a job quality index of each of the employees comprising a scaled index of a job performance quality rating of each employee, wherein a greater job quality index indicates a greater job quality performance;

determining a minimum acceptable job quality index for each of the plurality of tasks; and

for each task, in an order from the task with a highest minimum acceptable job quality index to the task with a lowest minimum acceptable job quality index, assigning each employee to the task that has a job quality index that is higher than or equivalent to the minimum acceptable job quality index of the task in an order from each employee with a lower skill flexibility and a higher job quality performance to an employee with a higher skill flexibility and a lower job quality performance until the number of employees needed to perform the task is assigned or there are no more available employees to assign to the task that have a job quality index that is higher than or equivalent to the minimum acceptable job quality index of the task.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein determining a number of employees needed to perform each of a plurality of tasks comprises computing, rounded to the nearest integer, the demand amount for each task multiplied by a raw processing time for the task divided by a number of daily work hours.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein determining a skill flexibility index of each of the employees comprises computing, rounded to the nearest integer, a determined maximum skill flexibility index value multiplied by a ratio of a total number of skill certifications of each employee to perform the plurality of tasks divided by a maximum available number of skill certifications that each employee can obtain to perform the plurality of tasks, wherein the computed skill flexibility index is an integer in a range of zero to the determined maximum skill flexibility index value.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein determining a job quality index of each of the employees comprises computing a ratio of non-compliant task performance divided by overall task performance.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein assigning each employee to the task comprises:

creating a matrix record that comprises a plurality of cells, wherein;

a first column of the cells is populated with a list of identifying information of the employees in an ascending order from each employee with a lower skill flexibility index to an employee with a higher skill flexibility index; and

remaining columns of the cells respectively correspond to each of the plurality of tasks and are populated with the job quality index and skill flexibility index in the remaining columns of the cells corresponding to each task along a row of the cells corresponding to the identifying information of each employee; and

for each remaining column corresponding to each task, in an order from the task with a highest minimum acceptable job quality index to the task with a lowest minimum acceptable job quality index, until the number of employees needed to perform the task is found or there are no more job quality indexes in the remaining column that are higher than or equivalent to the minimum acceptable job quality index of the task;

searching each row of cells in the ascending order for a job quality index that is higher than or equivalent to the minimum acceptable job quality index of the task corresponding to each remaining column; and

marking each cell of the matrix record in which the job quality index is found that is higher than or equivalent to the minimum acceptable job quality index thereby indicating an assignment of the corresponding employee to the task and the unavailability of the corresponding employee for assignment to one of the other tasks;

wherein, if more than one task has a same minimum acceptable job quality index, the columns corresponding to the tasks are searched in the order that the tasks are respectively performed.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

designating each employee having a high job quality index and a low skill flexibility index as needing action to obtain certification in other tasks;

designating each employee having a low job quality index and a high skill flexibility index as needing action to improve job quality performance;

designating each employee having a job quality index that is less than the minimum job quality index of each task and a low skill flexibility index as needing action to obtain certification in other tasks and improve job quality performance or to transfer to a different job responsibility; and

determining that action is needed to improve a business structure if there is a low assignment of available employees to the plurality of tasks or a high unavailability of employees to assign to the plurality of tasks.

7. A system for effective employee assignment, comprising:

a resource deployment matrix in communication with a personnel database and a planning database and configured to;

determine a number of employees needed to perform each of a plurality of tasks based on a demand amount for each task obtained from the planning database;

determine a skill flexibility index of each of the employees comprising a scaled index of a total number of skill certifications of each employee to perform the plurality of tasks based on skill certification data from the personnel database, wherein a greater skill flexibility index indicates a greater skill flexibility;

determine a job quality index of each of the employees comprising a scaled index of a job performance quality rating of each employee based on job performance data from the personnel database, wherein a greater job quality index indicates a greater job quality performance;

determine a minimum acceptable job quality index for each of the plurality of tasks based on user input data or demand data from the planning database;

for each task, in an order from the task with a highest minimum acceptable job quality index to the task with a lowest minimum acceptable job quality index, assign each employee to the task that has a job quality index that is higher than or equivalent to the minimum acceptable job quality index of the task in an order from each employee with a lower skill flexibility and a higher job quality performance to an employee with a higher skill flexibility and a lower job quality performance until the number of employees needed to perform the task is assigned or there are no more available employees to assign to the task that have a job quality index that is higher than or equivalent to the minimum acceptable job quality index of the task; and

output data indicating respective assignments of the employees to the tasks for computation or user review.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the resource deployment matrix is configured to determine a number of employees needed to perform each of a plurality of tasks by computing, rounded to the nearest integer, the demand amount for each task multiplied by a raw processing time for the task divided by a number of daily work hours, wherein the raw processing time is also obtained from the planning database.

9. The system of claim 7, wherein the resource deployment matrix is configured to determine a skill flexibility index of each of the employees by computing, rounded to the nearest integer, a determined maximum skill flexibility index value multiplied by a ratio of a total number of skill certifications of each employee to perform the plurality of tasks divided by a maximum available number of skill certifications that each employee can obtain to perform the plurality of tasks, wherein the computed skill flexibility index is an integer in a range of zero to the determined maximum skill flexibility index value.

10. The system of claim 7, wherein the resource deployment matrix is configured to determine a job quality index of each of the employees by computing a ratio of non-compliant task performance divided by overall task performance.

11. The system of claim 7, wherein the resource deployment matrix is configured to assign each employee to the task by:

creating a matrix record that comprises a plurality of cells, wherein;

a first column of the cells is populated with a list of identifying information of the employees in an ascending order from each employee with a lower skill flexibility index to an employee with a higher skill flexibility index; and

remaining columns of the cells respectively correspond to each of the plurality of tasks and are populated with the job quality index and skill flexibility index in the remaining columns of the cells corresponding to each task along a row of the cells corresponding to the identifying information of each employee; and

for each remaining column corresponding to each task, in an order from the task with a highest minimum acceptable job quality index to the task with a lowest minimum acceptable job quality index, until the number of employees needed to perform the task is found or there are no more job quality indexes in the remaining column that are higher than or equivalent to the minimum acceptable job quality index of the task;

searching each row of cells in the ascending order for a job quality index that is higher than or equivalent to the minimum acceptable job quality index of the task corresponding to each remaining column; and

marking each cell of the matrix record in which the job quality index is found that is higher than or equivalent to the minimum acceptable job quality index thereby indicating an assignment of the corresponding employee to the task and the unavailability of the corresponding employee for assignment to one of the other tasks;

wherein, if more than one task has a same minimum acceptable job quality index, the columns corresponding to the tasks are searched in the order that the tasks are respectively performed.

12. The system of claim 7, wherein the resource deployment matrix is further configured to:

designate each employee having a high job quality index and a low skill flexibility index as needing action to obtain certification in other tasks;

designate each employee having a low job quality index and a high skill flexibility index as needing action to improve job quality performance;

designate each employee having a job quality index that is less than the minimum job quality index of each task and a low skill flexibility index as needing action to obtain certification in other tasks and improve job quality performance or to transfer to a different job responsibility; and

determine that action is needed to improve a business structure if there is a low assignment of available employees to the plurality of tasks or a high unavailability of employees to assign to the plurality of tasks.

13. The system of claim 7, wherein the resource deployment matrix is configured to output data indicating respective assignments of the employees to the tasks by generating a report that lists the respective assignments.

14. A computer program product for effective employee assignment, comprising a computer usable medium having a computer readable program, wherein the computer readable program, when executed on a computer, causes the computer to:

determine a number of employees needed to perform each of a plurality of tasks based on a demand amount for each task;

determine a skill flexibility index of each of the employees comprising a scaled index of a total number of skill certifications of each employee to perform the plurality of tasks, wherein a greater skill flexibility index indicates a greater skill flexibility;

determine a job quality index of each of the employees comprising a scaled index of a job performance quality rating of each employee, wherein a greater job quality index indicates a greater job quality performance;

determine a minimum acceptable job quality index for each of the plurality of tasks based on user input data or demand data;

for each task, in an order from the task with a highest minimum acceptable job quality index to the task with a lowest minimum acceptable job quality index, assign each employee to the task that has a job quality index that is higher than or equivalent to the minimum acceptable job quality index of the task in an order from each employee with a lower skill flexibility and a higher job quality performance to an employee with a higher skill flexibility and a lower job quality performance until the number of employees needed to perform the task is assigned or there are no more available employees to assign to the task that have a job quality index that is higher than or equivalent to the minimum acceptable job quality index of the task; and

output data indicating respective assignments of the employees to the tasks for computation or user review.

15. The computer program product of claim 14, wherein the computer readable program, when executed on the computer, causes the computer to determine a number of employees needed to perform each of a plurality of tasks by computing, rounded to the nearest integer, the demand amount for each task multiplied by a raw processing time for the task divided by a number of daily work hours.

16. The computer program product of claim 14, wherein the computer readable program, when executed on the computer, causes the computer to determine a skill flexibility index of each of the employees by computing, rounded to the nearest integer, a determined maximum skill flexibility index value multiplied by a ratio of a total number of skill certifications of each employee to perform the plurality of tasks divided by a maximum available number of skill certifications that each employee can obtain to perform the plurality of tasks, wherein the computed skill flexibility index is an integer in a range of zero to the determined maximum skill flexibility index value.

17. The computer program product of claim 14, wherein the computer readable program, when executed on the computer, causes the computer to determine a job quality index of each of the employees by computing a ratio of non-compliant task performance divided by overall task performance.

18. The computer program product of claim 14, wherein the computer readable program, when executed on the computer, causes the computer to assign each employee to the task by:

creating a matrix record that comprises a plurality of cells, wherein;

a first column of the cells is populated with a list of identifying information of the employees in an ascending order from each employee with a lower skill flexibility index to an employee with a higher skill flexibility index; and

remaining columns of the cells respectively correspond to each of the plurality of tasks and are populated with the job quality index and skill flexibility index in the remaining columns of the cells corresponding to each task along a row of the cells corresponding to the identifying information of each employee; and

for each remaining column corresponding to each task, in an order from the task with a highest minimum acceptable job quality index to the task with a lowest minimum acceptable job quality index, until the number of employees needed to perform the task is found or there are no more job quality indexes in the remaining column that are higher than or equivalent to the minimum acceptable job quality index of the task;

searching each row of cells in the ascending order for a job quality index that is higher than or equivalent to the minimum acceptable job quality index of the task corresponding to each remaining column; and

marking each cell of the matrix record in which the job quality index is found that is higher than or equivalent to the minimum acceptable job quality index thereby indicating an assignment of the corresponding employee to the task and the unavailability of the corresponding employee for assignment to one of the other tasks;

wherein, if more than one task has a same minimum acceptable job quality index, the columns corresponding to the tasks are searched in the order that the tasks are respectively performed.

19. The computer program product of claim 14, wherein the computer readable program, when executed on the computer, further causes the computer to:

designate each employee having a high job quality index and a low skill flexibility index as needing action to obtain certification in other tasks;

designate each employee having a low job quality index and a high skill flexibility index as needing action to improve job quality performance;

designate each employee having a job quality index that is less than the minimum job quality index of each task and a low skill flexibility index as needing action to obtain certification in other tasks and improve job quality performance or to transfer to a different job responsibility; and

determine that action is needed to improve a business structure if there is a low assignment of available employees to the plurality of tasks or a high unavailability of employees to assign to the plurality of tasks.

20. The computer program product of claim 14, wherein the computer readable program, when executed on the computer, causes the computer to output data indicating respective assignments of the employees to the tasks by generating a report that lists the respective assignments.