1 Assessing Your Staffing Levels Julie Jones (FL) Facilitator (Credit to James Upchruch and NIC for content)

2 GENERAL – A successful staffing analysis should determine:  The right number of staff;  The right place for them to be assigned;  The right time for them to be assigned, and;  The right things for them to be doing.

3 STAFFING ANALYSIS METHODS  Task Analysis  Time Motion Study  Productivity Auditing  Outcome Analysis  Process Analysis  Comparative Analysis

4  A problematic form of type staffing analysis is the staff to inmate ratio comparison.  Such ratios may be of very limited value because they may not adequately account for variations in mission, operational philosophy, population, physical plant, etc., and the subsequent requirement that staff be used in markedly different ways. What to Avoid:

5 The utilization of staffing ratios is dangerously appealing to those who do not understand the complexity of a staffing determination and are looking for a quick and easy method of making a determination.

6 RISK ASSESSMENT  “Balancing Act” - What could happen versus the cost $$ to be prepared to respond.  How likely is a problem to develop? How frequently has such a problem in a similar setting occurred and how serious were the consequences?  What staffing condition constitutes an acceptable level of risk given available resources factored against our security and safety priority?

7  The assessment of the number of staff needed to address risk and the degree to which other tasks and responsibilities can be assigned to these staff before they are negatively impacted, must be determined by the judgement of correctional managers involving an experience based risk assessment.

8 Process, 1. Profile the Institution, 2. Identify and Chart Activities, 3. Identify Posts, 4. Establish Relief Factor, 5. Develop a Staffing Plan, 6. Evaluate and Monitor

9 Establishing Relief Factors  Determine how many individuals it will take to provide the coverage necessary for the specified period of time.

What is "relief factor" and why is it necessary?  Correctional institutions require 24 hour, 7 day per week supervision by staff assigned to specific work locations or “posts.” An 8 hour per day, 7 day per week post cannot be manned by just one employee. One employee can cover only 5 days in a 40 hour workweek, leaving 2 days to be staffed by a relief employee.  Manning the two days off and any relative leave/training days, does not require the services of an additional fulltime employee. "Relief factor" is the percentage of a full time position required to compensate for days off, training, additional leave, etc., taken by a fulltime employee(s).  Note: Relief employees/positions provide relief for multiple posts. 10

How is “relief factor” established?  Relief factor is established by determining the average days of all leave taken by employees, training days required per employee, combined with the normal days off taken each year per employee. This average number of days is then subtracted from the 365 days per year to determine the days an employee is available to work in a given year. This number is then divided into 365 to determine the appropriate relief factor.  Formula: Average leave and training = 56 days:  365, less 56 (leave and training days); less 104 (days off) = 205  365/205 =

How is “relief factor” applied?  Once the relief factor is established, it is multiplied by applicable posts to determine the total number of staff necessary to provide 7 day per week coverage.  Example:  Considering a relief factor of 1.78, applied to 1 location that must be covered 24 hours per day, 7 days per week, you would multiply 1 post, times 3 (8 hour shifts), times 1.78, for a total of 5.34 or 5 (rounded). This indicates that 5 staff members are required to ensure coverage for 1 location that must be manned 24/7.  Formula: 1 x 3 x 1.78 = 5.34 (5 positions required)  If a prison required 100 posts to be manned for 24 hours per day, 7 days per week, you would multiply 100 times This would indicate a requirement of 178 positions (100 plus 78 relief positions) to ensure full time coverage. 12

13 Funding of Relief Factor  The Relief Factor must be rational and clearly defined in order to successfully obtain supplemental staffing from legislative entities.

14 Develop a Staffing Plan Post Chart  After the relief factor has been determined, it is then applied to the staffing pattern which represents, in chart form, the posts assignments in terms of the rank of the individual assigned, days of the week, hours of assignment, etc.  The resulting number of staff of each rank or designation and this distribution constitute the staffing plan.

15 Roster Management Issues  Anticipating and Planning for: Granting Leave Time In-Service Training Unscheduled Call-Ins Balancing RDO’s Responding to vacancies and the length of time it takes to fill them Use of special assignments, pull posts frequency? Where used?

16 The following questions should be considered frequently:  Is this level of performance acceptable to our primary stakeholders?  Are any problems identified specifically related to staffing adequacy?  Are we meeting all statutory, court ordered, agency policy, and other standards?  Are we meeting our mission requirements in terms of specific goals and objectives? If not, why?

17 All changes in operations, inmate classification or type, population, programming, etc. should be followed by an analysis of the staffing assigned to the affected area particularly as workload is affected, either increased or decreased. Should not just automatically throw staff at the problem Calculate relief factor yearly.

18  Good staff management is good management  Staffing represents the majority of what we spend every day usually 70-75% of total budget

Resources  NIC  ASCA  Consultants  In-house 19

Discussion  Agency input and buy-in  Legislative Challenges  Briefing the Governor 20