Transcript Carlino Nature&Nurtutre

Nature & Nurture
Influencing operator retention.
Working Environment
• Nature – Influences which are generally beyond the
influence of individual managers and operations staff
• Nurture – Areas that management, and in some cases even
individual operators can control.
Where do operators come from?
• At JLab operators primarily come from 2 groups.
– University, primarily from physics departments
– Military, primarily the Naval Nuclear Power Program
• Additionally
– Other DOE facilities
– Commercial/technical organizations
JLAB Staffing
• JLab Original Staffing
– PhD – Crew Chiefs
– Operator – Technicians
– Commissioning
– Worked rotating shift
• Present Staffing
– Crew Chief & 2 Operators
– Duties include: Accelerator operations, System Safety
Operator, Assigned Radiation Monitors.
– Fixed Rotation
Shift Work
• Nature or Nurture?
• 24/7 running a aspect of accelerator operations. So Nature.
• Turning shift work from Nature to Nuture
– Pattern initially used at JLab: Three shifts
• Days – 08:00-16:00
• Swings – 16:00-2400
• Owls – 0000-0800
– Works work a different shift each week with a varying
number of day off in between shifts.
Long rotation shifts
• Six shift teams
• Operators assigned to specific day, swing, owl shift for
entire accelerator run (Shutdown to shutdown).
• Work seven days on shift first week, three days outside
control room next week. (Activities which occur during off
week will be covered later.)
Effect on Operator Retention
• Initial dip @ end of
commissioning period.
• Subsequent period
retention ~2-3 years.
• Retention continues to
increase as operator
turnover has decreased.
Effect on Operator Retention
• In the period of 1996 1998 operations lost 9
individuals. This
represented fully one-third
of the operations staff.
• In the 1998-2000 period
typical retention was ~ 3
years.
• More than half of the
operations staff left
operations in this 19962000 period.
Effect on Operator Retention
• In 2000 Operations group
moved from rotating shifts
to long rotation shift
schedule.
• Retention numbers have
continued to increase.
• Majority of individuals
leaving operations have
moved to other positions
at JLab vs. leaving lab.
Filling Fixed Shifts
• Owl Shift (0000-0800) not as difficult to fill as might be
expected.
• Operators consistently able to get first choice of shift.
• Money factors contributes to achieving balanced rotation.
– Operators receive percent bonus for working
Swing(1600-2400) and Owl (0000-0800) shifts.
– Crew Chiefs must work a certain number of back shifts
a year to retain shift differential.
• Number of times staff has been asked to work third choice
can be counted on one hand for period since 2000.
Off shift time
• With six shifts rotation supports a schedule of 7 days in the
Machine Control Center on shift and 3 days working
outside the MCC in each two week period.
• Operations meetings held on Wednesday. All off shift
personnel must work Wednesday.
• Other days in off shift week may be flexed.
Where do Operators Go?
• To other positions in the Lab. Operations is a conduit to
recruit and evaluate individuals for placement in other
positions in the facility.
• Nowhere. They stay in Operations. Core of operation
experts.
• Dual Track.
• What happens if they don't leave?
– Senior Crew Chief.
– Tasking.
Tasking.
• Hire individuals who possess a range of skills useful
outside operations.
• Exposes operator's perspective to other groups.
• Exposes operators to other areas at a deeper level.
• Allows completion of tasks which would otherwise be
under resourced.
• Allows better utilization of operation's staff during downs.
• Pathway out of operations for those who wish it.
Formal Training/Formal Procedures
• Important nurturing influence.
• Pushed by high turnover during 1990s
• Formal procedures is the linch-pin upon which a formal
training program is built.
• Formal procedures provides a better work environment by
requiring a lower level of theoretical knowledge to perform
tasks. This reduces stress and results in better machine
reproducibility
• Formal training prepares operators for operation and for
advancement.
Educational benefit
• Another specific advantage to the long rotation schedule is
the opportunity that it gives to individual who wish to
pursue continuing education.
• Standard rotating shift work made taking advantage of Lab
tuition assistance and job relate training program almost
impossible for operations staff.
• Long rotation shift makes it quite easy for operators to
engage in continuing education.
Conclusion
• All of these benefits have in some way flowed from the
willingness of the JLab Operations Management to look
beyond the standard shift rotation cycle. They are also
based on a premise that it is productive to utilize operators
outside the operations “ghetto”. The laboratory has
benefited by hiring individuals with a higher threshold of
experience and education and utilizing these individual's
non-operational skills in other tasking.