Celayix Home » Autofill: What Is It And What Are The Benefits?

Autofill: What Is It And What Are The Benefits?

Celayix Autofill is the easiest way to introduce automation into your scheduling process. Take a look at how it works, and how you benefit from using it!

Did you know that 58% of U.S businesses use automation for planning these days? You can do that too when it comes to scheduling your employees using Celayix! Have you ever stared at an unfilled schedule and just wished that someone could fill it in for you? Of course, you’ll need all schedule rules, qualifications, and site history to be considered, right? Well, that’s exactly where Celayix Autofill comes in. With this feature, you can fill any number of open shifts with an available and applicable employee in seconds.

A screen showing a bunch of open shifts that can be filled using autofill

The Celayix autofill tool uses algorithms that take into consideration any set of requirements to fill open shifts with applicable staff members.  Each organization determines its own requirements, and they can include any set of criteria. For example, qualifications, experience, overtime, seniority, availability, and more.  These rules give schedulers complete control over which staff autofill will suggest. It gives them the assurance that all business rules are met and schedules can be filled in seconds.

Schedulers have complete control to change any suggestions from the autofill. Once solidified, they can send the new shifts to employees for them to confirm. The entire process from the creation of shifts, autofill, and release to employees takes only a few minutes.

Here are a few of the most popular qualifications our customers use in determining the rules of their autofill:

Overtime

  • Overtime rules are used to ensure that the autofill tool doesn’t choose employees that would be going into overtime if they worked the open shift. Schedulers can use any specific number of hours to determine “overtime” for their location and company.

Certificates & Qualifications

  • Depending on your organization, you might have different skill sets associated with different employees. For example, armed guards vs. patrol officers, or registered nurses vs. nursing assistants, etc. As well, there may be specific certificates a shift requires. For example, first aid. Celayix autofill makes sure the employee filling the shift is qualified for the shift.

Availability

  • With Celayix, employees have the option to submit their availability of when they are available to work. Autofill can then take this availability information and use it when filling the shifts. So, even if employees do not submit specific availability, autofill will also ensure that employees who are on vacation or requested time off will not be assigned to these shifts.

Seniority

  • For some organizations, shifts need to be assigned based on seniority and union rules. With Celayix, employers can assign seniority based on start date or simply by dragging and dropping the employees in the order they choose. This is taken into consideration when required in the autofill as well.

No Conflicts

  • Autofill will also check for scheduling conflicts by default. If an employee is already scheduled for any portion of the open shift, they will not be considered. Next, you will choose the method that determines the order that autofill will filter through your employees. There are 2 options, priority and sequence.

Priority Autofill

  • This method gives you the flexibility to define in what order your shifts must be processed and what requirements must be satisfied during assignment. Active employees who match the specified requirements are automatically assigned. When multiple employees match, the first employee in the specified order is chosen. If necessary, requirements can further be prioritized so that shifts can be assigned to employees who match some but not all the requirements (partial match).

Sequence Autofill

  • Autofill by sequence method assign shifts to employee based on the employee sequence order defined in the configuration. This is where seniority could be determined to ensure that senior employees are considered for shifts first. When using the sequence method, our system will remember where your last autofill stopped. Next time you create a schedule, it will pick up from the same point.

This feature can be used for either a set of shifts or all shifts, depending on the needs of the organization. Since it takes into consideration any qualifications applied, schedulers can rest assured applicable staff are always put into available shifts. After a review, a simple save will send the shifts to your staff, eliminating any gaps in communication. Celayix ensures that staff members get their new shifts as soon as possible. Take it a step further and ask them to confirm the shift ahead of time. There will then be a special icon on that shift giving schedulers peace of mind that the staff member has seen and confirmed that shift. This is scheduling made simple. 

What are the Benefits of Autofill?

Now that we have gone through the way to use Autofill, let’s talk about the benefits.

autofill as a feature of employee scheduling software

Eliminate Unnecessary Overtime

With the “No Overtime” criteria that can be configured, you can completely eliminate any unnecessary overtime from your schedule.

Faster Optimized Scheduling

Thanks to automation, completing schedules is much faster and easier. With quick clicks any selected open shifts are filled by Celayix Autofill, saving a huge amount of manual effort. Automation can speed your employee scheduling process by up to 95%!!

Less Risk of Understaffing & Double Booking

With Celayix, open shifts and schedule gaps are easily identified, and autofill will fill them with ease. Because of this, there are no situations of double booking or understaffing.

Eliminate Scheduling Conflicts

Autofill ensures that no employees are assigned to shifts they are unavailable to work or booked into overlapping shifts.

Fully Customizable

Schedulers can fully customize Celayix autofill precisely how they need it. With such a wide range of choices and control, autofill can fill your schedule exactly how you would.

Comply with Union Rules

Using the powerful configurations of Celayix autofill, you never have to worry about our system bending the rules. Schedulers can look after union rules on seniority or any other requirements with ease.

Video: Autofill and its Benefits Explained

Features like Autofill are what set shift scheduling software like Celayix apart from other, basic methods of scheduling. Efficiency and accuracy are crucial when it comes to shift scheduling, and autofill certainly achieves them. Once you start using autofill, you’ll soon wonder how you ever survived without it! We also have another related tool, autofill rotation. Celayix scheduling tools alongside our time and attendance capabilities make us the most comprehensive scheduling platform out there. If you’d like to see how we can help you improve your process, get in touch with a Solution Advisor!

On the hunt for employee scheduling software?

We'd love to show you our platform and how it can help save you time, effort and money. We can create a custom demo tailored to your industry and unique business needs. Chat with a Solutions Advisor today.

demo of celayix employee scheduling software
Written by Chloe Driver

Written by Chloe Driver

Chloe is a Digital Marketing Specialist at Celayix, focusing on content strategy and website management. She has been working with Celayix for over 3 years and learned a lot about SEO and Website Development in that time.

You may also like…

Workplace Bullying – How to Manage it Effectively

Workplace Bullying – How to Manage it Effectively

Workplace bullying is a common issue across the United States. As a manager, it can be difficult to effectively handle. Here, we break down the impact of bullying on the workplace, and what managers can do to help!
Double Time Vs Overtime: What’s the Difference?

Double Time Vs Overtime: What’s the Difference?

Understanding the difference of overtime vs. double time can be confusing to some employers, but it is crucial for payroll accuracy! Payroll problems can create all sorts of issues, for both employees and employers. Learn everything you need to know below!
Improper Shift Scheduling Health Impacts: Latest Research

Improper Shift Scheduling Health Impacts: Latest Research

Shift work was shown to increase the risk of circadian syndrome by about 57% (adjusted odds ratio, 1.57). This means that people working shifts were 1.57 times more likely to develop circadian syndrome compared to those with regular day shifts. This result is highly reliable, with a 95% confidence interval between 1.23 and 2.01, and the likelihood of this being a chance finding is very low (P < .001).