Bid modes

There are four schedule bid modes that you can specify for a schedule bid:

  • Sequential
  • Concurrent
  • Sequential/Concurrent
  • Preferential

Sequential

In sequential mode bidding, employees bid one after the other. Similar to a queue, bidding windows are sequential and have only one employee bidding per window. Shifts that are available to an employee do not include the ones already selected and filled by other employees in earlier bid windows. In this bidding model, the shift assignments are calculated in the order that they are selected. Therefore, shifts that the employees rank or select are usually assigned to them (unless an administrator modifies them).

Concurrent

Concurrent bidding lets all employees bid in one window and shift assignments are calculated after the window expires and the bid is closed. Employees can rank or select all available shifts or shifts patterns. The time that an employee bids in the window does not influence their assignment. The system updates in real time after the window is closed.

Sequential/Concurrent

Sequential/Concurrent bidding is a combination of the sequential and concurrent bidding modes. There are several windows, with several employees that are assigned to a particular window. Employees that are assigned to a particular window cannot select shifts or shift patterns that were already selected by employees in earlier windows. Employees have an equal chance of selecting the available shifts or shift patterns as employees that are assigned to the same bid window.

Preferential

This bid mode performs shift and shift pattern assignments based on the preferences that an employee sets up. No bidding is required. After setting up the schedule bid to use preferential mode, you can assign shifts or shift patterns. You can then notify the employee of their shifts or shift patterns without their interaction.

To use this bid mode, employees must set up their bid preferences in advance. For information about setting preferences, see Setting bid preferences.

If an employee has not bid on enough shifts and the Apply Preferential Bidding field is set to Y, then employee preferences will be used to assign or reward schedules.