The challenge
A US home furnishing retailer hires full-time, part-time and temporary associates for its stores and warehouses. Hiring too early adds cost; hiring too late loses sales.
New hires also need training before they are ready for the floor, which the plan had to allow for.
What we did
- Studied the seasonality of every department individually.
- Built statistical models at department and sub-department level within each store, so hiring matched the skills needed.
- Treated full-time, part-time and temporary associates differently.
The result
Labour planning and hiring costs fell significantly.
Temporary hires exited more smoothly, and peak-season customer demand was met.
How we would build it today
- Labour models linked directly to the sales forecast, so staffing moves with demand.
- A scenario planner web app for store and HR managers.
- Shift scheduling optimisation on top of the hiring plan.
This describes our current toolkit for the same problem. It is not part of the original engagement.