Scheduling Software to Reduce Shift Work Fatigue

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UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS HO CHI MINH CITY
International School of Business
----------------------------------
Mai Duc Nam
SCHEDULING SOFTWARE
APPLICATION TO REDUCE SHIFT
WORK EXHAUSTION: A CASE OF
WEIGHT AND BALANCE GROUP IN
SAIGON GROUND SERVICES
JOINT STOCK COMPANY
MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
Ho Chi Minh City – Year 2018
1

UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS HO CHI MINH CITY
International School of Business
----------------------------------
Mai Duc Nam
SCHEDULING SOFTWARE
APPLICATION TO REDUCE SHIFT
WORK EXHAUSTION: A CASE OF
WEIGHT AND BALANCE GROUP IN
SAIGON GROUND SERVICES
JOINT STOCK COMPANY
MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
SUPERVISOR: PROF. NGUYEN THI MAI TRANG
Ho Chi Minh City – Year 2018
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Executive Summary
Fatigue, which is the common issue of every single worker in any area, tends to be worse
in the service industry, especially in 24/7 continuous service like aviation, rail or medical.
Comparing to all industries, shift work is a different element of service. For example,
labor in aviation field like air traffic controller, cabin crew and ground staff mentioned
shift work as a common cause of their fatigue beside specific job’s traits. The
consequences of fatigue are low productivity, poor health and even high turnover rate
which should be paid more attention by human resources management as an important
task. In this case, imbalance shift distribution is the main cause of increasing fatigued
level. Obviously, shift arrangement would not only decide how effective and appropriate
shift system is, but also play a key role in fatigue level of workers.
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Acknowledgements
I would like to acknowledge all who supported me during my study without whom I
wouldn’t be where I am today.
I would especially like to thank my supervisor – Professor Nguyen Thi Mai Trang for all
her advice and guidance, without her help this could not have been possible.
I also would like to show my gratitude to my colleagues at work and classmates at ISB for
their continuous support. I also send my sincere thankfulness to my parents and friends
for their support and encouragement.
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Table of contents
1. Introduction................................................................................................................... 7
1.1. Company background................................................................................................ 7
1.2. Company structure..................................................................................................... 8
2. Problem context ............................................................................................................ 9
2.1. Fatigue in service and aviation industry.................................................................... 9
2.2. Fatigue in Weight and balance group of ground operation department .................. 10
3. Problem identification................................................................................................. 11
3.1. Effort – reward imbalance ....................................................................................... 12
3.2. Shift working exhausted .......................................................................................... 13
3.3. Annual leave shortage.............................................................................................. 14
4. Problem validation ...................................................................................................... 15
5. Cause validation.......................................................................................................... 18
6. Alternative solutions ................................................................................................... 23
6.1. First alternative solution: Software application....................................................... 23
6.2. Second alternative solution: Erasing level barrier................................................... 26
6.3. Third alternative solution: Flexible shift ................................................................. 29
7. Implementation ........................................................................................................... 32
8. Conclusion................................................................................................................... 35
9. Supporting information............................................................................................... 36
List of Figures
Figure 1: Saigon Ground Services JSC Organization structure. ......................................... 8
Figure 2: Ground operation department structure of Saigon Ground Services JSC. .......... 8
Figure 3: Causes fishbone diagram ................................................................................... 18
Figure 5: The Best Employee Scheduling & Shift Planning Software of 201717
............. 25
Figure 6: Original ERI Model8
(Siegrist, 1996)................................................................ 41
Figure 7: Current ERI Model8
(Siegrist, 1999)................................................................. 41
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List of Tables
Table 1: Data of fatigue measurement............................................................................... 11
Table 2: Estimated cost for scheduling & shift planning software ................................... 25
Table 3: Estimated cost for level change........................................................................... 28
Table 4: Flexible shift options........................................................................................... 30
Table 5: Organization action plan for applying Software in shift arrangement................ 34
Table 6: Interviewee’s demographic ................................................................................. 37
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1. Introduction
1.1. Company background
Saigon Ground Services26
(SAGS) is a subsidiary of the Airports Corporation of Vietnam
(ACV), SAGS is now the leading ground handling company in Vietnam. SAGS are
offering a full range of ground services to a diverse customer base of international and
domestic airlines at Tan Son Nhat International Airport (SGN), the country’s largest and
busiest aviation gateway. SAGS also expanded their business to Da Nang International
Airport from 01 May 2015 and to Cam Ranh International Airport from 01 July 2016.
Over 10 years of experience in ground handling, SAGS have obtained and successfully
renewed the ISO9001 quality management certification and the industry ISAGO (IATA
Safety Audits for Ground Operations) registration.
In 2016, company’s revenue is over VND 876 billion, increased 46% than 2015. SAGS
already set the new milestone with over VND 1,000 billion in 2017.
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1.2. Company structure
Source: http://sags.vn/About-Us/Organization-Chart/
Figure 1: Saigon Ground Services JSC Organization structure.
Ground operation
department
Operation
Weight and
balance
Loading
Source: Made by Author based on SAGS’s data
Figure 2: Ground operation department structure of Saigon Ground Services JSC.
Weight and Balance group belongs to Ground Operation Department. They are responsible
for doing load sheet and contributing to the accuracy of passenger, baggage and cargo weight
for captain and airlines load control center. Weight and Balance activity is always
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included in service level agreement of all airlines, which have been provided ground
services by SAGS. Meanwhile, Loading group is only in charge of international flights
and cargo flights. Operation group involves in coordinating of international flights and
domestic flights. Shift working hour is a trait of aviation industry, there are fourteen
different shifts at Weight and Balance group, nineteen shifts at Operation group and
twelve shifts at Loading group to ensure handling flights.
This study concentrates on Weight and Balance group because of its typical traits and
involvement in all kind of flights. In addition, Weight and Balance group not only has
suitable organizational size but also allows author to access secondary sources and collect
primary data. There are three levels of skills for Weight and Balance staff. Entry level (level
1) focuses on narrow body aircraft, level 2 is on wide body aircraft and level 3 is on cargo
flight. Weight and Balance group includes one manager, three deputy managers, two
supervisors and sixteen members. Employees are required to work 48 hours per week and
the schedule changes weekly. Furthermore, they are arranged specific flights with their ID
beside flight number on SAGS management information system (SMIS) each day.
2. Problem context
2.1. Fatigue in service and aviation industry
Aviation industry is 24/7 service therefore shift working is the only way to keep every task
being done constantly, which is similar to railway industry or healthcare industry. There is no
doubt that fatigue is common status of labors in these industries. Shift work4
, which has been
associated with fatigue, is frequently cited as a major cause of fatigue. Fatigue is
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defined5
and operated in different ways, for example in terms of increased sleepiness and
reduced alertness.
According to the report from International transport workers’ Federation2
in 2009, 46%
of respondents felt that fatigue was an issue happening in the most of the aviation workers
they represent with 35% respondents said that most of aviation workers feeling burned
out from work but more than half show that only some workers had this feeling. Pursuant
to fatigue statistic indicated in occupational groups including cabin crew, ground staff and
air traffic service workers with more than 50% respondents reported that most of the
ground staff workers felt tired in the morning as a fatigue symptom. This proportion is the
same in case of feeling used up at the end of the workday of ground staff workers.
In addition, fatigue6
has been pointed out as a serious problem by ICAO and has been
defined as “A physiological state of reduced mental or physical performance capability,
resulting from sleep loss or extended wakefulness, circadian phase, or workload (mental
and/or physical activity) that can impair a person’s alertness and ability to perform safety
related operational duties.”
2.2. Fatigue in Weight and balance group of ground operation department
In first stage of collecting data, 11 employees had been asked about fatigue symptoms by
several short questions about quality and quantity of fatigue according to the health care
professional27
. Feeling in the morning has been described by employees that sleepy, tired,
headache. Employees also mentioned that the feeling depends on types of shift and sleeping
time. The feeling after finishing shift is more similar, tired and leave immediately was the
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common answers. Most of employees said they used caffeine or energy drinks during
shifts, more than a half of frequent use.
To be objective and measurable, visual analogue scales9
was used to measure fatigue
level, scale have been done by employees after finish their shift. Although result could be
limited in terms of quantity due to author’s work schedule, this scale could support health
care professional question for describing fatigue picture. The below table was made from
scale result, Sags management information system (SMIS) and Weight Balance group
weekly schedule.
Table 1: Data of fatigue measurement
Name Date Shift type Measure
Nguyen Cong Tri 21jul Splitted 0 1.5
25jul 15h 2.7
Nguyen Anh Tung 21jul 9am 7.3
26jul 9am 9.7
29jul 9am 6
Nguyen Hoang Phuoc 22jul 7am 8
Nguyen Huu Minh Nhat 22jul 9am 3.8
Tran Manh Hung 21jul 7am 7.5
Source: Created by Author based on visuak analogue sacles9
, SMIS and weekly schedule.
All figures above show that fatigue at weight and balance group exists by given evidence
and statistic.
3. Problem identification
Fatigue in aviation is a chronic disease, each department is suffering fatigue in different
contexts, therefore it is necessary to find out the reason and its consequences based on
specific group. Thus, this study focuses on fatigue at Weight balance group of SAGS.
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Several literatures and papers have been used as relevant sources to provide the potential
factors are effort – reward imbalance, shift working and annual leave.
Moreover, six people joined in-depth interview from management level, frontline
employees and former staffs in the weight and balance group. Their sharing about fatigue
at work combines with literatures and papers. This points out some crucial reasons
leading to fatigue at weight and balance group of SAGS including effort – reward
imbalance, shift working exhausted and annual leave entitlement shortage.
3.1. Effort – reward imbalance
Statistics contributed by International transport workers’ Federation in 2009 about effort
and reward are clear. Specifically, effort in work relates to heavy workload,
responsibility, working overtime meanwhile reward includes receiving respect from
supervisors, treating fairly, support, salary, prospect for promotion. Effort-reward
imbalance (ERI)8
model of Siegrist & Weber, 1986 was cited in N. van Vegchel’s paper
that represents job demands and obligations imposed on the employees, occupational
reward distributed by the employer consisting of money, esteem and career opportunities.
ERI model also shows that the imbalance could cause sustained strain reactions, working
hard without receiving appreciation is an example of a stressful imbalance.
Mr. Luong Nguyen Minh Khoa admitted that overtime is a common situation but there
are no reward policies and he thought it is quite difficult to figure out. The imbalance of
responsibility for his flights and what he received may lead to frustration.
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Mr. Nguyen Hoang Phuoc stated that: “I’m satisfying with current salary but there is no
official recognition on overtime effort, people accept to work overtime as a job
characteristic. Overtime means I spend too much time for work and less for myself, it
makes me tired.”
Mr. Nguyen Van Lam - deputy manager mentioned he always tried to support employees
leave shift on time. He understood that company has no money policy for overtime but
managers recognize employee’s effort by choosing for training and promotion opportunity.
3.2. Shift working exhausted
James McIntosh1
mentioned on Medical news today that rotating shifts made it more
difficult for workers to maintain a regular sleep-wake cycle, affecting negative to sleep
quality and potentially weakening insulin resistance. "Some of the most serious and
persistent problems shift workers face are frequent sleep disturbance and associated
excessive sleepiness," report the NSF. Symptoms relate to shift work including indigestion,
irritability and reduced concentration. Time issue was pointed out in the report from
International transport workers’ Federation2
in 2009 as well, “shift work in general puts
workers at heightened risk of fatigue and rotating shift systems are known to be even more
hazardous than regular shift patterns as the body rhythm cannot adapt to a regular time
pattern”.
Mr. Le Hoang An – 5 years employee at SAGS said that: “First reason could lead to
fatigue is time. Working on shift makes circadian rhythm unstably like normal people,
rotating shift from morning, noon and night make me feel not enough sleeping time.”
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Mr. Luong Nguyen Minh Khoa – frontline employee compared with his previous job that
he felt more tired from joining SAGS because his circadian rhythm cannot stay
constantly. Furthermore, he also blamed that sometimes shifts between two days were so
close and too many early morning shift or splitted shift made the situation worse.
Rest break between shifts are not enough as one of the reason according to Mr. Nguyen
Hoang Phuoc as well.
3.3. Annual leave shortage
An article on Health24 by Mandy Freeman8
cited Shelagh Goodwin, general manager of
human resources at Media24 that “It’s important for people to take time off. All the
research shows that proper rest periods improve wellness, reduce stress and increase
productivity,”. Dr. Colinda Linde - clinical psychologist also agreed that taking your
annual leave and avoid burning out mentally and physically according to explaining that
"Humans are the same as devices need idle or hibernate function – if our bodies and
minds are switched on in 'work' mode 24/7, it results in inefficient performance,
exhaustion and errors, as well as mood changes such as becoming more sensitive, more
reactive, less tolerant.”. The research of university of Otago7
2006 described encouraging
annual leave as the way to control work stressor.
Mr. Nguyen Van Lam - Deputy manager of group stated that:
Beside fatigue from personal health or family status, work characteristic is quite pressure, employee
could not have fully entitlement, especially annual leave.
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Mrs. Doan Pham Thao Lan - Supervisor with 10-year experience said she hasn’t had official
long leave in recent years because of lack of same level co-worker than frontline employees.
Mr. Nguyen Thuong Hong, former staff, also agreed annual leave is one of the fatigue’s
causes, he stated: “The annual leave entitlement still could not be solved year after year, it
was one of my own reasons making me quit this job. I think there are inequality and
unclearness between staffs in the same department and between departments.”
4. Problem validation
Based on potential problems, in-depth interview from 6 respondents from managers,
frontline employees and former staff, statistic of SAGS management information system,
weekly schedule and related papers, shift arrangement plays prominent role leading to
fatigue at work in weight and balance group of SAGS. It is necessary for weight and
balance supervisors to improve and innovate weekly schedule arrangement tool to solve
this problem immediately.
Regarding to annual leave, this problem cannot be solved immediately because of
following reasons. Long-term human resource strategy, levels of skills were set clearly as
company policy. It takes a long time for employee to go through three different skill
levels. In addition, management level may not accompany with skill level because of
managerial ability and organization structure. This makes the shortage of management
level person therefore it’s impossible for staffs take an annual leave. Beside that covering
too much shift for other colleague’s long leave is also a bad idea.
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Mr. Nguyen Van Lam – Deputy manager stated:
Taking annual leave should be equal for everybody, if managers want to take annual leave, they
have to focus on training frontline employees to enable cover management stuffs.
At lower level, employees do not mention too much about annual leave shortage as a
fatigue’s cause. Number of frontline employees could be a logical explanation.
Especially, there are no management function limitation, official long day leave could be
covered by others or co-worker may have unofficial annual leave by asking other to help
then pay back as well.
In term of effort - reward imbalance issue, Mr. Luong Nguyen Minh Khoa mentioned
above that there is no money reward for overtime policy. Furthermore, Mr. Nguyen Van
Lam also said that: “It is possible for changing but salary budget is set for each group,
therefore if there is money reward for overtime, it has to be included in fixed budget.”
His explanation is not meaningful, money reward requires to have good appraisal.
Changing salary budget and its formula are out of weight and balance group ability. As
Mr. Nguyen Hoang Phuoc stated that he satisfied with current salary, he thought overtime
problem should be solved by official recognitions like career and training opportunities.
In fact, these recognition is invisible for employees and it may takes several years to
consider for getting promotion. In summary, good appraisal criteria, working time
monitor system and reward budget might improve this issue, however it is complicated
and cannot be solved in short time.
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Shift working exhausted are becoming a main problem leading fatigue at work due to
following reasons. Firstly, rest break between shifts is not enough causing tired and
sleepy. For example, weekly schedule showed that employees finished their shift today at
10pm ought to start new shift at 6am tomorrow. This does not ensure 12-hour rest break
regulation for employees. Mrs. Doan Pham Thao Lan who is in charge of building weekly
schedule admitted that: “Sometimes recreation time is not enough because it absolutely
bases on flight schedule and employee’s levels to be responsible for the quantity of flight.
Besides, she also said: employees should inform her if there is any issue.”
Manual excel tool also has no warning function about minimum recreation time between
days therefore there is no doubt about weekly schedule builder’s fault. Secondly, the
imbalance of shift is also a remarkable factor that some employees have too many night
working hours than others, the difference could be up to 30 hours among employees at
same level. According to Mr. Luong Nguyen Minh Khoa, he said that too many early
morning shifts per week could make tired and sleepy. Author realizes some people have
been arranged so many early morning and splitted shifts leading imbalance provided by
weekly schedule.
Mr Nguyen Hoang Phuoc also confirmed: “Schedule and rest break between shift
arrangement are unreasonable therefore it is not enough time for recreation and stamina
recovery.”
Shift working exhausted seem to be a feature of aviation industry. Although employees
understand this field’s characteristic, they mentioned shift working as main problem of
fatigue in weight and balance group. In detail, shift arrangement could be improved without
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any cost, complicated approval step, monitoring system. Thus, the way to build weekly
schedule should be upgraded with additional function to become more integrated.
5. Cause validation
Imbalance shift
arrangement
Job
characteristics
Shift system:
Non standard Physical work
Scheduling
Flexibility
work hour
Low performance
Tools Resource needs:
Levels of skill
Shift work
exhausted
Errors
Work life
balance
Quit the job
Habits
Personal
circadian clock
Figure 3: Causes fishbone diagram
Shift work has been determined as a problem of weight and balance group by previous
stages, above fishbone diagram describes some causes of shift work included imbalance
shift arrangement, nature of job and personal circadian clock.
5.1. Job characteristics
Shift work is one of the job characteristics in aviation. This industry also includes accuracy,
on time performance, alertness, continuous operation and tough weather. Different carriers
flight from hundreds of countries with a variety of time options so that non-sleep operation
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requires shift work to ensure handling ability. The link between job characteristics and
fatigue was showed in report from International transport workers’ Federation2
, Union
affiliates said that “physical work and long/odd hours was one of the workplace factors as
main contributors to fatigue among staff”. Obviously, there are impossible to prevent shift
work exhausted by changing nature of job, people have right to keep or leave the job
when they feel used up enough by non-standard working hour. Saigon ground service
company does understand non-standard working hour means high turnover, five times
recruitment28
and over 20 new employees for each could be trusted evidence. In addition,
although all employees, who joined interview confirmed exhausting shift work as a nature
of job, they respect and understand non-standard working hour is a nature of job, as an
unchanged factor to avoid shift work exhausted.
5.2. Personal circadian clock
Non-standard working time make circadian clock different from normal people. Shift
worker not only face to rotating shift every day, they could also harm their health by
working night shift. Jame Mc1
mentioned in Medical New Today article that shift worker
could experience problems form disruption people’s circadian rhythms, given reasons are
working overnight, successive rotating shifts restricting the hours available for sleeping.
Consequently, personal circadian clock plays an important role in shift work exhausted, it
could make fatigue level worse or better.
Mr. Le Hoang An mentioned:
Cause of fatigue might be my time table. My weird circadian clock began long time ago
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Mr. Nguyen Hoang Phuoc also compare his life one year after joining SAGS, he said:
It could be my attitude, from enthusiasm and devotion at beginning, now I learn to relax and I do
not spend much time for company’s stuff to avoid overload.
Although personal circadian has been seen as a cause of shift work exhausted, it depends
on employees more than company, fatigue level could not improve if employees have bad
habits and negative time table. According Carla V cited by Jame Mc1
, shift work was
linked with behavioral and lifestyle factors that are also known risk factors for certain
chronic diseases. Thus, shift workers might be exhausted by lack of outdoor activities,
their schedule always changed because of rotating therefore it is quite hard for them to
maintain positive habits frequently.
Mr. Le Hoang An also said:
My fatigue symptoms do not relate to his job, it came from my weird time table.
Mr. Nguyen Van Lam confirmed that he has not played any sport or joined any outdoor
activities because he was lazy, job traits and circadian clock were not mentioned.
In contrast, other people try to maintain positive physically like Mr. Nguyen Hoang
Phuoc. He Said:
I worked out at home. Sometimes, I played football after I had finished work.
In short, employees take full responsibility on their health, their behavioral and
lifestyle factors are the key to avoid fatigue, not the company.
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5.3. Imbalance shift arrangement
Report from International transport workers’ Federation2
stated that “regular rest brakes
are necessary to recuperate from strenuous work and to prevent fatigue.”, ineffective work
organization was mentioned as a cause. Imbalance shift arrangement has been seen as not
enough time for rest break, not enough time for recreation, inappropriate shift rotating,
equal shift between employees. Employees all stated shift arrangement.
Mr. Luong Nguyen Minh Khoa said:
Too many splitted shifts or early morning could lead high level of fatigue, Short rest break time is
also a reason for fatigue.
The Department of Labor Newzealand16
recommended early morning shift should be
minimized. They stated that avoiding rosters that require starting work before 6 am as one
of the roster arrangement policies. Meanwhile, the earliest shift in the Weight and
Balance of SAGS start at 5 am.
In addition, the report2
by International transport workers’ Federation described rest
breaks and recreation time between shifts that “regular rest breaks are necessary to
recuperate from strenuous work and to prevent fatigue”.
As Mr. Nguyen Hoang Phuoc mentioned:
Mainly, time could be inappropriate arrangement, inappropriate recreation and shift break, lacking
of recovery energy.
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Mr. Le Hoang An said:
I think shift arrangement as a cause of fatigue is acceptable argument, shifts have been arranged
quite close.
Because of weekly scheduling, roster designator usually arranges by excel file then release on
the weekend. Manual arrangement creates inappropriateness and ineffectiveness.
Mrs. Doan Pham Thao Lan – roster designator mentioned:
I arrange schedule by manual so I could not avoid mistakes. Once schedule release, people should
take a look and notice me if any inappropriate.
Obviously, current scheduling tool does not remind designator about neither recreation
time nor imbalance between day shift and night shift of individual. These poor functions
could explain for employee’s complaints. Moreover, manual scheduling will be influent
by human factors, that cannot control lists of roster arrangement policies for over twenty
individuals.
Mrs Doan Pham Thao Lan also admitted that:
I use excel file currently, it only has non-duplicate in same day and day off warning. There is no
warning function for short rest break time between shifts.
This study concerns that simple scheduling file is making low productivity, imbalance
situation and ineffective operation. Shift can be missed because supervisor rearranges
schedule without any announcement.
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In conclusion, given information could be sorted as subjective causes and objective
causes of shift work exhausted. Job characteristic stand for objective cause, which is
impossible to change. Meanwhile, personal circadian clock is under employee’s control,
shift work exhausted could be eliminated by better work life balance and good habits
subjectively. Imbalance shift arrangement is also subjective factor, organization plays a
key role in decreasing shift work exhausted instead of employees. As a result, imbalance
shift arrangement might be the most suitable reason for problem solving in organization
to decrease fatigue level of shift work.
6. Alternative solutions
According to early analysis, it could be seen that the main cause of fatigue in the weight and
balance group at Saigon Ground Services JSC is inappropriate shift arrangement. Therefore,
this part would concentrate on offering solutions for this case. Below statements would
indicate some alternative solutions could be appropriate for shift arrangement issue.
6.1. First alternative solution: Software application
According to The Department of Labor Newzealand16
, shift work should be developed
base on operational needs, legal needs, senior management commitment, employer and
employee responsibilities. There will be a plenty of notices and guidance that shift builder
have to follow to ensure roster arrangement policies such as keep night shift to a
minimum, having at least of 11 hours between shift, preferably 12, moving the shift with
the clockwise, providing a minimum of 2 full night recovery after 2 night shifts, avoiding
rosters that require starting work before 6 am.
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Those guidance combine with more than 20 employees would make roster designer
confuse and feeling more complicated. As Mrs. Doan Pham Thao Lan admitted that she
needs people told her if something went wrong in schedule, she currently uses excel to
create weekly schedule manually. In fact, many softwares provide functions to make
things simple, automated planner, real time notification, multi-platform.
Benefits.
Roster designator only set up list of conditions for software following to criteria at
beginning such as roster arrangement policies16
, operational needs or skill needs. Then,
Software will compute those conditions for over 20 individuals to release weekly
schedule. This output ensures each employee will not start their shift from 5am more than
once a week or not more than four times a month. Recreation time could be maximized up
to 12 hours between shifts of individual as labor law. Individual’s schedule would be
equal to others base on total day shift hours, night shift hours, sum of recreation time in
month. Software would use those priority scheduling criteria to prevent employees from
fatigue as much as possible.
In addition, software could be used on any devices from computer to smartphone, it could
help employees access their roster anytime, anywhere rather than looking at hardcopy of
schedule. Specific roster software would not let employees miss among thousands of
emails, any schedule changes will be noticed for employees by notification function. All
actions from booking schedule to automatic generating schedule will be recorded, that
would be more equal than hard copy calendar booking and manual scheduling.
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According to PCMAG17
, trusted technology magazine, reporter point out several
functions to evaluate the best employee scheduling & shift planning.
- Platform availability (PC, iOS, Android)
- Open application programming interface (API) allow user edit code to modify
guidance and condition. Creating criteria for scheduling automatically.
- User interfaces: the way to use application, booking shift, generating schedule.
- News feed or group announcements automatically.
- Automatic scheduling workers.
- Generating report easily.
Costs
Product Deputy Shiftboard Humanity When I work Ximble
Lowest price $1 $45 $49 $9 $1
Editors rating 4.5/5 4.5/5 4/5 4/5 4/5
Figure 5: The Best Employee Scheduling & Shift Planning Software of 201717
Deputy18
, this software seems to take advantage because of provided functions,
lowest price per month and editor’s rating, the table below would show detail costs.
Table 2: Estimated cost for scheduling & shift planning software
# Description Estimating cost (VND)
Deputy18
Humanity19
1 Softwares starter 363.000/year/user 560.000/year/user (20 user
minimum)
25

2 Additional function + 755.000/year/user to + 1.118.000/year/user to
upgrade enterprise level upgrade enterprise version
version (highest)
Source: Created by Author base on Deputy18
and Humanity19
In addition, author also find out that number of scheduling softwares are free of charge.
Thus, the Weight and balance should consider free platforms at beginning to measure
what they need with their specific work characteristics. Author recommend some free
platforms such as ABC Roster, Google Sheet, Google calendar, Sling. Finally, any
softwares require time for all employees to get familiar and become main scheduling tool.
6.2. Second alternative solution: Erasing level barrier
Shiftboard23
guide their customer that ‘you must understand what you need before you can
fill those needs. Since everything is based on the master schedule, this is one of the most
important steps to get right.’. Because of difference in both skill and level, therefore roster
designator has to determine the resources needed for each role by shift duration base on some
criteria25
such as employee’s areas of expertise, level of work experience, regional/country
experience, health condition, technical skill, managerial skill. Therefore, it could be say
beyond any doubt that roster designator has less option when considering employee’s skill
with shift needs to combine senior employees with junior employees, different levels
employees or work experience. An article on shift-work24
webpage show the way to help
roster designator out by uniformity, rotating shift have to create their own advantage include
employees take equal turns at covering the undesirable shift, employees rotate through their
turn on day shift. Schedule creator have more time on ensuring legal
26

policy, company policy, employee’s expectation, keep balance rotating shift more than
operational needs.
Benefits.
Skill needs could be seen as employees’ level, employees’ ability and their certificates.
Airlines have different policies thus it may require only qualified staffs to handle its flights.
Building weekly schedule base on employee’s ability, thus Mrs. Lan admitted that:
Some people can do all kind of flights so they are very flexible, meanwhile someone else only do
some filghts, their shift option would be limited.
Mrs. Doan Pham Thao Lan also said:
There are many frontline employees so they could take a trip or take a day off easier than
managerial level. For example, frontline employees could have one night shift per week,
meanwhile supervisor have to work 2-3 night shift per week.
Obviously, uniformity of frontline level makes a plenty of choice for their shift,
meanwhile the shortage of higher level employees reduces their options.
- Skill needs are balanced on every shift.
- All employees are given equal number of day shift and night shift.
- Managing employees shift trade easily.
- Building schedule simpler.
- Always ready for substitution.
Cost.
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According to the Weight and Balance group’s manpower and SAGS’s policy, it takes
three years for official level upgrade, it also includes huge working experience and list of
certificates. Different level could not be erased in short term because of experience gap
and plenty of training courses. On job training is another barrier for uniformity,
supervisors or high-level staffs always keep monitoring trainees to avoid mistake
although they also have their own flights to handle. Trainees should be in charge of
specific flight with their trainee for a long time continuously to able to handle
independently. Finally, level uniformity mean prediction salary budget could change as
the table below, data bases on current SAGS’s salary policy.
- Errors: wrong flight messages, missing processes, unexpected situation.
- Time to gain equal experience
- Equal ability conflict with different pay level.
- Increasing salary budget.
Table 3: Estimated cost for level change
With levels Without levels
Personnel Level Salary base (.VND) Level Salary base (.VND)
16 1 9.600.000 153.600.000 Same 9.600.000 211.200.000
4 2 12.600.000 50.400.000 12.600.000 277.200.000
2 3 15.600.000 31.200.000 15.600.000 343.200.000
Budget 235.200.000
Source: Created by Author base on SAGS’s data
28

6.3. Third alternative solution: Flexible shift
As Workcover New South Wales Health and Safety guide15
about shiftwork, work cycle
could be six 8-hour shifts or four 12-hour shifts per week, it allows employees to choose what
kind of their shift to have one more day off, 48-hour continuous rest could be better than 24-
hour because employee have more chance to take a tour or do something without
interruption. In addition, according to Williams C20
, flexible work schedules lead to greater
work-life balance and can offset work stress. A flexible work schedule20
advantages could be
children's school events, appointments, unforeseen child or elder care issues, or other events.
Author has concerned about opposite of flexibility in term of daytime workers and shift
workers, William C20
mentioned that time-use patterns are slightly different among shift
workers. Virtually all shift workers spent less time with their spouse than those who worked a
regular day schedule. But certain types of shifts had little in common with daytime work in
terms of time spent on activities. For example, night shift workers spent the shortest time on
unpaid work or sleeping but spent more time with their children than other shift workers.
This suggest that workers are in standard hour want to have shift work option therefore they
could be go to the bank, do administrative paperwork, take care their children. In contrast,
shift workers would like to have stability, they could take the same day off with their friends
and their family, play sports and take a course with constant time table or even join in
outdoor activities with co-workers as Mr. Nguyen Van Lam mentioned. As a result, in term
of shift worker, flexibility mean constant schedule options, workers could take non-standard
time for week compare to changing shift day by day. Flex-time22
might be a better name for
flexibility as tipping has cited that flex-time refers to a working
29

arrangement in which employee can choose the time of work i.e. choosing the start and
finish times of work on the agreed amount of hours weekly or monthly. Benefits.
- Free day choice.
- Better work-life balance.
- More time for recreation.
- Decrease workload for roster designator.
Costs.
- Employees aren’t given equal exposure to day shift or night shift.
- Employee’s commitment.
- Non-standard working hour for fixed shift.
Table 4: Flexible shift options
Shift Fixed option for weekly Day off available
05:00 – 13:00 x Mon - Thu
05:30 – 10:30 x Mon - Thu
14:00 – 17:00
06:00 – 11:00 x Mon - Thu
14:00 – 17:00
06:00 – 11:00
21:00 – 00:00
06:00 – 14:00
08:00 – 16:00
09:00 – 17:00
13:00 – 21:00 x Mon - Thu
14:00 – 22:00 x Mon - Thu
15:00 – 23:00 x Mon - Thu
16:00 – 22:00
18:00 – 02:00+ x Mon - Thu
18:30 – 02:30+ x Mon - Thu
22:00 – 08:00+
Source: Created by Author
30

On the whole, using software application in building schedule is preferable solution for
Weigh and balance group of SAGS to avoid imbalance rotating shift, create effective and
appropriate shift arrangement. Developer are providing wide range of software from zero
to millions VND per month per user. Its benefits and costs have been compared with
other solutions to show that software application has its own advantage and suitable
approach for improve shift management as several below explanations:
First of all, technology help things become simpler. Generating schedule automatically is
the most useful, roster designator no longer considers about who need for shifts, how to
mix employees to ensure handling ability, avoiding lack of recreation time, balancing
employee schedule needs. Person who involve in scheduling could spend more time on
checking weekly schedule only, modify condition code for software in term of flight
schedule change or change season. Notification in real time would help employees avoid
missing changes, using same system by application on PC, mobile, website help all
employees has been noticed any changes on schedule automatically. In contrast, hard
paper copy of schedule require supervisor inform employees by telephone, email
manually, thus the chance of missing information also higher.
Secondly, flex-time is available by booking directly. Employees in Weight and Balance
group are using hard-copy calendar, sending email or texting Viber message to book their
expected shifts. During a week, there are huge booking list on each day about day-off or
shift expectation, roster designator has to watch and arrange without priority. Meanwhile,
software application allows employees book their shift expectation with priority booking
31

queue, private stuffs would go after job requirement, early booking also take advantage,
that is transparent and equal for all.
Finally, developers provide wide range of software included free of charge. The list
provided by PCMAG website is only recommendation. There are hundreds of software
allow scheduling function and free of charge like ABC Roster, Excel, Google calendar,
SAGS mail calendar, Google sheet. At the beginning of change, it is preferable way to
pick a free application to find out and learn how to use. The applying software instead of
traditional tool is not require company or department permission whether the
effectiveness and efficiency has been proved or not. Thus, this solution could dismiss
complex procedure and controversy unlike erasing level barrier solution.
7. Implementation
Applying software in scheduling should be chosen after comparing with alternative
solutions. In the Weight and Balance group, building schedule is regular task week by
week, applying software should be deployed as soon as possible to improve imbalance
shift arrangement and decrease workload for roster designator. Traditional way in
schedule still can be usable but software application brings potential positive point of
views as given benefits. After comparing costs and functions of various providers, first
step that Weight and balance group should take immediately is using trial version,
spending time on familiarizing with software and evaluating chosen software.
32

Base on the research results, Weight and balance group of SAGS should notice.
- All employees are requested to join scheduling process. The purpose of this action
is testing all functions of software, to ensure it works and feasible.
- Supporting from employees, who would help current roster designator in
familiarizing softwares. Due to test different software on different platform, this
helping would share workload on trial step beside daily and weekly tasks.
- Considering between functions and price carefully, many functions are provided
could confuse evaluation. Once Weight and balance makes decision, any paid
functions have to be worthy of fees because of increasing company’s cost.
Due to high season (from November to Vietnamese Tet holiday), the plan for deploying
software in scheduling would start form March 2018, it takes three months for the final
decision. Detail actions are showed in the table as below.
33

Table 5: Organization action plan for applying Software in shift arrangement
Activities Objective Role
March April May
2018 2018 2018
Building function
x
needs list
Listing Supervisor, Deputy
Collecting softwares
To pick 3 potential softwares
x
Potential information. manager, Supporting
stand for criteria.
softwares. Comparing with employees. x
operation needs
Comparing with x
other softwares
Learning how to use Supervisor, Deputy x
softwares, advantage To explore provided features manager, supporting
functions. employees.
Testing and Applying to To measure the effectiveness
All employees.
x x x x
familiarizing scheduling and efficiency in reality
To provide informative
Supervisor, Deputy x
Writing report manager, supporting
source for evaluation
employees
Pointing out pros and x
cons of each To make final decision.
Evaluation
software To apply for long term and Manager, all
Considering replace traditional way. employees. x
operation needs and
company’s budget
34

8. Conclusion
As aviation industry, shift work is standing for nature of job, fatigue because of rotating
shift and changing circadian clock is chronic issue of employees. Meanwhile, reports and
data also show that employees at Weight and balance group of SAGS have suffered from
fatigue therefore shift arrangement play an important role to decide level of fatigue, shift
management should improve by managerial level to prevent further consequences. This
study with the topic “Fatigue and Shift arrangement in Weight and Balance group of
Saigon Ground Services JSC” has determined by several explanations.
Firstly, there are previous reports and seminars provided fatigue risk in aviation industry,
published by government organizations and International Civil Aviation Organization
(ICAO). Fatigue at Weight and balance group of SAGS also proved by primary data from
its employees.
Secondly, given problems, lead to fatigue symptom, had been pointed out as shift work
exhausted, imbalance effort – reward, annual leave shortage. Consequently, shift work
exhausted, or shift arrangement in detail seem to be the core problem from what
employees talked about their opinions and previous studies.
Thirdly, several solutions could improve shift arrangement have been considered by its
benefits and costs. As a result, applying software in scheduling seem to be the most
appropriate solution for weight and balance group of SAGS to replace traditional way to
minimize any kind of potential costs with positive changes.
35

Action plan already set up for organization to implement in order to improve shift
arrangement at weight and balance group of SAGS as well as other groups in SAGS.
Because of limited time and resource, there are some constraint in this study, it is
impossible to approach more samples to draw more informative picture and to examined
wider range of papers for deeper understanding of current matter, that might affect the
conclusion and analysis process. Future researches could be focused on collecting
emotion data by long term care survey, increasing samples by picking related candidates
around object. Furthermore, it is necessary to evaluate effectiveness of each solution by
comparing long term care survey in further researches.
9. Supporting information
This study used secondary data and primary data. Secondary data was collected from
reliable source such as previous researches from online academic website, documents
from government organization, seminar documents, trusted papers, magazines and even
statistic of SAGS’s system. Primary data was collected by conducting a qualitative
research, In-depth interviews and visual analogue scale9
were utilized.
36

Demographic
Table 6: Interviewee’s demographic
Name Gender Occupation Work experience
Nguyen Van Lam Male Deputy Manager 10 years
Doan Pham Thao Lan Female Supervisor 10 years
Le Hoang An Male Staff 5 years
Nguyen Hoang Phuoc Male Staff 1 year
Luong Nguyen Minh Khoa Male Staff 1 year
Tran Thuong Hong Male Former 2 year
Source: SAGS’s data
11.1. Interview guide
- Greeting
o Introduce about topic: fatigue at weight balance group.
o Interviewer introduces
o Discussion could be anonymous, conversation will be recorder and I hope
you totally free to share
- Warming
o How do you feel in the morning after waking up? Is it the same or
difference each day? How many hours do you sleep in general?
o Have you ever take a 30s – 2m nap during working? Do you use any
caffeine drinks during your shift? How often?
o Do you usually get angry at work? in what situation?
37

o How do you feel after finish your shift? what do you usually do after leave
office?
- Main
o Do you feel any fatigue symptoms (sleepy, tired, etc) about yourself? about
your co-workers?
o In your opinion, what reasons make employee’s fatigue?
▪ Probe: what reasons can be fixed and what cannot? What reason is
the most important? Do you have any recommendation to fix?
▪ Prome: (base on answer, what reasons don’t mention above) what do
you think about following reasons delay, work characteristic (hard,
fast, repeat, not creative, weather, outside), imbalance reward –
effort, entitlement (policy overtime, annual leave).
o How about your co-worker’s support? Is it helpful?
o Could you compare fatigue in this job with another, what did you do before
joining this company?
o For supervisor: what do you think about some employee’s points (shift
arrangement, flights arrangement, lack of personnel, overtime reward,
imbalance)
o Prome: thinking about fatigue vs devote or lazy. Overtime, delay flight
creates choices, following their own flight as a devoting but fatigue cause,
asking for help to leave on time as a lazy react but preventing fatigue.
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o Comparing fatigue of management level and employees, fatigue level
through weight balance level 1,2,3. What level have been suffering tired the
most, why?
- Closing
o Giving some example about fatigue’s consequence.
o Thinking about consequences of given reasons.
o Thank for supporting and coordination in sharing.
11.2. Literature review
Shift working exhausted
Work schedules3
were described as increasing the prevalence of fatigue among employees,
Jansen NWH et al3
mentioned in their message that “shift work is associated with a higher
prevalence of fatigue, especially in three shift works. Shift work could sustain higher fatigue
levels over time.” According Rosa’s report has been cited in Jansen NWH et al3
, fatigue
experienced by employees will be a function of the number of hours worked, the timing of
work in the 24 hour day (that is, what shift is worked), how many work shifts occur before a
rest day, how many rest days are taken before returning to work, how much rest is taken
during the shift and between consecutive work shifts, and how variable the timing of the shift
is. Maastricht Cohort Study on Fatigue at Work was also cited by Jansen NWH et al3
that the
association between working schedule and demand for recovery from work was also strongly
influenced by other job characteristics such as psychological job demands and physically
demands. Rest breaks and recreation time between shifts had been
39

described in report2
by International transport workers’ Federation that “regular rest
breaks are necessary to recuperate from strenuous work and to prevent fatigue. Civil
aviation workers, however, are not always able to take rest breaks due to heavy workload,
unforeseen events, or simply due to ineffective work organization.”.
Effort –reward imbalance
Van Yperen N,W et al10
linked effort –reward with fatigue that individual's goal orientation
is a theory-based Individual difference variable that may explain why some employees feel
fatigued but satisfied with their jobs when faced with heavy workloads, whereas others'
perceptions of high job demands are related to both fatigue and dissatisfaction, this study also
mentioned about exhaustion or fatigue mediates the effects of an array of antecedents,
including job demands, on job satisfaction. In addition, Natasja van Vegchel et al8
described
that efforts represent job demands and/or obligations that are imposed on the employee.
Occupational rewards distributed by the employer (and by society at large) consist of money,
esteem, and job security/career opportunities. More specifically, the ERI Model claims that
work characterized by both high efforts and low rewards represents a reciprocity deficit
between ‘costs’ and ‘gains’. This imbalance may cause sustained strain reactions. working
hard without receiving appreciation is an example of a stressful imbalance. In addition, it is
assumed that this process will be intensified by over-commitment (a personality
characteristic), such that highly overcommitted employees will respond with more strain
reactions to an ERI, in comparison with less overcommitted employees.
40

Figure 6: Original ERI Model8
(Siegrist, 1996)
Figure 7: Current ERI Model8
(Siegrist, 1999)
Annual leave/ entitlement shortage
Wilson FA et al11
stated that “Paid leave benefits are important in improving health-related
outcomes in other contexts”, the same with Skinner12
mentioned longer breaks from work, in
the form of paid annual leave, are also an important aspect of working time, and can help
workers manage the fit between their working lives and activities beyond work. According to
Woolcot 2002 cited in Cairncross13
that taking less annual leave has led to forget the role and
value of holidays in terms of re-energizing and recharging their batteries to be better able to
cope with the pressures and pace of life, Etzion13
stated that “people who take their leave are
more productive and exhibit fewer symptoms of workplace stress.”. Van Dijk et
41

al (2003) were cited in Roelen CA14
that fatigue arises from burdensome work demands
and domestic activities and may persist when individuals have insufficient opportunities
to recover. According to Henderson et al cited in Roelen CA14
, long-term SA results from
severe health problems or conditions that fail to improve such as prolonged fatigue, which
may impair functioning to such an extent that the employee has no other choice than to
stay off work.
11.3. Transcript
Interview 1
Time 03AM, 29 JUL 2017
Place Tan Son Nhat International Airport, Tan Binh District, Ho Chi Minh
City.
Interviewee Mr. Luong Nguyen Minh Khoa – Staff
Nam Hi Khoa, today I would like to discuss with you about fatigue of
employees at WB section of SAGS. Could you introduce yourself a little
bit?
Khoa My full name is Luong Nguyen Minh Khoa, I’m a level 1 load controller
of WB section at SAGS. Similar to other co-workers, I’m tired because
of shift work and non-standard working hour.
Nam How you feel in the morning after waking up in common?
Khoa It depends, there are some shifts start from 5am, 6am in the morning and
1pm or 3pm in the afternoon and 6pm or 10pm in the night. The point is
shift arrangement, 6 pm shift today will lead 1pm shift the next day. Too
many splitted shift or early morning could lead high level of fatigue.
Short rest break time is also a reason for fatigue, 3pm today and 5am
tomorrow is really tired if I could not find someone to swap shift.
Nam Could you tell me how many hours you spend on sleeping, in average?
Khoa About 6 hours.
Nam Have you ever had a nap during your shift? in 30 second or 2 minutes?
Khoa Yes, I would be sleepy when you move form 6pm today to 1pm
tomorrow. The shortage of sleeping hour make me taking a nap, but I
always try my best to stay alertness.
Nam Have you used energy drinks or coffee during your shift?
Khoa Frequently, I have to start my shift with a cup of coffee, it became my
habit.
Nam How do you feel after your shift?
Khoa Tired, I just want to go home and sleep.
Nam It was the same or different each day, each shift?
42

Khoa Depend on shift, it would be better with shift form 8am or 9am
meanwhile Night shift would be worse.
Nam Before joining to SAGS, what kind of job have you done?
Khoa I had a job with standard working hour. From joining SAGS, it took time
to me adapt shift work.
Nam Could you compare about both side, about fatigue level?
Khoa It was worse from joining SAGS, rotating shift makes my circadian
rhythm up therefore I got tired.
Nam Are there any fatigue’s reason else, as you know that shift work is nature
of job?
Khoa It could be inappropriate schedule or flight arrangement. Irregular flights
also make tired. Weight and balance group is in lack of personnel
situation so staffs have to cover more flights than before. We also have
more flight at night because of delay, waiting time is so bad, the body
change from activation to idle than activation again, it became fatigue.
Nam Is it about physically or mentally?
Khoa Physically
Nam Any fatigue’s reason else?
Khoa Let see…
Nam How about working environment, outside?
Khoa Yeah, sunlight and rain could be a reason, poor collaborative also makes
me tired. However, inappropriate schedule is a main fatigue’s cause for
me, as I said, rotating shift and too many splitted shift and early morning
shift.
Nam Have you received good support from your co-worker, your supervisors
during your shift?
Khoa Sometimes, I cannot avoid any unexpected situation so it would be better
to have their support. At the moment, my group are in shortage personnel
so I should solve by myself.
Nam From given reasons, what do you think the most crucial?
Khoa Overtime, I could work from 3pm to 11pm then I spent 1 more hour for
delay flight, it makes me really exhausted.
Nam Any policy for overtime, bonus for example?
Khoa I have not seen yet, our group could not solve this one, nobody could
predict delay flight and shortage personnel make me stay to complete my
flights.
Nam In case of overtime, anyone help you, have you noticed your supervisors
or you have to do by yourself.
Khoa Yes of course, after noticed my supervisor, they also try to find another
appropriate flight for me, support me to leave on time. Sometimes, they
also asked me for overtime supporting due to lack of personnel, my
colleagues could cover me but they also have many flight to handle.
43

Nam Could you pick one reason that makes the fatigue mainly?
Khoa Overtime due to delay flight.
Nam In your opinion, do you think overtime policy could improve your
fatigue level?
Khoa The policy could make people spend more effort, there will be a reward
for this. In contrast, it is still our responsibility to complete delay flights
without policies, they would frustrated because of imbalance effort and
reward, work motivation could be faded.
Nam How do you think about your work, is it hard, does it require skills? Do
you want to do in your own way or just follow constant precesses.
Khoa This job require work in processes, you can find some tips to make your
work smooth. However, it is important to follow processes of every
single flight.
Nam Base on nature of job, have you seen that this job make any motivation
for you, do you have any feeling about complete tasks by your own way
compare to processes?
Khoa Job requires processes so I think I should obey processes, aviation
industry also need carefulness so processes help me work well. My
fatigue does not come from following processes, irregular situations help
me more active, it is also my joy in this work. Every flights have
different stories such as too many cargo, imbalance zone distribution, it
is motivation for me.
Nam Could you give me an idea to improve fatigue level for you and your
colleagues ? does recruitment help your fatigue level better?
Khoa I think recruitment is good for whole group, flights will be arranged
equally, more help availability, decreasing pressure in rush hours. It also
creates chance for on job training. Now, i’m learning to do AirAsia
flights, Jestar Asia flights, Scoot flights, this is also my motivation. In
conclusion, recruitment decrease number of flights per staffs and create
on job training opportunities.
Nam Thank you for all your sharing, this conservation was recorded and you
information could be anonymous if you want, I hope you be ok with this.
Khoa No problem !
Nam Thank you so much !
Interview 2
Time 09PM, 01 AUG 2017
Place 10, Hong Ha St, Tan Binh District, Ho Chi Minh City.
Interviewee Mr. Nguyen Van Lam – Deputy Manager
44

Nam Hi Mr Lam, today I would like to discuss with you about fatigue of
employees at WB group of SAGS. Before we go on this topic, could you
introduce yourself a little bit?
Lam Hi Nam, I’m Nguyen Van Lam, I’m deputy manager of WB group at
SAGS. I have work for SAGS for more 10 years and I have been in
charge of managerial position for a long time.
Nam Thank you, before we go on interview, the information between us could
be anonymous so I hope you feel free completely to sharing your
opinion. This interview would be recorded and published in the thesis,
are you ok?
Lam Ya, No problem.
Nam There are some questions about fatigued symptoms. Could you show me
how you feel in the morning after waking up in common?
Lam I’m a optimistic person so I usually feel good when I wake up.
Lam 8 hours
Nam Have you ever had a nap during your shift? in 30 second or 2 minutes?
Lam In my opinion, once on duty, I always try my best to focus on my work
therefore I usually have a good preparation, it is seldom for me to have a
nap during my shift.
Lam As you know that I never use all this kind of drinks.
Nam Have you ever felt that you get angry during your shift easily?
Lam I think I am good at controlling my emotion but sometimes I get angry
because of specific situation.
Lam I feel good, my duty is over, I finished work.
Nam What do you often do after your shift?
Lam Reading book, hanging out with friend, sometimes I go to coffee shop or
eat out.
Nam Have you played any sport or joined in outdoor activities after finished
work?
Lam This is my uncompleted plan that I still could not do it.
Nam Can you tell me the reason, lazy, tired or busy…?
Lam The main reason is lazy. I am trying to improve this one.
45

Nam I think you have a good mental and physical health. You are at
managerial level, with the list of question I asked you recently. How do
you think about your staff, have they had any fatigue symptoms?
Lam I think this situation sometimes happen, no too much but exist. The
reason might be personal things or their health.
Nam If your staffs are fatigued, or once you get fatigue, what cause do you
think?
Lam Beside personal things and health, I think work environment. The nature
of job is pressure, staff could not receive deserved entitlement, it takes
time for me to have permission from higher level for those things. Staffs
could frustrate about entitlement but I think the group’s atmosphere still
good.
Nam What are entitlements that you mentioned?
Lam Recreation time, annual leave, group’s outdoor activities.
Nam At your level, and people who in your level, what do you think about
your entitlement?
Lam Honestly, this issue is quite pressing and sensitive, I could not go further
because of company’s policy and human resource plan. We have tried to
recruit more to able ensure fully entitlements. With current work
demand, your break time and recreation are not enough, it is the same
with me.
Nam Furthermore, what do you think about at lower level, staffs could ask a
help from each other to swap shift for a short trip, a tour. In contrast, at
your level, is it possible?
Lam You could see that it is a long time I do not have a long day off or a long
trip. In my point, I try to keep equality, I cannot take my entitlement
unless my staffs have one. At managerial level, if we want to take long
day off, we better training our staffs to able to replace us temporary, it is
our responsibility.
Nam Beside entitlement issue, what is your opinion about fatigue’s reason like
overtime and imbalance effort – reward? Let talk about overtime?
Lam I think overtime happen because of shortage personnel and nature of job,
but overtime seem to be very little, actually during flight delay, we enjoy
idle time in our shift, I still try to limit your overtime but those delay
flight will be handled by another one, might be you in the next time from
others. Finally, this is kind of sharing work to optimize our human
resource.
46

Nam Although overtime is a nature of job, several opinions suppose that
combine overtime in one month, it can be equal to one or to day off. In
fact, as you said, people are in idle period during flight time but they are
still on duty as stand by. Moreover, there are two conflicted thinking that
people complete their flights even overtime as devotion for his job
compare to people leave company on time, find the way to swap flight as
lazy type, what purpose of reward in this situation?
Lam Everyone wants to leave on time, if you want reward like incentive or
recognition for your overtime, you have to think about company’s policy.
Salary budget is fixed for each group, there are the losing side and gain
side. The nature of job has to be understood before joining. We always
try for staff leaving on time by swapping flight and rearranging schedule,
just sometime it could not. Actually, at managerial level, we would pick
candidates for training and promoting as a recognition for your devotion,
we have paid attention during whole process, we try to find different
ways to recognize your devotion.
Nam Thank your sharing. Step further, as you mentioned about nature of job,
we are in charge of flights, huge number of Vietjet carrier are handled at
outside packing bay, staff have to face with sunlight, noise, high
temperature, rain. What do you think about those things that frontline
employees have to face?
Lam I agree with you about high pressure by those things. Once you go out,
you have to face with hazard of outside environment meanwhile inside
the office, you have to face with time pressure and work stress. There is
no difference about level of pressure, you have to adjust this kind of
stress and your mentality.
Nam Comeback with effort – reward, it could be wide range of reward, even
equality among staffs, number of flights per employee per day could be
unequal. Do you think about other appraisal system because each day
supervisor work with another team in shift, it seems to be different to
monitor? This inequality might be a cause of stress, fatigue in staffs.
Lam You might not remember that some stories about others shared with me, I
would keep on track and double check its accuracy to improve
inequality, I still try to arrange booking list equally, there will be solution
for who avoid arrangement. All your feedback is well recognized.
Nam Back to yourself, have you received good support from your co-worker
when you overtime or have double flights during your shift?
47

Lam In overall, I think our group is collaborative, helping each other.
Nam In conclusion, from given reasons cause fatigue in our group, what
crucial reason of fatigue situation do you think?
Lam …I think that is lack of human resource and lack of entitlement.
Nam Is it possible to solve this problem?
Lam We are finding solutions. We are recruiting more but unfortunately, there
would be somebody quit the job, some people take a maternity leave, the
recruiting and training time last quite long (at least 3 month). Human
resource also belongs to company level.
Nam Beside company level, in group level, could you give some ideas?
Lam We are trying Centrelize load control for daily task, it is huge change in
work processes require others department collaboration. It will take long
time for this change, it still exists sensitive issues.
Nam The last question, have you seen any negative impacts of fatigue?
Lam We are human being, hard to concentrate, low productivity, errors,
getting angry. It is important to keep positive mentality, happy is good
for whole day.
Nam Thanks for your sharing!
Interview 3
Time 11AM, 08 AUG 2017
Place 02, Dong Da St, Tan Binh District, Ho Chi Minh City.
Interviewee Mr. Nguyen Hoang Phuoc – Staff
Nam Hi Phuoc, I am working on fatigue of employees at WB group of SAGS
topic. Could you introduce yourself a little bit?
Phuoc I’m Hoang Phuoc, i’m load planner of WB group at SAGS.
Nam Before we go on interview, this interview would be recorded, if you want
the information between us could be anonymous so I hope you feel free
completely to sharing your opinion, are you ok?
Phuoc Ya, No problem.
Nam Could you tell me how you feel in the morning after waking up in
common?
Phuoc It depends on my shift. If my previous shift was night, I could feel quite
tired.
Nam Is it the same every day?
Phuoc To compare with before, I felt worse when I wake up.
48

Phuoc About 5-6 hours from joining SAGS
Nam Have you ever had a nap during your shift? in 15-30 second or 2
minutes?
Phuoc Yes, sometimes.
Phuoc Yes, but rarely.
Phuoc Yes, if I got stress, sometimes I could get angry
Phuoc I feel good, comfortable. However, work stress could still exist and I
bring it to home if I made any errors.
Phuoc I go home immediately, taking shower and eating to relax and recover
energy.
Nam Have you played any sport or joined in outdoor activities after finished
work?
Phuoc I work out at home, I had played football but less time limit me.
Nam Do you think that you have some fatigue symptom like not alertness,
sleepy from joining SAGS.
Phuoc I strongly confirm about high frequency, tired, angry, not alertness,
memory loss because of night shift from joining SAGS.
Nam How do you think about your co-workers, have they had any fatigue
symptoms?
Phuoc Yes, sometimes I saw they felt tired during their shift.
think?
Phuoc Working time, work pressure. Mainly, time could be inappropriate
arrangement, inappropriate recreation and shift break, lacking of
recovery energy. Work pressure could make tired and stress.
Nam What are work pressure?
Phuoc About time and person-person. There are many groups involved in daily
task, sometimes others create kind of pressure.
Nam You said about shift work, time pressure, person-person of groups, how
about delay flight and overtime.
It does not happen regularly, I could allow overtime for maximum 1
hour, it is unacceptable for more than that in high season.
49

Nam Is it one of the cause make you tired?
Phuoc Yes of course, I spent too much time for work mean time for myself
would decrease, it would be stressful
Nam How do you think about effort and reward, is it balance or imbalance?
Phuoc I am quite satisfied with current salary but overtime seem not to be an
official recognition, it is kind of agreement among staffs, it has been seen
as a nature of job. There is no overtime policy.
Nam Thank you. The next question is about entitlement, how about annual
leave and holiday leave at your group?
Phuoc SAGS is a service company, it has to run 24/7 so we have to work on
holiday occasion. We have a policy about annual leave and holiday
leave, but we have not received it fully, manager could not find out a
solution for annual leave at the moment.
Nam Do you have any trouble with leave registration?
Phuoc It is quite hard because of shortage personnel, it has to depend on number
of personnel, season, booking list.
Nam So back to the effort – reward, at managerial level said, they did
recognize efforts by training opportunities, staff of the high season
reward. How do you think about that?
Phuoc My overtime was not recorded, it is only seen on company system
(SMIS), system could not describe realistic picture. If they refer system
to decide reward, it could be unequal.
Nam There is a government document about overtime, how do you think if
company have a policy for overtime by bonus? could it equalize effort
and reward to decrease level of fatigue?
Phuoc I think fatigue relate to health, bonus as reward just only a part of pay
back. Health is more important, but overtime policy should deploy and
have to deploy.
Nam We discussed about 4-5 reasons could make fatigue at weight and
balance group, what reason do you think could improve, what could not?
Phuoc Overtime could be solved if they could figure out human resource, I saw
company had recruitment plan in order to annual leave. I have not seen
any positive signal about overtime recognition.
Nam In your opinion, what crucial reason make you tired?
Phuoc Rest break is not enough. We have not received annual leave fully, we
have to work continuously. The recreation time between shift is very
50

important, it decrease time for sleep, it narrow down our time for
activities. Too much time for work.
Nam In addition, as you said about person-person relationship. Have you
received good support from your co-worker, supervisors?
Phuoc Yes, but sometime I felt I do not receive any help from some co-workers
Nam So how do you think about that, I thought you cannot always work with
people who willing to help during your shift.
Phuoc It will be sad because of unequal help among my colleagues. In term of
work, help is only secondary, I have to do my own job, situation would
depend on who I work with.
Nam Back to yourself, before joining to SAGS, what kind of job have you
done?
Phuoc I only take part time jobs.
Nam Could you compare about both side, about fatigue level?
Phuoc It is unequal to compare, it is more comfortable for part time job for sure.
My current job is quite tight, many regulation, policies, pressure.
Nam Could you compare about fatigue at your frontline level and managerial
level?
Phuoc I think it is the same, they could work 2 to 3 night shifts per week but
they also have kind of policies for this.
Nam Because of different level, you do Vietjet carrier mainly, you have to go
outside and face to harmful environment like rain, sunlight, noise,
polluted air. Do you feel tired about that?
Phuoc It might be one of many factors, going outside, moving between packing
bay, weather could drain our energy compare to sit in office working
with system.
Nam Back to delay, there are two kinds of opinion. You will keep doing your
flight although it delays around 30-60 mins. In contrast, you will not do
it. It like you will take tired for yourself compare to you do not devote
for your work as lazy. How do you think?
Phuoc In my opinion, I accept 30-60min for overtime with delay flight. If more
than that, it is necessary for me to need help from my colleagues and
supervisor. Evaluation depend on people, I try my best in my work.
Nam Have you seen any negative impacts of fatigue to your work?
Phuoc Yes, high level of fatigue makes me hard to concentrate, many night shift
make me loss memory. As a result, I could make errors, errors make me
more stressful.
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Nam Are there any consequences beside fatigue?
Phuoc I could tell that the delay flight affects my private time, imbalance effort
– and reward affect my devotion, inequality affect my emotion.
Nam The last question, compare to the beginning from joining SAGS, could
you describe the difference.
Phuoc It could be my attitude, from enthusiasm and devotion at beginning, now
I learn to relax and I do not spend much time for company’s stuff to
avoid overload.
Nam Thanks for your sharing!
Interview 4
Place Good man Coffee store, Cuu Long St, Tan Binh District, Ho Chi Minh
City.
Interviewee Mr. Le Hoang An – Staff
Nam Hi Mr An, I am working on fatigue of employees at WB group of SAGS
topic. Before we go on, could you introduce yourself a little bit?
An My full name is Le Hoang An, I’m 27 years old.
Nam How long have you worked at Weight and balance Group of SAGS
An More than 1 years (before he worked at Coordinator and Loading group)
Nam Before we go on interview, this interview would be recorded, if you want
completely to sharing your opinion.
Could you tell me how you feel in the morning after waking up in
common?
An I seldom wake up in the morning so it’s quite hard to answer.
Nam But how do you feel after wake up?
An Tired, a weird feeling that I cannot describe right now.
Nam Is it the same every day?
An It is the same normally.
Nam Could you tell me how many hours you spend on sleeping from joining
SAGS, in average?
An About 8 hours.
Nam Have you ever had a nap during your shift? in 15-30 second or 1
minutes?
An Yes, of course?
52

An Daily.
An Yes, sometimes.
Nam Do you think that you have some fatigue symptom like not alertness,
sleepy from joining SAGS.
An No, I think it does not relate to my job, cause of fatigue might be my
time table. My weird circadian clock began long time ago.
Nam Anyway, do you think you have fatigue symptoms like tired, not
alertness?
An I always feel tire, not enough time for sleeping.
Nam How do you think about your co-workers, have they had any fatigue
symptoms?
An Yes, mostly they all have kind of symptoms.
think?
An Firstly, it is about working shift, circadian rhythm could be complex
unlike normal people. Rotating form morning, noon and night makes
lack of sleep hour. Secondly, nature of job requires too many focusing so
it makes us tired.
Nam In addition, how do you think about overtime because of delay flight?
An In my own opinion, delay is a nature of job and it is not a main reason so
I do not want to talk too much. Actually, during waiting for delay flight,
we can do private things or we are in idle mode or we help co-workers.
Nam How do you think about effort and reward, is it balance or imbalance?
Delay could not be important but some people try their best to complete
their flights although I could be 30-60 minutes overtime. Their effort has
not received any reward or recognition, do you think it could be a cause
of fatigue?
An It might be right, people have to accept overtime once they joined SAGS
as a fact. They already read and signed contract agreement with policies
and principle. It also depends on different views about feeling of
overtime so I think it is not enough to confirm it is a cause of fatigue.
Nam In overall, what crucial reason make you tired?
An I think is about circadian clock, we can prevent tired by playing sport,
healthy life, eating habits.
Nam Do you mean that circadian clock is crucial reason?
53

An Ya. The way we arrange daily activities.
Nam Back to delay and overtime, there are two conflicted thinking that people
complete their flights even overtime as devotion for his job compare to
people leave company on time, find the way to swap flight as lazy type,
what do you think?
An It is not a fault when I leave office on time if supervisor or co-workers
agree to take care my delay flights. Sorry could you repeat other idea.
Nam That is people try to complete delay flight by their own but there is no
recognition or any reward for their effort, they only get exhaustion.
An I think people know what they want once they try to follow delay flights.
If they want a recognition but they do not get it, they could refuse delay
flights next time, in case they willing to do delay flight without the
payback, reward does not make any sense.
Nam Thank you. In addition, have you received good support from your co-
worker, supervisors?
An Yes, people willing to help each other.
Nam How do you think this comment about some people willing to help but
some try to ignore?
An In my opinion, help is not their mission, they do have right to refuse so
we have to accept that without complaining.
Nam So how do you feel about that?
An It is fine, we could remember about this situation, do they have time to
help us or not, we can consider to help them once they need help. We can
also help them first than looking forward the help back.
Nam Step further, how do you think about shift arrangement as a cause of
fatigue?
An I think it is acceptable argument, shifts have been arranged quite close.
To be honest, I also could not find out the way to arrange my shift for
maximizing recreation time if I was in charge of shift arrangement.
level?
An Shift work might be the same point. To compare, frontline level focus on
specializing, managerial level has to train their staffs, manage in wide
range, deal with staff’s issue beside their specializing.
Nam Could you compare fatigue level in different staff level, between 1st
and
2nd
level, as you have done right now, you are in charge of wide body
54

aircraft as level 2? Example going to outside parking bay and sitting at
office?
An Each level has different kind of fatigue, at level 1, you can face to
polluted air, sunshine, rain. Meanwhile siting in office as level 2 have to
focus and use their knowledge to handle wide body aircraft than people
are in level 1
Nam Do you mean level of fatigue is the same?
An Yes, I think so.
Nam How do you think about the effect of fatigue in your work?
An It is about time.
Nam How about negative effect?
An May be, I could angry with my colleagues.
Nam How about the effect of shift work, imbalance effort – reward, delay
flight, imbalance among your group?
An There is no doubt about people who spend more effort, could be unhappy
and frustrated. People have right to comment to their supervisors and co-
workers if they have done many flights than other. It depends on yourself
to ask for rearrangement, supervisor might make a mistake on monitoring
but it is better way to talk by themselves.
Nam There are too many complaints could mean they are lazy or devoted, how
do you think?
An People have to look back yourself first, then they have to talk with
supervisor about their problem. It is the way we solve it.
Nam Sorry, I want to comeback at cause of fatigue, how do you think about
entitlement?
An I think it is about human resource, quite top-level management. We do
not have enough staffs to handle so we have to limit our day off and
annual leave. Naturally, we get tired when we work without rest.
Nam But do you think entitlement is the cause leading to fatigue?
An No, I do not agree.
Nam I have seen that some supervisors have not taken their annual leave for a
long time, it is quite bad situation, how do you think? how about at your
level?
An I compare 14 days for annual leave with the rest of the year, the annual
leave could does not make any sense for long day working, the
importance is how we arrange our timetable every day to limit level of
fatigue.
55

Nam Shift arrangement relate to staff’s ability, staff’s level, how do you think
that uniformity of level will minimize your fatigue?
An Yes, it is very appropriate, it is very ideal for uniformity because we need
long time, staff’s ability to upgrade level. Uniformity mean cover each
other easily, it would be wonderful for this stage.
Nam Ok, thank you for all sharing today!
Interview 5
Place Tan Son Nhat International Airport, Tan Binh District, Ho Chi Minh
City.
Interviewee Mrs. Doan Pham Thao Lan – Supervisor
Nam Hi Mrs Lan, today I would like to discuss with you about fatigue of
employees at WB group of SAGS. Before we go on this topic, could you
introduce yourself alittle bit?
Lan I’m Doan Pham Thao Lan, i’m a supervisor of WB group at SAGS. I
have work for SAGS for more 10 years.
Nam Thank you, before we go on interview, this discussion will be recorded,
completely to sharing your opinion.
There are some questions about fatigued symptoms. Could you show me
how you feel in the morning after waking up in common?
Lan I feel sleepy and want to sleep more.
Nam Is it the same or difference every day?
Lan It depends on my shift, it would be better if I did not work the day
before. In case I worked the previous day, I would be sleepy in the next
morning.
Nam Could you tell me how many hours you spend on sleeping from joining
SAGS, in average?
Lan About 6 hours
Nam Have you ever had a nap during your shift? in 15-30 second?
Lan Rarely
Lan I often drink Redbull.
Lan Recently, I get angry easier if something happens unexpectedly.
56

Lan I feel tired, I want to lay down.
Lan I had family so I take care my child, do household chores.
Nam I had asked you about potential fatigue symptoms, do you think you have
fatigue symptoms like sleepy, stress, not alertness, distraction from
joining SAGS.
Lan I have, it has to have!
Nam How do you think about your staff, have they had any fatigue symptoms?
Lan Job require shift work so I think they also have fatigue symptoms. People
work in noon, evening and night would suffer fatigued more than who
work in the morning.
think?
Lan Shift work and overload would lead fatigue, shift work mess circadian
clock up.
Nam Any reason else?
Lan High work demand, it would be better in a low season. In high season,
staff have done many flights because of lack of personnel and flight
increasing. That lead to the fatigue.
Nam Delay flights make overtime, it could be a reason. What do you think?
Lan I agree, employees could be in idle mode during delay flights but they
still work in the office therefore time would last longer and make they
tired.
Nam There are opinions about imbalance effort – reward, how do you think?
Lan I think that’s right. If they spend effort on their work but received
unworthy reward, they would feed unhappy.
Nam You are also on managerial level. How do you think about this
imbalance? Any solution for balancing?
Lan I’m at lowest managerial level so I could not do anything, it needs higher
level’s action.
Nam But you are the person who monitor during a shift?
Lan I try to share workload equally at my level, but recognition and reward
need higher level’s decision.
Nam I think in your level, you have right to recommend or give advices for top
manager to balancing effort – reward, don’t you?
57

Lan Yah I had given some advices and notices but I think it have not made
sense for them.
Nam Have you received good support from your co-worker when you
overtime or have double flights during your shift?
Lan Yes, my group have a good support spirit.
Nam Is it the same among your group, do you think somebody are enthusiastic
and somebody are not?
Lan I think they all have good support spirit but sometime, their abilities are
not allowed for full support.
Nam The next question, somebody mentioned that the cause of fatigue come
from shift arrangement, too many early morning shift, too many splitted
shift for example. You are the roster designator. How do you think?
Lan I think it is right, I arrange schedule by manual so I could not avoid
mistakes. Once schedule release, people should take a look and notice me
if any inappropriate.
Nam There are two conflicted thinking that people complete their flights even
overtime as devotion for his job compare to people leave company on
time, find the way to swap flight as lazy type, what do you think?
Lan I do not agree both side of thinking. If flights are delayed in short time
within 1 hour, I would ask their help if too many flights. In case the flight
delayed more than 1 hour, it should be in charge by others.
Nam What happen if others are also busy with their flights?
Lan For this situation, the overtime would be calculated for the next shift.
level?
Lan There are many frontline employees so they could take a trip or take a
day off easier than managerial level. For example, frontline employees
could have one night shift per week, meanwhile supervisor have to work
2-3 night shift per week, Moreover, supervisor could do little flights but
they do load sheet for bigger jet. People suffer different kind of fatigue
so it is hard to compare.
Nam Could you compare fatigue level in different staff level, between 1st
and
2nd
level, as you have done right now, you are in charge of wide body
aircraft as level 2? Example going to outside parking bay and sitting at
office?
58

Lan At level 2, it is higher work demand. For level 1, it could drain your
stamina but it is simple and less processes, less calculation, less
concentration, quick turnaround.
Nam You mentioned about swap shift in managerial level, 2-3 night shift per
week. How about your entitlement?
Lan It is a huge impact, I have not taken annual leave for years.
Nam Does it make your fatigue level become worse?
Lan Yes, I agree.
Nam Have you think about any solution for this?
Lan I have but it still does not work.
Nam Could you share with me?
Lan I could take a new job but it depends too much things. Adding more
supervisors for substitution, we are also waiting 2 maternity leave. The
situation would be better.
Nam From given causes of fatigue in our group, what crucial reason of fatigue
situation do you think?
Lan It is about lack of personnel and lack of entitlement.
Nam Have you feel any impact of given causes in your work?
Lam I think that uncomfortable feeling and thinking are negative about work
continuously.
Nam How about consequences of each cause like shift work, overtime and
imbalance effort – reward.
Lan Could you explain more?
Nam For example, imbalance effort – reward will lead negative thinking
among group, overtime lead attitude change. Some people change their
mind in devotion after one year, their enthusiasm is decreasing.
Lan Of course, they change from learning new things to compare among
group. Imbalance have a negative impact on enthusiasm, they would not
spend more effort in their work. Become lazier.
Nam Could you manage your shift well? could you know all actions of your
staff?
Lan I could not manage all stuffs, it depends on my flights on this day. It is
hard for multitask. I need help from others.
Nam About entitlement, shift arrangement relates to staff’s ability, staff’s
level, how do you think that uniformity of level will minimize your
fatigue?
59

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