WO2002052476A1

WO2002052476A1 - A system and a method for matching of data

Info

Publication number: WO2002052476A1
Application number: PCT/SE2001/002826
Authority: WO
Inventors: Sohyla Aghili
Original assignee: Sohyla Aghili
Priority date: 2000-12-18
Filing date: 2001-12-18
Publication date: 2002-07-04
Also published as: SE0004682D0; SE0004682L

Abstract

The present invention relates to a system and a method for scheduling and linking available personnel and service resources through a system server and at least one database (400) in an open network for data- and telecommunication. Employees and employers can, through a portal (10) provided by the system server on the network, fill out electronic forms on a computer screen with emloyee and employer data respectively. Filled out data are sorted out, registered and stored in the database (400) and employer schedules (330) and personal employee schedules (230) are created for employers and employees respectively, which designate sought working hours. A measuring of maximum designated sought working hour period for at least one employee regarding at least one employer is accomplished in the database (400) during matching of at least one employee schedule in the database (400) versus at least one employer schedule for achieving an individual work schedule best corresponding to sought working hours together with said data and vice versa, wherein an optimum timeframe for work is accomplished regarding at least one employer towards at least one employee and vice versa.

Description

A system and a method for matching of data.

Technical Held

The present invention pertains to a system and a method for scheduling and linking available personnel and service resources in an open network for data- and telecommunication.

Background art

The work force in the current society tends to become ever more mobile because people change jobs on a more frequent basis than before. This constitutes a problem when it is necessary to find suitable replacements fast, and especially if there is a general shortage of manpower. The recruiting of new personnel is in some lines of work as a whole very difficult, and in some professions, for example within the fields of healthcare and education, the personnel is furthermore both bound to schedules and possessing unique competences. These are factors which brings further trouble regarding filling vacancies with permanently employed personnel, extra personnel or substitutes for temporary absence due to factors such as sickness, parental leave and the like, at these kinds of places of work, since such competence is extra hard to find and of vital importance for solving the work assignments in a satisfactory way. Different so-called manning companies, which have been popping up during the last decade, have provided a solution to these problems. These companies engage personnel having specific knowledge within certain areas of profession and act as a link between employer and employee, forming pools of people with specific competence, and mediate jobs respectively hire out manpower when needed and for a certain fee. The disadvantages with this solution are i. a. the inflexibility of a large-scale business and a demanding administrative system, seen in the case of such companies.

Rapid conditional changes in manning situations, personnel needs, can be difficult to predict and therefore hard to parry, and the solution with manning companies as mediators of temporary work force means both higher costs for the companies hiring personnel and lower income for the personnel connected to the manning companies than if the two parties would have located each other independently, i. a. because of the extra costs, such as social fees, mediating fees, employer fees and the like, originating from the manning companies. Problems such as double booking, absence or sick-reporting on short notice of hired persomiel often occur, because the temporary personnel do not perhaps always have a particularly strong commitment toward a temporary job. The individual lacks the freedom and prospect of being able to influence his/her job situation much and cannot really decline a job offer given, for fear of not being offered other jobs subsequently.

It is becoming evermore popular to be a self-employed person, i.e. to start a business as an entrepreneur, consultant, and to "lease" your competence to different interested/interesting companies. In this way, each individual has the opportunity and freedom to more or less influence his/her own working hours, assignments and salary. The work assignments become more varied and possibilities are given to broaden competence and to get nice and perhaps important connections with new people at different companies. There is furthermore no dependency towards a manning company or the like that mediate the work assignments, but every person is his/her own manager choosing where, when and how to work, of course in accordance to individual agreements with each concerned company. Also a lot of companies find this employment form practical, especially companies with a recruiting need, which depending on circumstances is fluctuating in time and where perhaps new recruiting is not permissible. If it is possible to provide means for such self- employees having special competence and companies with a need for personnel within the same competence areas to locate each other when needed in a faster, cheaper, easier and more secure way than for example via the manning companies, a lot of problems, such as unevenly distributed manpower, unequal pay, stress, people being burnt out, unqualified extra personnel and high costs for extra personnel, which are unfortunately common in many companies, may diminish or even be totally eliminated.

The present invention aims at solving the problems mentioned above by providing a system and a method for the scheduling and linking of available personnel and service resources through a system server and at least one database in an open network for data- and telecommunication, as evident through characterizing parts in the supplemented independent claims.

The dependent claims furthermore set forth preferred embodiments of the invention.

Summary of the disclosed invention

The present invention aims at providing a system and a method, which facilitate for workers and employers to find each other when needed, for example for the matching of available personnel resources versus sought service resources and further for composing work schedules that are adapted according to each individual and filling both the employer's need for extra personnel during a certain time period and the employee's need for a number of working hours during a period of time. The present invention in this respect sets forth a system for scheduling and linking available personnel and service resources through a system server and at least one database in an open network for data- and telecommunication. The system comprises: employee and employer computer means with a screen, connected to the network; a portal or the like, provided by the system server in the network in which electronic forms are provided on the screen for employees and employers respectively to fill out with employee and employer data; a selection-sorting means, for sorting out, registering and storing employee and employer data in the database; a scheduling means, for creating employer schedules and personal employee schedules where employers and employees respectively designate sought working hours, which are stored in the database; means for measuring of maximum designated sought working hours for at least one employee regarding at least one employer in the database; wherein at least one employee schedule in the database is matched versus at least one employer schedule for accomplishing an individual work schedule best corresponding to designated sought working hours together with said data and vice versa, wherein an optimum working timeframe is accomplished regarding at least one employer towards at least one employee and vice versa; and wherein user-unique work schedules with working hours according to individual needs are accomplished for the employee, and wherein the employer receives coverage for scheduled time online.

In one embodiment of the system according to the present invention, employer data and employee data from respective employers and employees having professional competence can be selected and stored in the database. In another embodiment of the system according to the present invention, the selected employers and employees having work professional authorization can be notified and get personal access codes to the database. hi other embodiments of the system according to the present invention, employees and employers with the longest continuous designated working hours can have priority during matching, employees can rank preferred work places, work assignments and geographic areas to have priority during matching, and employers can rank preferred employees according to sex, age, occupational experience or the like, which shall be a priority during matching.

In one embodiment of the system according to the present invention, employees and employers apply for authorization to the database through an electronic application form on a homepage in the network.

Furthermore, the present invention denotes a method for scheduling and linking available personnel and service resources through a system server and at least one database in an open network for data- and telecommunication. Employees and employers can, through a portal provided by the system server in the network, fill out electronic forms on a computer screen with employee and employer data respectively. Filled out data are sorted out, registered and stored in the database, and employer schedules and personal employee schedules are created for employers and employees respectively, which designate sought working hours, and these schedules are also stored in the database. A measuring of the maximum designated sought working hour period for at least one employee regarding at least one employer is accomplished in the database during matching of at least one employee schedule in the database versus at least one employer schedule for achieving an individual work schedule best corresponding to sought working hours together with said data and vice versa, wherein an optimum timeframe for work is accomplished regarding at least one employer towards at least one employee and vice versa. User-unique work schedules with working hours according to individual needs can be accomplished for the employee and the employer receives coverage for scheduled time online. In one embodiment of the method according to the present invention, employer data and employee data from respective employers and employees having professional competence can be selected and stored in the database.

In another embodiment of the method according to the present invention, the selected employers and employees having work professional authorization can be notified and get personal access codes to the database.

In other embodiments of the method according to the present invention, employees and employers with the longest continuous designated working hours can have priority during matching, employees can rank preferred work places, work assignments and geographic areas to have priority during matching and employers can rank preferred employees according to sex, age, occupational experience or the like, which shall be a priority during matching.

In one embodiment of the method according to the present invention, employees and employers apply for authorization to the database through an electronic application form on a homepage in the network.

Brief description of the drawings

Henceforth reference is had to the attached images for a better understanding of the present invention and its examples and embodiments, wherein: Fig. 1 schematically illustrates a system for linking available personnel and service resources through computer aid-means, homepages and a database in an open network for data- and telecommunication, according to one embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 2 illustrates an example of an electronic application form for employees, according to one embodiment of a method of the present invention. Fig. 3-4 illustrates examples of electronic application forms for employers, according to one embodiment of a method of the present invention.

Fig. 5-6 illustrates examples of employer and employee schedules, according to one embodiment of a method of the present invention.

Detailed description of preferred embodiments

A detailed description of a system and preferred embodiments of a method for scheduling and linking available personnel and service resources through a system server and at least one database in an open network for data- and telecommumcation, according to the present invention, follows with reference to the supplemented drawings. The system and method according to the present invention describe scheduling and linking of available personnel and service resources in an open network for data- and telecommunication, such as the Internet, for accomplishing a quick, easy and secure matching of qualified available manpower versus employers, who need personnel with specific competence and on short notice, for temporary or permanent employment. A person who for the time being is unemployed or an employer with a need for personnel can, via a PC or the like, connected to the Internet or a similar network and a system server, directly apply for membership of the matching service through electronic application forms provided on a homepage in the network. An electronic application form (see fig. 2) is filled out on the homepage by interested employees with for instance personal information, educational information and information of current place of work, and employers fill out an electronic application form (see fig. 3-4), for instance with information about the company's line of business, information about company departments or the like and information about available, vacant, services at the company. The filled out application forms are then transmitted over the network to the system server for enabling checking of the employees' professional competence versus available services in the database and for sorting out applications which are not serious.

Professional competence is examined, checked, so that only employees with the right competence and overall background, for example that they have no police-record, are drug free and have no complaints from earlier employments, shall be able to apply to vacant services corresponding to the competence profile. The information, data, about competent, authorized, employees and employers is registered, sorted and stored in a database and forms the basis for creating employer and employee schedules (see fig. 5-6) in the database. Through personal access codes and individual ID-numbers, which only give access to vacant services corresponding to the competence profile, professionally authorized employees and serious employers are then given access to the matching function in the database and can create individual work schedules with the help of the information, data, already stored in the database and through a system of codes, which define different preferred parameters, such as preferred working hours and dates, places of work, geographic work areas and work assignments alternatively preferred sex, age category and professional experience or the like, which are to be matched versus the vacant services and employees in the database, respectively.

Through a means for measuring of maximum designated sought working time, for example for at least one employee regarding at least one employer's sought working time, an individual work schedule can be accomplished, which best corresponds to designated sought working time for the employee and also vice versa. Thereby optimized working time can be accomplished, for example, regarding at least one employee versus at least one employer and vice versa. Priority for the employee who offers the most working time at the same employer can then, for example, be accomplished when matching the schedules in the database, if competing employees, showing at least the same suitability as the one having priority, have designated shorter sought working time for the same employer, and vice versa. A designated employee schedule can be matched versus all the employer schedules having a qualified competence profile in the database, and by a priority function in the employee schedule, an optimum schedule can also optionally be obtained as regards whether the employee in his/her schedule chooses to rank, set a priority to, one or several preferred parameters of the employee data such as described above, and where all available services corresponding to the parameter with the highest rank, priority, is selected and booked in matching schedules.

If a parameter in the employee data, such as "place of work = Sδdersjukhuset", has the highest rank by a work-seeking nurse in an own-designated work schedule in the database, the schedule is foremost compared, matched, considering this parameter versus all vacant nurse services, assignments, in the database corresponding to the competence profile of the nurse, and all matching vacant service not offered by "Sδdersjukhuset" is sorted out. To be able to work certain designated hours or dates is perhaps ranked second highest in the schedule, and these parameters are then compared to the found available services at "Sδdersjukhuset", whereby the vacant services corresponding to these hours/dates are booked in the employee schedule and simultaneously locked for other employees in the employer schedule "Sδdersjukhuset" so that no double bookings of personnel can occur.

Employers also can rank preferred parameters in the employer data in their employer schedules. It could for example be highly ranked that an employee can work a continuous longer period of time at the same position, whereby the employee having an employee schedule offering the longest in time designated continuous work period found during a preset time frame of continuous matching versus employee schedules in the database is booked.

In fig. 1, the linking, matching, of available personnel and service resources via computer aid-means, homepages and a database 400 in an open network for data- and telecommunication, is schematically illustrated. Through a PC or the like, a user can enter a collection of linked homepages in a network, such as the Internet, for searching available labor, workforce, and vacant services, work assignments, in the database 400, provided by a system server in the network. From a startup or welcome page 10 there are links to pages, for example, for applying for membership as employee 20, applying for membership as employer 30, search page for employees 200, search page for employers 300 and a general search page 100. On the pages that deals with applications for membership as employee 20 and employer 30, an application for membership of the matching service towards the database 400 can be made by filling out electronic forms with employee and employer data respectively over the network with a subsequent authorization check and storage of the data about authorized, competent, users (employees and employers) in the database 400, according to the method steps as described above.

An accepted membership provides the authorized, competent, employees and employers respectively, with access to "search page employee" 200 and "search page employer" 300 respectively through personal access codes and ID-numbers, for further construction of individual employee schedules 230 and employer schedules 330 respectively, which shall be matched versus other schedules in the database 400 following the above described procedure. Via pages search page employee 200 and search page employer 300 and the pages "special area county" 210, 310 and "special area line of business" 220, 320, different preferred parameters can be set and ranked in employee and employer schedules for a finer specification of wanted outcome of the matching in the database 400.

It is also possible to carry out general searches in the database without being a member, through "general search page" 100 and a search engine 130, to be able to look at what is available in the database 400, for example, for marketing and recruiting purposes. It is also possible here to set and rank different preferred parameters on the pages "special area county" 110 and "special area line of business" 120, for a finer specification of the search as described in the method steps above. It is however not possible to book available personnel or services through these home pages 100-130. h fig. 2, an example of an electronic application form for employees is illustrated, according to one embodiment of a method of the present invention.

Fig. 3 and 4 illustrates examples of electronic application forms for employers, according to one embodiment of a method of the present invention.

According to fig. 5-6, examples of employer and employee schedules are illustrated, according to one embodiment of a method of the present invention.

Fig. 2-6 are not further described in this description, but are considered self- explanatory.

The means mentioned in the present description can be software means, hardware means or a combination of both, known to the skilled person. The present invention has been described with non-limiting examples and embodiments. The attached set of claims describes all possible embodiments for a person skilled in the art.

Claims

1. A system for scheduling and linking available personnel and service resources through a system server and at least one database (400) in an open network for data- and telecommunication, characterized in comprising: employee and employer computer means with a screen, connected to the network; a portal (10) or the like provided by the system server in the network in which electronic forms are provided on the screen for employees and employers respectively to fill out with employee and employer data; a selection-sorting means, for sorting out, registering and storing employee and employer data in the database (400); a scheduling means, for creating employer schedules (330) and personal employee schedules (230) where employers and employees respectively designate sought working hours, which are stored in the database (400); means for measuring of maximum designated sought working hours for at least one employee regarding at least one employer in the database (400); wherein at least one employee schedule in the database (400) is matched versus at least one employer schedule for accomplishing an individual work schedule best corresponding to designated sought working hours together with said data and vice versa, wherein an optimum working timeframe is accomplished regarding at least one employer towards at least one employee and vice versa; and wherein user-unique work schedules with working hours according to individual needs are accomplished for the employee, and wherein the employer receives coverage for scheduled time online.

2. A system according to claim 1, characterized in that employer data and employee data from respective employers and employees having professional competence are selected and stored in the database (400).

3. A system according to claim 2, characterized in that the selected employers and employees having work professional authorization are notified and given personal access codes to the database (400).

4. A system according to claims 1-3, characterized in that employees and employers with the longest continuous designated working hours have priority during matching.

5. A system according to claims 1-4, characterized in that employees rank preferred places of work, work assignments and geographic areas, which shall have priority during matching.

6. A system according to claims 1-5, characterized in that employers rank preferred employees according to sex, age, occupational experience or the like, which shall have priority during matching.

7. A system according to claims 1-6, characterized in that employees and employers apply for authorization to the database (400) through an electronic application form on a homepage in the network.

8. A method for scheduling and linking available personnel and service resources through a system server and at least one database (400) in an open network for data- and telecommunication, characterized by the following method steps: employees and employers, through a portal (10) provided by the system server on the network, fill out electronic forms on a computer screen with employee and employer data respectively, which data are sorted out, registered and stored in the database; employer schedules (330) and personal employee schedules (230) are created and stored in the database for employers and employees respectively, which designate sought working hours; measuring of maximum designated sought working hour period for at least one employee regarding at least one employer in the database (400); wherein at least one employee schedule in the database (400) is matched versus at least one employer schedule for accomplishing an individual work schedule, which best corresponds to sought working hours together with said data and vice versa, wherein an optimum time period for work is accomplished regarding at least one employer towards at least one employee and vice versa; and wherein user-unique work schedules with working hours according to individual needs are accomplished for the employee, and the employer receives coverage for scheduled time online.

9. A method according to claim 8, characterized in that employer data and employee data from respective employers and employees having professional competence are selected and stored in the database (400).

10. A method according to claim 9, characterized in that the selected employers and employees having work professional authorization are notified and given personal access codes to the database (400).

11. A method according to claims 8-10, characterized in that employees and employers with the longest continuous designated working hours have priority during matching.

12. A method according to claims 8-11, characterized in that employees rank preferred places of work, work assignments and geographic areas, which shall have priority during matching.

13. A method according to claims 8-12, characterized in that and employers rank preferred employees according to sex, age, occupational experience or the like, which shall have priority during matching.

14. A method according to claims 8-13, characterized in that employees and employers apply for authorization to the database (400) through an electronic application form on a homepage in the network.