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View Full Version : GEMS -- Like or dislike?



Grandbreaker
01-28-2003, 08:05 PM
We just got GEMS in our department. I don't like it at all if you are a CR its bad if you are RFT or RPT its good all my shifts were days now there graves. Tell me how you feel about it.:mad:

Not Afraid
01-28-2003, 08:28 PM
GEMS? I wanted to talk about saphires, rubys and diamonds.:mad: I'm going home!;)

zapppop
01-28-2003, 09:30 PM
what are " GEMS " ?

( don't answer not afraid ;) )

Nigel2
01-28-2003, 09:40 PM
Think golf cart and SUV combined, but not in a nice way. Not even as nice at the Hummer Golf Cart. They claim to go like 35 MPH.

Techie7
01-28-2003, 10:04 PM
Originally posted by zapppop
what are " GEMS " ?


GEMS (Group Employee Master Schedules) is a new software program for scheduling cast members in most operations divisions, including Attractions and Merchandise. During Disneyland's first few decades, dozens of clerical cast members using pencils and paper were required to schedule locations. In the mid-1980s, the park finally installed a primitive computer system, A5, and now GEMS has been imported from Disney World to replace A5.

I did not know what this was so I did a search and came up with the link found in this MP article (http://www.mouseplanet.com/david/jungle.htm)

Laffite
01-28-2003, 10:39 PM
Ahhh!! NOT the GEMS thread! I hate GEMS so much! But what is it?

tabacco
01-29-2003, 02:17 AM
Haha! Suckers! We've had GEMS for a couple years now in my department. It'll mess your schedules up beyond repair, cheat you out of shifts, and sneak into your house and cross-breed your cat and dog into some kind of grotesque hybrid beast never before seen by man.

For those who don't know, GEMS is the resort's scheduling software. It's eeeeevil! One day we had a woman at DTD who claimed to be the person who originall wrote it. My lead advised her to not tell that to any more cast members :)

Actually, its flaws work in my favor. It tends to ignore seniority a lot when dealing out shifts, and as a person with no seniority, that can only benefit me :D

Kevin Yee
01-29-2003, 06:27 AM
It's funny how the computerization actually creates more work in some cases than doing it longhand.

New Orleans Restaurants, with some 500 Cast Members, used to be scheduled by hand, using pencils and blank templates, for two weeks at a time - in addition to the existing two week schedule that just started, so there were those magical single days where you knew your schedule for the entire next month. This was done by one person with three helpers.

After A5, it took the same amount of people to input preferences into the computer, and days off, and so on. Actually computer-generating the schedule took five minutes. But it had to be fixed, and adjusted, and bumped. Seniority had to be accounted for.

The same is true of GEMS. It takes the same manpower just as long as before. Arguably the only benefit is that the computer doesn't "forget" things like "Cindy has an ADO for that day." But that same computer doesn't always work well with seniority demands, and it certainly doesn't know that Cindy likes night shifts, and that she hates working when Tom is the Lead, or that she really likes to take three days a week off, even though her seniority would demand only two days off. In many ways, hand-scheduling worked out better.

paigekaeru
01-29-2003, 06:33 AM
Scheduling software is what I work with, day in and day out. I support, upgrade, etc. the scheduling software for a retail chain. I do have to let you know that software in and of itself is typically not evil, if used properly. The problem for most companies, mine included, is getting the required training down to the users so the software does not act evil. We specifically have found in the past that as soon as we would get a bunch of people trained, they would move on or leave the company and the training does not get passed on. (I do not know if Disney has the same problem.)
Very boring, I know, but I had to just say that it's probably not the software's fault. It's most likely the settings done at headquarters or the lack of training.

DisneyGuy03
01-29-2003, 09:40 AM
Very boring, I know, but I had to just say that it's probably not the software's fault. It's most likely the settings done at headquarters or the lack of training.
Actually, I am a person who does programming, the system should not require training, it should be simple enough that anyone witha brain cann figure it out.

Basically, there should be a system setup that accounts for:
1. Seniority
2. Prefered number of days off
3. If someone doesn't like working with certain people.
4. Days off
5. Prefered Shifts
6. Required days off
7. MIscellaneous other company things

This program would be very simple to make and could be done by far better than what all of you are saying it has been.

Again the software should use a simple Graphical user Interface that specifically asks the appropriate questions for each person, then take into account the number of people that need to work at any given location at any given time (previously enteres) and spit out a schedule. How hard can it be to create a program that will do this and not require training? In my opinion, as someone who does programming, not very hard.

Kevin Yee
01-29-2003, 12:40 PM
The GUI is never the problem. It's the variables that are entered (well, that are decided by union contract). By contract the employer does not care about all the things I listed like shift preference, working with certain Leads, and denial of complete hours that seniority would dictate.

Therefore, since it's not in the contract, the scheduling programs never ask about that stuff. What gets spit out, therefore, is either going to be greatly disliked, or else it will need to be bumped around either a lot or a little (depending on how much time the Scheduler Assistants have, and how much they actually care whether people are happy).

The other side effect of centralized scheduling is that the schedulers no longer really know the CMs, and thus all those things I listed out aren't variables they know the answer to anymore (much of which is political and thus not the sort of thing committed to paper). So the bump phase tends to fill holes rather than work toward preferences. Result: a lot of people are unhappy.

These days, with union complaints and lawsuits common, the thrust is to avoid contract violations rather than making everyone happy.

tabacco
01-29-2003, 02:47 PM
Originally posted by Kevin Yee
The other side effect of centralized scheduling is that the schedulers no longer really know the CMs, and thus all those things I listed out aren't variables they know the answer to anymore (much of which is political and thus not the sort of thing committed to paper). So the bump phase tends to fill holes rather than work toward preferences. Result: a lot of people are unhappy.

That's not neccesarily true. I work three months out of the year and my scheduler (Production or stage) remembers me every time I call. Even some of the Critter Country stage schedulers know me since I work Fantasmic! a lot, and I'm not even in their department. Within my own department, our schedulers now just about everyone.

Kevin Yee
01-29-2003, 05:54 PM
Oh, I readily believe that schedulers remember your name. But do they know which shifts you like to work, which Leads you don't want to work with, and whether you prefer to be scheduled less than your seniority would otherwise dictate? And do they know it for 500 others in your department?

tabacco
01-29-2003, 06:07 PM
Actually, yes. Not entirely in my case, because I don't have any seniority and I get along with all of our leads (as do most people in the department). Several times I've gotten called by a stage scheduler at work and asked if I want to change the next days shift for one they know I prefer (like the Bank/Pavilion).

Cadaverous Pallor
01-30-2003, 09:24 AM
Originally posted by Kevin Yee
These days, with union complaints and lawsuits common, the thrust is to avoid contract violations rather than making everyone happy. Ah-HA! Once again, the problem isn't really technology. It's suits not caring about how the lowly peasant worker feels. It seems to be the theme of all business today - workers are treated like cogs in the wheel, and employee morale isn't even mentioned anymore. The worst part is that this has become status quo, and workers expect to be treated like a commodity instead of a human being. Such a sad, sorry state of affairs. :(

LifelongAngelsFan
01-30-2003, 11:45 AM
Originally posted by DisneyGuy03
Actually, I am a person who does programming, the system should not require training, it should be simple enough that anyone witha brain cann figure it out.

Basically, there should be a system setup that accounts for:
1. Seniority
2. Prefered number of days off
3. If someone doesn't like working with certain people.
4. Days off
5. Prefered Shifts
6. Required days off
7. MIscellaneous other company things

This program would be very simple to make and could be done by far better than what all of you are saying it has been.

Again the software should use a simple Graphical user Interface that specifically asks the appropriate questions for each person, then take into account the number of people that need to work at any given location at any given time (previously enteres) and spit out a schedule. How hard can it be to create a program that will do this and not require training? In my opinion, as someone who does programming, not very hard.

Well said!

I'm not certain the algorithm to calculate the schedule with these many factors would be that simple. I agree that this should be the programmers problem to solve and that the user interface should be designed with easy learnability that hides these complexities from users.

LifelongAngelsFan
01-30-2003, 11:58 AM
Originally posted by Kevin Yee
The GUI is never the problem. It's the variables that are entered (well, that are decided by union contract). By contract the employer does not care about all the things I listed like shift preference, working with certain Leads, and denial of complete hours that seniority would dictate.

Therefore, since it's not in the contract, the scheduling programs never ask about that stuff...

Does the contract or employer explicitly exclude these factors being considered in the scheduling?

I can understand that the scheduling program must consider factors called in the contract (I'd find it difficult to believe a union contract would insist upon seniority not being considered in scheduling). However, I believe it is a flaw in the program's design to exclude relevant factors just because they aren't in the contract.

LifelongAngelsFan
01-30-2003, 12:11 PM
Originally posted by Cadaverous Pallor
Ah-HA! Once again, the problem isn't really technology. It's suits not caring about how the lowly peasant worker feels. It seems to be the theme of all business today - workers are treated like cogs in the wheel, and employee morale isn't even mentioned anymore. The worst part is that this has become status quo, and workers expect to be treated like a commodity instead of a human being. Such a sad, sorry state of affairs. :(

In the real world, "suits" care tremendously about employee morale. Businesses spend billions on programs that improve employee morale and helping managers be more effective working with their staff. Why? Because it's good business. The vast majority of CEOs recognize that their employees are their most strategic asset.