Staffing Terminology

Terminology Staffing Terminology Description
Candidates People who are in consideration or predetermined to be staffed into an open position.
Qualified A candidate who meets the necessary criteria and can be staffed into the open position at that point in time.
Available A candidate who is qualified by rules for a position AND available to be staffed into the open position at that point in time.
Unavailable A candidate who meets the necessary criteria for a position but cannot be staffed because they meet the criteria that prevents them from filling the vacancy at that point in time.
Vacancy This represents a position that needs to be staffed; an open position.
Fill Fill represents the action taken to staff a vacancy.
Staff or Staffing Staffing represents the overall process used in filling a vacancy or group of vacancies.
Strategy Strategy represents the list used by the application to fill a vacancy.
Rank Rank or Job Title is a generic representation of the staff member’s working capacity.
Organization Hierarchy These are the application’s organization levels that govern the Roster structure. They are displayed below from highest to lowest order:
  1. Institution
  2. Agency
  3. Region
  4. Station
  5. Unit
  6. Position
Target A Target is a reference to a specific piece of information in the system that may be better understood by using the term “applicable”; for example, the applicable position being filled is the target position. This term describes what specific information is being used by the system in order to solve business logic for the current specific context. For example, if you are approving a work code for a staff member, using the Advanced Calendar; that work code, that staff member, and that calendar day would all be automatically referenced by the system as specific targets: the target work code, the target staff member, and the target day. In plain English, the applicable work code, the applicable staff member, and the applicable day.

Fields and Behavior Symbols

Field Name Field and Behavior Symbol Description
Qualified If... Qualified if...Rules include candidates who meet the rule criteria.
Unavailable if... Unavailable if...Rules exclude candidates who meet the rule criteria.
Sort... Sort... Rules are used to order candidates returned after passing Qualified If... and Unavailable If... Rules.
Use the icon that looks like the Up Down Arrow to order Rules, List Targets, Lists, and List Chains inside the Rules area.
  To enable the move feature click on the arrow and then drag the selected item in place.
The plus sign represents the AND behavior which is only valid in Qualified if... and Unavailable if... areas. A candidate will either qualify if or be unavailable if they pass the selected Rule.
The minus sign represents the NOT behavior which is only valid in Qualified if... and Unavailable if... Rules usage. A candidate will either qualify if or be unavailable if they do not pass the selected Rule.
The circle represents the OR behavior. This Behavior is only valid for multiple rule arguments within the Qualified if... and Unavailable if... area.
  Example: Qualified if... candidate has Specialty X or Specialty Y - AND Jobtitle Z. In this case, candidates must have Jobtitle Z, and have either Specialty X or Specialty Y to satisfy the entire criteria.
Numbers in ascending order, such as 123, represents the order in which candidates are sorted after passing Qualified if...and Unavailable if... criteria.
Numbers in descending order, such as 321, represents the order in which candidates are sorted after passing Qualified if... and Unavailable if... criteria.
The number in parentheses indicates the performance cost to run the selected rule; the higher the number, the longer the processing time required.
Note: Sort rules with the highest numeric value at the bottom.
Points Displays when selecting Sort in Type. Sorts are not normally used in a List Target; however, if a sort were used, a person is given a numeric point for passing or failing the rule. These Points can then be used to further sort people who qualify. Available in List Targets and Lists.
Round Robin A Round Robin is a specific sort most commonly used for special events. The sort always sorts the same people every time and when the list draws again, it will always begin at the person where you last stopped. Available in List Target and List.
  For example, suppose that you have an Excel spreadsheet or a batting order with the list of names below. The last person contacted was Brooke, the next time this list is used James will be contacted.
  1. Bob
  2. Brooke
  3. James
  4. Charles
Parent topic: Setup Rules