Rostering
Site rosters with automation, in the right order.
SIL / Automated Rostering is the path for rosters that run at a site. You build the base roster, then let supervised Smart Rostering automate it while managers keep control. For clients you schedule directly without a site, use Light Rostering instead.
Before you begin
Before enabling Smart Rostering, make sure you have completed the following. Smart Rostering is designed to automate an existing roster structure, so always create your recurring roster first before enabling automation.
- Organisation Settings have been configured.
- Sites have been created.
- Staff profiles are complete.
- Participant records have been added.
- Service Agreements and billing information have been configured.
- Staff availability and capabilities have been recorded.
- A recurring base roster has been created using the standard Rostering module.
Recommended setup order
Smart Rostering combines intelligent automation with human decision-making. Instead of automatically assigning staff, it builds patterns, checks suitability with Hard Blocks, collects staff interest, ranks candidates with weighted scoring and hands the final decision to a manager. Follow the steps below for the best Smart Rostering experience.
1 Confirm Smart Rostering is available
Ensure Smart Rostering is included in your organisation's subscription.
2 Configure organisation & rostering settings
Review your:
- Organisation Settings
- Week start preferences
- Roster periods
- Timing rules
These settings provide the foundation for Smart Rostering.
3 Configure scoring rules
Review the Smart Rostering scoring preferences to ensure recommendations align with your organisation's operational priorities.
4 Enable sites
Select the sites that will use Smart Rostering.
Automation is configured individually for each site.
5 Link staff to sites
Ensure all employees are linked to their appropriate sites before enabling Smart Rostering.
Site relationships are essential for accurate workforce recommendations.
6 Create your base recurring roster
Before enabling automation, build your recurring shift structure using the standard Rostering module.
This recurring roster becomes the foundation Smart Rostering uses to automate future roster periods.
7 Create a Smart Rostering pattern
Once your recurring shifts have been created:
- Select the shifts you want to automate.
- Create a Smart Rostering Pattern.
- Name the pattern.
- Choose whether it will be reusable.
- Select the future roster period where automation should begin.
Reusable patterns make it easier to generate consistent rosters across future scheduling periods.
8 Open a future roster period
Create or select the future roster period that Smart Rostering will use when generating recommendations.
9 Run Smart Rostering
Start the automation process and review the recommended staff assignments. Smart Rostering will:
- Apply hard-block rules.
- Evaluate staff suitability.
- Identify staffing gaps.
- Recommend the best available employees.
10 Review & publish
Carefully review the proposed roster before publishing. Confirm:
- Staff allocations
- Participant continuity
- Unfilled shifts
- Operational requirements
Once approved, publish the roster to make shifts visible to staff.
How Smart Rostering works
Hard Block Validation
Before recommending staff, BondiByte applies Hard Blocks to eliminate unsuitable assignments, filtering out employees who are unavailable, unqualified, over maximum hours, overlapping shifts, breaching fatigue or double-shift rules, or not meeting site or participant requirements. Only suitable employees move to the next stage.
Staff Interest Requests
Where enabled, Smart Rostering invites staff to register or withdraw interest in available shifts before publication. Managers weigh staff interest alongside availability, qualifications, site relationships and operational requirements before finalising assignments.
Weighted Suitability Scoring
Remaining employees are ranked using intelligent weighted scoring across availability, staff capabilities, continuity of care, workforce fairness, fatigue management, site relationships and previous cancellation history, surfacing the most appropriate staff for every shift.
Manager Review
Smart Rostering provides recommendations, not automatic decisions. Managers review suggested assignments, unfilled shifts, scheduling exceptions, workforce continuity and operational requirements. Only after review should the roster be published.
Best practice
- Create a clean recurring roster before enabling Smart Rostering.
- Link staff to their sites before running automation.
- Keep staff availability and qualifications up to date.
- Review every draft roster before publishing.
- Use reusable Smart Rostering patterns for consistent scheduling.
- Continue using manager judgement for complex staffing decisions.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Enabling Smart Rostering before creating your recurring roster structure.
- Running automation before linking staff to sites.
- Expecting Smart Rostering to replace manager review.
- Ignoring unfilled shifts or scheduling exceptions before publishing.
- Running large automation processes without reviewing available automation capacity.
What to do next
Related guides
Light Rostering
Schedule shifts on a simple week or fortnight calendar for clients who are not tied to a site. Add a shift quickly, assign staff with conflict warnings, publish to notify staff, record shift reports, and attach client billing line items.
Automation and NotificationsAutomation Capacity
Understand Automation Capacity: the model for automation work, what uses capacity, manual fallback, plan capacity, and admin controls.
Staff WorkflowsStaff Portal
Help staff use portal access for shifts, availability, interest, swaps, cancellations, timesheets, reports, documents, notifications, and profile details.
Need help applying this setup path?
Book a BondiByte demo and we can walk through the right setup order for your provider.