Manage tags (skills)

Learn about tags and how to create a new tag.

Overview

Jobs and resources can both use skill tags, which were formerly known as attributes in Skedulo.

In a job context, tags can be used to define industry-specific requirements. For example, tags such as “Electrical” or “CAD Design” can be assigned directly to a job using job attributes.

In a resource context, a tag may represent a particular skill or competency that the resource has attained, such as “Occupational Therapy.”

Tags help filter available resources when applied to jobs, i.e., In addition to other criteria (e.g., availability), only resources that have the required set of tags (or attributes) will be displayed in the initial job allocation list.

Tags on resources also have an expiry date; this means that those tags will only be active up until the date set.

Tags affect vehicle route planning (VRP) and optimization. The results that come from auto-scheduling take into account job tags.

Hard versus soft tags

Tags can be either hard (required) or soft. A hard tag indicates that a resource cannot be allocated unless they have the tag. Soft tagging enables a priority to be added to the tag (high to low). Skedulo resource allocation will then use the relevant score to determine which resource(s) are best suited for the job.

Resource tag expiry

Resource tags that are added to resource records can be set to expire. This is a useful feature when tracking resource licensing or registrations that have expiration dates. If a tag has expired, the resource will show as unavailable in the allocation list. This rule is applied regardless of whether the resource has other tags that meet the requirements of the job.

Weighting

The weighting of skill tags is used to resolve which resource is best suited for a job. Typically we categorize tags into four priorities:

  • 1 = Low.
  • 2 = Medium.
  • 3 = High.
  • 4 = Required (the highest priority).

A Required flag set on a tag will make it the highest priority regardless of the weighting given to it. If a tag is set to Required, then the resource availability list in the job details view will only show resources that have that tag.

Example of weighting

The weighting of tags comes into play when there are multiple tags on the job.

Say we have a job and it has three attributes:

  • Tag (A) weighted at 3.
  • Tag (B) weighted at 1.
  • Tag (C) weighted at 2.

Then we have two resources (X) and (Y):

  • Resource (X) has tag (A) and (B) assigned to them.
  • Resource (Y) has tag (B) and (C).

The priorities for each resource are calculated to present the most suitable candidate for the job.

When we view the job details view for that job, resource (X) will be first on the list, as he has a tag with a higher weighting than resource (Y).

If there is also a “Required” attribute set in the job tags, then before weightings are calculated, all resources will be checked to make sure they have that requisite tag. They will need to have that tag to be considered in the first place.

Create a new tag

Skedulo

  1. Navigate to Manage > Tags.
  2. Click Create new to display the Create Tag modal.
  3. Enter a Name for the skill.
  4. Select the Type of the skill (For example, Skill).
  5. Click Create.

Manage tags.

Salesforce Classic

  1. Log in to Salesforce.
  2. Click Tags > New Tag.
  3. In the Tag field, enter a name for the tag (required field).
  4. Select the Type of the tag (For example, Skill).
  5. Select a Classification for the tag. Options include Global, Human, and Asset.
  6. Click Save.

The new tag is now ready to be associated with Jobs and Resources.

Salesforce Lightning

  1. Log in to Salesforce.
  2. Click App Launcher > Tags > New.
  3. Continue as for Classic (in step 3 above).