Assignment device and assignment method

Abstract

In an assignment device (10), an acquisition unit (15a) acquires a task questionnaire answer (14a) for a questionnaire regarding the similarity of the content of each task to be processed by an employee, and a preference questionnaire answer (14b) for a questionnaire regarding the employee's preferences for the tasks. A generation unit (15b) uses the acquired task questionnaire answer (14a) for the questionnaire regarding the similarity of the content of each task to generate a task map representing similarity between the tasks. A synthesis unit (15c) uses the acquired preference questionnaire answer (14b) for the questionnaire regarding the employee's preferences for the tasks to synthesize, on the task map, a preference vector representing the preference tendency of each employee. An assignment unit (15e) assigns, to each employee, the tasks of the task map in order of proximity between the tasks and the preference vector.

Description

Control device and control method

[0001] The present invention relates to a control device and a control method.

[0002] HR (Human Resources) technology has been known in the past, which proposes the most suitable work for each employee by taking into account various personal information such as family situation and assignment preferences in addition to indicators such as the skills and performance of personnel (see Non-Patent Document 1).

[0003] “Optimal allocation of human resources,” [online], Talent Palette [Retrieved December 5, 2023], Internet<URL:https: / / www.pa-consul.co.jp / talentpalette / work / 03 / >

[0004] However, with conventional techniques, it can be difficult to appropriately assign multiple tasks to one employee. For example, when assigning multiple tasks to one employee to create a "multi-skilled worker," it can be difficult to assign an optimal combination of tasks while taking into account the employee's preferences and performance.

[0005] The present invention has been made in view of the above, and has as its object to appropriately assign a plurality of tasks to one employee.

[0006] In order to solve the above-mentioned problems and achieve the objectives, the command device of the present invention is characterized by having an acquisition unit that acquires responses from employees to a questionnaire regarding the similarity of the content of each task to be processed and responses from the employees to a questionnaire regarding their preferences for the tasks; a generation unit that uses the acquired responses to the questionnaire regarding the similarity of the content of the tasks to generate a map representing the similarity between each task; a synthesis unit that uses the acquired responses to the questionnaire regarding the preferences for the tasks to synthesize vectors on the map that represent the employee's preference trends; and an allocation unit that assigns tasks on the map to the employee in order of their closest distance to the vector.

[0007] According to the present invention, it is possible to appropriately assign multiple tasks to one employee.

[0008] FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining an overview of the command device of this embodiment. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating the general configuration of the command device of this embodiment. FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining a questionnaire. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating responses to a business questionnaire. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating performance information. FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining the processing of the generation unit. FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining the processing of the synthesis unit. FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining the processing of the determination unit and allocation unit. FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the command processing procedure. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a computer that executes a command program.

[0009] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Note that the present invention is not limited to this embodiment. In addition, in the description of the drawings, the same parts are designated by the same reference numerals.

[0010] [Outline of the Control Device] Figure 1 is a diagram for explaining the outline of the control device of this embodiment. As illustrated in Figure 1, the control device of this embodiment analyzes the characteristics of multiple tasks based on the results of a survey of employees regarding their work content, and generates a task map based on the similarities between the tasks (step S1, see Figure 1(a)).

[0011] The command device also synthesizes preference vectors representing each employee's work preference trends based on the results of a questionnaire about each employee's work preferences (step S2, see Figure 1(b)).

[0012] The control device also determines whether each employee is suitable for multi-skilling, for example, based on their performance (step S3). If an employee is deemed suitable because their performance is above average, the device assigns the task closest to their preference vector as their primary task, and other tasks similar to that task as secondary tasks, assuming that the employee can autonomously handle tasks they dislike (step S4, see FIG. 1(c)).

[0013] On the other hand, for example, an employee whose performance is below average and who is judged to be unsuitable is forced to perform a task that he or she dislikes as his or her main task by assigning the task that is closest to his or her preference vector as a secondary task and assigning another task similar to that task as the main task (step S5, see Figure 1(d)).

[0014] In this way, the control device makes it possible to optimally combine and assign multiple tasks according to each employee's work preferences. At that time, it is possible to optimally assign main tasks and secondary tasks, taking into account each employee's applicability to multi-skill development.

[0015] [Configuration of the Command Device] Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating the general configuration of the command device of this embodiment. As illustrated in Fig. 2, the command device 10 of this embodiment is realized by a general-purpose computer such as a personal computer, and includes an input unit 11, an output unit 12, a communication control unit 13, a memory unit 14, and a control unit 15.

[0016] The input unit 11 is realized using input devices such as a keyboard and a mouse, and inputs various instruction information such as a command to start processing to the control unit 15 in response to input operations by an operator. The output unit 12 is realized by a display device such as a liquid crystal display, a printing device such as a printer, etc. For example, the output unit 12 displays the results of the command processing described below.

[0017] The communication control unit 13 is realized by a NIC (Network Interface Card) or the like, and controls communication between the control unit 15 and external devices via telecommunication lines such as a LAN (Local Area Network) or the Internet. For example, the communication control unit 13 controls communication between the control unit 15 and terminals used by employees or a management device that manages various information.

[0018] The storage unit 14 is realized by a semiconductor memory element such as RAM (Random Access Memory) or flash memory, or a storage device such as a hard disk or optical disk. The storage unit 14 stores in advance the processing programs that operate the command device 10 and data used during the execution of the processing programs, or stores them temporarily each time processing is performed. The storage unit 14 may be configured to communicate with the control unit 15 via the communication control unit 13.

[0019] Specifically, the storage unit 14 stores work questionnaire responses 14a, preference questionnaire responses 14b, performance information 14c, etc., which are used in the management processing described below. The work questionnaire responses 14a are responses to a questionnaire regarding the similarity of the content of each work. The preference questionnaire responses 14b are responses to a questionnaire regarding the work preferences of employees. The performance information 14c is information that represents the performance of each employee.

[0020] FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the questionnaire. FIG. 3(a) illustrates a questionnaire for all employees regarding the similarity of the content of each job. As illustrated in FIG. 3(a), all employees are presented with questions regarding the similarity between the job they are currently performing and each of the other jobs (#1 to #N). Each employee answers these questions to rate the degree of similarity on a seven-point scale from 1 to 7.

[0021] FIG. 3(b) illustrates an example of a questionnaire for each employee regarding the employee's work preferences. As illustrated in FIG. 3(b), each employee is presented with a question inquiring about, for example, a number of preferred work tasks that the employee would like to perform. The employee responds by listing, for example, a number of work tasks in descending order of priority from among the presented work tasks to be processed. In the example illustrated in FIG. 3(b), the employee responds with three preferred work tasks of high, medium, and low priority from among work tasks #1 to #N to be processed.

[0022] Prior to the command processing described later, the acquisition unit 15a described later acquires the responses to these questionnaires via the input unit 11 or the communication control unit 13, and stores them in the memory unit 14 as business questionnaire responses 14a and preference questionnaire responses 14b.

[0023] For example, Fig. 4 shows an example of responses to a work questionnaire. In the example shown in Fig. 4, values ​​indicating the similarity between each of employees #1 to #100, etc.'s own work and each of employees #1 to #N's work are shown.

[0024] 5 is a diagram illustrating performance information. For example, Fig. 5 illustrates the performance of each employee over several years relative to an organizational average performance of "3." Prior to the command processing described below, the acquisition unit 15a (described later) acquires the performance information via the input unit 11 or the communication control unit 13 and stores it in the storage unit 14 as performance information 14c.

[0025] It should be noted that these various pieces of information are not limited to being stored in the memory unit 14 of the command device 10, but may also be acquired, for example, when the command processing described below is executed.

[0026] Returning to the explanation of FIG. 2 , the control unit 15 is realized using a CPU (Central Processing Unit), NP (Network Processor), FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), etc., and executes a processing program stored in memory. As a result, the control unit 15 functions as an acquisition unit 15a, a generation unit 15b, a synthesis unit 15c, a determination unit 15d, and an allocation unit 15e, as exemplified in FIG. 2 , to execute the command processing. Note that these functional units may each be implemented in different hardware, or some of them may be implemented in different hardware. The control unit 15 may also include other functional units.

[0027] The acquisition unit 15a acquires responses to a questionnaire about the similarity of the content of each task to be processed by the employee and responses to a questionnaire about the preference of the task by the employee. The acquisition unit 15a also acquires information about the performance of each employee.

[0028] For example, prior to the command processing described below, the acquisition unit 15a acquires the business questionnaire responses 14a, the preference questionnaire responses 14b, and the performance information 14c via the input unit 11 or the communication control unit 13, and stores them in the storage unit 14. Alternatively, the acquisition unit 15a may not store this information in the storage unit 14, but may transfer it to the subsequent generation unit 15b, synthesis unit 15c, or determination unit 15d.

[0029] The generation unit 15b generates a task map that represents the similarity between the tasks using the task questionnaire responses 14a, which are responses to a questionnaire regarding the similarity between the contents of the tasks. For example, the generation unit 15b generates the task map by multidimensional scaling using the distance between the tasks.

[0030] FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining the command processing. First, as illustrated in FIG. 6(a), the generation unit 15b calculates the distance d between each of the tasks to be processed using the task questionnaire responses 14a, and derives an inter-task distance matrix. Specifically, the generation unit 15b calculates the correlation coefficient corr between each task from the task questionnaire responses 14a using a well-known tool such as Python. In this case, the distance d between tasks is calculated as 1-corr.

[0031] Furthermore, the generation unit 15b generates a business map representing the similarity between businesses by multi-dimensional scaling (MDS) from the business distance matrix, as illustrated in Fig. 6(b). In the example shown in Fig. 6(b), a two-dimensional business map is generated by MDS. In MDS, two-dimensional coordinates of each business are calculated so that the more similar the businesses are, the closer they are to each other, and conversely, the more different the businesses are, the farther they are from each other.

[0032] Returning to the explanation of Fig. 2, the synthesis unit 15c synthesizes preference vectors on the task map that represent the employee's preference trends, using the preference questionnaire responses 14b that are responses to the questionnaire regarding the acquired task preferences.

[0033] Here, Fig. 7 is a diagram for explaining the processing of the synthesis unit. For example, as illustrated in Fig. 7, the synthesis unit 15c generates a preference vector for each employee by synthesizing the vectors of each task on the task map, with the weights being weighted heavily in descending order of preference priority. Fig. 7 illustrates an example of a preference vector synthesized on the task map for employee X, based on the preference questionnaire responses 14b, in which task #3, which has the highest preference priority, has a weight of 3 / 3, task #4, which has the second highest preference priority, has a weight of 2 / 3, and task #6, which has the third highest preference priority, has a weight of 1 / 3.

[0034] The determination unit 15d uses the performance information 14c, which is the employee's performance, to determine whether the employee has the adaptability to perform multiple tasks, that is, whether the employee is applicable to multi-skill development. For example, the determination unit 15d determines that an employee with above-average performance has the adaptability to perform multiple tasks and is applicable to multi-skill development. On the other hand, the determination unit 15d determines that an employee with below-average performance does not have the adaptability to perform multiple tasks and is not applicable to multi-skill development.

[0035] The allocating unit 15e allocates tasks to employees in the task map in descending order of distance from the preference vector, i.e., in descending order of the inner product of the unit vector of each task and the preference vector. Specifically, the allocating unit 15e determines at least one of the main task and the secondary task among the multiple tasks to be allocated to an employee, depending on the determined adaptability, i.e., the applicability to multiskilling.

[0036] FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating the processing of the determination unit and the allocation unit. For example, if the determination unit 15d determines that a certain employee X has the adaptability to perform multiple tasks, i.e., applicability to multiskilling, the allocation unit 15e assigns the task that has the largest inner product with the preference vector and the closest distance as the main task of this employee X, as illustrated in FIG. 8( a). This is because this employee X can autonomously work on tasks that he or she does not like, and it is assumed that there is no problem in assigning them as secondary tasks. Therefore, the allocation unit 15e assigns the task that is closest to the preference vector as the main task, and assigns other tasks similar to the main task as secondary tasks.

[0037] On the other hand, if the determination unit 15d determines that the employee X does not have the adaptability to perform multiple tasks, that is, does not have applicability for multi-skill development, the allocation unit 15e assigns the task that has the largest inner product with the preference vector and the closest distance as the secondary task of the employee X, as illustrated in FIG. 8(B) . This is because it is assumed that the employee X needs to be forced to perform the task that he or she dislikes as the main task. Therefore, the allocation unit 15e assigns the task that is closest to the preference vector as the secondary task, and assigns other tasks similar to the secondary task as the main task.

[0038] In this way, the allocation unit 15e optimally combines and allocates multiple tasks in accordance with each employee's task preference tendency. At that time, the allocation unit 15e optimally allocates the main task / secondary task in consideration of the applicability of each employee to multi-skill development determined by the determination unit 15d.

[0039] [Command processing] Next, the command processing by the command device 10 according to this embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 9. Fig. 9 is a flowchart showing the command processing procedure. The flowchart in Fig. 9 starts, for example, when the user performs an operation input to instruct the start of the process.

[0040] First, the generating unit 15b generates a task map showing the similarity between tasks using the task questionnaire responses 14a, which are responses to a questionnaire regarding the similarity of the content of each task that has been acquired (step S1). For example, the generating unit 15b generates the task map using multidimensional scaling that uses the distance between each task.

[0041] The synthesis unit 15c also synthesizes preference vectors on the work map that represent the employee's preference trends using the preference questionnaire responses 14b, which are responses to the questionnaire about the acquired work preferences (step S2).

[0042] Then, the determination unit 15d determines whether an employee has the adaptability to perform multiple tasks, that is, whether the employee is suitable for multi-skill development, using the performance information 14c, which is the employee's performance (step S3). For example, the determination unit 15d determines that an employee with above-average performance has the adaptability to perform multiple tasks and is suitable for multi-skill development. On the other hand, the determination unit 15d determines that an employee with below-average performance does not have the adaptability to perform multiple tasks and is not suitable for multi-skill development.

[0043] If the determination unit 15d determines that the employee is suitable for multi-skilling (Yes in step S3), the allocation unit 15e assigns the task that has the largest inner product with the preference vector and the closest distance as the employee's main task. The allocation unit 15e also assigns other tasks similar to the selected task as secondary tasks (step S4). This completes the series of decision-making processes.

[0044] On the other hand, if the determination unit 15d determines that the task is not applicable to multi-skilling (step S3, No), the allocation unit 15e allocates the task that is closest to the preference vector as a secondary task, and allocates other tasks similar to the secondary task as main tasks (step S5). This completes the series of management processes.

[0045] [Effects] As described above, in the command device 10 of this embodiment, the acquisition unit 15a acquires task questionnaire responses 14a to a questionnaire regarding the similarity of the content of each task to be processed by an employee and preference questionnaire responses 14b to a questionnaire regarding the employee's preferences for the task. The generation unit 15b uses the acquired task questionnaire responses 14a to the questionnaire regarding the similarity of the content of each task to generate a task map representing the similarity between each task. The synthesis unit 15c uses the acquired preference questionnaire responses 14b to the questionnaire regarding task preferences to synthesize preference vectors representing employee preference trends. The assignment unit 15e assigns tasks to employees from the task map in order of closest distance to the preference vector.

[0046] This enables the control device 10 to optimally combine and assign multiple tasks to an employee based on the employee's work preferences.

[0047] Furthermore, the determining unit 15d uses the performance information 14c, which is the employee's performance, to determine whether the employee has the adaptability to perform multiple tasks, and the allocating unit 15e determines at least one of the main task and the secondary task among the multiple tasks to be allocated to the employee depending on the determined adaptability. This makes it possible to more optimally allocate tasks to each employee in a combination of main and secondary tasks.

[0048] [Program] A program written in a computer-executable language may be created to execute the processes executed by the command device 10 according to the above embodiment. In one embodiment, the command device 10 can be implemented by installing a command program that executes the command process described above as package software or online software on a desired computer. For example, by executing the command program on an information processing device, the information processing device can function as the command device 10. The information processing device referred to here includes desktop and notebook personal computers. Other examples of information processing devices include mobile communication terminals such as smartphones, mobile phones, and PHS (Personal Handyphone Systems), as well as slate terminals such as PDAs (Personal Digital Assistants). The functions of the command device 10 may also be implemented on a cloud server.

[0049] 10 is a diagram showing an example of a computer that executes a command program. The computer 1000 includes, for example, a memory 1010, a CPU 1020, a hard disk drive interface 1030, a disk drive interface 1040, a serial port interface 1050, a video adapter 1060, and a network interface 1070. These components are connected by a bus 1080.

[0050] The memory 1010 includes a ROM (Read Only Memory) 1011 and a RAM 1012. The ROM 1011 stores a boot program such as a BIOS (Basic Input Output System). The hard disk drive interface 1030 is connected to a hard disk drive 1031. The disk drive interface 1040 is connected to a disk drive 1041. A removable storage medium such as a magnetic disk or optical disk is inserted into the disk drive 1041. The serial port interface 1050 is connected to a mouse 1051 and a keyboard 1052, for example. The video adapter 1060 is connected to a display 1061, for example.

[0051] Here, the hard disk drive 1031 stores, for example, an OS (Operating System) 1091, an application program 1092, a program module 1093, and program data 1094. The various pieces of information described in the above embodiments are stored in the hard disk drive 1031 or the memory 1010, for example.

[0052] The command program is stored in the hard disk drive 1031 as a program module 1093 in which instructions to be executed by the computer 1000 are written. Specifically, the hard disk drive 1031 stores the program module 1093 in which each process executed by the command device 10 described in the above embodiment is written.

[0053] Furthermore, data used for information processing by the command program is stored as program data 1094, for example, in the hard disk drive 1031. Then, the CPU 1020 reads the program module 1093 and the program data 1094 stored in the hard disk drive 1031 into the RAM 1012 as necessary, and executes each of the above-described procedures.

[0054] Note that the program module 1093 and program data 1094 related to the command program are not limited to being stored in the hard disk drive 1031, and may be stored in, for example, a removable storage medium and read by the CPU 1020 via the disk drive 1041. Alternatively, the program module 1093 and program data 1094 related to the command program may be stored in another computer connected via a network such as a LAN or a WAN (Wide Area Network), and read by the CPU 1020 via the network interface 1070.

[0055] Although the present invention has been described above as an embodiment, the present invention is not limited to the description and drawings that form part of the disclosure of the present invention. In other words, other embodiments, examples, and operational techniques that can be made by those skilled in the art based on the present invention are all included in the scope of the present invention.

[0056] REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 10 Command device 11 Input unit 12 Output unit 13 Communication control unit 14 Memory unit 14a Work questionnaire response 14b Preference questionnaire response 14c Performance information 15 Control unit 15a Acquisition unit 15b Generation unit 15c Synthesis unit 15d Determination unit 15e Allocation unit

Claims

1. An allocation device, comprising: an acquisition unit that acquires responses to a questionnaire regarding the similarity of the content of each task to be processed by an employee and responses to a questionnaire regarding the preference of the employee for the task; a generation unit that generates a map representing the similarity between tasks using the responses to the questionnaire regarding the similarity of the content of each acquired task; a synthesis unit that synthesizes vectors on the map representing the preference tendency of the employee using the responses to the questionnaire regarding the preference of the acquired task; and an allocation unit that allocates the tasks to the employee in ascending order of the distance from the vector among the tasks on the map.

2. The allocation device according to claim 1, further comprising a determination unit that determines the presence or absence of adaptability to the performance of a plurality of tasks using the performance of the employee, wherein the allocation unit determines at least one of the main task or the sub-task among the plurality of tasks to be allocated to the employee according to the presence or absence of the determined adaptability.

3. An allocation method executed by an allocation device, comprising: an acquisition step of acquiring responses to a questionnaire regarding the similarity of the content of each task to be processed by an employee and responses to a questionnaire regarding the preference of the employee for the task; a generation step of generating a map representing the similarity between tasks using the responses to the questionnaire regarding the similarity of the content of each acquired task; a synthesis step of synthesizing vectors on the map representing the preference tendency of the employee using the responses to the questionnaire regarding the preference of the acquired task; and an allocation step of allocating the tasks to the employee in ascending order of the distance from the vector among the tasks on the map.

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