How Resources are Matched in Resource Request Staffer

The matching process in Resource Request Staffer finds the best match for the selected resource requests one by one. Resources are matched according to the priority order of fields and field weightings configured in the Settings panel. The priority order of the selected resource requests is determined by their displayed order in the Open Requests tab. A resource can only be matched to one resource request.

When the matching process is complete, the highest-ranked resources are matched to their corresponding resource requests. The highest-ranked resource is determined by how well they match the resource request according to the configured settings, provided they haven't already been matched to another resource request during the process. The matched resource is then displayed in the Matched Resource column in the Match Results tab, and the match quality percentage of the resource is displayed in the Match Quality column.

Note:

If a resource's availability cannot be calculated, the match quality score also cannot be calculated. For more information, see Missing Resource Availability Overview.

Resource Priorities

In the Match Priority section of the Settings panel, you can configure the order of priorities that Resource Request Staffer uses to match resources to resource requests. The priorities are fields, skills, and availability. For more information about skills and availability, see Calculating Resource Availability and Skills Management Overview.

Note:

Expired skills or certifications are not considered during the match process.

Fields refers to the following:

  • Role
  • Region
  • Practice
  • Group
  • Worked with Customer
  • Custom Fields

You can configure individual weightings for each of these fields in the Field Weightings section of the Settings panel.

When multiple resources match a resource request, the configured priorities determine the best resource match. If several resources match using the first priority, such as Fields, the next priority in the list is used to further refine the best resource match, and so on.

Field Weightings

You can apply weightings to the fields used for matching, which determines how strictly Resource Request Staffer matches resources to resource requests. Skills are weighted individually, based on the Importance field on the skill requests for the resource request. Custom fields, however, are weighted as a whole rather than individually. An administrator can set up the custom fields that are considered, and the list of fields is displayed in the tooltip for the Custom Fields weighting.

The weightings are determined on a scale of 1 to 4, and equate to the following:

  • 1 - Suggested
  • 2 - Desirable
  • 3 - Ideal
  • 4 - Essential

Weightings can be applied to the following fields:

  • Role
  • Region
  • Practice
  • Group
  • Worked with Customer
  • Custom Fields

The resource matching process considers the weightings of the fields, and scores each resource depending on whether they match a field on the resource request and its weighting.