How do you plan your employees?

[Kinedor]

The title is the question. I'm having a hard time allocating my employees correctly.
Do you have some examples?

[Jendowoz]

I start off putting them all under one name such as "zoo" or "everywhere" then as my zoo grows, I allocate one of the same mechanics to two habitats and the surrounding facilities.
- I keep some on the whole zoo as well. I do the same with keepers, vets and educators. As the zoo grows I re-allocate them or add new ones to look after 2 habitats each and eventually their own habitat as the zoo grows bigger.
- Naturally the vets also have the quarantine and the veterinary surgery and one of the research buildings. The keepers are given a keepers hut and mechanics a workshop for research.
- For caretakers, mechanics and security, I always keep some of them on the whole zoo. If the zoo grows too big I allocate the caretakers to the North, South, East and West area and the same with the security.
- As for vendors, I try to allocate 2 vendors to each shop so the original one can take a break along with the nearest staff room. I also have a few floating, just so my allocated vendors also have a break.

Each of the mechanics and vets don't need a research centre and workshop each, they share this, but they all need to be added with a staff room and again you don't need too many staff rooms as they all wander in and out at their leisure so they share that. I do find it easier to allocated the vendors, security and caretakers to one staff room and the zoo staff to a separate one, that way I can keep tabs on how many are occupying them and gives me an indication of when I need to get a new one.

I hope this helps, Kinedor.

[Just Kevin]

Create Zones. Apply staff to working in those zones, and they will. Starting with one or two of each. You will need more as each zone grows. And they need training. You don't have to tell them exactly what to do or where to do it, they know what their jobs are. You don't need two vendors per kiosk. Just one for each one, that come with the kiosk anyway. and a few spare vendors. Each Zone will need, habitats, of course, registered to them. An animal trade post. Ditto, A vet surgery. Ditto. Research. Ditto. A Quarantine. Ditto, A large staff room. Ditto. But also have small extra staffrooms scattered around that Zone. Perks can be applied to staffrooms. Faster Training for example. Zones and registering staff to them stops them wandering all over a large zoo and getting tired just wandering from one place to another. They will limited themselves to the zone they are supposed to be in. Of course you need a keeper hut per habitat. Registered to the zone the habitat is in. And so on :)

[knittinglady50]

For my employees, starting with the entrance. I create a work zone for the entrance, with all the vendors, then I add a caretaker, mechanic, security guard. I build a set of staff rooms, 2 large and i small for security office. Then I make a seperate work zone with the trade center, quarantine, vet surgery, with a vet assigned to it, the vet takes care of any animals that get sick in quarantine. For the habitats and exhibits, each one gets one or more keepers , educators depending on the size of the habitat and number of animals. Each habitat is its own work zone. Then I have a set of buildings that includes 1 large staff room, 1 small staff room for security office and a vet surgery. I assign 1 caretaker, 1 mechanic, 1 security and i vet to that work zone. Then I attach about 6 habitats/exhibits to the work zone with the vet surgery. So I vet, 1 caretaker, 1 mechanic, 1 security takes care of the area around 6 habitats , including all the utilities and the fences. Hope this helps.

[grampers62]

Some things to consider....
It's often wise to plan 4 vendors to cover 3 shops.
It seems keepers are a bit more complicated. They should be in work groups that cover 3 or 4 habitats depending on the species and the number in that group would reflect if the habitats are having issues add another keeper.
Mechanics and vets are a bit different. Mechanics tend to need work zones that cover 0.125 - 0.375 of the map, depending on how much is in that area. Add another one if things are breaking down often.
Oddly, the vets seem to work better when not in a workzone but if they are not in a workzone be sure to not put the hospital and quarantine in a workzone.
Caretakers do better in workzones and I usually add them to a vendor workzone. Add more when paths can't stay clean.
Beyond that it comes down to how one's zoo is laid out and where guests are most of the time and/or what type of species are in an area. No two zoos really can use the same setup but a player will eventually find some concepts that work for the basic plan for their style of play.

[Jendowoz]

Why not the vet and quarantine, Grampers? Is it because it is usually too far away from everything? With Vets I usually give them two habitats while the zoo is small and the surrounding facilities close to those habitats, but I usually do add the vet and quarantine, which is why I asked why not to include them, or is it because they naturally use them regardless if they are within the vets' zone.

[grampers62]

They can essentially get locked out of those facilities when the vet is not in the same work zone. Just like keepers will only tend habitats in their workzone.

[Jendowoz]

Oh, okay, thanks for that, didn't know that.

[Just Kevin]

When I create zones I tag everything in that area to that zone. A bit obvious to say that, but there you go. I create one zone at a time, as most people do I expect, and staff the zone as I build it, tagging those staff to that zone, they will do whatever they are employed to do wherever it is in that zone, and that includes vendors. When the staff are fresh they are inexperienced, so they are not very efficient, so they need training, which costs money of course. But you can see the effect training has by looking at the staff list. Staff in the red efficiency need help. Staff in the red in the energy bar normally just need a rest, they will do the job they are on until finished, then they will look for a staff-room. Have a few spread around so they don't need to go far. As you train up the staff in a zone it's also assumed that zone will be getting larger, but you can start to cut down on simply hiring more staff.
Deselect some caretakers transporting animals because if they all do it, areas will get dirty waiting for them to get back to them.

[jillquick2002]

Hi, I like to zone mechanics with specific jobs. repairing Habitat and Sorting Power facilities. I untick on their profile so they do just that job. Add all the staffrooms and workshops to the zone too for them as they travel all over the zoo. . If the zoo is big, then its a good idea to zone it into N,S,E,& W as others have suggested. You can also tick the jobs to the caretakers too if say you just want them to clean toilets. Other staff can be allocated different jobs too which works out quite well. Just a thought....I write North, South, East and West with the fonts as a guide so I can see which orientation it is. Good luck x

[Just Kevin]

My zones each have all the staff facilities in them. Plus kiosks.
As a zone gets bigger I may add further staff facilities somewhere else, so staff don't have to go very far.
Staff rooms I scatter around, because caretakers and security wander all over the place, and if you click on them they often say if the closest staffroom is too far away.
Kiosks come with a vendor, but at the start of placing them I will add around 3 extra vendors. You will know if there are not enough vendors because kiosks will become empty for too long. But as you train them up that becomes less frequent. Plus being able to add Perks to the staff room that aids them. Make sure there's a staffroom not far from kiosks.
Not having enough caretakers can become obvious as paths fill with litter and bins overflow, but they do work faster as you train them.
Keep an eye on staff via the Staff tab, it's a big help to see their condition and busyness.
But I do play in the Sandbox with unlimited cash. But I still like to make a profit. I am never in the red!