Assignments & Scheduling

The following page explains how research assignments are determined and how you can find information about your project assignments. 

Assignment Types 

By Project

We are going to assign you to certain projects. Each project is centered around a particular brand and has its own Project Guide with accompanying knowledge quiz. These are found on the Haynes & Company Home Page. 

The quiz is a great way – but not the only way – to determine if you have reached competency on a project before conducting your first data collection visit. We do require having demonstrated project competency before going out to collect data.

 

By Store 

Each project will have a certain set of retail, wholesale, and/or outlet store assignments. Your personal assignment may be only one store, or it could be multiple stores of one type (all retail), or spanning multiple types (one retail and one wholesale). 

Please review your stores and their addresses/locations carefully. For all stores to which you are assigned, once we have agreed upon a particular store location, that location must remain constant. 

If, for some reason, you wish to change your store location, you must contact us ASAP. Per the terms of your contract, store location changes are approved on a very limited basis only.

 

By Date

For each assignment, you will be given a range of dates during which your visit must be conducted and a deadline for data submission. 

Each project may have different visit windows and due dates, so it is important to check the VMS (please see the Vendor Management System page for additional details!) to ensure you conduct your visits within the appropriate window and submit the data on time. 

1. Some project require weekend visits, which we define as Friday 5:00 PM - Sunday.
2. Some projects require week visits, which we define as Monday - Sunday.
3. Some projects require different types of visits that occur on unique frequencies such as quarterly or every other week.

How do I know what projects I'm assigned to? 

You will see all of the projects you have been assigned to in your VMS dashboard. 

On the right side of your dashboard, you will see the "Vendor Projects" box.

If you are ever unsure about your project assignment(s) or are confused about your schedule, please submit a Support Ticket here.

It’s always better to be safe than sorry on the details of your assignments so you do not inadvertently miss a store visit or a data submission deadline. 

 

How do I find my schedule? 

First, log into your VMS Dashboard. The dashboard provides all information regarding your assignments, including:

Project assignments - The projects you are assigned to

Store names & addresses - What stores you are to visit and the specific address of each store

Visit windows - The dates between which your visits must occur 

Data submission deadlines - The data on which your survey data must be turned in 

 

Your project schedule can be found in two places. 

First, they are listed in the "Projects" section of the Vendor Dashboard

 

 
Second, you can see all of your upcoming visits on the Upcoming Assignment Calendar. We recommend clicking "Sync Calendar" to sync these assignments to the email calendar you use every day (Google, Yahoo, Outlook, etc.)

Visit window (aka 'the weekend')

For most of our assignments, data will be collected during 'weekend' store hours. 

For our purposes, 'the weekend' is considered Friday after 5:00 pm through Sunday (as late as your store is open!) 

Exception: Germany, where stores are closed on Sundays, the weekend is all-day Friday and Saturday.

Changing my schedule

What happens if you have a conflict with an upcoming visit?

 

Thirty Day Notice

If for any reason you need to change your schedule, you must let Haynes & Company know at least 30 days in advance to reschedule. You can let us know by submitting a Support Ticket here.

If you do not hear back within 48 hours, please send a follow-up email reply to your ticket, to ensure your message was received. You are responsible for making sure we get back to you with an answer. If you do not receive an answer, please do not assume you have been approved for a schedule change. 

 

Sub Contractors
Because moving visit windows is not ideal for the data, we will first ask you to find a sub-contractor who can cover your visits while you are not able to. 
This helps ensure data consistency and also minimizes the impact of your schedule change on other vendors. 
If you use a sub-contractor to collect your data, you are responsible for identifying the sub-con and providing them with the necessary information to complete the visit (VMS access, etc.)
All sub-contractors must review the project in Zendesk, pass the quiz, and participate in a PVC with the project's Research Manager. 
You will be responsible for the data submission and quality of the data collected. 

 

Approved Schedule Changes
If you are approved to move your visit (the schedule change is approved), it will be reflected in your Upcoming Assignments Calendar in the Vendor Management System.
It is your responsibility to check that the visit window has been updated and to fulfill your visit during the amended visit period. 

 

Emergencies 
We understand that emergencies do occur, and we will do our best to accommodate them. 
Please bear in mind that we must meet client deadlines ourselves and we cannot guarantee that we will be able to accommodate all last-minute schedule change requests.
As outlined in your contract, emergencies will be addressed on a case-by-case basis.