Create auctions

Auctions are created based on auction templates. The template includes most of the details of an auction. An auction template must be created before you create an auction. The users that can create auctions are those that are identified as Auction Schedulers in an auction template.

When you create an auction, specify the specific auction details, such as the time period for auction items, bidding start and end dates, and auction rules (the maximum win properties and bidder priority). Some template details can also be edited when creating an auction.

Create an auction template

  1. From the Manage Auctions tile, click tap View All Auctions.
    The All Auctions page opens.
  2. On the All Auctions page, click tap New Template .
  3. On the New Auction Template panel, enter the necessary information for the template.

    Template Details:

    • Name — Enter a name for the template.
    • Bid Item Length (Days) — Enter the number of days that each bid item contains. For example, if employees are bidding for a week of vacation time, enter 7.
    • Show Warning Prior to Close (Days) — (optional) A warning icon appears on the employee's My Auctions tile the specified number of days before the auction closes.
    • Instructions — (optional) Enter a message about the auction for the employee. The message appears at the top of the auctions panel and can be closed.
    • Request Subtype — Select the Request Subtype to use when time-off requests are submitted for the items an employee wins in the auction. The paycode used for the time-off is the paycode in the request subtype.
    • Minimum Bids Required — Enter the minimum number of bids an employee is required to submit for the auction.

    Maximum Win Properties:

    • Winners Value Type — Determines if the value entered in the Winners Per Item field is an exact value (Number) or percentage (Percentage). Percentage is determined based on the total number of employees bidding on the auction.
    • Winners Per Item — Enter the maximum number of winners allowed per auction item. This value type is dependent on the selection in Winners Value Type.
    • Employee Wins Per Turn — Enter the maximum number of items an employee can win per turn.
    • Employee Wins Per Auction — Enter the maximum number of items an employee can win per auction.
  4. Click Tap Next.
  5. Select the template administrators.
    • Click Tap Add Template Owner — Add the users that are allowed to make edits to the template. One template owner is required. Search for a person, select a person, and click tap Apply.
    • Click Tap Add Auction Scheduler — Add the users that are allowed to use this template to create an auction. Search for a person, select a person, and click tap Apply.
  6. When you are finished selecting the administrators, click tap Apply.
    If your template was created successfully you receive a message to indicate this.

Create an auction

  1. From the Manage Auctions tile, click tap View All Auctions.
  2. On the All Auctions page, click tap New Auction .
  3. On the New Auction panel, select a template.
  4. Enter the Auction Details:
    • Name — Enter a name for the auction. This name appears on the employee’s auction tile.
    • Period — Select the time period for the auction items employees can bid on in this auction. Click Tap the calendar to select dates.
    • Bidding Start Date — Select the date bidding starts for the auction using the calendar .
    • Bidding Start Time — Enter the time bidding starts for the auction.
    • Bidding End Date — Select the date bidding ends for the auction using the calendar .
    • Bidding End Time — Enter the time bidding ends for the auction.
  5. Select Bidder may view other’s bids if you want employees to see other employee’s bids.
  6. For Template Details, click tap Edit if you need to make changes to any of the listed template values.

    The Reset option reverts all values to the values from the auction template.

    Note: Some template fields are not editable, such as Bid Item Length (Days) and Winners Value Type. Winners per Item can be edited in a subsequent step in the auction setup.
  7. Click Tap Next.
  8. Edit auction items. The periods of time in this list are the auction items employees can bid on in this auction.
    Note: Items are derived from the values entered for Period in the Auction Details and Bid Item Length (Days) in the Template Details. For more information, see Time-off auction item configuration.

    To make changes to any of the items, select the item and click tapEdit . You can make the following edits:

    • Change the maximum winners for the item. The default value for maximum winners is the value set in the auction template. Enter a value and click tap Apply.
    • Disable or enable items. If there are items you do not want to include in the auction then select the item, click tap Edit , click tap Disable selected items (or Enable selected items), and then click tap Apply.
  9. Add employees that are allowed to bid on items in the auction.
    • Click Tap Add from Hyperfind — Use this option to add a group of employees. Select a hyperfind, select the employees to include, and click tap Apply.
    • Click Tap Add Employee — Use this option to add individual employees. Search for employees by name, select the employee, and click tap Apply.
  10. Click Tap Next.
  11. Select a value from the Order by list to create the bidder priority list, and then click tap Next.

    The bidder priority list provides the list of employees eligible to bid on items in this auction from highest to lowest. Bidder priority is used to determine who wins an auction item (along with the Maximum Win Properties).

    Note: Some template fields are not editable, such as Bid Item Length (Days) and Winners Value Type. Winners per Item can be edited in a subsequent step in the auction setup.
  12. Review the bidder priority list. If you need to change the order of the list, click tap Back and select a different option for Order by. When the list is ordered as you want it, click tap Apply.
  13. Review the auction schedulers. If you need to add additional users who can manage this auction, click tap Add Auction Scheduler , search for a person, select the person, and click tap Apply.
  14. Click Tap Apply. If your auction was created successfully you receive a message to indicate this and the All Auctions page opens.

Edit an auction template

Edits to an auction template do not impact existing auctions that were created from the template. The only exception to this is the Template Owner. If the template owner changes, or owners are added, then all auctions created using the template receive that change.

  1. From the Manage Auctions tile, click tap View All Auctions. The All Auctions page opens.
  2. Select the Templates tab and then click tap Edit for the template you want to edit.
  3. Make the necessary changes and click tap Apply.

Edit an auction

  1. From the Manage Auctions tile, click tap View All Auctions.
  2. Click Tap the Auctions tab and then click tap Edit for the auction you need to edit.
    The status of the auction determines if the auction can be edited and which auction attributes you can edit. For more details, see All Auctions page.
  3. Make the necessary changes and click tap Apply.
Note: You can also add bidders to an auction and change bidder priority for an auction from the Auction Summary page. See Edit auction bidders and Reorder auction bidders.

Time-off auction item derivation

Time-off auction items are derived from the values entered for Period in the Auction Details and Bid Item Length (Days) in the Template Details. Auction items are always consecutive in date; there cannot be gaps in time between auction items (although you can exclude items from an auction).

For example, if you need to create auction items that are one week in length for the month of March, then your auction configuration selections would be similar to the following:

  • For Period in the Auction Details, enter March 1 – 31 (03/01 – 03/31).
  • For Bid Item Length (Days) in the Template Details, enter 7.

    This configuration results in the following auction items:

    • 03/01 – 03/07
    • 03/08 – 03/14
    • 03/15 – 03/21
    • 03/22 – 03/28
    • 03/29 – 04/04
Note: If the specified period length does not have enough days to complete all of the items, as seen here with the last auction item 03/29 – 04/04 which extends past the period end of 03/31, then the last item is extended to accommodate, as shown. You can exclude this item from the auction if needed.

If you need to create auctions items that are one day in length for the first week in March, then your auction configuration selections would be similar to the following:

  • For Period in the Auction Details, enter March 1 – 7 (03/01 – 03/07).
  • For Bid Item Length (Days) in the Template Details, enter 1.

    This configuration results in the following auction items:

    • 03/01
    • 03/02
    • 03/03
    • 03/04
    • 03/05
    • 03/06
    • 03/07