I did this on my phone and cant test this but i think this is what you need.

With yourData (rn, Emp_ID, Hour_Type, Start_Date, Hours, End_Date
AS
(
...

First for some sample data

USE tempdb
GO

IF OBJECT_ID('tempdb.dbo.cannedPhrases') IS NOT NULL DROP TABLE dbo.CannedPhrases;
IF OBJECT_ID('tempdb.dbo.GS') IS NOT NULL DROP TABLE dbo.GS;
GO

Without Execution plans (you can just post them here, BTW, using the "Add File" link below) it's impossible to determine why each query is performing differently. In SQL server 2014...

I posted this function about a year ago here. It takes for parameters:
@low  = represents the lowest value for n1.
@high = represents the highest...

Yes, SSIS is the best tool for this. 

Depending on your SSIS skill level , you can also use the SQL Server Import/Export wizard (which uses SSIS). You would...

This sounds like a job for MERGE to me; there's no need for a loop...

Well, if you have to use a function to strip the non-numeric characters then DigitsOnlyEE is the best way to go (something I was going to say until...

If Serv.ID is numeric then you would have to convert it to a string first:
 Then 'Assessment' + ' - ' + CAST(Serv.ID AS varchar(10))
Or, my favorite, CONCAT:

A general observation is that the overal quality and consistency of Microsoft online documentation is declining. I digress.

Raiserror has been on the chopping block for some time and...

I love this series Brian, its very informative. Well done, 5 stars!

Well done. It's always nice to see a RBAR-free, set-based approach to building tables like this. A few things I would change to improve performance:

1. Make all the...