Workforce management is a set of institutional human resource management processes that businesses use to improve efficiency and productivity. Some of the benefits of workforce management include reduction and optimization of labor costs. Additionally, this leads to improved payroll efficiency. You can also gain insight into worker engagement and productivity, which can result in more targeted training. Not to mention increased operational agility as employers can put workers with the right skill sets in the right place at the right time. Workforce management can help increase compliance with labor laws and industry regulations; and increase employee morale, thanks to all of the above. Most programs are easy to integrate with existing human resources processes. Businesses can benefit from increasing efficiency, productivity, and morale. Important aspects of workforce management that you want to consider include:
Businesses need to forecast how many of each employee kind they need to accomplish all the tasks that need to be completed over a certain time period (by project, by season, or by some other measure). Businesses analyze and forecast staffing requirements, tasks, and schedules hour-by-hour and day-by-day. This means covering all work areas completely, but the business won’t have to pay for overscheduling employees. Budgeting is allocating funds to pay for these employees. Workforce management enables businesses to automate this analysis. A good workforce management solution means that the business will almost never be either short-staffed or overstaffed, which is the goal of any manager.
Good workforce management algorithms allow businesses to incorporate numerous variables, such as workload, availability, attendance, and vacations when creating schedules. This is much more precise and efficient than manual scheduling. While ensuring that all areas that need staffing are staffed. It’s much easier to achieve optimal staffing levels if they are clearly set out. This is what workforce management software is designed to do for every hour of every day.
Workforce management is very labor and math-intensive, so it is almost always automated. There are some very good workforce management software programs available. Some are stand-alone and some integrate into other human resource management suites. Just about every kind of mid-size or larger business, and plenty of smaller ones too, can benefit from implementing an automated workforce management solution.
Using time clock software to analyze employees’ time and attendance patterns allows businesses to schedule more efficiently. Plus, they manage planned and unplanned absences, account for changes in demand, and ensure accurate payroll. It also makes the human resources department aware of any employees who may demonstrate chronic issues with time and attendance. This allows them to be addressed constructively.
Similar to time and attendance management, businesses can also automate vacation and leave planning. Employees can submit their leave requests digitally, and they can also be managed through the use of algorithms. This eliminates accusations of favoritism, reduces scheduling conflicts, and facilitates tracking of leave balances, banked time, and time-off requests. It’s much easier for everyone when employees can process their own requests from their smartphones or other devices than when they have to make paper requests in triplicate.
Workforce management software helps clarify and set out objective metrics to measure employee engagement. These metrics can then be tracked and analyzed. Productivity improves when expectations are clear and employees recieve rewards in ways that matter to them.
Compliance with industry standards as well as local, state, and federal laws can be almost overwhelming and add complications. Workforce management software helps businesses track all of the requirements associated with remaining compliant. This includes labor standards, union agreements, break and leave requirements, and role-specific training and certifications.
All of the aspects above are part of proper payroll and benefits administration, and workforce management software makes them easier to track and implement. Human resources managers can also create and pull custom reports instantly in preparation for an audit or other event. Timesheets can easily sync to payroll processing, and businesses can even provide instant (end-of-shift) payment options.
