Workforce management (WFM) refers to an integrated group of tools and processes that can help a business optimize the productivity of its employees. A typical workforce management strategy may include scheduling, timekeeping, attendance, skills management, forecasting, and staff empowerment. Through workforce management, business owners can ensure that employees maintain the necessary skills to meet job requirements.
Efficient Workforce Management Strategies
Efficiently managing a workforce is critical to the long-term success of an organization. By implementing a system that allows the business to run smoothly, employers can enjoy a happy workforce without sacrificing their bottom line. Management typically covers a wide range of HR sectors, such as payroll. Today, innovative technologies like cloud-based workforce management make it easy for employers to effectively manage workforces of all sizes.
Gathering Data from All Departments
Workforce management systems enable businesses to stay on track with the implementation of various workforce management processes. One important component of workforce management involves gathering relevant data from all departments within a business. With this collected data, employers become better equipped to make new hires when there are gaps in the workforce, create practical schedules and delegate work appropriately, and cast accurate forecasts for future workloads.
Organizations are expected to keep pace with an ever-changing business market and employees play a direct role in an organization’s ability to succeed. Businesses must learn to properly align their talents with changing business deliverables to meet the increasing demands of customers. Data from various departments can tell business leaders a lot about managing their workforce, such as if they have the right number of people, the proper skill-sets for the job, and whether an employee’s employment status fits in with the company’s overall talent strategy.
Planning and Scheduling
Planning and scheduling are important elements of workforce management that involve establishing the schedules of hourly workers to meet the demands of a workplace. It may also involve creating schedules that detail the transition from one shift to another to avoid operational disruptions or delays. Workforce planning and scheduling are essential for any business that relies on hourly workers. Not only does it help to keep things running smoothly, but it can also aid in last-minute changes such as a sudden leave of absence.
Many components are considered during the workforce scheduling process, such as employee availability, employee productivity, and employee skills. Scheduling also takes into account the predicted workloads based on operational history, as well as the number of people or resources needed to complete a task. Over the last decade, workforce management has made significant changes. Many employers have moved beyond traditional spreadsheets and now rely on convenient software for scheduling.
Integrating HR, Payroll and Compliance
Today, employers have access to management systems that can be used to efficiently manage a variety of specific tasks, such as HR, timekeeping, and payroll. These systems are available in a wide range of sizes and shapes to meet the unique needs of each organization. While some businesses take time to invest and implement each system individually, others choose an all-in-one system to handle all of their HR, payroll, and compliance needs.
There are countless advantages that come with integrating HR, payroll, and compliance into a practical all-in-one workforce management system. A WMS is able to provide data sharing across HR, timekeeping, and payroll modules which allow employers to obtain reports without delay. An integrated WMS can be used to streamline processes and create greater efficiency in scheduling, payroll, budgeting, and other HR tasks. In addition, integration can help simplify the management of duplicate data among multiple systems.
Tracking Employee Morale and Performance
A solid workforce management system can have a positive influence on the workforce. Most employees enjoy knowing what is expected of them and prefer to follow a set schedule that eliminates confusion about what job tasks are required on a day-to-day basis. Through employee management, employees can achieve greater satisfaction at work which in turn can boost employee morale and performance.
Workforce management can be an effective way to track employee performance. With adequate data, employers can better determine if employees are doing well with their assigned roles, if their staff is achieving satisfactory results as a whole, and if any new hires are actually helping the business achieve more.
Get the Integrated Workforce Management Solution
Managing a workforce can be a highly time-consuming and sometimes challenging endeavor. For example, the average employer spends at least 12 hours per week on schedules, according to QuickBooks. By investing in an integrated workforce management solution, employers can save time, money, and stress by gaining access to a simplified set of tools and processes for greater efficiency. For more information about workforce management or to acquire an integrated workforce management solution for business, reach out to the experienced PEO consultants at BenefitCorp today.