Workplace efficiency is one of those small things that can have the most significant impact on your business. The administrative task of scheduling, calculating wages, and managing payroll can take hours. According to numerous studies, employers spend up to 12 hours each week in creating employee schedules. However, these schedules are never permanent. They don’t account for canceled shifts, employee unavailability, and unexpected schedule changes. Unpredictability causes businesses to lose money while gathering customer wrath.
Businesses can cut down on unstable scheduling and automate most tasks by using scheduling software. In fact, numerous companies vouch that workforce management made easier with the help of a scheduler. Instead of fighting against unpredictability, companies should focus on growing their business through efficient workforce management. This article will take a look at the defining factors of workforce management and how automation can streamline most administration and HR processes.
Workforce Management Explained
Known as WFM in most business circles, workforce management constitutes a set of tools and processes that ensure a business has the right people in the right role at the right time. While the concept originated in call centers, it has taken center stage worldwide.
Using the optimum WFM approach allows companies to increase efficiency at an individual as well as a company-wide level. Areas that fall under this segment are recruitment, orientation, scheduling, attendance, timekeeping, training, payments, and the use of a reliable performance review software. Effective WFM ensured employee job satisfaction and retention, cost reduction, and optimized customer service.
The Rise of Scheduling Software
Considering the drawbacks of the pen-and-paper approach, companies adopted spreadsheets to handle most tasks. However, with changing norms, implementation of flexible hours, rotating shifts, and customer demands, spreadsheets turned very complex.
Workforce management software came into the picture to counteract this problem. It was designed to handle complex tasks such as scheduling, timekeeping, payroll, in a matter of minutes. The tool became a central database that recorded employee efficiency, training tools, recruitment records, and more. It was an instant success – workforce management made easier – the answer for a business struggling with growing labor and costs.
Let’s take a look at different processes and how automation has turned them into quick, efficient, and reliable:
Recruitment: Companies can benefit a lot from structured recruitment processes. Instead of hiring on a case-by-case basis, companies can instantly generate a list of employees on the scheduler and anticipate the need for skills. This can allow most businesses to fill a skill-gap, the moment it occurs or even before, thereby ensuring no loss to company or customer satisfaction.
Orientation & Training: The lack of centralized information can chalk up to a loss of business hours. Employees struggling to find the information they need means the HR is busy finding answers, providing solutions, and ensuring everyone’s happiness. Schedulers can be great tools for not only recording minute data but also important information about the company along with tools for training. Since the software is also available on an app, information can be assessed anywhere, anytime.
Timekeeping & Attendance: Most companies use different technologies to record attendance and office hours. However, businesses can adopt one flexible tool that can record employees’ hours worked, breaks taken, leaves applied, and more. The same can also be said for Not-For-Profit organisations, and software like get connected can be incredibly beneficial for them as well. Since the software allows the addition of multiple users, employees can clock in and out through an app that is always on their phones.
Scheduling: With the help of workforce management software, businesses can create schedules using automation. The tool has the records of all employees, along with their skill set, allowing it to create a plan that puts the right people in the right place at the right time. The tool also takes into account the unpredictability and enables employees to swap shifts with their colleagues easily.
Payroll: Since all information like working hours, employee absence, and overtime is recorded on one software, payroll numbers can be easily generated. In fact, most schedulers can be integrated with payroll systems that allow for instant payments.
Performance Management: Managers can use the app to schedule the workforce, send out relevant notifications, and assign individual tasks. Once tasks are completed, the manager can provide feedback instantly. This system allows for transparency across the hierarchy and ensures appraisals are bias-free.
Workforce Management Made Easier
Thanks to automation, a lot of administration tasks now take a matter of minutes, instead of days. Since the HR and Admin are free from roles such as managing databases, calculating attendance, providing repetitive information, and calculating wages, they can concentrate on other tasks. Similarly, employees and managers can rely on stable work hours, performance, and timekeeping. Moreover, this tool ensures employee satisfaction, which plays a significant role in customer satisfaction. All in all, workforce management via automation is a win-win situation for all parties involved.
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