In every organization of any size, human resources is the direct conduit of change: personnel, regulations and expectations. This applies to employees, senior management and other areas within the organization.
Meeting these changing demands requires more organizations to get smarter about HR. Implementing workforce management solutions has become the preferred method to make this happen.
HR’s Success is Where Opportunity Awaits
Many organizations are utilizing some type of workforce solution, whether it is for payroll, benefits administration or a complete HR management system. Doing so recognizes that HR’s success in managing the biggest asset within any organization contributes to larger goals.
Increasingly, responses to challenges are strategic and proactive. Rather than being a reaction, the business intelligence of HR is supported and enhanced with strategic workforce solutions.
This process of moving from tactical administrative tasks toward a strategically valuable mode involves:
- Identifying problems/issues
- Finding what needs to be measured
- Determining areas for automation
- Analyzing outcomes
While employees are the most critical asset for organizations, they are also the most expensive. Managing them properly should include processes that simplifies HR functions through automation.
Becoming Strategic with Automated Workforce Solutions
Research has shown that using automated systems for time and attendance, and strategic workforce scheduler systems reduces replacement costs for hourly workers. Attributing these solutions to the reduced cost of administration was matched with increased revenues.
Automated technology for absences, leave management and scheduling increased two times more for organizations that embrace its use. The domino effect for improving revenues and better employee management is customer satisfaction.
Organizations that depend on customers supporting their products and services cannot afford to dismiss the importance of improving administrative tasks. Every investment in these improvements yields a return of higher customer satisfaction.
Compare that to organizations who fail to embrace automatic scheduling and experience the exact opposite. Customers will not be satisfied if no one is available to address their concerns. Employees get sick, face family emergencies or simply want to use up their accrued time.
Unexpected callouts that leave a department shorthanded will affect customer service. Poorly addressing the needs of customers will affect your organization’s bottom line. However, implementing technology that alerts managers to understaffed shifts puts them ahead of the issue.
They can find replacements because the availability of employees is known immediately. Additionally, the cost of unplanned overtime can be avoided with an automated workforce scheduling solution.
No organization can completely avoid overtime, but having an inaccurate idea of employee schedules will most likely increase this category of spending.
Missed deadlines, incomplete projects and idle workers costs a tremendous amount of money. The organization best prepared will make sure this does not happen.
Whether it requires instituting a shift swap policy, tightening attendance rules or giving employees input on creating their work schedules, the goal should be improvement.
Improvement can come in many different forms, beginning with freeing managers’ time to be attentive to core business needs. While HR provides workforce management tools, department leaders keep employees actively engaged.
Automation Improves Skill Utilization
Another benefit to automating a strategic workforce scheduler is this can deliver greater utilization of skills capacity. Manual processes not only slow those who use them, but it also slows the progress of employees.
Most scheduling systems include fields where managers can enter skillsets, education and other job-related details into employee profiles. If there is a need, managers can use a skills matrix to determine who is best qualified for certain tasks.
With these details housed into one system, there is minimum chance that an employee is overlooked. While managers can view employee profiles, employees also can be given access to update trainings, conferences or additional education.
What was once left for HR personnel is now shared with others within the organization. Managers have immediate access to what formerly could take a day or two for a response.
Optimized Scheduling is Key for Industry Leaders
Employee utilization and customer satisfaction are key takeaways for organizations considering whether an automated workforce management solution is the right way to go. Automation software can drastically improve scheduling.
Optimizing employee time and labor will always contribute to the success of companies. Yet, slowly adopting these solutions could create a micromanaging nightmare. Problems and potential for more problems will remain.
Potential benefits far outweigh the cons of implementing a scheduler system for an organization’s workforce. The expansion of HR administration roles will continue; it is up to organizations to decide in which direction they want to go.
Hopefully, more will realize that freeing up time and energy from tasks that consume workforce management is best. Manually monitoring attendance, leave time and shift scheduling will keep organizations at the back of the line.
However, using automation to their advantage provides strategic value that will benefit organizations now and into the future.
