Purchasing Resources for Workflow Management Software

Business Guide to Workforce Management Software

If you hire and manage employees for your business, learn the benefits and pitfalls you need to consider when choosing a workforce management software. From scheduling to performance reporting, workforce management software performs many functions that your business may be currently performing manually. You will see how this software will save your business in the manpower hours, resources and expenses that you allocate to the management of your human resources department. You are provided detailed and valuable information to enhance your knowledge and help you make an informed decision about whether workforce management software is a feasible option for your business endeavor.

Benefits

The American Payroll Association notes that companies that do not use workforce management software provide employees with an extra half-day of vacation time yearly. Also, companies that do not use this type of software spend up to 25 percent of their work time producing and managing employee schedules. Adopting a workforce management system can streamline many of the processes that human resources employees handle on a daily basis, which will give them more time to focus on more essential tasks. Also, this software will allow you to manage and track the day-to-day operations involved in running your company. Workforce management software has a variety of functions that can help you save time, money and resources.

Employee management

With workforce management software, you can keep track of each employee’s attendance records, performance evaluations and discipline reports. You can organize this data by name or job location. You can track important tasks as they are being performed and assign due dates for each task. Workforce management software contains custom task forms, so customizing the software to meet your specific employee management needs is easy. As the primary administrator, you can be very selective when deciding who can have access to your employees’ data.

Generate reports

Most workforce management software applications have a report generation feature. With a few clicks, you can generate financial reports and quantitative data. You can use these reports to review your company’s progress, project the direction of your company, review workflow data and generate sales reports.

Reduce paperwork

With workforce management software, you can view, share and submit projects, images, memos and other documents to your employees and business partners electronically. This will drastically reduce the amount of paperwork you have to handle, and you will also save money on printing supplies.

Web-based access

Many workforce management systems allow you to upload your company’s data to an Internet-based application, which you can access from anywhere in the world. Also, if your computer malfunctions and you lose important data, you can easily retrieve it using the workforce management software company’s online data management system.

Pitfalls

Easing the transition

When you implement workforce management software in your workplace, there is always the chance of employee resistance. Often, people don’t like to change the way they have been doing things, especially if the new way adds a level of complexity or involves new technology. Before you start using this type of software, have your human resources team hold a company meeting to discuss any concerns that your employees might have. Answering questions and demystifying the new system before you start using it can go a long way toward helping to get employees on board.

Concerns over employee compliance

Once you have begun to use workforce management software, watch out for employees who refuse to follow the new system. If a particular manager still insists on writing out schedules by hand or a particular employee continually refuses to clock in or out using the system, this could create problems. All employees must use the software for it to accurately track and forecast the data you need.

Ensuring flexibility

Avoid getting locked in a rut with your workforce management software. If you need to shift employees around at the last minute, you want a program that will handle those last-minute changes and adjust everything else to take those changes into account. While most programs can handle things like employee leave or part-time worker scheduling, more complicated situations, such as scheduling employees who don’t actually come into the office, may be beyond its ability.

Watching for inaccuracies

Like any software you implement in your business, your workforce management software is only as good as the data you input. If there are any inaccuracies in the amount of people you need working on a given project or in the time you estimate a given project to take, you could end up overscheduling or under scheduling an employee’s time.

Pricing

The Workforce Management Practices study notes that 52 percent of organizations do not use workforce management software for performance reporting, and 25 percent of companies do not use this software for forecasting purposes. These functions alone are worth the amount of money it costs to purchase this type of software. There are countless other tasks that this software can perform, and the price you pay for your software will depend on the functions it has.

Workforce software ranges in price from $100 to $200. Some companies offer Internet-based programs that allow business owners to efficiently manage their workforce online. To gain access to online workforce management programs, you must pay a recurring fee, which generally starts at $45 per month.

Conclusion

Implementation of workforce management software in-house or online is a cost-effective option for any business that manages personnel through the use of human resources. Automating your time and attendance schedules plus your performance and financial reporting will increase employee productivity and reduce expenses, resulting in an increase in revenues.

With the advent and popularity of today’s cloud computing and storage, your Web-based workforce management software access will utilize state-of-the art technology. Many businesses today take advantage of the convenience of remote access to online programs and the security of online data storage. These advantages far outweigh the time and cost of implementation and assimilation of workforce management software.