Implementing a workforce management system isn't the end of the road when it comes to technology in your business. While it may meet your needs on day one, during year one, five, or ten you may find its results lacking. Consider these concerns to determine whether your current workforce management system is still working for you.
You're Using More Than One System
Necessity is the mother of invention and many businesses find that as they grow, they cobble together solutions on the fly. Human Resources may need a workforce management system so they turn to one company, while IT needs a solution to congregate policies and procedures so they purchase another. Before you know it, each department has their own system and rather than being a cohesive unit, all that information is only available to one department. A workforce management system should merge together all company information into one easy to find and easy to use collaboration. If you can differentiate your departments by software, it may be time for a switch.
You Doubt Your Data
As businesses become more complex, so does the data. The software that supported your business in its infancy may have been capable of handling a small team but with time and complexity, you may no longer trust the results. If you find yourself worrying that your workforce management software isn't capturing a true representation of your business, it may be time to upgrade to something more sophisticated.
Work is Duplicated
Lean management is a goal of most businesses. Having the right people in the right place with the right supplies at the right time is essential to keeping business costs low, supporting employees, and providing the best price to consumers. Unfortunately, it's easy to lapse into extra work when you're growing. Two employees entering the same data or one maintaining a paper copy of a report that is generated from your workforce management system are just two examples of when a company can outgrow their system and need to transition to a new one to reduce efforts. Take a thorough inventory of your employees' job duties and your workforce management system capabilities to find where they intersect. If you find too much duplicated data, it may be time to switch.
You Have Great Ideas But Can't Implement Them
If you find yourself struggling to put together data or start new processes, the problem may not be you. It could be your workforce management system. New businesses don't require much complexity. Just surviving those first few years is difficult enough without delving into the intricacies of the business. A workforce management system that provides solid data in the beginning may not have the capability to handle higher-level needs. Once a business grows and changes, the data becomes more complex and more granularity is needed. Upgrading your workforce management system can be the key to improving and expanding your business.
You Worry About Compliance
When you employ a handful of employees, compliance isn't an issue because you can personally handle all compliance concerns. As your company grows, you need to start practicing delegation, but a single manager who doesn't understand federal laws or industry standards can cost your business thousands. If you find yourself constantly worrying about whether your employees and your business are in compliance, it may be time to alleviate that fear with a more developed workforce management system. From federal laws to company rules, a workforce management system should be able to help inform and monitor managerial compliance as well as employee compliance. 