Many companies and software developers come up with products they call workforce management solutions. However, many of these products and services only deal with one of the many components that make up a workforce management package. Of course, that begs the question, what is workforce management?
What Is Workforce Management?
Workforce management is actually several things. Because of that, you may come across different definitions of it, although most definitions will have many things in common. Here’s a look at exactly what workforce management really is.
Workforce management encompasses various things
WFM isn't just one thing. It's a number of tools, practices, processes, and procedures. It's a way to increase efficiency and productivity across the entirety of an organization. It's both broad and narrow in scope. The aim of workforce management is to improve processes at the employee level, as well as at the departmental levels, and beyond.
Workforce management is about managing time
One way to increase productivity and efficiency with workforce management is through time management. WFM processes can include :
- Time and attendance tracking
- Scheduling
- Attendance forecasting
WFM helps you to manage your time and scheduling effectively so you get the most out of the time available to you and your employees.
Workforce management is about managing employees and others
WFM helps businesses to manage such things as talent retention, continuing employee training, and performance monitoring. All these things contribute to the business overall while increasing the productivity of employees and others.
Workforce management is about managing payroll and benefits
Every employee in your organization will require individual attention in regards to payroll and benefits management. That will also include benefits that affect attendance, such as paid time off and other paid leaves of absence. WFM processes attempt to streamline these procedures and limit the amount of errors that can sometimes come up with them.
Workforce management is a suite of tools
WFM can also refer to both individual and suites of tools designed to make workforce management procedures easier and more accurate. These tools can help you streamline and optimize every aspect of your human resources needs.
Some tools can make scheduling mistakes a thing of the past. Some others will help you to make payroll less of a hassle. They range from simple to complex. They can benefit a small operation or accommodate the needs of a large enterprise organization.
As you can see, workforce management encompasses various aspects of human resources. It’s not a single thing as it’s more of a concept that brings together best practices for personnel management. WFM can help you shore up weaknesses in your structure, and bring you closer to your goals. It can also help you to cut unnecessary costs.
How to Make Use of Workforce Management for Your Business
Businesses should take workforce management seriously. Start with a workforce management software solution that caters to your specific industry. You will also want one that caters to your specific business needs.
Now that you understand some of the basics of workforce management, you can delve deeper to see how best WFM solutions can assist you. Working with a workforce management solution provider is a key step to leveraging WFM and making it work for you.
- Do you see frequent mistakes in payroll and scheduling?
- Are you still using pen and paper to fill out time sheets?
- Are you and your employees losing track of where they should be and when?
- Is Affordable Care Act compliance creating chaos in your human resources department?
For all these reasons and more, it’s important you consider a workforce management solution.
