Best Practices
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January 5, 2023
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7
min read

What is Workforce Management and How It Improves Productivity

Olaf Jacobson
Founder & Business Development, Soon

Workforce management is the process of managing an organization's human resources in order to efficiently achieve corporate goals. Proper workforce management helps businesses utilize their resources more effectively and maximize productivity by streamlining the entire process of workforce planning, scheduling, monitoring, and performance evaluation.

What is Workforce Management?

Workforce management is the practice of optimizing an organization’s human resources to increase productivity, efficiency and cost savings. By properly managing its workforce, a company can promote employee well-being, improve communication between departments, reduce overhead costs, and help ensure compliance with labor laws. It also allows businesses to manage and track their personnel in real time while monitoring labor trends.

Understand the Benefits of Workforce Management.

Implementing a suitable and efficient workforce management system can improve employee productivity and performance, reducing employee turnover and dissatisfaction. Additionally, it can provide managers with useful insights into labor trends to better inform organizational decisions, as well as promote a higher quality of service, cut waste in production and reduce hiring costs over time. With the right strategies in place, businesses can maximize the value of their human capital while unlocking its full potential.

Establishing an Effective WFM System.

Properly setting up and maintaining a Workforce Management System requires careful consideration of employee needs and resource requirements. Essential steps include creating clear goals, tracking labor costs, developing shift patterns or performance indicators, setting up automated processes for reporting, scheduling and timekeeping, monitoring hours/holidays worked and managing employee data. Additionally, you could also consider empowering employees with self-service options for viewing their schedules or viewing request for leave. This can reduce the organizational burden on HR staff and enable businesses to respond quickly to changes in the workforce environment.

Measurement and Evaluation of Your WFM Program.

An effective WFM program should be regularly evaluated and measured to ensure it is working under the desired conditions. This involves tracking key performance indicators (KPIs), such as labour costs, employee productivity and absenteeism rates, as well as customer experiences. By closely monitoring a company's performance and labor data, managers can make better decisions about their workforce management strategies and ensure that the goals and objectives of the organization are met. Regular review of the data also enables businesses to identify any potential problems or areas for improvement.

Implementing Strategies for Improved Productivity with Workforce Management.

Employers should regularly analyze their current WFM strategies in order to see if any changes need to be made. This includes assessing job roles and employee workloads, as well as the desired outcomes of each program. Additionally, it is important that companies are actively using the data they collect through their WFM systems to create and implement new strategies for improved productivity. Some of these include improved communication and collaboration between departments, flexible working arrangements, reward programs and regular training opportunities. By properly utilizing resources and understanding how different employees can contribute positively to a project or task, workforce management can drive real business results.

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