Blog

November 18, 2021

Evolving HR’s employee scheduling and workforce management

In the last 18 months, the pandemic has created a seismic shift in workplaces everywhere. COVID-19 has not only increased the prevalence of remote work, but also presented new workforce management challenges affecting employee productivity and engagement.

In our new webinar, Brian Carlisle, Product Manager at TCP Software, and Chris Marsh, Research Director at 451 Research, explore the latest changes in workforce management and how HR teams can use workforce management tools to improve workforce visibility, people analytics, integration and more.

How to Navigate an Increasingly Complex Workforce

At the start of the pandemic, 451 Research had already identified the complexity of workforce management and the need for more flexible workforce management solutions. The company stated: “With a more precarious workforce responding to increasingly complex business demands, businesses will look for tools to understand their skills proficiencies, and appraise them in the context of multiple workloads …”

In this webinar, you will learn about the ongoing challenges facing today’s HR teams. Not only do these challenges affect how well you can maximize organizational talent, but they can also affect employee engagement and retention.

Here are just a few of the findings discussed in the webinar:

  • The shift to remote and hybrid work has made it necessary to adopt tools for time and attendance tracking, employee scheduling and labor productivity tracking.
  • Changing labor market conditions require a shift to new staffing strategies and labor forecasting needs and costs.
  • Today’s employees expect high-quality digital experiences and may be willing to leave an employer that doesn’t offer them.

How Human Resources Approaches Today’s Workforce Management Challenges

As discussed in the webinar, HR teams make workforce management decisions that impact broader organizational outcomes, including profitability, efficiency and compliance. Survey results from 451 Research demonstrate that many HR teams are beginning to see the value of investing in workforce management software as part of an integrated tech stack.

As explained in greater detail in the webinar, HR teams now seek the following characteristics, among others, in workforce management tools:

  • More visibility across the entire workforce, including employees and contingent workers
  • Integration with broader organizational platforms, such as human capital management (HCM), human resources information system (HRIS), enterprise resource planning (ERP) or payroll systems
  • Increased ability to align existing talent with available work in real time
  • Labor forecasting and budgeting capabilities

The Dynamic Capabilities of Workforce Management Software

To meet the needs of today’s strategic-minded HR teams, workforce management software provides automation and reporting capabilities to empower both HR and employees. As detailed in the webinar, solutions for time and attendance, employee scheduling, absence management and labor management can help the human resources function become a more data-driven, strategic resource within an organization of any size or industry.

Here are just a few of the ideas Brian Carlisle of TCP discusses as critical in the work of HR teams today:

Looking Deeper into Your Workforce
Workforce management software uses automation to help you streamline workforce operations and see when and where employees are working in real time. The software also offers visibility into employee absences, enables backup scheduling, and delegates authority. For example, if your payroll manager is absent and you still need to run payroll, you can designate a party to handle it.

Leveraging the Strength of Your Technology Partners
Modern workforce management software integrates with your payroll , HCM, HRIS and ERP systems. These integrations not only reduce manual workflows and double-entry, but also help HR teams decrease errors and deliver a more seamless employee experience.

Streamlining Team Communications
To reduce silos and keep team members on the same page, you can use workforce management software to manage resources across teams and projects. For example, with a unified workforce management solution, you can create notifications, such as schedule changes, that only go out to the individuals who need to see them.

Forecasting and Budgeting Labor
Labor costs are high in just about every industry. But when you can anticipate costs and schedule employees for efficiency, you can manage costs with greater predictability. Workforce management software allows you to build labor schedules, budgets and project staffing plans, so you can prepare for costs and manage them before they skyrocket.

Utilizing Intelligence and Automation
Given all the data your workforce activities generate, it would be a shame if you couldn’t harness it. Integrated workforce management software provides the reporting you need about your workforce and offers trend data to support more actionable decisions about your workforce.

Approach Workforce Management Challenges with Confidence

As discussed during the TCP and 451 Research webinar, managing your workforce requires your HR team to navigate an ever-changing business climate. And at a time when your workforce may be dispersed across on-site facilities, home offices and other locations, you need tools that deliver visibility and insights into labor costs and productivity. For more insights, watch the webinar at any time. You can also learn more in our eBook, Everything You Need to Know About Workforce Management.