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What Does Workforce Management Do?

The Role of Workforce Management in Modern Organizations

What Does Workforce Management Do

Workforce Management: A Comprehensive Guide

Do you want to boost team productivity in general performance? Workforce management can help streamline your team’s workflow as well as operational expenses. This results in improved efficiency, higher engagement of employees, as well as higher team morale.

From essential functions to advantages, we’ll outline what does workforce management do and how you can implement effective WFM strategies of your own.

Table of Contents

Workforce Management: What Does It Do?

What Does Workforce Management Do?

What Does Workforce Management Do? What Does Workforce Management Do? Management of the workforce (WFM) can be a method to ensure the proper amount of employees are in place at the appropriate times to accomplish tasks effectively. It assists companies in planning schedules for work, monitor the time, forecast their needs and assign tasks to ensure that work can be done efficiently, without having too many or many people working. It’s particularly helpful in situations such as call centers where managers must ensure that there are enough agents ready to take calls during busy periods.

What does workforce management mean?

Management of the workforce involves being aware of the most important goals of a business and anticipating human capital issues to ensure that the appropriate steps are taken to reduce risks and ensure efficiency. Timekeeping, scheduling, data analysis, and compliance with regulations are only a few of the duties that are essential to this goal.

How Does Workforce Management Work?

Management of the workforce (WFM) involves managing staffing, forecasting schedules, scheduling, and real-time adjustments in order to ensure that the correct combination of employees with necessary skills are in place whenever needed. The aim is to meet the requirements of the company (such as production and service levels) and also consider the needs and desires of employees to accomplish their tasks. Here are the numerous aspects of workforce management:

How Does Workforce Management Work
  • Real-time data collection
    With the help of software to manage workforces information on the performance of employees level, staffing levels and many other areas can be eliminated to reduce any wasted time if possible, and to more efficiently distribute the resources.

  • Field service management (FSM)
    Your employees may not be able to complete their work at your office or home or even a field service staff. The unknown environment presents new possibilities and complexities. FSM was designed to track and assign field technicians. It typically includes tracking vehicles, scheduling inventory management and tools for feedback and payments to customers. It is important to note that certain companies see FSM as a separate type of software that isn’t part of the main workforce management.

  • Human resources management (HRM)
    Information from the human resource management system such as employee records such as contractors and seasonal workers, are synchronized with the workforce management system.

  • Training management (TM)
    Monitor, administer and report on the training provided to employees. Training could be used to ensure safety and compliance or as a way to simplify employee education about issues such as new equipment or procedures.

  • Performance management (PM) and monitoring
    Set goals or performance indicators for employees, and track their performance. Plan periodic evaluations and provide feedback from employees to keep them motivated and help improve strategies. Monitoring and PM also keep an audit trail for employees as well as teams, so that new managers as well as other managers can view an overview of their performance and get a better understanding. This can help you recognize the top performers as well as those that may require improvement.

  • Recruiting
    Finding the appropriate amount of employees who have the right skills to meet the requirements of your business isn’t an easy job. It’s not just about filling vacant positions. It’s about identifying areas of potential growth or bottlenecks and aligning the workforce to strategic goals.

  • Budgeting
    In the typical annual budget process, leaders and finance may reach an agreement on a budget and estimates of the number of employees for that entire year. However, that budget will not clarify what that is for the individual teams, and that’s when the workforce management aspect comes into play. In-depth information about human capital management regarding historical trends, which includes the rate of turnover, recruitment and realistic timeframes will aid in defining the budget.

  • Demand forecasting
    Advanced technology within the system is able to predict shifts and changes in staffing levels, and provide recommendations for steps to do.

  • Scheduling
    Alongside the standard scheduling capabilities, software for managing workforces can also integrate with other sources of data like call center volumes, store-level information from POS systems, and sales forecasts, in order to anticipate the need for staff and automate the process of scheduling.

  • Analytics
    You’ve gathered all this information about your workforce. What do you do now? Analytics on workforce help you provide the ROI of your investment as well as track employee productivity. They also provide insight into workforce planning. Additionally, you can use analysis to pinpoint a specific issue that affects your workforce and then develop plans to tackle it. For instance, you may have an excessive turnover. Through analyzing your data you could be able to discern trends in teams with high turnover rates. You can also explore the data to discover the common traits.

  • Time clock
    Employees can scan a badge to enter their time. However, more sophisticated software utilizes GPS and mobile apps to monitor employee hours. It even tracks breaks, meals, holidays and overtime.

  • Leave and absence management
    Accrual policies can be customized and employees as well as managers are able to use it to look over their time off, request and even approve it off.

What are the benefits of workforce management?

The best workforce management software that is implemented and utilized effectively, can benefit employers:

  1. Control costs
    The cost of overstaffing and excessive overtime, and other expensive expenses can be reduced with technology that can forecast the needs of labor. With the help of some sophisticated WFM solutions employers can also see how budgets are affected by schedules that are being made.

  2. Run payroll with greater accuracy
    Workforce management software helps to make payroll more reliable since it analyzes the hours of work and detects patterns in overtime. Repeated data entry and manual calculations are eliminated, thus making it easier to avoid human error.

  3. Improve productivity
    Benchmarks enable employers to compare their attendance and time data against companies that are identical in scale or are in the same industry or in the same region. If employees’ performance isn’t with the other businesses they may take corrective steps.

  4. Create smarter schedules
    With data in real-time in their hands managers are able to quickly spot vacant shifts and fill them prior to when they cause an overstaffed position. The ability to build schedules according to location, department or even job can also ensure that the right coverage is in place.

  5. Minimize compliance risk
    In-between FMLA and state laws on leave can be more easily handled by automated workflows that monitor the eligibility of employees and balances of leave. Furthermore the online record-keeping that comes in WFM software can be helpful in the event that there is ever an audit from an agency of the government.

Workforce Management Tools and Software

WFM tools are specifically designed for industry that aid management in meeting their goals and objectives. Certain organizations choose to utilize WFM tools that function independently, whereas other companies incorporate these tools in an integrated human resource (HR) administration suite. WFM tools have gotten more effective over the last few years because of the substantial rise in hybrid and remote workers.

A few of the essential elements of WFM tools are assessing the time of work and absences of employees, and sharing the information with HR and payroll and compliance with agreements related to leave and pay as well as the creation of fair and efficient work schedules; and evaluating the productivity of employees. The cost of WFM will vary based on the WFM tools that an organization decides to implement, monthly cost can vary between $2.50 per user up to the $72 mark or higher per employee.

Some of the most reputable providers that offer the most trustworthy and easy-to-use WFM tools are:

Company WFM combined with HRIS? Monthly Starting Price
  • ADP

Included in ADP Workforce Now packages

Contact for quote
  • Papaya Global

Included in Employer of Record plans

$650 per employee
  • Oracle

Available as Cloud HCM add-on

Contact for quote
  • Ceridian

Included in Dayforce HCM platform

Contact for quote
  • Fuse Workforce Management

Included in HRIS platform

Contact for quote

Frequently Asked Questions

Management of the workforce includes tasks like scheduling employees, monitoring attendance, making sure that staffing levels are adequate levels, forecasting the labor requirements and monitoring the performance of employees to maximize productivity and cut costs.

 

A job in the field of workforce management includes supervising the planning, scheduling and optimization of shifts for employees, coordinating staff, and ensuring that the team is meeting business goals effectively.

An example would be an administrator of a call center using programs to plan shifts and schedule shifts. They also monitor attendance and forecast the staffing requirements to ensure the proper number of agents are in place during peak times.

Yes, it is usually a part of HR, with the focus on maximizing labor resources and helping employees with scheduling and attendance as well as the management of performance.

The term “workforce management” refers to the salary paid to those who oversee and optimize the workforce, which includes scheduling, tracking of labor and ensuring a proper allocation of resources. The salary varies based on the position, background, and the geographical location, but usually can range between $50,000 to $100,000 annually for managers and analysts working in this field.

Workforce management systems (WFM) can be described as a collection of processes and tools that help organizations manage their employees’ timetables and track attendance, assess their performance, and ensure that resources are allocated effectively in order to meet the needs of business. It usually contains software for scheduling timing, time tracking, forecasting and reporting.

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