This article will learn why workforce management is vital. It relies on complex data and requires the full support of your organization. What are the benefits of workforce management? And how does it differ from other forms of control? Finally, how can you ensure your workforce manager is effective?
It is an art and a science.
Workforce management is more than setting schedules and employee benefits. It involves measuring and evaluating employees’ effectiveness, reducing labor costs, and improving employee productivity. Ultimately, workforce management is a science of profit and reasonable practice. So, let’s explore the art and science of workforce management.
The art of workforce management is in its ability to predict and respond to unexpected spikes in contact volume. However, even the most accurate workforce management team cannot plan 100 percent of the time because customers and life are unpredictable. Therefore, contact centers must be prepared for any situation, whether an unplanned or unexpected spike in volume. However, if a spike in demand occurs, contact centers must respond quickly.
It relies on complex data rather than intuition.
“workforce management” refers to analyzing past and present data to predict future staffing levels. This process is known as “forecasting” and involves analyzing past data, workloads, and customer requirements to make well-informed decisions. However, the process is not entirely free of intuition, an essential part of workforce management.
It requires the full support of your entire organization.
As a workforce manager, you’ll need the support of your entire organization to manage your workers effectively. That’s because workforce management isn’t about laying off employees or cutting corners. It’s also about ensuring your employees have the tools and resources to succeed. You’ll need detailed information about your industry, employee strengths, and weaknesses to accomplish this. You’ll also need to track how much time employees spend on various projects and calls. Finally, you’ll need real-time access to this information to make necessary adjustments on the fly.
Using technology to manage your workforce is an excellent way to improve the efficiency of your company’s workday and save money in the long run. Workforce management involves the proper forecasting, staffing, and scheduling of workers to meet customer demand and business goals. This requires real-time adjustments as conditions change. Effective workforce management means getting the right people to the right places at the right time. Not scheduling enough people leads to overstaffing, overproduction, longer handling times, and poor word of mouth can damage a brand.
It is a self-service function.
It helps reduce human error, improve data accuracy, and streamline routine processes. It also frees up the HR team to focus on value-adding activities. Employees can complete tasks such as timekeeping and payroll without contacting the HR department.
Employees can complete virtual paperwork, access information, and manage time-off requests with employee self-service. This reduces stress for managers and frees up time for strategic endeavors. The ability to complete tasks and acquire new skills is also increased, and self-service HR systems can help manage time-off requests efficiently. Using self-service HR systems also increases employee satisfaction, as it encourages peer-to-peer support and frees up HR professionals to focus on more strategic endeavors.
It is expensive
The costs of maintaining employees are enormous – according to the Human Capital Management Institute, they comprise 70 percent of a company’s overall operating costs. Yet investments in workforce management remain surprisingly low, with only about 1% of enterprise software spending going to this purpose. Therefore, the human capital management team must prove the cost-benefit ratio of their investment. This can be done with the help of workforce management solutions.
Using a workforce management solution will save your company money. Without proper workforce management, you can easily overstaff or understaff a specific department, which leads to unhappy customers and poor employee service. Furthermore, the labor budget is stretched too thin, which will make you look even more unprofessional. Accurate timekeeping will also save you from the high cost of turnover, which is directly related to the quality of the service. Removing an unhappy employee can cost up to 20% of the employee’s annual salary, and the costs will increase the higher the person’s pay is.