As the staffing industry continues to grow, so does its need for newer technology that can meet the company’s performance goals and solve its challenges. Just in the last two decades, we have successfully integrated workforce management systems with modern technology, allowing employees to take action quickly with recruiting, on-boarding, job scheduling, and timekeeping. Consequently, over the years, there are some workforce management best practices that have stood the test of time. Let’s take a look.
Data Strategy
With the rise of technology in the staffing industry, so much of their process is now digitized and the potential benefits of this data goes beyond saving Mother Earth and its trees. To start, your data strategy must always be defined from the beginning as it sets the foundation to what your business wants to achieve, and identifying the exact data you need to succeed will follow. In any company, data is divided into three categories: Reporting, Analysis, and Compliance. First, the importance of metrics and reports are continuing to increase in the staffing industry. Reporting on key metrics allows agencies to be knowledgeable on what is being done right and what needs to be fixed.
To add, keeping the baseline data for your analytics reporting is beneficial to see how your project unfolded, from initiation to completion. This data is beneficial for statistical analysis and intelligent forecasting, allowing a better justification for changes made to employee scheduling, productivity, and workforce trends in the future.
Last but not the least, compliance data should always be kept secured and reported in a timely manner specially when legal issues arise. For example, it’s a law in specific states that sexual harassment training should always be conducted for an employee during on-boarding. In a sea of employee data, what happens when you need to find a specific report for one employee? Any company should be able to produce irrefutable evidence that the training was conducted when the report is needed in a timely and secure manner.
Focus on the Bottleneck
You can compare bottlenecks to a sudden traffic stop on a highway. Over time as more cars come, the build up becomes unbearable. Due to this one stall in the process, schedules are disrupted, tempers flare, and productivity suffers. That is why it’s essential for agencies to focus on where their employees spend time with a system the most. For example, because timekeeping is a daily occurrence and almost every employee needs to do it, focus on this process to be the most efficient. Your company does not need 150 employees to be disgruntled because it took them a hundred steps just to clock in and out. If this process is creating long lines and wait times, reduce steps and save your employees time and productivity.
Device Intelligence
An intelligent device is any type of equipment, in this case a workforce management system, that has its own computing capability. The benefits of an intelligent device can be many such as preventive maintenance, time stamped data, and the ability to collect customer use data. For example, to lessen the intervention of a payroll manager, it’s beneficial for common timekeeping mistakes to be preventable on the device itself. In addition, having an intelligent device that can detect time and location-based restriction prevents unauthorized clocking in and out immediately.
This technology is all about saving time for your agency and employees. Intelligence at the device level increases productivity and accuracy, allowing other tasks to be completed rather than manually adding up hours in time for payroll.
Management by Exceptions
Have you ever been invited to a meeting and while you visually count all the tasks pending on your desk, you come into this sudden realization that the discussion would have gone perfectly fine without your intervention? This is the reason for managing by exception. As a workforce gets larger, so does the daily tasks for agency managers. To avoid unnecessary disruptions, it is ideal for a software system to only focus on cases that are outside of the norm, which allows immediate human intervention. For example, if tardiness is a concern, then those employees who are always late should be generated as exceptions and can easily be identifiable for the manager.
Managing by exception allows agencies to focus on concentrated efforts, as this system allows the managers to decide when and where they should give their attention.
Go Mobile
Let’s be honest. We are living in a mobile-centric, mobile-first world and it’s beneficial for your agency to communicate in a platform where your employees and clients are. Having access to real time communication is even more important when employee and warehouses are dispersed in different locations and schedules with jobs that have different compliance requirements. For example, if an employee was subjected to harassment or an injury, those liable should be notified immediately so that emergency action can be taken.
Conclusion
At the end of the day, an agency is responsible for making decisions that determine the success of their business and the well-being of their employees, and all good things start with finding a platform that understands your business and makes your life easier.
Read more about technology and the staffing industry on the WurkNow Blog
Do you have any questions for me on how technology can make your agency a staffing powerhouse? Send an email to hello@wurknow.com
Sammy Singh
Co-Founder and CEO of WurkNow Inc.
(first published in www.wurknow.com)