Despite the advancement in business technologies, many organizations rely upon inefficient workforce management systems and approaches. Whether it’s a manual punch clock, a sign-in sheet, the honor system, or old software, these outdated approaches remain commonplace. Many organizations are keen to stick with what they know, not realizing the benefits they’re missing out on. Many times they haven’t fully considered the value an up-to-date, automated system would bring to their organization.
Here are a few ways your company can benefit by such an automated system:
Reduced Payroll Costs
Payroll costs can account for anywhere from sixty to ninety percent of an organization’s total operating expenses. As a result, it is imperative that businesses maximize the impact of every single labor dollar.
Many organizations aren’t aware of the effects that employee habits can have on their organization. This can include arriving early, shortening their lunch breaks, leaving late, and taking advantage of punch rounding rules. All of these impact an organization’s bottom-line.
Our experience shows that these attendance exceptions cost organizations real dollars, and lots of them. Say an employee punches in a little early, takes a short lunch, and then punches out a little late. This can lead to 10- 20 minutes of extra paid time, often at an overtime rate. When multiple employees do this every week, labor costs can escalate drastically.
A workforce management system provides you with greater control over your payroll costs. A good system will help you gain insight into these patterns of time inflation and address them as they happen.
Decrease The Impact of Absenteeism
Anyone who owns a business or manages a department within a business understands the impact of absenteeism. When not managed properly, absenteeism can lead to run-away overtime costs, substandard service levels and poor employee morale.
A current workforce management system will provide multiple tools to help track and manage the impact of absenteeism. You or your managers can select employees based on skills, certifications, hours worked, seniority and other criteria. They will also enable you to identify and address attendance and absence trends that may otherwise go unnoticed.
Increase Employee Satisfaction
Though the benefit is important, workforce management systems don’t only have a financial impact. They also leave an imprint on your organization’s culture because it touches every person in your organization. How you choose to handle the day-to-day management of attendance, time collection, time-off requests and scheduling impacts employee morale and performance.
A workforce management system provides the kind of fairness and transparency that today’s workers value. Having their time off requests reviewed and approved quickly helps them feel valued. The consistent application of rules and policies removes the perception of favoritism. Access to an Employee Self Service portal promotes a sense of empowerment, providing instant access to timecards, attendance status, and time-off banks without having to go through a supervisor or HR.
All of this improves employee morale, satisfaction and engagement, which in turn makes your organization a better place to work. And as employee satisfaction increases, productivity, customer service, and performance go up.
An up-to-date Workforce Management System can provide a great deal of value to your organization. Such a system can impact nearly every aspect of your business, improving efficiency, productivity and culture. With that kind of impact, it is certainly a worthwhile investment.
This material has been prepared for informational purposes only, and is not intended to provide, and should not be relied on for legal advice. If you have any legal questions regarding this content or related issues, then you should consult with a labor attorney for advice.
