Research Spotlight: Workforce Management

Next-generation Workforce Management software solutions are enabling businesses to optimize every aspect of labor management and productivity. These solutions are built on advanced technology platforms, and provide a range of tools and capabilities that support workforce planning, execution, and analysis.

Some of the key features and benefits of  Workforce Management software solutions include:

  • Time and attendance: This feature enables businesses to track and manage employee time and attendance, ensuring that employees are paid accurately and on time. Next-generation Workforce Management software solutions can automate even the most complex pay and scheduling rules, and can support multiple pay rates, shifts, and pay periods.
  • Demand-driven scheduling: This feature enables businesses to create and manage employee schedules based on real-time demand and forecasted demand. Next-generation Workforce Management software solutions can use data from multiple sources, such as sales data, weather data, and employee preferences, to generate optimal schedules that maximize productivity and minimize labor costs.
  • Workforce scheduling: This feature enables businesses to manage the allocation and scheduling of employees across different locations, departments, and roles. Next-generation Workforce Management software solutions can support complex scheduling scenarios, such as variable staffing levels, split shifts, and variable skill requirements, and can help businesses to ensure compliance with labor laws and regulations.
  • Absence management: This feature enables businesses to manage employee absences, such as vacation, sick leave, and personal days. Next-generation Workforce Management software solutions can help businesses to track and manage employee absences, and can support the creation of absence policies that are fair and equitable for all employees.

Big picture: Workforce Management software solutions can help businesses to optimize every aspect of labor management and productivity, by enabling them to strategically enhance workforce planning, execution, and analysis. By leveraging these solutions, businesses can automate even the most complex pay and scheduling rules, and can ensure that their employees are paid fairly, accurately, and on time. Additionally, these solutions can decrease the time leaders spend building schedules and editing employee’s time, enabling them to focus on more meaningful work across the organization.

Recent trends and technology innovations have further enhanced the capabilities and value of Workforce Management software solutions. Some of the key trends and innovations include:

  • Cloud-based solutions: Many next-generation Workforce Management software solutions are now delivered as cloud-based services, providing businesses with scalable, flexible, and cost-effective solutions that can be accessed from any device, anywhere, anytime. Cloud-based solutions enable businesses to quickly and easily deploy and use Workforce Management software, without the need for complex and costly on-premises infrastructure.
  • Mobile apps: Many next-generation Workforce Management software solutions now provide mobile apps that enable employees to access and manage their time and attendance, schedules, and absences from their smartphones or tablets. These apps can support the entry and approval of time cards, the viewing of schedules, and the submission of absence requests, and can provide employees with real-time access to their time and attendance data.
  • AI and machine learning: Next-generation Workforce Management software solutions are increasingly leveraging AI and machine learning technologies to provide more intelligent and automated solutions. For example, these solutions can use AI and machine learning to generate optimal schedules, to identify and prevent time and attendance fraud, and to improve the accuracy and timeliness of financial data and reporting.

Workforce Management software solutions are an important tool for businesses that want to optimize every aspect of labor management and productivity. These solutions are built on advanced technology platforms, and provide a range of tools and capabilities that support workforce planning, execution, and analysis. By leveraging recent trends and technology innovations, such as cloud-based solutions, mobile apps, and AI and machine learning, businesses can optimize every aspect of labor management and productivity, leading to improved operational efficiency, increased employee satisfaction, and better business outcomes.

In our upcoming research, we will explore the benefits and challenges of next-generation Workforce Management software solutions, and provide examples of how top-performing businesses are using these tools to drive better business outcomes. We will also discuss the role of these solutions in integrating with other enterprise systems, such as enterprise resource planning (ERP) and human capital management (HCM) systems, and the impact of this integration on data quality and decision making.