Slotting neatly under the human resource umbrella, workforce management has quickly cemented itself as a fundamental part of the contemporary business framework. Ultimately, the goal is to create a higher performing workforce by gaining insight into the characteristics and capacities of both individual employees, and teams as a whole.
In a nutshell, the methodical process involves honing in on the right people, then putting them in the right place, at the right time, with the right skills. It’s a bit of a mouthful, but with the right approach, workforce management planning doesn’t have to be a tongue twister.
Workplace management best practices
So how can your business create a workforce management plan that gets productivity soaring? While there’s no universal recipe, the most popular workforce management models usually include these elements:
Alignment with business goals
First and foremost, effective workforce management processes should be closely aligned with the overall goals and strategic plans of the business itself. Think about what you want to achieve from your new workforce management plan, and strategise accordingly.
For example, if you want to rein in your budget without compromising on customer service, your key focus should be on creating schedules that have at least one experienced staff member on the floor at all times.
Use your data wisely
Using in-house information, businesses can bridge the gap between guesswork and facts. Data can be used to make strategic human resources decisions, and help managers take targeted and timely action towards developing their people, and boosting the performance of the business as whole.
Be smart about scheduling
While it is possible to manually create staff schedules, purpose built workforce management software like Ento makes it a whole lot easier. Thanks to intelligent features, managers can automate the rostering process and build schedules that staff love. Add shifts in seconds, calculate complex costing rules and distribute rosters at the touch of a button.
Build salary budgets
Without a clear cut budget, your workforce management framework will switch into freefall mode. You may spend weeks planning, only to find that the business can’t afford to action your proposals. Before you start drafting up rosters, be sure to back your schedules with a budget that dictates how many staff, and what calibre of employee you can roster on at any given time.
Review current labour/market trends
Arm yourself with insight by actively reviewing current labour and market trends that affect your niche. For example, if you’ve been relying on uni students to run the show all summer and first semester is fast approaching, you’ll probably want to consider taking on more full timers in order to address the shortage that will inevitably occur when students head back to school. Trends and imminent business needs should also be taken into account, which will help to manage talent shortages and surpluses in the future.
Identify initiatives and strategies
Staff performance and retention should be a keynote part of any workforce management practices plan. Inspire employees to perform by identifying and introducing initiatives that make them want to hit targets, and remain a part of the team.
Review performance
In order to improve, it’s essential to have an understanding of your weakest links. By implementing a performance review strategy you can gain insight into how your workforce is performing, on both an individual and a team based level.
Use this information to help staff improve their skillsets, build stronger teams and ultimately, augment business operations as a whole.
Whatever your niche, the benefits of having an effective workforce management framework in place are well-defined. Use these workforce management best practices as a guide, but at the same time remember that every business is bespoke and should create strategies that meet the unique needs of its operations.
Meanwhile, learn more about managing your employees with Ento’s workforce management software.