Businesses spend 42 days and around
$4,700 per hire. The actual cost to hire a new employee can be 3-4 times the salary. Without a workforce management platform, you may spend $180,000 to hire an employee with a $60,000 wage. And
one in fiveof these employees will likely leave your company within a year, losing you $120,000.
Research shows that bad hiring decisions result in
80% of employee turnover. As a result, most companies have unfilled positions and can’t fulfill customer demand. This leads to low customer satisfaction and losses for you, overtime and poor working conditions for workers. It’s a vicious cycle of losing employees and failing clients you can’t afford in a rapidly evolving market.
What can help? Workforce management platforms. They are by no means a panacea for all HR problems. However, WFM solutions have drastically changed recruitment and HR operations. And they continue to drive business value for SMBs, enterprises, and outsourcing HR agencies. In this post, we’ll introduce essential WFM features and disruptive technologies. We’ll present the benefits you can reap by adopting technologies disrupting the recruitment industry.
- Nine out of ten businesses save at least 10% on HR admin and management after WFM adoption.
- Cloud-based WFM management solutions improve data security, UX, and mobile capabilities. They increase employee engagement and productivity in 80%+ cases.
- Data analytics and AI-powered recruitment automation help businesses predict and address demand peaks.
- Exoft experience spans from custom business applications development to offering ready-made WFM solutions.
Essential Features & Best Practices
Should you look for a ready-made WFM platform or hire developers to build a custom solution? The answer depends on your budget and WFM needs. In the table below, you’ll find essential features for an innovative workforce management platform.
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| Scheduling | Ensures the right number of qualified employees is present to complete required tasks. |
| Time tracking | Monitors employees’ clock-in and clock-out times, locations, breaks, and work activities. |
| Absence tracking | Handles sick leaves and vacations, personal leave requests, etc. |
| Overtime tracking | Tracks overtime hours for fair compensation, legislation compliance, and workload analysis. |
| Data analytics and reporting | Provides insights into employee work hours, absences, overtime, and productivity to empower managerial decision-making. |
| Legislation compliance | Tracks employee engagement according to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) or other regulations to prevent legal repercussions for employers. |
| Communication | Enables internal texting, calls, video chats, and polls to ensure effective communication between employees and managers. |
| Integrations | Ensure smooth cooperation between departments using different software for payroll management, budgeting, etc. |
Applicant tracking, shortlisting, and interviewing features are also necessary for workforce management in recruitment. At the same time, more companies are looking into advanced off-boarding practices. These practices help turn leaving workers into loyal alumni and boomerang employees.
Implementing workforce management tools for recruitment and daily operations always faces friction. Without a proper transition period, new software adoption can cause operational disruptions and employee dissatisfaction. Based on our enterprise app-building guide and experience with WFM adoption, the Exoft team recommends these strategies for smooth implementation:
- Set WFM adoption goals. Think of the main reasons behind your business's transition and set measurable KPIs. For example, if you want to reduce staff churn, WFM systems can reduce it through improved employee satisfaction.
- Introduce employee and management training. Host seminars and workshops that highlight the benefits for all parties. For instance, managers will spend less time tracking employee performance. Personnel will enjoy a more flexible schedule and have real-time access to overtime and paid leave numbers.
- Phase the new software in stages. Start by introducing the WFM system for one department to assess the changes. Next, expand the testing to other departments. You can also phase in the core features one at a time to slowly train your staff to use them without causing much friction.
- Monitor and optimize operations. Closely monitor workforce management solutions use cases. Collect employee and manager feedback over the first weeks and months of implementation. Adjust your WFM settings accordingly or request custom development adjustments. Finally, assess the KPIs and alter your adoption strategy if they aren’t met or set new ones if they are.
Technological Innovations Driving Disruption
Technology is critical to daily operations across 90% of businesses. Moreover, most companies realize the value disruptive technologies can generate. So, let us introduce you to three technologies currently disrupting the HR and recruiting industries.
Cloud-Based Solutions
Augmenting recruitment with workforce management platforms in the cloud has multiple benefits over on-premises solutions, including:
- Real-time collaboration. The HR managers can seamlessly operate across several locations and home offices, working on job postings, application screening, interview settings, etc. Cloud-powered collaboration is even more important after onboarding. It drives manager and employee engagement, especially if native or cross-platform development solutions are mobile-friendly.
- Instant scaling. On-premise systems require careful maintenance and steep upfront investments. Cloud-based WFM infrastructure can be scaled up or down on short notice. As your business needs grow, you can adjust your cloud storage and hosting accordingly and only pay for the services you use.
- Data protection. Cloud-based WFM solutions take full responsibility for hardware and server security. They employ best practices for data protection, including data encryption, multi-factor authentication, and password validation.
Big Data Analytics
Analyzing historical data on hires, employee performance, and lifecycle helps optimize hiring decisions. WFM systems let businesses collect, structure, store, and analyze all workforce data. For example, HR managers can assess the current personnel profiles to decide if diversity hires are necessary. They can also analyze the relationship between overtime, employee satisfaction rates, and personnel churn to suggest additional staffing requirements. Our
staff augmentation tips
can help with that, too.
HR managers will need training to make the most of these workforce management technologies. You may also need to customize reports and dashboards to produce necessary insights. One example of custom WFM solutions is a
time-tracking tool
the Exoft team developed for a mid-sized consultant company. This solution increased scheduling and billable hour transparency. Moreover, hiring decision-making improved thanks to insights derived from time and attendance tracking reports.
Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning
23% of new employees leave companies within 12 months of getting hired. They don’t have the relevant skills or experience to
fill the positions. Sometimes, their responsibilities differ from the job posting description. ML and AI can help address both. For one, AI hiring tools can craft job descriptions based on actual tasks required for the job. ML algorithms can also assess candidates’ applications and pre-screen them according to specific parameters. Both will speed up the recruiting process and help businesses address peaks in demand.
Still, it’s important to carefully monitor the screening algorithms and use
IT support services
to avoid
introducing bias.
Transformative Impact of Workforce Management Platforms
Technology is reshaping the recruitment landscape and overall human resources and workforce management efforts. Here are a few examples of businesses benefits of adopting disruptive technologies in workforce management and recruitment:
| Benefit | Evidence | Source |
|---|---|---|
| HR administration and management cost reduction | 89% of businesses implementing SaaS HR tech platforms saw 10%+ cost reductions. 20% of companies reduced their HR admin expenses by over 40% | 2023 HR Tech Survey |
| Improved HR performance and integration | Businesses' improved ability to attract, develop, and retain talent (36%), globally harmonized HR operating model (31%), and enhanced integration with key business applications (30%) were among the top three most important outcomes of adopting SaaS WFM solutions. | 2023 HR Tech Survey |
| Improved remote work management and productivity | 37% of businesses started monitoring remote productivity and performance and saw its positive impact. | PwC HR Tech Survey 2022 |
| Advanced strategic workforce planning initiatives | WFM solutions help businesses with demand (45%) and supply (39%) forecasting, future of work insights (36%), and annual budgets (34%). | Aptitude Research 2023 HR Tech Mid-Year Trends Report |
| Increased uses by employees and managers, improved engagement and productivity | Cloud WFM solutions promote usage by employees (91%) and managers (87%). They also increase employee engagement (84%) and productivity (86%). | PwC HR Tech Survey 2022 |
There are also many benefits of implementing a workforce management platform for recruitment. They range from increased automation, critical for fast scaling to address demand peaks to reduced administrative burdens and, as a result, lower hiring costs. Moreover, WFM platforms facilitate job posting and onboarding. Improving employee retention rates and reducing the hiring workload are also common effects.
Final Thoughts
The future of recruitment is here, and you can no longer afford poor hiring decisions. They cost too much time and money. And their long-term repercussions for customer satisfaction affect your bottom line. WFM platforms transforming hiring processes help automate routine tasks and let hiring professionals focus on matching applicants to your business needs.
Moreover, disrupting HR technology, like cloud-based WFM solutions, advanced analytics, and AI-powered automation and personalization, will improve overall HR performance throughout your company. It is known to boost employee engagement and productivity. It can also enhance remote work and
software development team management
and reduce HR admin costs. Enhanced decision-making can become a part of your strategic workforce planning and help predict and address surges in demand.
To estimate the ROI of implementing a WFM solution for your business,
contact the Exoft team
and schedule a consultation.