7 Must-Have Features To Look For When Choosing A Workforce Optimization Software

For most industries, sudden rescheduling is quite common. Retail workers, on-call tech assistants, and food service employees are quite used to this and work varying schedules. However, this inconsistency is slowly seeping into the 9 to 5 sector too, as most companies have started adopting overtime, travel, and remote work.

This is why workforce management is important for modern businesses and institutions. Initially, it may seem trivial, but it’s necessary to create a schedule for your employees so that they understand when and where they’re supposed to work.

Workforce management software has various other features, capabilities, and requirements apart from their primary scheduling features. However, most companies prefer using this software, as it simplifies HR activities.

Read on to understand what features your workforce management software should have to serve your needs best. Check out other guides to learn more too.

What Is Workforce Management Software?

At the basic level, workforce management focuses on the activities involved in ensuring that a company’s workforce functions smoothly. The main goal is to guarantee that a business always has enough employees to function both in the present and the future.

Workforce management also requires assessing and controlling all moving parts, and can therefore be tricky without the proper tools.

With the correct workforce management software features, it becomes easier to manage your long-term business goals and ensure that employees are entirely prepared. With the onset of the pandemic, these features have become even more important, as more businesses allow employees to work remotely on a flexible schedule or full-time.

Must-Have Features To Look For When Choosing A Workforce Optimization Software

Let’s look into the essential features that your workforce management software needs to have.

1. User-Friendly Interface

With the advancement of digital software, more and more people are getting accustomed to using B2C applications on a daily basis. Therefore, the platform that you’re using has to be top-notch.

You’ll likely require simple features like automated notifications, integrated workflow, and easy task management across different platforms. Other tools like drag-and-drop, copying templates, and managing shifts will also improve usability and offer a seamless experience for all your employees.

2. Mobile Application

Using mobile phones might hamper your progress, but in today’s world, mobile-friendly technology is mandatory. A mobile application is essential for remote workers and desk-less employees who don’t have direct access to the company’s communication platform. Manually controlling systems will not only slow down progress, but also affect engagement and employee productivity.

Therefore, you should choose software that can function across various mobile platforms like iOS and Android, while also working on tablets. With the help of this platform, users can create, edit, and view their schedules on the go. Therefore, you’ll be using your workforce to its full potential.

3. Demand Forecasting

Forecasting tools help managers determine future possibilities, predicting labor demand for different tasks or locations, which increases conversion rates and NPS scores.

Trend analysis carefully examines an employee’s time and attendance pattern, helping managers make decisions when creating new schedules or policies.

4. Flexibility

Most popular workforce management software offers deployment options where you can hire employees depending on your business’s current or future needs. Cloud-based software can also host the platform online, providing extensive data storage and mobile access for all employees. If you are working in the Field Management sector, then you’re going to need a Next-Gen FSM Platform (like one available at OverIT US) to improve productivity, efficiency, and safety, and maximize all profitability.

Using a self-service system also lets your employees completely control their scheduling methods. They can also swap shifts with colleagues, update their availability on a specific day, and view the latest data. So when your employees can self-roster, your business will benefit a lot from higher productivity rates and increased employee engagement.

5. Integrated Reporting

Analytics is an important feature for any operating system. With the help of analytics, managers understand which section of the company is working well and what requires improvement. Using workforce optimization software, you can gain insight into payroll, scheduling, attendance, staff requirements for a location, and much more.

You’ll benefit from built-in reports that can be customized per your requirements, integrated with your business insights and plans. You might then decide to Revolutionize Strategy Execution with Top Software to make sure that you are achieving your goals in the best, most efficient ways possible.

6. Security

Security and encryption have to be included in your workforce management software to control access to company documents. This feature ensures that confidential information and other documents are only available to the necessary stakeholders, thereby keeping data encrypted.

Audit trails can help keep track of modifications within the platform. Therefore, admin and workers can view each activity’s records directly on the dashboard if they’re granted access.

With the help of the security feature, businesses and organizations can document their workforce management processes. Therefore, if any error occurs, the administrator can review the audit trail and quickly discover the underlying driver of the issue.

However, every business has sensitive data and information that should be confidential and disposed of when it’s no longer needed. That’s when secure document shredding professionals are entrusted with the documents to be handled with discretion and avoid any data breaches after the audits.

7. Timesheets

It’s necessary that your workforce management software also has a time and attendance tool. With the help of this feature, you can avoid using an additional tool, which helps reduce the cost of any cases of time theft, which is a pretty common issue nowadays.

You can also use geofencing and photo capture technology for advanced time tracking. Your employees can directly clock in and out using smartphones, allowing managers, team leaders and supervisors to monitor what employees are doing.

Endnote

Workforce management software helps simplify tasks, improving productivity and allowing workers to succeed.

When selecting workforce management software, it’s crucial to determine your business’s requirements and examine your current environment. To select a top-rate workforce management software, you must ensure that your platform has the above-mentioned features. To add to your knowledge in being able to choose the best product for your business, use a software comparison tool or website. Most people are familiar with Wheelhouse for comparing business software solutions.