Workforce Management software is no more a novelty today. Companies understand that to maintain a productive workforce effective and efficient Workforce Management System (WMS) software is the best tool. It helps in ensuring efficiency in the company’s administration, keeping track of employee work hours and performances, following compliance parameters, and maintaining an overall smooth workflow. Organizations today are looking at these systems to help them improve employee engagement, transform their talent strategies, and enhance their overall productivity levels.

There are plenty of Workforce Management System options in the market so making a right choice can get confusing. Here are the Benefits of Workforce Management System that you should look for achieving your ultimate objectives of using any Workforce Management software:

1. Ease of Use, Mobility and Cloud-based– For employers and employees to be encouraged to use the system regularly, user-friendly design is critical. Employees should be able to find the required information in the least amount of clicks. With the gaining popularity of mobile devices, it is important that the WFM system allows the employees to access their work hours, reimbursement details, timetables, and all such details right from their mobile devices – anytime, anywhere. Mobile compatibility has the power to have the biggest impact on the employee productivity.

2. Attendance Management– One of the most important things that need to be tracked in any organization is the attendance of the employees. Manual attendance tracking is blatant wastage of time and energy. Ambiguity in the attendance data can lead to information mismanagement and can also impact Payroll and Leave Management modules. Make sure that the HRMS system you choose lets you effortlessly record, track, calculate, and report your employee’s time in office, holidays such as sickness and holiday using Workforce Management System. All the data should be neatly compiled by the WFM at the end of the month for review.

3. Overtime and Shift Management– Managers of the companies where employees work in different shifts need to consider various aspects such as night shifts, work schedules, shift rotation, and employee schedules. It is important for them to have a system which lets them define the shift, shift timings, break timings, and also shift rules. They also need to consider the overtime of workers. The hours for which the workers have worked overtime need to be calculated and appropriate compensation needs to be provided to them. Such organisations need to look for these specific shift management and overtime management modules in their WFM system.

4. Payroll Management– A good WFM system is incomplete without the ability to generate an accurate and timely payroll. WFM systems must have a payroll automation module as these help in streamlining the payroll process. Payroll automation ensures that payrolls, receipts, and reports are generated easily. Through tight integration with biometric and third party time and attendance machines, the systems can validate the information before processing the payrolls, making sure that the payroll is being processed using the accurate information.

5. Powerful Reporting– The HR department is in need of reports all year round to present reports about employees to managers, investors or any other stakeholders. There are also many labour department compliance reports to be created on a regular basis. Such well-prepared and accurate reports help in calculating performances, appraisals, the number of new employees, turnover, and other such factors that may have undergone changes in the course of the year. An efficient automated WFM system will help you save time and effort of manually creating such reports. Make sure that your WFM allows you to build custom reports and prepare different variations of graphical representations for all your data.

6. Eliminate Human Error – When the onus of responsibility rests with humans, there is always a chance of human error, which can lead to lost time and increased discrepancies. Workforce management solutions can reduce the risk of human error and ensure an easy, impartial and orderly approach in addressing specific needs  without any confusion.

7. Increase Employee Satisfaction – Scheduling and handling time-off requests are an important part of sustaining a satisfied workforce. When employee satisfaction increases, problems such as turnover may decrease. With automated systems, it is possible to quickly review, approve, and address absence requests and manage planned absences to minimize their effect on your business.

8. Save Time – How much time do you or your HR manager spend each week (or day) trying to make a work schedule? Using workforce management software can save you and your business hours per week so more time can be spent on the human aspect of HR within your corporate environment.

9. Boost security – Biometric data collection devices (i.e. fingerprint scanners) make it so only an actual employee can clock in and out, which helps to eliminate the practice of one worker clocking in for another.