Why do certain organisations excel at large, collaborative projects while others struggle? Sometimes it’s as simple as properly understanding and managing your team’s skills.
Often conflated with human resources, workforce management is in fact its own distinct and important area within any organization. Workforce management includes all of the activities needed to maintain a successful and productive workforce. This includes everything from employee time and attendance to talent management and tracking to forecasting and scheduling.
By concentrating on workforce management within your organisation—or, in the case of larger companies, dedicating a full or partial department exclusively to workforce management—you’re in the position to better assess the strengths and weaknesses of your team and make adjustments accordingly.
Traditionally, workforce management is devoted to assigning the right jobs to the right employees. Unlike standard staff scheduling which simply allocates an employee’s time, workforce management focuses on properly allocating skills and strengths on a case-by-case basis.
A workforce management system or team may also help guide the following:
– Workload forecasting for upcoming projects
– Account management and resource allocation
– Project analysis and monitoring
But how will this help my organisation?
Mismanaged projects and workplace errors are far less likely to occur when you’ve dedicated ample time to analyzing, forecasting and monitoring the capabilities of your team. When a fully capable team is assigned to a task, you should notice a significant increase in productivity and far better results.
Workforce management is also closely related to workforce optimisation, which is another area that many successful organisations are turning their attention to. Workplace optimisation builds upon the management and analysis of an organisation’s strengths and studies the complete workforce lifecycle. Originally thought of as a tool to tie together the three main structures within most medium to large businesses—Human Resources, Operations and Information Technology—workforce optimisation is meant to help businesses better understand the impact of staff on operational efficiency and the customer experience.
There are many different approaches to workforce management that can help your organisation make smarter, more informed decisions when it comes to teamwork and successful project work across departments. For more information on how to implement a workplace management system in your office, contact Employment Professionals Canada. We’d be happy to help discuss your organisation’s specific needs and goals.