The economy is strong, and unemployment is lower than it's been in half a century. Good news, right? Sure — generally speaking. However, if you are a recruiter or scheduling manager, these healthy numbers can cause new headaches including a tight labor pool and higher turnover.
Engagement = Profit
Employee engagement is the extent to which employees feel passionate about their jobs and personally connected to their employer's goals. But according to Gallup's State of the American Workplace report, the majority of the U.S. workforce (51%) simply isn't feeling it. An additional recent Gallup poll reveals that businesses that do manage to capture engagement have:
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41% reduction in absenteeism
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17% increase in productivity
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10% increase in customer ratings
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20% increase in sales
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21% greater profitability
Let’s face it, when there’s a better deal down the street, employees can and will find it.
According to the Federal Reserve, workers in highest demand are those in engineering, finance, sales, construction and manufacturing, information technology and trucking. And, while some employers are raising wages to compete, more are turning to nonwage measures such as flexible schedules.
So the task of managers in a candidate-driven economy is to figure out ways to build an engaged workforce where employees are highly motivated, more productive, and less likely to look for a job elsewhere.
WFM Technology
Two ways employers can meet this workforce challenge is 1) with progressive technology that influences employee experience and 2) understanding the issues that are important to employees. More and more studies reveal that work-life balance and schedule flexibility outrank pay increases in today’s competitive employee pool.
If your workforce is built on Kronos Workforce Central, Workforce Ready, or Workforce Dimensions, you have scheduling tools to help you meet the expectations of today's workers. Whether you are tasked with using Kronos (or any number of WFM platforms) in healthcare, manufacturing, casino, or retail environment, plugging in a few scheduling basics can help keep your employees happy and outcomes strong. Here are a few:
Employee Self-Service
What's more personal than a person's work schedule? The ability to have hands-on input into one’s work schedule isn’t just an employee perk anymore — it’s an expectation of employees and an operational imperative for employers. Employee self-service allows an employee to have input into his or her own schedule using their own mobile devices from anywhere, at any time. Kronos WFC Version 8.0, as well as Dimensions, empowers employees by boosting mobile capabilities. Employees can ask for time off, shift swap, open shifts, request to cover, and update availability, all from their own mobile devices. Self-service gives employees the tools they need to have more control over scheduling, an essential factor in achieving a better work-life balance.
Automated Rules
You can craft the best schedule in the world but if it's not compliant with state, federal, or union laws, you'll find yourself in deep. Properly configured and automated pay rules in Kronos Scheduler and Advanced Scheduler modules can be uniquely configured to each workflow and are dependent on shift conditions. For example, if an employee works at least six hours, then they must take a 30-minute meal break. A manager can apply as many rules as needed, which gives them dozens of ways to increase compliance and efficiency. Also, automated work and pay rules allows managers to comply with state and federal legislation, union policies, and establish schedule patterns that reduce employee burnout.
Workforce Analytics
When configured and accessed consistently, workforce analytics can make a significant impact on your scheduling culture. By leveraging the Kronos workforce analytics tool, managers can easily identify scheduling gaps and inefficiencies, overtime creep, employee fatigue, and spot inequitable scheduling trends that can impact morale. Notice a spike in labor costs? Analytics can show you where unplanned overtime or time theft is an issue. In addition, this functionality in Kronos can help a manager compare actual hours to scheduled hours and any variances, which will help refine scheduling approaches, equity, and stay in line with local, state, and federal regulations.
Efficient, equitable scheduling is a task that every manager improves upon over time. When scheduling practices are people-focused, mobile, and automated via a powerful WFM platform, organizations will experience:
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Better fatigue management
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Accurate overtime projection
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Happier, more engaged workers
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Less turnover
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Schedules that reflect employee skills and experience
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Operational flexibility
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Improved compliance
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Accurate time off and absence tracking
To determine if your company needs to fire up its scheduling power, download our Advanced Scheduler Insights paper below. More powerful (and profitable) scheduling is just a click away.
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