Get the Most Out of Your Workforce Management Solution: 5 Areas to Look at When it Comes to Covid, Crisis, and the Workplace
Workforce Management Solution: 5 Areas to Look at When it Comes to Covid, Crisis, and the Workplace
As Covid numbers are once again on the rise and the holiday season approaches, those of us in workforce management need to be doubling down on precautionary measures in the workplace.
Regardless of what industry you’re in, there is workforce management technology out there to help make handling Covid, crisis, and everyday workforce management stress a lot easier. Whether you’ve previously invested in a solution or are still shopping around—here are five areas to consider reviewing when it comes to your workforce management solution.
1) Contact Tracing
- Do you have a comprehensive schedule of who was on site when exposure occurred?
- Can you easily notify employees that were potentially exposed?
- Do you have a way for employees that were exposed to let you know if there were in contact with anyone else from the organization before they were notified?
- g., an unscheduled employee who stopped work.
Having a schedule to reference for tracking Covid (or any other contaminant) exposure is great, but having a real-time geolocation list of who clocked in and out when and where is better. The more information you have the faster you can notify those who were actually exposed, and receive relevant info back.
This is contact tracing that is more precise and doesn’t let information fall through the cracks.
2) Rescheduling
If you know the exact who, what, why, and when’s, you’re a step ahead when it comes to rescheduling, but consider:
- How easy is it to find the correct replacements and redo your schedule, factoring in any complex scheduling rules?
- If exposure or a crisis occurs, how quickly can you notify the correct replacements and get the necessary people onsite?
There are workforce management options out there that make scheduling easier during both the best and worst of times. Thing things like:
- Automated shift-change management
- Automated schedule updating
- Changes sent automatically to all staff
- Ultra-specific scheduling
- Automated on-demand scheduling
- Complex rules automation
- Leave management and PTO tracking
3) Communicating, Regulatory Compliance, and Document Sharing
This one relates back to contact tracing and rescheduling but extends to other areas of concern as well.
- Who has been tested for Covid and what were the results?
- Are there employees needing to quarantine?
- Can you communicate up-to-date policies and regulations, as well as share documents and helpful information?
A workforce solution that keeps all this information in one place is great for continuity. There are solutions that not only track normal compliance concerns, but can be updated to follow Covid or crisis specific guidelines for scheduling, rescheduling, and contact tracing.
- It’s important to note the benefit of having a solution that can be accessed easily and securely from work or home by employees and leadership, that keeps people informed and safe.
4) Employee Engagement
- How are your employees coping?
- Is employee feedback being heard and followed up on?
- Are there employees that are need assistance?
With the added stress of a crisis, employees are bound to struggle. Listening to them and involving them in your organization’s response to a crisis can make a huge difference when it comes to both team building and keeping employees engaged.
Workforce management software can help bridge this gap as well, think:
- Individuals that are quarantined and need help getting supplies safely dropped off being able to remotely coordinate assistance from fellow employees.
- Easy rescheduling and coverage for mental health days.
- Employees being able to contact their leadership team, get a quick response, and schedule a follow-up, all from their choice of device.
- Task management helps in putting feedback into action.
5) Analytics for Decision Making
- Where can cost cuts be made?
- What changes have you made to your organization that are doing well, and which ones aren’t paying off?
- What impact is Covid having across all aspects of your organization?
A crisis often leads to difficult decisions needing to be made, and there are workforce solutions out there to help make them easier.
- Real-time KPI tracking (labor costs, budgets,
sales, revenue) - Weather and event (e.g., Covid or crisis) tracking
- Forecasting
- Report building
Facts and data help with every aspect of business planning, particularly during a crisis when there is so much more to keep track of.
If your organization needs help navigating workforce management for Covid, the future, and beyond, we’re here to help.
Check out our other thought leadership on Covid and Crisis, as well as what TeamzWize can do for your business:
· Workforce Management and Covid-19: 4 Ways to Focus Your Organization and Move Forward