Workforce Management Featured Article
2015 Will Bring New Demands to Workforce Management
The American workforce is changing, as is the global workforce. Hours are becoming more flexible, and the barriers between work and home life are disappearing thanks to mobile devices. New regulations on healthcare are coming into play, and minimum wages are on the rise many places (and not just in the U.S.). As the workforce changes, so too must the solutions and processes used to manage employees, and that includes workforce management. This necessity will present challenges to many, if not most, American companies going forward.
CIO magazine recently spoke with experts at The Workforce Institute at Kronos (News - Alert) Incorporated and Robert Half Technology's Executive Director John Reed to gain a better understanding of what some of these challenges might be.
Regulatory issues. While raises in minimum wage and new laws about providing healthcare may be making the news, changes are also happening within unions and at local levels. A robust workforce management solution will be necessary for companies to not only comply with these rules, but to prosper under them.
“Additionally, with continued public discourse on nonexempt workers and topics surrounding a living wage, new legislation also is expected,” wrote CIO’s Sharon Florentine.
A new generation. The Baby Boomers, many of whom comprise today’s managers and executives, are beginning to retire in large numbers. Generation X is expected to move into their positions as top management and executives, while younger workers – the so-called “Millennial Generation” – will comprise the entry-level workers and even lower managers. This group of employees has very different values and a strong focus on work-life balance. They will require a different approach to HR and workforce management.
“Talent retention and career development will be key in 2015 as organizations train new managers while working to simultaneously shrink the skills gap and hold onto the knowledge assets of a retiring workforce,” according to Florentine.
Analytics provide better intelligence. Workforce management used to be a bit of a hit and miss process (with “miss” happening nearly as often as “hit.”) Thanks to data analytics, which are being applied to every process in the organization, managers in the call center and elsewhere have more information than ever with which to build and support workforces. In 2015, companies need to be prepared to use this information to improve processes.
“Industry-specific solutions, visualization technology, and new applications from specialized consultation and services vendors will help smart businesses better use existing workforce management data to create actionable insight,” wrote Florentine.
While 2015 will present its share of challenges to enterprises when it comes to managing labor, it will also present a number of new opportunities. Successful companies need to be prepared to embrace them.
Edited by Stefania Viscusi