Workforce management (WFM) is an institutional process that maximizes performance levels and competency for an organization. The process includes all the activities needed to maintain a productive workforce, such as field service management, human resource management, performance and training management, data collection, recruiting, budgeting, forecasting, scheduling and analytics.
Workforce management provides a common set of performance-based tools and software to support corporate management, front-line supervisors, store managers and workers across manufacturing, distribution, transportation, and retail operations. It is sometimes referred to as HRM systems, Workforce asset management, or part of ERP systems.
As workforce management has developed from a traditional approach of staff scheduling to improve time management, it has become more integrated and demand-oriented to optimize the scheduling of staff. Besides the two core aspects of demand-orientation and optimization, workforce management may also incorporate:
The starting point is a clear definition of the work required through engineered standards and optimal methods for performing each task as efficiently and safely as possible. Based on this foundation and demand-based forecasts, workers are scheduled, tasks are assigned, performance is measured, feedback is provided and incentives are computed and paid. In addition, online training is provided along with supervisor-based coaching to bring all workers up to required levels of proficiency. Workforce management is a complete approach designed to make workforce as productive as possible, reduce labor costs, and improve customer service.[1]
Workforce management also uses the process of field service management in order to have oversight of company's resources not used on company property. Examples include:
In the 1980s and 1990s, entrepreneurs focused on topics such as supply chain management, production planning systems or enterprise resource planning. As cost pressures have increased, managers have turned their attention to human resources issues. In all personnel-intensive industries, workforce management has become an important strategic element in corporate management. The process has experienced growth in all sectors, including healthcare. The rise of the gig economy has also gone hand in hand with the rise of workforce management preactices.[4][5]
As our society continues to adopt new technologies such as smartphones and enterprise mobility tools, more companies are allowing employees to become mobile. Mobile workforce management refers to activities used to schedule the employees working outside the company premises. It helps distribute workforce efficiently across various departments in an institution.[6] The need for social distancing imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic has brought about major changes in both employer's and employee's vision of remote work, which will likely have a long-lasting impact on workforce organization and management in the coming years.[7][8][9]
What is diversity and inclusion-based recruitment strategy?
Diversity refers to differences within a group [10] [11]. The word diverse takes it origins from the middle English word dyversite which means “difference, separateness, variety” [12]. Diversity can include, but is not limited to, differences in race, gender, religion, ethnicity, nationality, disability, gender, identity and sexual orientation. Inclusion as it relates to a workplace environment, is where all employees are supported and able to effectively make a difference with the organization.[13] Diversity can fall into four broad categories, although there is said to be intersectionality between the categories [14]; these are defined as Internal, External, Organizational and Worldview diversity. Internal diversity relates to the way people are born, and includes factors such as race, gender identity, age and health. External diversity relates to characteristics of a person that are acquired in life. This includes interests, education, appearance, religious beliefs, and location. Organizational diversity includes job function, management status, and salary band. Worldview diversity is as its states – a person’s worldview, political views and moral belief systems.[15]
Diversity and inclusion-based recruitment is an employment strategy aimed at creating more equitable and representative workforces. It uses processes free from bias for, or against any individual or group of candidates. Organizational workforces should reflect the general makeup of the society in which you live and work. Organizational leadership that embraces and cultivates an open culture for all individuals to thrive is the cornerstone of success in recruiting a diverse workforce.[16]
What are its origins?
Diversity in recruiting has evolved over recent decades to become an important strategy in all organizations. During World War II many industries required replacement labor as the male workforce was being drafted into the war. While some companies began to hire women and people from minority groups, racial discrimination was rampant. In an attempt to combat this, in 1941, American President Franklin Roosevelt issued an order prohibiting racial discrimination in defense industry jobs[17]. Diversity theory has its origins in the 1960’s when equal employment laws (equity statutes and equal opportunity regulations) and affirmative action (policies and practices aimed at increasing marginalized and underrepresented groups) were introduced[18]. This brought the issue of diversity and inclusion to the forefront and encouraged organizations to implement diversity training programmes and establish related policies. It is said that global spending on diversity and inclusion is projected to reach US$24.3 billion dollars by 2030[19]
In recent times, social movements such as #Metoo and #Blacklivesmatter have intensified discussion about injustice, leading to deeper reflection on its impact within the workplace. As these issues gained prominence, the professional world was motivated to enhance and evolve its diversity and inclusion practices, resulting in the rapid redevelopment of recruitment and retention strategies focused on diversity and inclusion.
What are the organizational benefits of diversity and inclusion-based recruitment strategies?
Organizations often perceive themselves as being torn between increasing diversity and focusing on hiring for optimal performance[20]. Despite this view, beyond meeting societal expectations, organizations can also benefit financially from increasing diversity in their workforce. A 2015 study found companies with greater racial and ethnic diversity are more likely to achieve financial returns that exceed industry standards[21]. Some of the other benefits of diversity in organizations are as follows:
Advantage in talent acquisition – Human capital is the core component of company success. A focus on diversity and inclusion opens the talent sourcing pool[22]
Increased employee satisfaction – women and members of minority groups in particular report that diversity and inclusion is of high importance to them[23]
Alignment with customer base – Focusing on diversity enables companies to better align with an increasingly diverse and globalized customer base, helping to enhance customer relationships which in turn strengthens their brand[24]
Drives innovation, competitive advantage and market growth – the basis lies in diversity of thought, giving people a voice and empowering staff to feed into decision making and solutions[25]
Workforce management solutions[buzzword] can be deployed enterprise-wide and through mobile platforms. While special software is commonly used in numerous areas such as ERP (enterprise resource planning), SLM (service lifecycle management), CRM (customer relationship management) and HR (human resources) management, the management of the workforce is often still handled using spreadsheet programs or time recording. This often results in expensive overtime, non-productive idle times, high fluctuation rates, poor customer service and opportunity costs being incurred. By using a software solution[buzzword] for demand-oriented workforce management, planners can optimize staffing by creating schedules that at all times conform to the forecasted requirements.[26] At the same time, a workforce management solution[buzzword] helps users to observe all relevant legislations, local agreements and the contracts of individual employees – including work-life balance guidelines.[27]
A key aspect of workforce management is scheduling. This is achieved by establishing likely demand by analyzing historical data (such as the number and duration of customer contacts, sales figures, check-out transactions or orders to be handled). Many workforce management systems also offer manual adjustment capabilities. The calculated forecast values are then converted into actual staffing requirements by means of an algorithm that is adjusted to the particular use case. The algorithm itself is based on the work of Erlang though most modern adaptations of workforce management have shifted towards a richer state management, and optimizations to the original idea.
Current and future staffing requirements, short-term peak loads, availabilities, holidays, budget allowances, skills, labour law-related restrictions, as well as wage and contractual terms have to be integrated into the planning process to guarantee optimal staff deployment. In the workforce management process, the integration of employees is an important factor. In several workforce management systems, employees can log in their availability or planned absences and they can bid for specific shifts so long as they have the necessary skills for the activities planned for these shifts.[28]
The three methods of delivery for contact center technologies are on-premises solution[buzzword], hosted or cloud-based computing.[29]
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