Businesses with workforce management technology can improve payroll accuracy and free up staff from administrative tasks so they can focus on business outcomes, according to WFS Australia.
On the other hand, Australian businesses that fail to manage their workforce appropriately pay for the resulting inefficiencies with underperforming bottom lines and decreased employee efficiency, says WFS.
James Kissell, WFS Australia director of marketing, says, “Manual workforce management can leave businesses open to data inaccuracies and provide little control over regulatory compliance.
“This can result in overpayments and compliance penalties which can significantly impact the bottom line.
“Manual processes can also lack clarity and accountability for employees. This can reduce employee productivity and satisfaction,” he says.
According to WFS Australia, there are five ways workforce management technology can reduce costs and increase employee productivity:
1. Accurately calculate employee pay cheques
Workforce management technology can perform complex pay rules and calculate employee pay cheques accurately.
Kissell says, “Complex pay rules are difficult to manually calculate and can increase the risk of payroll errors and employee complaints. Automating the process mitigates the risk, and ensures the business doesn't overpay workers and complies with the employee awards system.
2. Reduce administration
Administration can take up a large part of an employee's working day and reduce their business outputs. Automating administrative processes with workforce management technology can reduce the amount of time spent manually entering and reviewing data.
“Letting employees serve themselves can reduce the number of queries received by HR and payroll teams. This lets them focus on their core duties,” says Kissell.
3. Ensure accurate time clocking
Businesses that rely on manual timekeeping often have inflated payroll figures caused by employees estimating their hours worked, or clocking in for absent or late colleagues, according to WFS.
Employees can also be frustrated by colleagues that they perceive as less productive. This inaccurate and fraudulent time recording can be costly to the business, the company says.
“Businesses that employ remote staff are particularly vulnerable to fraudulent clocking where the work is never completed. Automated workforce technology can reduce fraudulent clocking by requiring employee verification methods like PIN entry or a badge swipe," says Kissell.
4. Monitor overtime
Overtime hours are needed in many businesses to meet business requirements such as a spike in customer demand. However, without proper monitoring, expensive overtime hours can be used unnecessarily.
For example, managers often use overtime to cover for work not completed by unproductive or absent staff. Workforce management technology gives managers insight into the reasons that overtime hours are being used and can help reduce unnecessary costs, says WFS.
5. Reduce absenteeism
Unscheduled absences are costly for businesses. HR departments need to spend time on manual administrative tasks to process the employee absence and find replacement staff.
Workforce management technology tracks absence patterns and helps to eliminate abuse of time-off rules. It can also make it easier to find available replacement staff. This minimises disruptions to the business's productivity and bottom line, WFS says.