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How often your business affords employees the opportunity to work from home (WFH) each week is a very personal decision hinging on your needs, your flexibility, your competitiveness in the job market, and other factors.
That’s where the right WFM (workforce management) software system comes into play. Today, cutting-edge companies and workforce management leaders are increasingly accelerating their ability to let employees work from home by putting the power of WFM into their “WFH” policies on the organization’s terms, not the worker’s terms.
But there’s an employee payoff as well. With a conducive, effective WFM system in place, workers are benefiting immensely within their remote relationship as defined by their employer and human resources departments — and they’re enjoying the hi-tech advantages too.
What Role Does WFM Software Play for Remote Workers and Employers?
As the workplace becomes more remote, corporate America and human resources has changed how it operates.The number of people working remotely has increased 44 percent over the last five years according to recent data and research published by Flexjobs. It’s clear that remote work in some fashion for most professional service companies is here to stay.
In fact, the anticipated share of days working at home could triple coming out of the pandemic, rising from 5.5 percent to 16.6 percent of all working days — or even more. Employers anticipate 10 percent of their full-time workforce will be working from home five days a week compared to 10 percent of full-time employees doing so only one day a week in 2019.
“And if 36.2 million Americans are working remotely by 2025, that represents 22 percent of the overall workforce—a staggering 87 percent increase from the number of remote workers prior to the pandemic,”the Flex jobs study states.
One reason work-from-home is not going away and employers must adapt is: remote workers feel more productive. According to Flex jobs’ survey research, remote employees experience:
- Fewer interruptions (68 percent).
- A quieter work environment (68 percent).
- More comfortable workplace (66 percent).
- More focused time (63 percent).
- Avoidance of office politics (55 percent).
Although many companies today have embraced remote work arrangements since the COVID-19 pandemic began, human resource departments and efforts are now faced with managing a much larger distributed workforce of remote employees. Some of these employees may be dispersed across the entire country.Globally, the trend toward remote work has changed HR departments’ perspectives — at micro, small, medium, and large businesses all around.
Nonetheless, it’s still the responsibility of companies to provide their employees with the same resources,whether they work in the office or from home. WFM software matches employer desires with workers’ desires to WFH.
Even Remotely, HR is One of the Most Important Functions
In any company, the human resource department (or even the sheer effort at smaller businesses) is responsible for managing the employee’s lifecycle. Besides recruiting, hiring, on boarding, training, and firing employees, you are responsible for employee benefits too.Human resources traditionally plays the following roles:
- Coordinate hiring efforts.Conducting interviews and on boarding new employees remains more important in today’s tight labor market than ever before.
- The maintenance of employee records.This includes maintaining personal information, as well as emergency contact information for each employee. Employee evaluations and other company-specific data are also managed by human resources.
- Payroll distribution.Calculating employee wages and taxes and handling bonuses and other benefits is an important function.
- Evaluation of employee performance. Providing suggestions for improvement — and if needed, disciplinary action.
- Company policy maintenance and updates or enhancements. A policy is typically updated in response to an incident (such as guidelines for in-office social distancing following COVID-19 or something else).
As the workplace transitions to half in-office and half at-home, the role of human resources has been significantly impacted. Human resource managers and software management systems are expected to support a virtual workplace in a number of ways.
WFM Software Keeps Employees Engaged
Remote work is making employee engagement a challenge for HR professionals. Gallup notes that engagement in the workplace often leads to higher performance, which ultimately results in more thriving and a purpose-driven culture among employees.
As the work culture shifts away from office-centric work, many employees may feel disengaged from their jobs and the company as a whole. To ensure virtual employee engagement and support, HR departments have had to step up — through WFM software systems.Efficient, cohesive administrative tools within the HR function are a must for employees.
By implementing engagement tactics and perks through convenient and fast technology, a workforce management software ensures employees are engaged and on the same page with company goals —without getting in the way of their daily projects. WFM software keeps workers engaged.
WFM Software Keeps Workers in Touch
Many workers have not yet fully adapted to working from home, so HR must continually communicate clearly with them.The communication between offices was likely free-flowing and open whenever in-person meetings took place pre-2020.
Today, human resource managers and business owners have to get creative to maintain this culture in a remote workplace. You can facilitate conversations or give employees the tools necessary to transfer this culture and style into a virtual environment.
HR must offer company updates and so much more in a fully electronic workplace. Employees’ behavior regarding remote work should be monitored as well.Keeping remote employees both satisfied AND productive is human resource’s top priority. WFM software keeps workers in touch.
WFM Software Provides Technological Advancements
The human resource department has had to lead with compassion and put employees’ needs first in response to COVID-19 and other issues. Employees may need all the necessary equipment and tools to work from home efficiently.
A seamless digital employee experience that can be accessed by workers anywhere might be the “new norm” for HR managers.New employee on boarding, training, and team management must also be considered by this new system. Even new equipment can be purchased for each employee (and old equipment monitored) through this system.
Policies for dealing with employees who incur additional expenses due to working remotely, such as telephone and internet charges, can also be effectively communicated. WFM software improves these remote workflows via technological advancements.
WFM Software Enhances Performance at Work
A remote workforce’s job performance must also be measured virtually by HR departments.Remote work is less visible to managers and HR, and employees’ activities are less noticeable. Consequently,employees’ daily successes or failures may be overlooked.
It’s 2022 — not 2019. Developing new systems of employee performance evaluations and recognition are necessary because of remote workplaces. VCS Software is the industry leader in WFM (workforce management) software systems and can take your small business, corporation, or organization to the next level in employee engagement, efficiency, and workforce administration.