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The rise of remote work and teams collaborating virtually makes tracking productivity tricky for those not leveraging a smart workforce management solution. For managers to track and monitor their teams’ productivity, they need tools that are interactive and innovative.
With an employee productivity tracking tool, managers can assess their team’s quality of work and improve task completion times without micromanaging.
Productivity Tracking Using Smart Workforce Management Software
Smart workforce management software gives you real-time info on employee efficiency and how long it takes them to complete tasks. To measure employee productivity, the data analyzes employee behavior and records task-based timelines. Besides helping employees manage their workload, it lets managers track direct reports’ use of software applications and measures employee performance — all with the goal of improving performance.
This software helps team managers and business owners optimize and refine the way they engage their employees, as well as streamline tasks in a way that saves time and money.
Benefits of Tracking with Smart Workforce Management
Both employees and managers (and business owners) can benefit from a smart workforce management solution that offers productivity tracking:
- It makes you more productive. Managers and employees can track day-to-day work, spot blockers, and create strategies to improve productivity and efficiency. With features like task and project dashboards, employees can see how their days are going.
- It prioritizes tasks much easier. The right time tracking tool can help managers allocate tasks based on priority, milestones, and schedules. As a result, employees can prioritize tasks and manage their calendars better to stay on top of deadlines.
- It keeps track of the workers behind jobs in real-time. Keeping track of employee productivity is essential in large organizations with long project timelines. Every task is segmented by department, but cross-team accountability is ensured when you benefit from smart workforce management. Anybody working on the project can see the updates, so remote workers can collaborate easily.
- It allows for transparency. Employees and project participants can see every task assigned to them and prioritize it. Employee accountability is improved by overcoming roadblocks. The tools also provide transparency for managers, since they can check their dashboards to see what work has been done. They can then visualize what has or hasn’t been accomplished.
- It clearly defines what you want. It’s hard to be productive when you don’t know what you’re trying to accomplish. Tracking tasks helps employees keep track of their immediate priorities and long-term goals. By doing this, you set the tone for the most important projects and goals.
Smart Workforce Management for Measuring Employee Performance
The success of your business or organization depends on your employees. You want to be sure to recognize the good work of some and help improve the work of others.
But how do you know who’s doing well versus who needs help? All businesses need to evaluate and measure their employees’ performance. With smart workforce management software, you’ll know which employees aren’t working hard enough and which ones are not pulling their weight.
Additionally, it helps you reward and recognize high achievers so they stay in your company and grow into future leaders. You can use this data to set a benchmark for performance and find out how you can improve your employees’ performance.
Now it’s time to discuss the next important phase: measurements. It’s not hard to measure your employees’ performance. A robust smart workforce management software system and the ability to read data sets are essential tools for managers to track and evaluate performance. Below, you’ll find simple strategies to help you.
Goals and Productivity Measured by OKRs
You can keep your employees motivated by setting measurable objectives and key results (OKRs). Employees attack goals more effectively by breaking them down into small, measurable steps that lead to a desired result.
Let’s say an employee wants to earn a new training certificate by the end of the month. That goal isn’t cut-and-dry, but it can be broken down into minor goals such as studying at least one hour a day and getting tutoring help. There’s no room for confusion with these specific tasks, especially when you use a smart workforce management system to conveniently keep track of everything and prompt you (and your employees) for the next step in the process.
When you finish these smaller tasks, you’re more likely to reach the overall goal. Also, you’ve got a measurable way to track progress or see where deviations led to achieving the goal versus not achieving it. Having OKRs helps your employees stay focused, accountable, and grow as individuals (personally and professionally).
Train, Train, Train — and Keep Track of Training
It’s important that your employees grow and develop, which means training them is key. Organizations can use online learning courses to upskill their workers, which is crucial as more and more switch to online tools and digital processes.
You can analyze your employees’ progress as they learn and develop when you track their training through a smart workforce management dashboard. In addition, it helps you create a learning and development culture that will ultimately boost your business.
Efficiently Organize Large Projects Versus Small Tasks
It’s no secret the last few years have brought a lot of change to the workplace. The COVID-19 pandemic put more strain on managing employee relationships with the so-called “Great Resignation,” new working conditions, and work-life balance being blurred through remote work. Many businesses are learning how to measure performance in a hybrid workplace as restrictions fluctuate.
This can be done by implementing project or task management tools. Managers and team members can stay on top of deadlines and workflow with a variety of digital tools. Over the last couple of years, burnout has been at an all-time high, so this is a great way to monitor performance.
Hard Measurement of Employee Performance
Performance can be measured in a lot of different ways through a smart workforce management system. Despite everyone’s differences, the common goal should be the same. For performance measurement, you need a fair and level playing field, and you should implement a convenient solution that both you and they understand and agree on. Without either side being engaged and motivated, the project is doomed to fail.
Although these are some of the more common methods, you could use intuitive insights and data to create your own employee performance measurements. It’s important to listen to employee feedback so you can build a system that works best for your company, small business, or organization. Depending on who they work with on a daily basis, you can get a sense of their performance and efforts.
Employees can also do self-evaluations. Multiple-choice answers are usually required in a survey. Compare their survey results with yours and highlight any similarities or differences. You can use this as a starting point for a discussion and figure out what to do next.
Analyze the Skills Gap and Act on the Results
Sometimes it’s hard for managers to understand your team’s skill set and expertise. Digital tools and processes are often used by teams to accomplish multiple tasks.
Use a smart workforce management solution to conduct a skills gap analysis to see where your employees’ skillsets are in different areas. Managers and human resources teams can use skills gap analyses to discover what each employee knows about their core responsibilities.
An online survey or exam can also be used to measure skills gaps. Employee development plans will help you figure out what skills an employee needs so they can do their job, how much expertise they have in certain areas, what gaps your team members need training and development for, and what support and training they need.
Utilize the Power of ‘Sprints’
Some organizations use “sprints” to help employees work more effectively together through a mutual understanding of time pressure. Employees can make adjustments and improvements by reflecting on their work processes — all through smart workforce management.
Sprints require employees to complete work within a set amount of time (4 – 7 days is common). Since employees are working against the clock, they’re more motivated and have the chance to rise to the challenge instead of suffering from time or deadline paralysis. It’s up to the employees to divide and conquer their weeks based on what they need to accomplish.
They’ll look back at what they’ve accomplished, analyze what worked and didn’t, and develop better ways to work going forward.
VCS Software
VCS Software is your all-in-one solutions platform for smart workforce management whether your business, company, or public agency or department is large, medium, or small. VCS solutions fit your needs. Organizations can start with core products and pile on add-on modules for additional capabilities as needed. VCS understands that no two workforces are alike. Contact us to start building a tailored solution that best suits your company, small business, or public organization.