What does it take to succeed in business in the digital ager of the 21st century? If you’ve been in a leadership position in a business for more than a few years, you probably have a good idea how to answer that question. One of the biggest challenges for SMEs (small-to-medium-sized enterprises with 500 and fewer employees) is achieving operational efficiency as the company grows. Operational efficiency is about working smarter, not harder. One advantage any company has in the 21st century is the incredible array of tools available through the web-based SaaS (software as a service) model. These tools are the key to achieving operational efficiency. The area too many SMEs have overlooked is effectively managing their workers. There is no better time than now to take full advantage of workforce management made easy.

Embrace the SaaS Revolution for Workforce Management Made Easy

It wasn’t until the Internet and world wide web hit the scene that the SaaS model could be brought into existence, first with NetSuite back in 1998 and then Salesforce.com soon afterwards. Leveraging cloud computing into business management solutions available with an Internet connection and web browser has quickly become the best way for businesses of all sizes to achieve the operational efficiency they need to take their companies to the next level. The key areas where many SMEs still need to implement good solutions revolve around five critical aspects of workforce management.

Leave Tracking for Workforce Management Made Easy

What’s the impact of absenteeism on your business? If you don’t have instant visibility into the big picture of employee leave time for whatever reason, then you’re missing out on the opportunity to more effectively manage your workforce for peak performance. If your company is still relying on a mix of paper forms and spreadsheets to manage employee leave time, it would take hours of work to put together the kind of data that would give you actionable insights into where workforce management improvements should be made. With the right web-based SaaS system, getting that quick snapshot of your company’s status relative to leave time can happen with just a few clicks on your preferred device, 24/7/365.

With your current leave management system, how easy would it be for you to separate out data on the impacts of sick time versus vacation time on your business? That level of granularity would be a huge headache If it involves rifling through paper files and collating data from multiple spreadsheets. Once again, however, it’s only a few clicks away when you’ve got the right leave management system available through any web browser on any device.

How do your employees put in their requests for leave, whether it’s vacation or needed medical or family leave? If your company is still using paper forms, this is another area in which a good leave management solution can greatly streamline your operations. Requests can be made online through employee access to the system, saving major amounts of time and making the coordination and approval/denial of requests much easier.

Employee Scheduling for Workforce Management Made Easy

How does your company handle employee scheduling? It’s not uncommon for smaller companies to still be wrestling with paper calendars and handwritten notes scrawled all over them. Larger companies might have transitioned to spreadsheets, which are still a hassle to use in meeting your scheduling needs. When both schedulers and employees have access to the system, streamlined communications flow increases efficiency. It makes easy employee shift swapping possible, can resolves many conflicts automatically, and gives you the full picture of scheduling at your fingertips whenever you need it.

Companies that have adopted a good web-based employee scheduling system can accomplish in mere minutes what might still be taking your company hours to accomplish each week. Time savings of 50-80% are common. Freeing up that kind of time leads to all kinds of opportunities to then focus attention on all the other aspects of workforce management your company hasn’t had the time to address.

Time Clock Functionality for Workforce Management Made Easy

If your company requires detailed punch-in and punch-out time-clock functionality, then it is time to discover how easy this can be when you have the right web-based system available to your workers and managers. When time clock management is done manually, you simply do not have the instant visibility of who’s in or not in, who arrived on-time or late, and so on, not to mention easy timecard archiving and reporting. Managing the arrival, departure and total hours worked can be largely automated, giving you an instant, real-time snapshot of the status of your workforce.

The best web-based time clock systems include an array of time-saving features. Employees can punch in from their device of choice. You can set up notifications so managers receive alerts when workers punch in late or punch out early. You can also set up grace periods, rounding settings (such as to the nearest five-minutes), auto-deduction of allowable meal time, and manager capability to record punch-ins on occasions when employees forget to do so. Restrictions can be set up to make sure employees can only punch in from approved IP addresses to ensure they aren’t punching in from locations other than the workplace.

Training and Learning for Workforce Management Made Easy

One area where many businesses fall short as they grow is efficiently managing the training programs needed to keep your employees up-to-date, whether for compliance purposes or job-specific skills and knowledge. If your company isn’t using an LMS (learning management system) to distribute, monitor and track employee training and learning, you’re missing out on one of the most important areas where automation and eLearning can boost workforce readiness and engagement.

The right web-based training and learning system can allow you to easily make all the right learning resources, courses and modules available to your employees so they can access them anytime from any device with an Internet connection and web browser. This lets your employees engage learning and training content when and how it suits them best. With this flexibility, your employees will be more likely to complete required trainings, and you’ll know who has completed what and how well they did with just a few clicks. The best training systems will include a robust library of ready-to-go courses on a variety of business topics to meet many of your company’s learning and training needs.

HR Documentation for Workforce Management Made Easy

The digital age and its software tools have profoundly transformed the business management landscape for SMEs. But why do so many companies still have paper-based systems when it comes to human resources documentation? In fact, this is one area in which many SMEs continue to resist modernization. There’s something comforting about having sensitive HR documents on real paper, neatly filed in old-fashioned metal filing cabinets or boxed up and archived in storage areas. Unfortunately, this is also the most inefficient way to manage your HR documentation. With the right web-based HR document handling system, all documents can be digitized and maintained securely in the cloud. This also means all the information contained in them is easily searchable online to quickly find what you need, when you need it, 24/7/365 from any device with an Internet connection and web browser. The paperless office is achievable right now – all you have to do is embrace it!

When you realize that powerful, easy-to-use solutions are available for workforce management made easy, can your company really afford to keep using outdated, inefficient methods in any of these areas? Finding the right web-based SaaS solutions may just be the most important step your company takes this year on the journey towards growth and greater business success. All five critical areas of workforce management outlined above are included in the CaptureWork solution. If it’s time for your company to fully enter the digital age of the 21st century, CaptureWork is ready to help you make it happen!