3 ways workforce management helps optimise project resources

Leslie Tarnacki
July 15, 2015

Project-based businesses must maintain consistency and reliability for success. Doing so without access to specific metrics and effective monitoring tools is almost impossible.

Workforce management technology can provide the detailed measurement tools organisations need to succeed in project execution. Moreover, automation can help companies overcome the inefficiencies of manual processes and better meet customer expectations regarding agile approaches.

By using workforce management technology, project-based organisations have access to three key tools that are common to agile project-based success stories:

1. Detailed metrics

Managers need detailed reports such as cash flow projections, total backlog and workforce timesheets to understand progress, and be alerted to the issues that could derail a project.

Workforce management technology can provide daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly and yearly reports with detailed metrics. This helps businesses accurately monitor all aspects of a project and identify areas for improvement.

Good workforce management solutions should readily provide key performance indicators, giving managers graphical views of critical metrics and trends, while alerting them to upcoming changes.

2. Resource utilisation

Organisations often have employees working overtime. Workforce management technology can ensure employees take the correct amount of leave and can mitigates the risk of fatigued staff. This can not only bolster project efficiency but also protect workers from the danger presented by a fatigued employees.

Importantly, optimal resource utilisation can match individual skills and personalities with tasks. Certain staff members are better at certain tasks, either by nature or by experience. Using this information to ensure the right mix of people work on the most appropriate projects or shifts can help improve company performance.

Workforce management technology can also be used to manage human resources across multiple projects. This means that that organisations can easily allocate the best employee with the most appropriate skill-set to the project most in need of it at any given time.

3. Accurate billing

Companies must accurately record and invoice billable time. Access to accurate, real-time, data is key to an organisation’s ability to see billings at any given moment.

Workforce management technology can provide this information and can also track employee time and attendance so that organisations can charge their customers the correct amount.

These are just three of the valuable tools in the workforce management solution toolkit, which also includes automated rostering, award interpretation and leave management. These solutions can support the project-based business and its successes in an increasingly agile-focused market.

As organisations look for every possible advantage to compete in a crowded marketplace, workforce management software can give them the edge they need. It can help them deliver better services and accurately charge for them, while also lowering costs.

Author avatar
Leslie Tarnacki
Leslie Tarnacki is the Vice President of HR, and general manager of WFS: A WorkForce Software Company. She is responsible for all global HR functions, including talent acquisition and onboarding, employee relations, organisational development, compensation and succession planning. She also partners with the leadership team on employee engagement strategies and sustaining a high performance culture.
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