Workforce management can spell success or failure for an organization. Let’s look at some of the myths about workforce management that are preventing success for organizations. Often viewed as just scheduling, workforce management is much more than that. Instead, it is a strategic business partner and a vital component of your workforce management strategy. If you want a successful workforce management department, then you need to avoid these six common myths!
Myth #1 – workforce management just create schedules; they don’t do anything else
Workforce management does have the task of creating schedules, and schedules are essential for efficient operations. However, that isn’t all they do. Additionally, creating schedules isn’t a straightforward or simple task. The workforce manager scheduler is responsible for workforce planning, workforce analysis, workforce monitoring, and workforce reporting – along with scheduling.
Myth #2 – workforce management is a stale, old process
Successful workforce management teams continuously evolve. There are constant business/political/societal conditions that influence the needs of an organization. An effective workforce management team enables leaders to adapt to those changes quickly. Workforce management continuously optimizes the workforce in response to the challenges the organization is facing. Therefore, the myth that workforce management is a stale, old process prevents organizations from leveraging them as strategic business partners.
Myth #3 – WFM doesn’t have any input on business performance
Excluding workforce management from conversations around business performance impacts your business’s ability to perform. A properly structured workforce management team optimizes the workforce to achieve the highest results most efficiently. Bringing workforce management into business performance discussion enables you to increase productivity, job satisfaction for both managers and employees, less turnover, etc. As a result, it is a myth to exclude workforce management from conversations about business performance. Instead, they can act as a strategic partner to accelerate your performance improvement goals.
Myth #4 – workforce management isn’t necessary for small teams
Workforce management is necessary for teams of any size. There are many factors for successful workforce management, but team size isn’t one of them. Every team has its own set of goals, objectives, and needs, which come into play when leveraging workforce management. Workforce management is a strategic business partner because it helps align roles, resources, and objectives to meet your organization’s performance and revenue goals.
Myth #5 – business process changes no impact on the WFM team
It is impossible to optimize the workforce without considering the other factors that influence it, such as technology process changes, product or service changes, etc. When business processes change, they have a dramatic impact on the workforce. Many things impact process efficiency but more significantly is how the workforce adopts those changes. When changes to business processes are up for review, leverage your workforce management team for a successful rollout. Following the myth that business processes don’t affect workforce management will cause reduced productivity and high absenteeism and lower your chances of meeting performance and revenue goals.
Myth #6 – workforce management is a culture killer
One of the myths that workforce management teams have encountered is the belief that they kill the culture. For many, workforce management is viewed as the watchdogs for the organization. The myth that workforce management is trying to catch employees and managers doing the wrong thing reduces the effectiveness of your WFM team. Instead, they are critical to meeting business performance and revenue objectives. Workforce management has a birds-eye view of the organization and a solid understanding of successful areas and where optimization would improve results. Therefore, bust the myth that WFM is looking to catch people doing the wrong thing. Instead, view workforce management as a strategic business partner that plays a critical role in successful tactical execution that delivers the goals and revenue objectives of the organization.
Myths exist for a reason and require operational effort to address and change the perception. Avoid buying into these myths about workforce management. Doing so allows your organization to leverage the power and effectiveness of a workforce management team so your organization can meet its business goals and revenue objectives.
Last updated on September 3rd, 2021 at 08:49 am
