From Punch Cards to the Cloud: The Evolution of Workforce Management Software

Workforce management in the technological age is more than just grabbing onto the latest trends to see what sticks for your company. The digital age demands adaptability and innovation, certainly, but not at the expense of the “force” in your workforce: your employees. Tools that offer solutions for everyone from the CEO to the custodial staff will make the most difference in timekeeping, scheduling, and payroll management. Let’s dive into the evolution of these valuable tools.

Early Timekeeping

We can thank a jeweler in upstate New York for introducing the first time clock. In 1888, William LeGrand Bundy invented a system for workers to clock in and out by using an assigned key. They would insert the key into the clock, it would stamp the time and they key code on a roll of paper, recording their work hours. 

The next iteration of the time clock, invented by William Cooper, had the workers insert a card into a slot and the machine would record the time. After a certain number of days, the cards were collected and each worker’s wages calculated. For decades, the common timekeeping visual was a large wall full of cards in slots, each assigned to a worker.

The clocks themselves shrunk significantly over the years, though they still relied on the paper card system until the invention of digital timekeeping. Instead of paper, employees could access a database to find their name, were assigned cards with magnetic strips to swipe in and out, or badges with RFID tags to tap the time clock and record their punches.

Early timekeeping strategies may have been analog, but they paved the way for the advanced options the modern world presents.

Demands of Workforce Management

The simplicity of early workforce solutions meant that nearly every staffing and scheduling decision was made by humans with their inherent limitations. People struggle to make decisions without being influenced by their biases, and are prone to mistakes when overworked, under pressure, or coping with life’s regular challenges. 

And yet fairness and consistency rank among the top desired outcomes in managing a staff, whether you’re running a small business or a large organization. While history’s workforce management techniques may not be fully adequate for the demands of today’s business, they still sought to overcome similar challenges:

Onboarding and Training

Adequate onboarding and training is an investment in the future of a new employee. It requires more than just a series of introductions around the office and a few days of training. Effective onboarding helps new employees get a feel for company culture without being thrust into work tasks unprepared. It has structure and sets up mentorship relationships that can serve employees well into their first weeks of work. Even when your staffing needs feel desperate, asking new employees to jump in without proper training usually damages overall retention goals. It makes new employees feel anxious rather than confident.

Scheduling

Effective scheduling practices seek a balance among many factors:

• Providing enough hours for each employee
• Assigning employees to predictable shifts, according to preference or employment contracts
• Staffing shifts with an adequate number of employees with appropriate training and competency levels
• Policies and procedures for last-minute call-outs
• Managing overtime budget by avoiding unnecessary overtime caused by poor planning
• Worker burnout caused by overwork, disorganization, and stress

Employee Performance

Depending on your type of business, employee performance metrics may include:

• Work quality, such as number of errors made or quality of customer interactions
• Work productivity, which measures the quality plus quantity, or the work output as compared to the company investment
• Time management, including arriving on schedule, taking mandatory breaks on time and only for the allowed time, and using work time effectively
• Absenteeism, where employees frequently miss work for unauthorized reasons, requiring a last-minute scramble to fill their shifts

Skills Management

The interview process can reveal the skills of your new hire, but the first day of work can put those skills to the test. Good managers assess and record competencies from the beginning, with the goal of matching the right responsibilities with the right workers. It can also reveal where new hires may benefit from further training or certification classes to improve skills that can lead to higher productivity. Careful attention to employee work habits may reveal new skills that can suggest advancements or promotions beyond what you hired someone to do.

Retention

Employee churn can cause huge disruptions in industries like retail and hospitality, where customers expect a certain level of service and complaints can compound quickly. Implementing employee retention strategies are a must in a tight labor market. If you’re losing employees quicker than you expect, find out why: scheduling concerns, lack of advancement opportunities, inadequate training, non-competitive wages, workplace culture?

Workforce Management Software Solutions

Modern software solutions are a key component to managing the changing needs of the workforce. 

• A software hub can deliver onboarding checklists along with video training modules for vital company information
• Mobile devices allow 24-hour access to the real-time schedule, rather than waiting for someone to post a spreadsheet in the break room
• Employees can make time off requests inside the software for consistency and trackability
• Employees can make approved shift swaps among themselves, allowing for autonomy and improved teamwork
• Software allows mobile clocking in and out, no matter the location, with added geofencing capability
• Software can track attendance and tardiness patterns so managers can make more informed decisions about scheduling
• Skills management software allows you to record employee skills, track their improvements, and create action plans for training and advancement
• Productivity reports detail key metrics for both employee and company improvement plans

Workforce management software has only begun to tap the surface of what it can do for your company’s bottom line. Tools for scheduling, timekeeping, tracking, and report generation can give you detailed insights that lead to greater connection with your employees’ needs and company productivity.