Businesses have experienced a lot of change since the start of the pandemic. Jobs have moved online, employees are working from home, and the processes for a company’s workforce optimization had to be adjusted. Thankfully, workforce optimization (WFO) implemented for in-person jobs still applies to online jobs, because when you boil it down, WFO is about one thing: improving the efficiency of your employees. This post will go into detail about what workforce optimization is and some ways that it can be implemented.

Workforce optimization is a business practice that aims to improve a business’s efficiency, productivity, and performance of the employees. Stemming from human resource and IT centers, WFO manages employee performance to help optimize business operations and customer experience.

In the last decade, large companies have been looking inward, using various forms of automation on large amounts of their data and analytics to make informed decisions. This inward-looking approach streamlined automation and was heavily used by call centers in the telecommunications industry, and once other industries saw the success they were having with customers, they quickly joined in.

Major industries like manufacturing, supply chain, and retail look at all of their metrics and constantly wonder what more they can do with WFO. Businesses in these industries across the world are always finding smarter ways to monitor employee performance, leading the higher-ups of the business to optimize their work processes. This results in work processes running smoother while employees are able to do more than before.

There are numerous reasons why WFO is beneficial for a business. For starters, WFO can empower the human resource department by having the potential to inform them and the management team if a certain employee or team is performing at a high level. It also has the potential to show performance deficits and make predictions. Since management teams can check these trends, they can retain the employees that make a positive impact and help improve the performance of other workers.

But what are some WFO techniques?

Scheduling: All businesses need to schedule their employees efficiently. There is numerous scheduling software available that make sure shifts don’t overlap, allow employees to log in to request time off, and save management time from having to make a weekly schedule.

Attendance and time management: Time is valuable and it’s important to know what’s going on. There are several kinds of software available that can track an employee’s time down to the second. Software like this can help a business find out if employees are coming in early or late, prevent false clock-ins or clock-outs, and allow management teams to make sure they have enough staffing for busy work days. This kind of software can also show management how employees are spending their time, offering many tools that can track progress and provide insight into each employee’s productivity.

Improve communication: Communication between management and employees happens all the time. The management team could be putting a new policy in place, offering up new positions or overtime, and more. You can add value to the employee-manager relationship by improving communication about company goals, extra work opportunities, how a worker understands a team, the progress of a project, etc.

These are only a few techniques that can be beneficial to a business. By implementing WFO techniques correctly and staying up to date on new WFO strategies, you can be sure that you will be getting the most out of your business.