This document discusses workforce management (WFM) and the benefits of automating manual timekeeping processes. It defines WFM as encompassing all activities needed to manage a workforce, including planning, forecasting, scheduling, and tracking workers. The document provides examples of manual timekeeping processes and their limitations. It argues that automating can provide cost savings through reduced errors, increased productivity, and improved decision making. The document also discusses current and future trends in WFM, who should consider automating, and how to select a vendor and define a business case. It provides a hypothetical example of a business case that estimates over $600,000 in annual hard cost savings from automating.
1. What is Workforce
Management and Who
Needs to Automate?
Paolo Gilfillan, Director of Sales & Marketing
Synerion (formerly TimeTECH)
August 26th, 2011
2. Agenda
1. What is Workforce Management (WFM)?
2. Examples of Manual Time Keeping
3. Why are Organizations Automating?
4. Current & Future Trends in Workforce Management
5. Who Needs to Automate?
6. How to Select a Vendor
7. Business Case Example
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3. What is Workforce
Management?
“Workforce Management (WFM) encompasses all
the activities, processes, and tools needed to
manage a workforce. A comprehensive WFM
system includes
planning, forecasting, scheduling, and tracking
workers to optimize the balance of
customer, employee, labour laws and
organizational needs.”
– Institute of Human Resources
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5. Examples of Manual
Timekeeping
• Paper timecards
• Pen and paper sign-in books
• Spreadsheet tracking
• Manual data entry to payroll
• Punch clocks
Images:
http://www.vertex42.com/ExcelTemplates/excel-timesheet.html
http://www.chacocanyon.com/pointlookout/070613.shtml
6. Concerns about Manual
Processes
• Incorrect payment
• Error prone process
• Buddy punching or theft of time
• Labour intensive process to manage
• Difficult to report on workforce
• Time consuming for management to
audit employees
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7. Benefits of Automation
• Cost savings: 2-5% of payroll costs
• Reduce “buddy punching”:
• Employees punching in and out for each other in the event of
absence, late arrival or early departure
• Improve efficiency and productivity
• Reduce administrative errors and time
• Opportunity to standardize
• Reduce overtime
• Centralization
• Accurate data available to make decisions
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8. Where’s the Return on
Investment
Hard Cost Savings
Soft Cost Savings
Additional
Considerations
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9. Where’s the Return on
Investment
• Hard cost savings
• Reduction in payment errors
• Avoid overpayment
• Minimize litigation
• Comply with labour laws
• Comply with union/employee agreements
• Reduce workload or restructure labour
• Reduce theft of time (with biometrics)
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10. Where’s the Return on
Investment
• Soft cost savings
• Reduce auditing time
• Save manager’s time
• Increase employee
productivity
• Improve employee retention
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11. Where’s the Return on
Investment
• Additional Considerations
• Understand your workforce
• Make business decisions with accurate data
• Improve customer experiences
• Optimize the workforce
• Absence Management
• Point System
• Identify poor performers
• Reward good performers
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12. Today’s Challenges
• Change in labour availability and labour demand
• Labour costs remain one of the largest organizational
expenses
• Compliance complexity
• Industry-specific requirements for employee
scheduling
• Absence management plays a critical role in controlling
and managing labour workload
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13. Current & Future Trends
• Improved employee and manager self service
capabilities
• Strategic workforce planning
• Broader usage across the organization
• Biometrics as a standard
• Continued growth of comprehensive
workforce management solutions
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14. Current & Future Trends
• Mobile technology supporting the mobile workforce
• Smart & optimized scheduling
• More integrated solutions
• Analytics and business intelligence
• Key Performance Indicators
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15. Who Needs to Automate?
• Any organization that needs to manage their workforce
• Understand your opportunity for savings
• Hourly and/or salaried environments
• Not necessarily industry specific
• Managing labour laws and/or union or
employee agreements
• Looking for accurate data
• Seasonal workforce, part-time, hourly, 24/7
• Additional levels of complexity:
• Multiple sites, provinces, countries
• Key scheduling requirements
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16. Should you Automate and with what
Vendor?
Define the Problem
Evaluate Vendors
Make a Decision
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17. Define the Problem
• Understand & define your business problem
• Why does your business need to automate?
• Understand the business case
• Why will the business do this?
• What are the estimated savings?
• Create an estimated
preliminary budget
• Identify functional and
business requirements
• Begin to research vendors
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18. Vendor Evaluation
• Discovery
• Requirements response
• Understand their standard implementation
methodology
• Local expertise
• Overall WFM experience
• Solutions presentation
• Evaluate if technology meets the requirements
• Evaluate service offering
• Insist on a detailed Statement of Work
• Understand the educational tools and strategy
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19. Making a Decision
• Can they accommodate the functional requirements?
• Do they have the right implementation approach
scoped?
• Is the vendor supporting the business case?
• Can this vendor support your business in the long
term?
• Will this be a partnership?
• Make a decision
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20. Example Business Case
• Current state of ABC Company
• 3,000 employees located in 4 Canadian provinces
• 2,000 hourly and 1,000 salaried workers
• Roughly 24 sites
• Manual time keeping across the enterprise
• 4 payroll operators and 1 payroll manager
• Roughly 100 managers/supervisors
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21. Key Benefit Areas
• Improved productivity
• Reduction in payroll errors
• Reduced payroll inflation
• Lower overtime costs
• Elimination of paper & courier costs
• Reduction and/or reassigning of resources
22. The Process Highlights
• Analyzed the time collection and payroll processes
• Collected manual cheque data
• Analyzed the timesheet data
• Assessed error rates at supervisor/manager level
• Understood time to audit
• Defined workload for administrative resources
• Collected data on paper and courier cost
• Assessed annual overtime costs
• Assumed theft of time
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23. Highlights of the Results
Area of Opportunity Type of Saving Estimated Savings
Payroll Error Hard $474,000
Improved Hard $150,000
Administrative
Productivity
Reduction in paper Hard $4,500
and courier costs
Improved Manager Soft 5.5 hours per week per manager or
Productivity 28,600 total hours per year
Total Hard Savings Hard $628,500 annually
• Additional considerations
• Reduction in buddy punching
• Reduction in overtime
• Soft Savings not included
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24. Visit our website for more information on
Comprehensive Workforce Management
Solutions
Thank You!
Paolo Gilfillan, Director of Sales & Marketing
Synerion (formerly TimeTECH)
pgilfillan@synerionwfm.com
www.synerionwfm.com