This final post in my series on talent risk focuses on one of the most important issues to HCM overall: Connection. Brandon Hall Group’s list of the top five global talent risks, based on data from over 1200 global organizations, defines connection risk as “risks around engagement and performance, and how well your organization can share talent.”
When it comes to the role workforce management can play in connection and engagement, it’s all about transparency. For most employees, having visibility into their schedule, pay, and the rules by which attendance and leave are managed, is incredibly important. It’s about their ability to manage their family life and schedules, ensuring there are no surprises on payday, and feeling secure in knowing that the rules are being applied fairly to everyone.
Automated solutions for workforce management can help organizations manage all of these expectations while also meeting other business objectives, such as increased efficiency, reduced costs, and better reporting and analytics. The right workforce management solution can be a win all-around, helping the organization meet its goals, helping individuals manage their work life, and delivering the right employees to the right place at the right time to satisfy customer demand.
Workforce management solutions can also help organizations share talent. Sometimes individuals work on multiple projects or in multiple roles within the organization. This can be an impediment if the tools to track and manage the behind-the-scenes processes are not automated. It is essential that organizations understand the project someone’s time needs to be charged to, the pay rate they should be given for various shifts, and that managers have visibility into their schedules and other departments’ schedules so that they don’t inadvertently get into overtime situations. An efficient and effective workforce management solution that provides visibility for managers supports and mitigates the connection risk. It enables workers and managers to focus on the work at hand and not the logistics of tracking and reporting on time.
One additional area that can impact connection is absence management. When someone is on leave or takes an extended absence, it’s typically because something has gone wrong. They or a family member may be ill, or going through something that requires additional time and attention outside of work. With a strong absence management strategy and robust tools to support it, individuals have a clear picture of precisely what leave is available to them, and how it is being managed. And managers have enough information to make decisions about backfilling for that individual without the risk of them having information they shouldn’t have due to privacy regulations. When absences are managed properly, not only does the organization remain compliant, it can create an experience that lets a manager and a high-performer navigate a difficult time and come out with their relationship intact.
The five Cs provide a powerful framework that allows an organization to think about how human capital impacts the business. And workforce management practices and solutions play a critical role in managing all five of these risks. In the next couple of weeks I’ll be publishing more research from our recent Workforce Management survey, to help your organization put in place the strategies and tools that allow you to manage the risky business of HCM, and accelerate your organizational performance.
–Mollie Lombardi, VP and Principal Analyst,
Workforce Management, Brandon Hall Group
@mollielombardi
