An Introduction to Workforce Management

If you’re struggling to balance schedules, track overtime, staff your business, or implement a hybrid work policy, you need a better workforce management (WFM) system.

This guide goes over the basics of workforce management and introduces you to the tools and people who can help you improve the WFM aspect of your business.

What is workforce management?

Workforce management is a strategic process that helps business owners better allocate resources, manage staffing levels, leverage different types of talent, and remain compliant with labor laws.

Effective workforce management processes require adjusting the way you approach things like staffing and incident reporting. Some companies like to hire a WFM specialist or purchase purpose-built workforce management software.

Whether you decide to tackle the WFM process on your own or with the help of specialists and tools, though, you need to make sure that you focus on four key areas related to WFM: scheduling, attendance, performance, and compliance.

1. Scheduling and attendance tracking

A WFM tool can help you better plan employee schedules to avoid overstaffing or understaffing your operations. Long used in manufacturing operations, this approach is relevant in retail, office, and remote or hybrid work environments, too. If you need a certain level of staff coverage to handle daily operations, meet project deadlines, or hit KPIs, ignoring WFM can cost you valuable time and money.

A good WFM tool will help you:

• Plan schedules based on staff availability and projected workload or demand
• Manage, track, and approve team members’ vacation requests, personal days, or sick time
• Identify periods of time that should be labeled as “blackout days,” or periods when time-off requests cannot be submitted or processed
• Track how many work hours team members have logged in a given pay period
• Make sure you have the appropriate people and resources in place to tackle a specific project

Some WFM software tools even offer auto-scheduling solutions that will build schedules for you based on things like expected foot traffic or demand, time-off requests, roles, and more.

2. Performance management

Managing schedules and time off is only one part of the WFM process. A good WFM strategy can also help you track and improve team performance, whether you’re working with full-time staff, contractors, or a mix of talent.

The performance management part of WFM may involve:

• Tracking deadlines and achievements
• Managing annual team evaluations
• Setting goals for individuals and teams
• Assessing employee satisfaction
• Recognizing and rewarding high performers

3. Regulatory compliance tracking

Because WFM involves a lot of tracking and data, the process can help you remain compliant with local labor laws, union agreements, and safety regulations. While your specific compliance requirements will vary based on where you operate and how your business is structured, you may need to do things like:

• Track overtime hours
• Limit the number of hours worked by employees under the age of 18
• Log and submit safety incident reports

A dedicated WFM tool or specialist in your company can make compliance much easier.

Benefits of workforce management

The No. 1 benefit of workforce management is its ability to help you reach business goals—but along the way, you’ll likely experience these three great things, too.

1. Increased productivity and savings

The workforce planning and compliance aspects of WFM can potentially help you save money by:

• Balancing labor costs with staffing needs
• Meeting target timelines for projects
• Capitalizing on market opportunities in a timely manner
• Improving employee productivity
• Minimizing fines through fewer compliance risks

Plus, when you know exactly how many team members are on the schedule and have a good system for tracking time, you can streamline (and save on) payroll processing.

2. Higher employee satisfaction

A good WFM system that includes mobile apps for employees’ devices can make it easier for your workers to swap shifts, place requests for time off, see hours worked, and track pay periods. By enabling your team to easily see and process key information about their jobs, you can reduce friction and potentially improve employee satisfaction.

The performance management side of a WFM strategy can also help with satisfaction. By working with your team members to set clear goals—then making it easy for everyone to track and evaluate progress —you can be better equipped to discuss pay increases and raises as needed.

Additionally, when employees are happy, they’re less likely to suffer burnout and look for new roles. A reduction in turnover can help you save money on the costs associated with hiring, onboarding, and training a new hire.

3. Easier decision-making

When you have information about hours worked, salaries paid, risks incurred, and other factors at your fingertips, making data-driven decisions is a lot easier. You no longer have to wonder if:

• You need to hire more team members
• You should bring on a freelancer to help a swamped team
• You’ve scheduled enough people to work Saturdays based on likely demand
• You’re going to be short-staffed over the upcoming holiday

Thanks to your WFM solution, you can easily view timesheets, vacation requests, absenteeism levels, shift assignments, and progress toward goals. This data makes your life easier—and helps your employees feel seen, heard, and rewarded for their work.

Workforce management software to consider

If you’re serious about workforce management, you’ll want to invest in a dedicated tool that can either serve as your complete WFM hub or connect siloed systems that you already use.

1. ADP

ADP is a big player in the world of human resources management and time clock software. Businesses of varying sizes can build packages to suit their needs, with features including:

• Payroll management and tax withholding software
• Time and attendance tracking via a shared kiosk or mobile apps
• Insurance management
• Compliance tracking, including employment verification tools
• Talent acquisition software

2. Rippling

Rippling is a good choice if you want your WFM solution to include support for managed devices like company-issued computers and phones. You can use Rippling’s unified platform to do things like:

• Attract new talent
• Manage benefit packages
• Assign and manage corporate credit cards
• Run payroll
• Implement single sign-on (SSO) and identity management across work devices
• Give team members access to specific applications
• Manage cybersecurity training plans

3. When I Work

The When I Work platform is meant for use by businesses that schedule their workers in shifts. The app includes tools that support:

• Schedule creation and distribution
• Time clock management
• Team chats (using the When I Work mobile app)
• Task assignments
• Shift swaps
• Vacation request management

While the When I Work platform isn’t quite as robust as some of the others on our list, it’ll also:

• Notify managers when two employees swap shifts
• Send alerts if someone drops a shift
• Curate metrics to help you understand how many workers you need on a given shift

4. Connecteam

If you have or want to build specific training programs for your shift workers, Connecteam could be a good WFM option for you.

Through Connecteam, you can:

• Auto-record time on the clock
• Create checklists for team members to complete daily (including requiring a signature when complete)
• Message your team members through the Connecteam app
• Create a library of training courses (including on safety compliance topics) and track completion rates
• Auto-schedule team members for shifts based on availability and role
• Track incidents and issue important safety alerts to staff

5. ClickUp

If your work is largely project-based, then you might like using ClickUp as your tool of choice. While many of the app’s features are built around project management, it includes just enough workforce support to help you:

• Chat with teams based on department or project involvement 
• Track workers’ time spent on projects and tasks 
• Create a repository of important company information
• Monitor team members’ workloads to allocate resources appropriately

Contingent workforce management

Many workforce management solutions are made with traditional employer-and-employee teams in mind. But if you rely on a contingent workforce (including freelancers) to bring specific skills to your company, you don’t have to completely rule them out of your WFM plan.

Specific tools and platforms, like Upwork, can integrate with your existing business and workforce management tools to make finding, onboarding, managing, and paying freelancers easy. For example, when you use Upwork, you can:

• Automatically send job descriptions from your applicant tracking system (ATS) to Upwork
• Close requisitions in your ATS when you fill a position through Upwork
• Sync contract dates between Upwork and your human resources information management system (HRIS)
• Create workflows for approving Upwork invoices

Yes, you can do such work manually, but taking advantage of automations and connectors like these can help you reduce human error ... and simply spend less time on administrative tasks.

Get started with the help of a WFM specialist and Upwork Business Plus

Whether you need to start building a WFM strategy from scratch or you want to improve employee performance using systems you’ve already purchased, you’ll find WFM specialists on Upwork who can help. And we can help you find them, too—with an Upwork Business Plus account, you’ll get instant access to the top 1% of talent on Upwork, along with dedicated talent specialists who can prepare shortlists of great talent in just two business days.

There’s no cost to sign up for Business Plus—just create an Upwork account or log in to get started.

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Upwork is not affiliated with and does not sponsor or endorse any of the tools or services discussed in this article. These tools and services are provided only as potential options, and each reader and company should take the time needed to adequately analyze and determine the tools or services that would best fit their specific needs and situation.