ADVICE & OPINION
CLEAR FORECAST
FMJ AIMS TO SUPPORT TECHNICAL EXPERTISE IN THE FM MARKET
Workforce management and human capital management (HCM) technologies
can help FM mobilise and manage people and places during uncertain times says
Peter Harte, VP EMEA Kronos Incorporated
The past few months will have
posed a significant challenge
for facilities management. While
operations in some sectors, such
as cleaning or security services
within healthcare or essential retail
have been ramped up; other areas,
including foodservice, non-essential
retail and o ices will have seen a
substantial decrease in requirements.
For those areas which have required
increased attention, ensuring there are
enough employees to fill demand has
been a challenge, along with ensuring
they have access to the appropriate PPE
in order to do their job. As restrictions
ease, the facilities management industry
now has the challenge of returning
people safely to work. With so much
uncertainty accurate forecasting plays
a huge role - but is also something that
has never been more di icult.
This is where the need for the right
technologies and tools to provide the
most accurate insights come into their
own. The latest workforce management
and human capital management
(HCM) technologies leverage emerging
technologies such as artificial
intelligence (AI) and machine learning
(ML) forecasting algorithms to create
optimal schedules, enabling managers
to accurately forecast demand and align
16 JUNE 2020
labour accordingly. Additionally, insights
are provided into how many employees
are scheduled, where they will be
located and at what times, to ensure
adherence to safety guidelines from
governmental and health o icials.
FLEXIBLE SCHEDULING
Employee wellbeing remains a top
priority for organisations as they look at
re-entry and reopening plans. Physical
and mental fatigue and burnout
are prevalent, as many essential
organisations quickly realised as a
direct result of COVID-19 demands.
The challenges being faced vary and
are deeply personal and situational,
including caring for extended family
members, facilitating childcare, or
emerging from total isolation. Emotions
are high, and schedules are thin, so
there needs to be a more flexible
attitude to scheduling than previously.
With continuing uncertainty over
childcare for example, there is a need to
be flexible and agile when it comes to
scheduling work - so organisations must
invest in the right tools and know-how
to enable them to combat this very real
danger of burnout. Without doing so,
facilities management companies run
the risk of exacerbating the problems
associated with an unengaged, burned
out workforce.
PROTECTING THE BOTTOM LINE
WHILE ENSURING COMPLIANCE
For facilities management, time
tracking technologies have been
a long-term fixture. But following
the European Court of Justice’s
ruling (1) last year around requirements
for time-tracking so ware systems
in order to ensure full compliance
with labour laws, many facilities
managers will have already assessed
their systems. They will have been
looking into how they can bring
an even greater level of detail and
accuracy to the time-tracking process,
helping them to more easily identify
if employees are being overworked or
if their shi s are being scheduled in a
fair manner.
As the old adage says, time is
money, deadlines are strict, and
demand is incredibly hard to
anticipate manually. This is where
the best modern HCM solutions are
proving most beneficial to facilities
management companies looking for
faster, more e icient and far more
profitable digital, cloud-based tools
to track labour cost, performance
and e iciency in real-time. Ultimately,
the insights provided through the
right HCM technology can mean the
di erence between profitability or
loss.
OBTAINING ACCURACY AT A TIME
OF UNCERTAINTY
The latest workforce management
and HCM solutions(2) allow facilities
management to use the most accurate
forecasting algorithms, helping
them to achieve compliance and
operational agility in a number of
ways.
Accurate forecasting ensures that
employee schedules can be created
to meet demand, as well as providing
an insight into the workforce at a time
of so much uncertainty. Workforce
management technology can keep
track of hours worked, ensure adequate
breaks for employees and run safety
checks such as conducting random drug
tests when employees clock in and out.
Workforce management and HCM
tools are also essential technologies
to provide the real-time data needed
to ensure the facilities management
industry as a whole is doing everything
it possibly can to help the UK avoid a
potential ‘second wave’ of COVID-19.
Accurate real-time workforce data
provides insights to help companies
make quick, vital decisions in times of
crisis, helping them to closely control
margins, meet project timelines and,
most importantly of all, ensure an
engaged, safe and happy workforce.
For example, if and when any further
government restrictions are enforced,
facilities management organisations
need to be able to once again dial
up or dial down operations in areas
most or least needed. By having a
workforce management solution in
place, companies can understand who
they need, when and where, as soon as
possible.
With no real end of the current crisis
in sight, using real-time labour data to
manage teams also gives managers the
insight and analytics needed to avoid
understa ing or oversta ing, thereby
helping to control margin.
In summary, the next few months
are not going to be an easy ride for any
sector and the facilities management
industry is no exception. While many
organisations are eager to hit the
ground running as soon as possible, it
is critical that employee wellbeing and
compliance are at the top of business
leaders’ agendas if they are going to
weather the current storm.
Achieving margin, ensuring an
engaged workforce and regulatory
compliance requires real-time data
about employees and their activity —
whether they are working in an o ice or
out on location.
REFERENCE NOTES
(1) www.bloomberg.com/opinion/
articles/2019-05-16/eu-time-trackingruling
could-generate-usefulproductivity
data
(2) www.kronos.com/blogs/tags/
managing-through-times-of-uncertainty
FAST FACTS
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