REPOST: 5 Tips to Supporting a Connected Workforce

With the pervasive effect of technology today, experts from Asure Software advises that companies utilize this in order to maximize employee mobility. Read more tips from this article featured on Mobile Enterprise.

Image Source: mobileenterprise.edgl.com

Managers and business leaders who still rely on spreadsheets, forms and manual process (despite the pervasive use of smartphones, tablets, laptops etc.) may need help to realize how to enhance workforce agility, productivity and engagement—while optimizing their organization's workforce spend and improving profits. Asure Software offers 5 tips to better mobility.

"Progressive organizations are seeing many strategic operational advantages, even imperatives, to leverage technologies in new and better ways for enhanced workforce agility and productivity, while enabling managers and business leaders to track employees more effectively, protect profit loss related to time fraud, and accurately plan and manage staffing," said Steven Rodriguez, Asure Software COO, who outlined these tips:

1. Automate processes: Timecards, paper timesheets submitted to supervisors in-person or via fax, work schedules posted on bulletin boards, PTO forms left in a manager’s in-box—these are all things of the past. Today's user-friendly TLM systems consolidate these processes online, eliminating issues with illegible entries, lost or misplaced forms, data re-entry errors and duplication of efforts, and the risk of manual errors that can occur in this process, and help organizations manage regulatory compliance requirements that are prone to costly errors. And, all data is processed and reported in real-time, eliminating delays and guesswork.

2. Leverage employees’ personal technologies: Most workers are highly connected to technology 24x7 via their own mobile devices, meaning nearly all are "agile workers" to varying degrees. Enabling them to access work systems via their own familiar technologies helps to enhance their engagement and work satisfaction. Organizations can leverage employees' connectivity and help to make their lives easier and more efficient by enabling them to conduct self-service tasks online, such as checking PTO balances, submitting schedule availability or timesheets, searching and signing up for extra shifts, etc. at their convenience.

3. Move to the cloud: Cloud-based TLM solutions free employees from the office walls and work, enabling them to access scheduling systems at their convenience with their own technologies. Using the Cloud also ensures that all employees throughout the organization, regardless of their location, are using the same technology—a key benefit for organization whose employees are increasingly mobile and global. For HR and payroll managers, the Cloud's benefits also include assurance that technology is always current and less reliance on over-stretched corporate IT staff.

4. Explore emerging biometric and geolocation technologies: TLM mobile apps make it convenient and fast for mobile workers and those whose work involves time off-site to log their time and location by enabling their mobile devices to function as a timeclock fueled by selfies. Facial recognition and geolocation technologies combine to quickly verify the user’s identity and location, enabling supervisors to ensure the right people are in the right place at the right time, and helping the organization to prevent time fraud—which can account for up to five percent of payroll costs.

5. Optimize Scheduling: TLM scheduling systems now offer many useful functionalities that spreadsheets can’t even touch, empowering employees to better track and manage their schedules. For instance, employees who want to pick up extra hours can go online to look for open shifts and bid on them. Supervisors have visual dashboards to quickly check availabilities, as well as robust data to optimize staffing and reallocate staff, as needed. If they have shift spot to fill quickly they can push out notices to employees who are eligible to cover.

"Traditional paper-based and manual time and labor tools are cumbersome, error-prone and do not provide the conveniences, efficiencies and flexibilities that workers have come to expect with today's technologies," said Rodriguez. "Most workers have and use their own technologies to plan and organize their lives, and they appreciate and quickly adapt to solutions that enable them to use their own familiar technologies."


The Bertrand Management Group provides extensive seminars and training modules for efficient workflow organization and employee motivation. Subscribe to this blog for more related articles and reports on the latest business trends.

REPOST: Blurred lines: why working through the weekend works

 It has always been tricky to get that perfect life and work balance. This article by Alexandra Tselios of The Age talks about how work and life need not be separate. 

Busy, and happy to spread the load across the weekend. Photo: iStock | Image Source: theage.com

Every Friday, I will inevitably receive a ‘Happy Friday!’ greeting from an overly excitable colleague or client; or, if it’s a Wednesday, I’ll get at least one ‘Happy Hump Day!’ (which just sounds gross, sorry). But the worst of all of these is the ‘ugh, it’s Monday’ comment.

I really don’t understand the disappointment felt when Sunday night comes to an end. Similarly, Fridays don’t really mean ‘countdown till wine-o’clock’ for me, it is simply another part of my week; and being a grown-up, I can technically have a glass of wine any time I like.

Do I feel anxious about Mondays? Never. Do I feel overly excited about Friday 5pm? Nope.

The reason is that my work and home life have blurred into one. I don’t feel the need to have a clear separation between the two, and while my work doesn’t define who I am, it is definitely a very inclusive part of my life (regardless of the day of the week).

It seems a shame that emotions and mood can be determined simply by what day it is, especially as each new day is inevitable and out of our control.

Staying connected 24/7

 

In a 24/7 connected world, it is misguided of us to manically draw the line between work and pleasure. When once one would rise and check the business papers for an update on the news that broke overnight, now we can check using our phones at 2am while getting a glass of water in the middle of the night.

Almost everything we need to know is at our fingertips at a moment’s notice. But with that overabundance of information (and misinformation), comes a new set of responsibilities. Most professional roles and industries have an expectation that their workers don’t switch off at 5pm, and the onus is on the individual to manage this using clear communication with their employer (or employees).

Working as the online publisher for opinion site The Big Smoke, I wouldn’t think twice about responding to an email at 7am on a Sunday. Instead of it stressing me out on a weekend, it does the opposite; I feel less anxious about coming into the office on Monday.

The best approach to work, and to life in general, is to take it in bite-sized chunks, while referring back to the big picture. This means I don’t have the luxury of ‘switching off’ on the weekend, and nor do I want to. It also gives me the flexibility to work in a way that is conducive to nurturing other important areas of my life -  family, friends and hobbies.

Because I don’t have strict parameters around work and life, it means I can take that hour-long call from a friend who’s having a crisis at 2pm on a Tuesday, because I know that the time I’ve spent with her will be made up working later that evening.

Blurred lines

 

If you have a fixation on these boundaries and an attitude of ‘No I won’t answer a work call, it’s 6pm’, it will only cause you extra stress and pressure over the coming weeks, because you can bet that there will be  a competitor who will happily take five minutes out of their dinner to answer a quick question.

I don’t know about you, but that’s a risk I am not willing to take. It is not viable to assume that in a global marketplace your clients are going to fit in with what you deem to be reasonable hours.

For many professionals, completely switching off is the only way they can feel completely in the moment and if that’s what works, then fantastic. However, there always needs to be some level of connectivity to ensure things aren’t missed.

The concept of the end of the work-free weekend isn’t about turning people into workaholics. It’s about removing the angst that comes with battling to remove all facets of work from your social time, which inevitably builds up the to-do list and results in an unhealthy dislike for Mondays. 

At the end of the day, clients and competitors don’t disappear just because you want to spend the weekend in the Blue Mountains. So look at your career differently and don’t be misguided into taking a technology detox. Instead, continue working on the smaller tasks so that when you return from your break, your duties are manageable.

Take control back

 

If you Google work/life balance, there are a range of self-help articles available, but the common thread between all of these is that the searcher has lost an element of control and needs direction. Get control back by stepping out of the constant internal conflict to compartmentalise your social, family and work time – and embrace them all as parts of your messy, illustrious, productive and sometimes confusing life – whether it’s Monday or Friday.  

I’m not suggesting we all turn into robots. But we do need to become professionals who can discern, focus and include their work organically as part of the bigger picture of their lives

The Bertrand Management Group provides extensive organization and employee training seminars to help improve business workflow and efficiency. Read more articles like this by subscribing to this Facebook page.

Motivated employees are best for business

Image Source: communicaid.com

It is no secret that employers need to keep their team motivated to keep the business intact, but how should they do it?

Having a pleasant atmosphere inside the workplace is an asset that not many have. Employees spend most of their day in their work areas, and it is the employer’s job to keep his or her people as comfortable as possible. This involves proper analysis of logistics and making sure that all employees get enough access to facilities that will let them feel at ease while doing their work.

Image Source: buildium.com

Next is letting employees visualize the end process of what they are doing. Just like employers and business owners, employees also have something that drives them to work hard. They came to the company with their goals in their hands. Thus, employers have to make sure that they are able to connect the current tasks to the goals that they have set not only for the business but also for the employees.

Last is paying close attention to what makes employees do better at work. This may be from as simple as providing free coffee in the cafeteria to giving them monetary bonuses periodically. Giving positive reinforcements and providing trainings that can be useful to them in the future are also great motivators that employers can use.

Image Source: blogthechurch.wordpress.com

Employers must keep in mind that the key to a good business are the employees, which is why it is important for them to be the best employer they can be to keep their team intact.

Bertrand Management Group is a consulting firm based in Ontario, Calif., that specializes in providing trainings for skills development and operational improvement. Get to know more about the company by visiting this Facebook page.