Whether you have a small team of ten or a countrywide army of 5000, labour is a significant cost for every company. As a result, it's understandable that you'd want to keep your expenses low. This is not only good but also necessary for care homes.
However, it isn't always as simple as it appears. Even the most experienced of managers may make rookie blunders and pay the price in the shape of skyrocketing compensation packages.
That's why we've compiled an insider's guide identifying six ways you could be overspending on labour. We've backed them up with some brilliant suggestions for reducing your labour costs without sacrificing productivity.
1. Smart Scheduling
Employees are often divided into three levels. Qualified managers and supervisors at the top of the order should be compensated more. Part-timers and semi-qualified employees make up the middle. Casual personnel, with basic abilities and the need for continual supervision, come in last.
Smart rosters should take into account each employee's job and avoid assembling an overqualified squad. One manager and one duty manager for every ten casual employees, for example, may be your baseline. This is a well-thought-out timetable that is strengthened by top-tier personnel while filling in the gaps with lower-paid workers.
With the traditional Excel sheets or manual process, building a rota is usually simple, but updating the rota isn’t. A rota management software solves this dilemma as administrators or department heads can make adjustments to the rota at any time, and an alert would be sent to employees reminding them of the changes, allowing for more effective management of late shift alterations.
Finally, your roster should allow for maximum production without sacrificing support. Find a good balance for yourself and try to keep to it as much as possible.
2. Optimise Staff and Forecast Labour Needs
Most businesses change over time, and rosters should reflect this. Why? Because having too many or too few workers might soon deplete your budget. Your ratio of labour expenses to revenue will never deliver if your estimates aren't accurate. As a result, forecasting is a crucial component of reducing your labour costs while increasing earnings.
This is when JMS One comes into play. The purpose-built workforce management software, which is used by a number of care homes and clinics, gives you insight into your most important resources – your people and your data. You can carefully deploy your personnel by factoring in various factors using real-time statistics and dashboards.
3. Accurate Tracking of Time and Attendance
Any firm, at any moment, can be afflicted by time theft. You're probably overpaying your staff on a daily basis, whether intentionally or unintentionally. This necessitates the implementation of a sophisticated time and attendance system. Make it simple for your employees by equipping them with smart technology that allows them to clock in and out quickly. Syncing your time and attendance data with your payroll provider can help you avoid costly mistakes and stay within your budget.
What if your employees don't have access to clock in through a physical system? Don't worry about it. You may use the time and attendance feature of the JMS One mobile app that allows your staff to clock in and out using their smartphones.
4. Right Training for Your Employees
Employees should be properly taught in all parts of their jobs, from the most mundane to the riskiest. The right set of employee training can minimize workplace mishaps and accidents, resulting in cheaper expenses, lower insurance rates, and fewer possible lawsuits. It would also encourage employees to be healthier, safer, and happier.
Introducing cross-training measures could also be a better option to reduce labour costs. We're talking about preparing an individual for many roles or skills and establishing them as productive team members. Cross-training employees can help enhance productivity and save labour expenses in specific situations. This enhances their worth, gives you greater schedule freedom, and allows you to perform more tasks with fewer employees.
5. Adhere to Payroll Rules
How do you handle employee payroll? Pay guidelines might be difficult to understand. It's critical to have a thorough grasp of complicated payroll terms and agreements in order to avoid misunderstandings. Any updates or changes should ideally be able to be recalculated instantaneously. The ultimate objective is to ensure that all employees receive the appropriate benefits while avoiding overpaying.
Labour costs may be extremely tight in a variety of healthcare organisations, from small clinics to state-wide care homes and large hospitals. The good news is that controlling labour expenses is a relatively easy matter of effective management.
Introducing a software solution would be an ideal way to automate your workforce operations, capture time and attendance and stay in compliance with rules and regulations. If you are wondering how JMS One can help you save labour costs, do get in touch with us.
