Workforce management software delivers a myriad of benefits to different businesses. it includes a collection of processes required to run an efficient, engaged and dedicated team in an organisation.

It is an integrated use of the right technology, processes and procedures to manage and optimize your employees for maximum productivity and efficiency. WFM is more than just scheduling employees, it covers workload forecasting, payroll, time and attendance tracking, data analytics and reporting, performance tracking and managing legal requirements. Even though workforce management solutions ensure to render significant benefits, care homes and healthcare organisations are still hesitant about implementing them. And the major reason for this hesitation stems from the financial aspect.

If you too are a care home manager, then your line of thought would be - How software could save us money? Well, the answer is never quite simple.

Every organisation and its operations are different. Therefore, how WFM saves costs would be different from one to another. However, what we find many healthcare and social care organisations have in common is their need for effective labour budget optimization.

Workforce processes and management contribute towards a high percentage of their total operational costs and this would be the best place to start when it comes to making smarter savings.

While more and more healthcare organisations are realizing the value of workforce management solutions, it should be noted that its benefits go way beyond monetary savings. WFM solutions can help organisations in creating efficient workforce plans, improve communication strategies, free up resources and increase employee engagement.

The inability to manage spiraling labour costs is one of the major reasons for revenue loss in many care homes. Inability to manage staff, spending too much time and costs in admin operations and lack of a unified system to monitor your employee operations results in an inefficient business with low levels of productivity. And this is where a good workforce management tool can make a significant difference by managing your employees strategically and controlling your operational costs effectively.

Now, let’s find out how workforce management solutions help you control your costs in real-time.

• Smart scheduling

With a workforce management solution, care homes can automate their scheduling and rota planning. This would drastically reduce the time spent on scheduling, timekeeping, or shift planning. In fact, it is estimated that automated scheduling can reduce scheduling time by up to 75% on average. Moreover, smart scheduling avoids the chances of over-staffing and understaffing, which can increase labour costs by 3 to 6 per cent.

• Strategic labour optimization

Maintaining optimal staffing levels is an integral factor for care homes. Regardless of whether your organisation is short-staffed or overstaffed, it could put a strain on your employee budget. When businesses are understaffed, employees are forced to work longer hours and claim more over time, which not only results in increased labour costs but also a decline in employee morale.

Overstaffing is just as damaging to your organisation as your money would be wasted on underutilized resources. With a WFM system in place, organisations can optimize their staffing levels and minimize overtime.  Furthermore, it would help your business configure optimal staffing levels, shift duration, define work hours and provide better insights into your team performance.

• Lower administrative costs

Many care homes, nursing homes and hospitals still rely on manual, repetitive tasks for workforce management and other vital business operations. Whether it is about creating rotas or managing the employee payroll, manual processes take up too much time.

Automating the manual systems will help you say goodbye to unnecessary admin expenses. Time and attendance, payroll processing, rota planning, absence management and compliance are some of the many functions that can be automated with an efficient workforce management system. More than just saving on your administrative costs, a workforce management system reduces the likelihood of costly errors and make your employee life simpler.

• Reduced employee turnover

According to a study by Skills for Care, employee retention is one of the most pressing issues in the UK's private healthcare industry currently.

With nurse turnover rates as high as 30% a year and nearly half of UK care home nurses quitting within a year, it is clear that regular employee retention can be extremely costly to the healthcare organisation.

Automating your workforce management system increases overall transparency, establishes a clear line of communications and keeps your employees always in the know. Moreover, empowering your employees with self-service options such as leave requests, setting availability, and swap shifts would provide them with a greater sense of independence, involvement and satisfaction.  Introducing a WFM solution would prove invaluable in raising the bar for employee engagement and morale.

According to a recent report from Nucleus Research, workforce management (WFM) implementations pay back an average of $12.24 for every dollar spent, with an average payback period of just under 5 months. That is why flexible and feature-rich workforce management solutions are becoming increasingly critical to driving greater employee productivity and operational efficiency with limited resources. 

If you too are looking for modern workforce management solutions for your care homes or healthcare organisation, let us help you out. Reach out to us for expert assistance.