The future of workforce management is here and 2018 will see us hit a tipping point where businesses across all sectors realise this, racing to adopt new optimisation technologies.
The use of intelligent software to enhance and enrich our daily lives is already commonplace. Digitalisation is everywhere, fuelled by faster mobile connectivity, cloud computing and big data. Be it the way we shop, watch TV, listen to music, order food, book taxis, manage our calendars, interact with our friends, or control our homes, the chances are, we can do it all from an app on our phones.
And, what’s more, this is something we’ve come to expect. We expect to have tech at our fingertips to help us run our lives. That’s why the average person picks up their phone 270 times a day and people report feeling physically sick if they don’t have access to their phone for a set length of time.
However, many business are still lagging behind when it comes to embracing new technology to optimise their operations. 2018 could be the year when this changes.
Here are the trends we expect to see running through the year ahead:
1. Seamless integration
If your business is serious about optimising, then you need to get serious about integration. Whether it’s your payroll system talking to your time management system, or your third-party applications working in harmony (like Quinyx and Scrive), your life will be made easier and your business will run better through improved integration. We expect to see much more of this in 2018, especially with complimentary software providers working together to deliver an enhanced product to the customer.
2. Mainstream mobile
Of course the mainstream use of mobile is nothing new, however, many businesses still have outdated policies regarding the use of mobiles in the workplace. When your employees bring a mobile to work, they have a super computer in their pocket. Increasingly, businesses will now being to unleash the inherent power of this by using mobile-first solutions to optimise communication and workforce management.
3. The power of the voice
Voice assistants and smart speakers took off in 2017. Amazon Echo and Google Home in particular have become powerful tools for users at home. It might not fully happen this year but it won’t be long before voice assistants are in every staff room, on hand to answer questions ranging from ‘When am I working next?’ to ‘Can I book this day as annual leave?’ These virtual assistants will soon form part of every business’ infrastructure.
4. Awesome AI
The voice assistants mentioned above our powered by artificial intelligence and they aren’t alone. From chatbots to an algorithm capable of imagination, AI is developing at a rapid pace. We’ll soon see practical AI uses in classrooms, supermarkets, restaurants, hotels, warehouses and even hospitals. It will eventually provide businesses with the tools they need to automate and optimise, becoming all the more powerful when it’s used alongside humans rather than as a replacement for them.
5. Harnessing data
We are now in the position where we can learn more about our customers, employees and our business than has ever been possible. We can harness the data we collect about every area of our businesses to help us optimise them. Whether that’s finding the right staffing levels for the right time of day or predicting when staff are likely to be sick, the possibilities are endless.
When it comes to workforce management, the combination of big data, mobile technology and cloud computing is helping us create an intelligent, proactive and intuitive software solution which is fundamentally changing the way businesses operate and employees interact with their employers.
In 2018, will see leaner businesses who are more reactive, profitable and efficient, working with engaged, happy employees who perform better and, above all, enjoy work.
