For the third year running we’ve been recognized in Gartner’s Market Guide for Workforce Management Applications, a report that provides unparalleled insight into the current state of the WFM industry, its future, the vendors operating in the market, and what businesses expect from a WFM solution.
It’s safe to say, 2020 hasn’t been the year anyone expected. In the space of a few short weeks, the world was turned on its head. Yet, despite the turmoil, demand for WFM applications is soaring as businesses realize the need to invest in solutions to help manage and optimize the workforce, improve profitability, and boost employee engagement.
From time and cost savings through to better productivity and increased customer satisfaction, the benefits of AI-powered, automated WFM systems is becoming clear for all to see - and is backed up by the findings in the Gartner report.
Here’s what we’ve learnt from Gartner 2020 Market Guide for Workforce Management Applications Report:
1. The Covid-19 Impact
Gartner reports client inquiry on the subject of WFM has increased by 27.7% from January to June 2020 compared to 2019. It’s a trend we believe is more than just a passing phase and, in Q2 alone at Quinyx, we saw a 46% growth in new customers compared to the same period in 2019.
Undoubtedly, the response to Covid-19 has played a part in this as business leaders look to safeguard the health of their staff and the productivity of their business. This has been matched by WFM vendors introducing new capabilities to their applications to help businesses through the pandemic.
For example, Quinyx can monitor Covid-19 exposure in the workforce by documenting and monitoring contact between employees and trace absences using the ‘Covid-19’ report function. Alongside this, we’ve seen a huge spike in the usage of our communications module as well as businesses using functionality in our pulse surveys to monitor the health and wellbeing of their workforce to ensure they remain Covid secure.
Closer to home, our staff are using the Quinyx app to book in time they want to be in the office - this means we can set the number of people we want to have in our offices at any one time and we can easily track who people have been in contact with if they fall sick.
2. It’s the end of the line for legacy solutions
“By 2024, at least 99% of new workforce management application sales will leverage cloud-based deployment models.”*
The pandemic has been a catalyst for change in many organizations and has accelerated the move towards digitalization.
It means, finally, businesses around the world are abandoning out-dated legacy solutions in favour of modern, cloud-native applications to the extent that Gartner recommends any on-premises WFM applications are migrated to cloud solutions within the next 12 to 24 months.
Harnessing the power of machine learning and AI is only possible with a cloud-based solution and businesses who fail to invest in such a solution will swiftly fall behind their competitors as they miss out on the latest features and capabilities.
3. Automation acceleration
“By 2025, 45% of large enterprises with hourly paid workers and variable demand for labor will use automation to drive workforce scheduling decisions.”*
Thankfully, the move towards automated scheduling is rapidly accelerating. And it’s not hard to see why. Automated, AI-powered scheduling is faster, more efficient, smarter, and delivers a far superior end result.
Smart schedules can transform your business. They make your staff and customers happier. They give you better control over your workforce costs. And they ensure you always have the right people in the right place at the right time.
WFM software can automatically generate schedules based on business needs and employee wishes. And it’s a trend that’s only going to increase and improve.
Machine learning will be used to analyse how users (especially managers) handle different tasks. Once strong patterns are identified, they can be automated. For example, if the AI sees you’ve performed an action 20 times, it will ask you if you want to automate the action from now on.
Data will talk to you if you’re willing to listen. AI will be able to alert you to employee patterns which could for example highlight anything being a flight risk. It will also be able to give you weekly reports to help you understand things like the impact edits you made to the schedule had.
Download the new Gartner 2020 Market Guide for Workforce Management Applications report to help you find the best workforce management solution for your needs, plan your workforce management strategy and get a detailed insight into the future of the industry.
*Gartner, Market Guide for Workforce Management Applications, 26 August 2020, By Sam Grinter, Ron Hanscome, Kelsie Marian, Ranadip Chandra
“Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner’s research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. GARTNER is a registered trademark and service mark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally, and is used herein with permission. All rights reserved."