Workforce management means assigning the right personnel with the right qualifications to the right place at the right time. Workforce management systems support operations and HR by optimizing workforce management. So it’s about organizing shifts and working hours, places of work, swaps, tasks, etc. With regard to working time and shift models, HR also plays a role here. Workforce management includes, among other things, workforce scheduling, staff management, and time management. In contrast, HR systems are used to manage employee master data and organize applications, onboardings, training, talent management, and payroll. Workforce management is increasingly becoming the basis for the digital organization of work in companies.

Workforce management takes place between the conflicting priorities of working hours, employee needs, and service level. Numerous legal requirements, collective bargaining agreements, company agreements, and employment contracts must be observed in planning and management. There are also various social and cultural aspects. An optimized demand-orientated workforce management and control finds the best possible balance for individual operational objectives and conditions. Thus, employee motivation, working time productivity, and customer satisfaction increase.

Workforce management software makes it possible to systematize, digitize, and automate the processes described. This also makes it possible to manage more complex demand patterns, working time models, and agreements. Digital work scheduling enables smoother operational processes. This creates quality advantages as well as productivity advantages in terms of efficient use of working time. Employees also benefit, for instance, by avoiding overload situations or by having an influence on their shift schedule, such as through shift swaps. Digital workforce management can be used to improve the employees’ work-life balance. Finally, digital self-service can be an essential part of your digital employee experience.

The ideas of the new work movement are also influencing workforce management. In the concept known as ‘new workforce management,’ shift planning approaches are more finely tuned to individual needs, including life stages, of the employees. This means that employees’ individual interests are more systematically aligned with operational requirements. As in new work, new workforce management can succeed in realizing a higher level of self-development by engaging employees so that they also feel a higher level of appreciation and satisfaction.