2. 3
Introduction
Subtitle
HR teams in 2016 face an ever-changing landscape.
Disparate and remote workforces, local regulations
and complex risk management clamour for attention.
At the same time, employees increasingly demand
an easy to use, personalised experience throughout
their employment journey. With each new demand,
time and labour management as part of Human
Capital Management (HCM) gets more complicated.
Streamlining and integrating existing systems and
processes seems impossible. The rapid transformation
of global business creates more and more data to deal
with, and the time and attendance of workers – some of
whom may never come into the office – becomes harder
to capture and strategically manage.
The Federation of International Employers1
found that
18% of the EU working population works part-time and
14.8% are on temporary contracts. According to Deloitte,
the need for contingent workers will keep growing over
the next three to five years: “Once designed primarily
as a compliance function, today’s HR organisation must
be agile, business integrated, data-driven, and deeply
skilled in attracting, retaining, and developing talent…
HR needs an extreme makeover driven by the need
to deliver greater business impact and drive HR and
business innovation.”2
Most organisations are
lumbered with ageing
legacy systems which
cause performance
paralysisDisparate and remote
workforces, local regulations
and complex risk management
clamour for attention
1. European Human Resource Trends, FedEE Global, 2015
2. Deloitte (2015), HCM Trends Study
Similar trends are observed throughout Europe. An on-
demand workforce offers companies the ability to tap
into extensive networks of innovators, technical experts,
and seasoned professionals. But only companies with the
right processes and technology can enjoy such agility.
In reality, most organisations are lumbered with ageing
legacy systems which cause performance paralysis.
EU workers with part-time contracts1
The Federation of
International Employers
EU employees on temporary contracts1
18%
All workers
Employees
14.8%
3. 54
Time savings are vital to
business survival
Organisations are bleeding money due to inaccurate
and outdated ERP and time and attendance systems.
The Human Capital Management Institute calculated the
sum of employee salaries, hourly wages, overtime and
indirect compensation to be 70% of an organisation’s
total operating costs – a figure that has risen every year
since 20053
. IMS Research and Gartner also estimate that
between 1.5% and 3% of spending on enterprise software
solutions is dedicated to workforce management,
leading HR Magazine to comment: “most organisations
have not yet tapped the potential of comprehensive
workforce management. As firms prioritise IT spending
for the coming years, workforce management should be
near the top of the list.”4
This is especially true for large and multinational
organisations. Two-fifths of businesses have a target
in place to reduce absence. However, only a quarter
of them (25%), regardless of sector, actually achieved
their previous year’s target absence level, with larger
organisations most likely to fail.5
Josh Bond, Senior Editor of Modern Materials Handling,
writes: “Bad habits are sometimes so well established,
that systems proven to dramatically improve labor
efficiency seem incompatible with the prevailing culture
of an operation… Effective scheduling and forecasting
is becoming a bigger area of focus.”6
While this refers
to manufacturing, where time is the very essence of
productivity, these words could be equally applicable
to Retail, Distribution and Services, Financial, Legal,
IT services or any sector with hourly paid employees,
temporary staff, or those with scheduled overtime.
HR at a crossroads
70% of a businesses
total operating costs
come from employee
salaries, hourly wages,
overtime and indirect
compensation3
3. HR Magazine (2014) ‘The advantages of workforce management’
4. Sambartolo, M. (2014) ‘The advantages of workforce management’, HR Magazine
5. CIPD, Absence Management Annual survey report 2015
6. Bond, J. ‘Labor management systems: The (very near) future of LMS’, Modern Materials Management, 01 Dec 2012
70%
£
£
£
4. 76
Legal compliance:
losing track of workers
can cripple businesses
Given the rise in popularity of home and remote working,
workforce optimisation has become an increasingly
specialist task. A piece of research undertaken by the UK
government in 2014 to understand the changing nature
of the workforce, found that of the 30.2 million people
employed between January and March 2014 in the UK,
4.2 million were home workers. This equates to a home
worker rate of 13.9% of people in employment - the
highest rate since comparable records began.7
According to employment law expert Katie Williams of
Withers LLP, home working creates “a number of hurdles
that both the employer and employee must overcome
in order to make the arrangement work successfully.
Challenges can include: an employer’s perceived loss
of control over its workforce; potential damage to the
office culture and team spirit; difficulties supporting
homeworkers to the same level as office workers;
overcoming concerns about trust; and fearing that a
homeworker will not be pulling their weight.”8
HR at a crossroads
Gaps in compliance
can lead to costly errors,
fines, grievances,
and legal action that
can hurt your reputation
and your bottom line
7. UK Office for National Statistics, Characteristics of Home Workers, 2014
8. Williams, K. (2015) Home truths: homeworkers and the law, Personnel Today
Decreased costs of time
and payroll management
Multinational businesses face a number of serious HCM
problems. A 2015 ADP Research Institute study found
the average multinational company contends with over
30 HR systems, as well as an average of more than 30
payroll systems. And these figures don’t even consider
the number of talent management systems in play.9
A standardised approach to workforce management
and planning improves organisational visibility and
control. But according to the CIPD (Chartered Institute
of Personnel and Development), less than two-fifths
of organisations even monitor the cost of employee
absence, despite an overall median cost of absence per
employee of £554 per year. The recent “Total Financial
Impact of Employee Absences in Europe” found that
67% of respondents perceived employee absences had
a “moderate” to “large” impact on productivity and
revenue.10
In terms of sickness and absence, UK figures show
that minor illness (including colds, flu, stomach upsets,
headaches and migraines) is the most common cause
of short-term absence for both manual and non-manual
employees. Musculoskeletal injuries, back pain and
stress are also common. Yet 30% of organisations still
report that non-genuine absence is one of their top
causes of short-term absence, leading the CIPD to
suggest that “flexible working arrangements may help
reduce non-genuine absence.”11
9. Harnessing Big Data: The Human Capital Management Journey to Achieving Business Growth, 2015
10. The Total Financial Impact of Employee Absences in Europe, 2014
11. CIPD, Absence Management Annual survey report 2015
Loss of control
over workforce
Difficulties supporting
homeworkers to the same
level as office workers
Overcoming concerns
about trust
Fearing that a
homeworker will not
be pulling their weight
Potential damage to
culture and team spirit
67% of respondents
perceived employee
absences had a
“moderate” to “large”
impact on productivity and
revenue10
HR at a crossroads
Hurdles to overcome are:
£
5. 98
95% of
respondents
believe they will
be able to work
from anywhere in
the world12
95%
Increase productivity to
grow and thrive
The CIPD also finds that the number of organisations
reporting an increase in stress-related absence and
reported mental health problems is rising. Human
resources must not lose sight of the need for a ‘human’
approach to workforce management. Not surprisingly,
the organisations that have a target for reducing
absence, or have absence levels as a key performance
indicator, are considerably more proactive in their
approaches.
HR departments today must strive to improve global
connectivity. With the rise of remote employees, HR
professionals will need to work harder to ensure teams
are truly connected. The ADP Evolution of Work12
report
finds that 95% of respondents believe they will be able
to work from anywhere in the world.
“Technological and cultural shifts have always pushed
workplace innovation forward, but today an even faster
global transformation is underway, and employers must
take notice,” said Manuela Montagnana, VP Human
Resources EMEA, ADP. “To advance business goals
– and remain competitive – employers must allow
for flexibility, underscore that with technology that is
supporting, not hindering, career fulfilment and provide
ways to cultivate personal interests while still driving the
mission of the company.”
According to an influential article in HR Magazine13
, “With
an automated approach to workforce management,
more data and context can be put in managers’ hands,
creating better decisions. Being able to assign the right
people, with the right skills, at the right time, and at
the right cost directly supports an organisation’s ability
to respond to fluctuating production goals without
compromising quality. Aberdeen Group indicates
that organisations using automated staff scheduling
solutions have a 4% higher workforce utilisation on
average – an edge that creates substantial productivity
gains. Automated workforce management improves
employee morale and engagement through increased
transparency and manager-employee communication.”
“Technological and cultural
shifts have always pushed
workplace innovation
forward, but today an even
faster global transformation
is underway, and employers
must take notice.”
Manuela Montagnana, VP Human Resources EMEA, ADP
The same Aberdeen Group research reported that
organisations achieving best-in-class performance
in workforce optimisation see an 11% year-over-year
improvement in employee satisfaction, compared to just
2% for all others; the use of automated time, attendance,
and scheduling solutions results in 8% to 20% lower
replacement costs (as a percentage of annual pay) for
hourly workers, which can be attributed to the reduced
cost of administration needed to manually manage such
functions, while average revenue per full time employee
increased four times in organisations with automated
absence/leave management technology.14
12. ADP Research Institute (2016), Evolution of Work
13. Sambartolo, M. (2014) ‘The advantages of workforce management’, HR Magazine
14. Aberdeen Group (2013), Total Workforce Management 2013: Absence Management
HR at a crossroads
6. 1110
Accurate data: the lifeblood of
modern business
Business decisions are increasingly based on the
understanding and interpretation of data. A survey
of executives in 2015 found that 72% agreed with the
statement “Our HR strategy is significantly influenced by
the analysis of business and people data from across our
operations”, and 70% expect to begin using or increase
their use of “Big Data” and advanced analytics to
inform HR decisions over the next three years. Only 67%
agreed that its HR leaders are currently able to clearly
demonstrate tangible correlations between people
management initiatives and business outcomes.15
To take the guesswork out of scheduling, staffing,
workload, hours worked and more, data needs to be
entered by employees onto a mobile device - often
whilst on the move. Time and attendance must be agile,
regularlyupdated,andthesoftwareshouldbesimpleand
easy to use. The days of traditional appraisals and forced
ranking are at an end; performance management is now
a tool for greater employee engagement. According to
the latest global research by ADP surveying thousands
of employees across North America, Europe, Latin
America, and Asia-Pacific, 91% of respondents believed
that ‘employees will primarily rely on self-service to
solve problems and get their job done’ either today or
in the future.12
In addition, 95% felt that ‘Tech will enable
organisations to proactively adjust individual/team
performance’, while 82% believed employees will soon
‘define their own work schedule’. Rather than fearing
these changes, these were all embraced as positives by
the majority of respondents.
70%expect to begin
using or increase
their use of Big Data and
advanced analytics15
15. KMPG (2015), Evidence Based HR: The bridge between your people and delivering business strategy
KPMG argues that “A solid foundation of well-
organised data has now been established in many
major companies. Small but committed teams of
analysts, recently ensconced within HR functions, are
helping their colleagues to see the benefits of evidence-
based HR, and to handle it in the most effective way.
Measurable successes from the use of evidence, some
particularly eye-catching, will help to spur the much-
needed enthusiasm of senior executives and encourage
investment in developing and recruiting the skills that will
cement progress… the days of basing people decisions
on the whims or personal motives of one person at the
helm are about to end. Organisations that acknowledge
that inevitability already have a substantial head start.”15
70%
HR at a crossroads
7. HR leaders need to free their organisations from the
complex web of internal systems that attempt to monitor
time and attendance. The landscape is just too complex.
Inaccurate and outdated HR and time and attendance
systems are holding companies back, with potentially
fatal consequences in the global marketplace. Stress and
mental health conditions are causing absenteeism, while
a third of workplaces still report “non-genuine absence”
as a significant problem. A unified IT system is needed
to capture today’s world of the home-based and remote
workforce, offering a unified workforce management
solution that cuts labour costs, streamlines compliance
and empower workers.
Conclusion
Human resources must adopt a ‘human’ approach to
workforce management, empowering workers and
managers alike. With the rise of remote employees, HR
professionals will need to work harder to ensure teams
are truly connected.
With local and global labour laws being so diverse, they
require integrated software systems, delivered by expert
partners. Such outsourced solutions are also increasingly
the preferred choice of leading companies who wish to
offer their employees on-the-move, mobile software
solutions, delivered by a provider with global expertise
and ready-to-go solutions.
Time and attendance technology can introduce new
flexibility to both employers and employees. This
allows employees a greater sense of freedom, and
employers a higher degree of efficiency, with greater
The time
to act is now
connectedness for both, in all industries without the
traditional limitations of time and place. Today, thanks
to mobile devices, many employees exercise more
control and autonomy over their workplace conditions,
with greater freedom to decide how, when, and where
they work. The workforce nowadays is more guided by
a search for meaning and flexibility. As organisations
look for increased accuracy and effectiveness in their
A unified workforce
management solution
helps organisations cut
labour costs, streamline
compliance and
empower workers
to make better point-in-
time decisions to support
business goals
HR departments must
keep pace with new
programmes and
services to ensure that
teams remain seamlessly
connected
management solutions, while offering more flexibility
to their employees and contractors working from home
or other remote locations, HR departments must keep
pace with new programmes and services to ensure that
teams remain seamlessly connected.
Improving Accuracy
of Reporting
The Pulte Group a homebuilding company with
5,000 employees needed a solution that could
seamlessly integrate with other core HR systems
to improve the visibility of employee time since
the majority of employees are not in the office on
a daily basis. The Time and Labour Management
solution implemented helped them to increase
accountability for Field Managers in managing
the time sheets of their employees and improve
accuracy. The field workforce’s previous concern
of not being in an office to account for their time
was no longer an obstacle, as the new system
helped to increase morale and empower workers,
while improving accuracy of reporting. ADP offers
ways to maximize the productivity of your people
and business, while keeping your people happy
and engaged.
