Survey results reveal workforce challenges

Improving labour productivity presents huge challenges for the manufacturing and services and distribution sectors, according to research conducted by Gatepoint Research. 

Last year, the company invited select HR, finance and operations executives from the manufacturing and services and distribution sectors in Canada to participate in a survey about strategies for gaining visibility into workforce costs. More than 100 people (112, to be exact) participated in the survey, and a number of observations came out of the research. 

• Improving labour productivity presents huge challenges: When asked which workforce-related business issue they grapple with, 63 per cent of respondents said “improving labour productivity and effectiveness.” “Recruiting skilled workers” was a close second, cited by 57 per cent. 
• Respondents struggle with getting visibility into labour trends: 48 per cent claimed they had trouble gaining “real-time visibility into labour, work-in-process and equipment”, followed by “aligning skilled labour to demand.”
• Capturing labour data still largely un-automated: More than half of respondents continue to use paper-based reporting and/or time clocks to secure labour-related data.
• Workforces are in many locations, many countries: More than half of respondents’ organizations operate in multiple locations, globally: 50 per cent operate more than 20 locations and 51 per cent operate both domestically and overseas.
• ERP software systems are heavily used: 88 per cent of respondents report using an ERP application. 
• Money matters: Not surprisingly, budget was cited by about half (49 per cent) as the top obstacle to improving workforce management.
• Workforce management is highly automated for payroll, as well as time and attendance, while labour analytics and scheduling have the lowest levels of automation in respondents’ organizations: 83 per cent automate their payroll processing; 65 per cent automate their time and attendance systems; 57 per cent have an automated HR system; 41 per cent have an automated labour analytics system; and 31 per cent have labour scheduling automation.
• Systems need to work together: Integration of disparate systems was cited as the top workforce management priority for respondents.

Kronos provides an industry-leading suite of products and services that helps organizations control labour costs, streamline labour compliance and identify areas where productivity can be improved. Contact Kronos for more information. 

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