Since early 2020, every business has had to adjust its day-to-day operations in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Organizations quickly adapted to the changes in infectious disease control protocols, supply chain, and resources availability. Similarly, many government agencies have mobilized new policies and procedures to help stay ahead of the pandemic's regulatory curve.
In this growing climate of risk to public health, organizations search for ways to measure and validate their businesses. You may find it surprising that in the current digital age, many organizations still use paper to measure operational compliance. Paper workflows are prominent in the Support Service & Environmental Management Service (EMS) sectors. There is the perception and reality of clean, but how do you prove and measure operational compliance in a simple workflow while having information to drive efficiencies?
If you still use the pen-paper-based operational methods to manage call-offs, daily task schedules, validate tasks, audits, and inspections, it's time to upgrade to a platform application. In this blog, we’ll cover the top 3 benefits of using workforce automation to increase workforce efficiency in the federal government.
What is Workforce Management Automation?
Workforce automation is about performance management with digital software applications and driving efficiencies in time-consuming or repetitive tasks workflows. Workforce automation tools save operations managers time yet are capable of balancing the needs of employees, managers, and business operations. The goal is to deploy streamlined workflows that can "free up" or encourage efficiency.
For over 5 decades, the Support Service & Environmental Management Service (EMS) industry has relied on paper daily duty logs and tracking sheets to manage operations. That is thousands of critical compliance tasks across many functions managed by a paper-binder or file cabinet system.
Within a paper workflow, information is contained and not easily consumable. Automated, interactive workflows prove better for analyzing data in a quick and digestible manner. Support service and janitorial leaders have shared that they felt a need for tools that offer a 360-degree lens into their operations, one capable of handling the dynamic and ever-changing work environments.
Automation software allows operators to manage daily tasks, workloads, and workflows. Dashboards and modules give quick access to data reports and filtering to measure employee and team performance. Additionally, adopting this technology reduces paper waste and storage space, making software an appealing and natural direction for agencies and contractors who understand that time and resources are limited.
How Have Labor Shortages Increased the Need for Workforce Automation?
To win infrastructure contracts, agencies and contractors demonstrate that they have secured and can maintain a stable and qualified workforce while meeting facility and regulatory obligations. A report of the OIG Determination of the Veteran’s Health Administration (VHA) Occupational Staffing Shortages in FY 2020 and FY 2021 outlined severe occupational staffing shortages across 277 varied occupations. The FY 2021 OIG Determination report identified custodial workers as top 5 for the most common facility-designated severe occupational staffing shortages, where 59 facilities identified the occupation conditions as a severe shortage.
Due to pandemic-driven labor shortages, government agencies and contractors are expected to do more with less, which is no easy task. This challenge was only exacerbated by staff shortages fueled by factors such as a retiring labor force, where young workers are not replacing the newly retired at the same rate. Labor shortages have had a severe impact on government agencies and VHA care.
So how does a governmental agency "do more with less," and what innovative platforms are out there to help?
Below, we have outlined the benefits of workforce automation software for the Support Service & Environmental Management Service (EMS) industry. We will also discuss the benefits experienced by government agencies and contractors when automating workflows, and finally, we will detail the necessary first steps to take to prepare for the implementation.
There are 3 major benefits of workforce automation software:
- Remote Management Capabilities
- Measure & Benchmark Operations
- Real-Time Data & Workforce Transparency
1. Remote Management
With many governments and contracted employees dispersed in large facilities, it can be challenging to monitor and manage each individual. The lack of real-time visibility can lead to misplaced assignments, unbalanced workloads, and lost time trying to find employees. Using a remote management system, employees can sign into a device with a preloaded assignment, removing the need for managers to gather employees in one place or visit each employee's area to start the shift.
Managers can reassign or divide tasks and duties based on the constantly changing needs of the department, which instantly update on the employee's end. Digital software and applications result in more precise communication and better time management.
2. Cleaning Compliance & Productivity Measurements
Cleaning Compliance
Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, it has become more critical than ever for all businesses to maintain high standards of cleanliness throughout their facilities, and, considering the number of taxpayer dollars that are allocated for maintenance of government buildings, it’s even more essential that this commitment be reflected throughout these spaces.
By keeping accurate, thorough, and easily accessible automated records of cleaning procedures, employees and visitors alike will be more confident that their health and wellbeing are a priority. Additionally, by providing staff with an automated tool to manage and improve cleaning processes, a business will enjoy the added benefits of better workforce communication, higher efficiency, and greater levels of customer and employee satisfaction.
Productivity Measurements
While ensuring a fiscal return on investment is always a priority, being able to accurately measure productivity in the workplace goes a lot deeper than the obvious financial motivations. For example, measuring productivity also allows leaders to identify weaker areas within their staff and work towards improvement through more timely feedback and better allocation of resources. Management engagement with data will also result in higher levels of employee satisfaction and lower levels of burnout.
3. Real-Time Data and Workforce Transparency
High levels of transparency develop a business' credibility and improve the overall perception held by employees, customers, and all other stakeholders. Honesty and transparency also allow faster and better decision-making, which will result in improved workflows altogether.
There are many operational benefits to having access to real-time data throughout a workplace, including, but not limited to, an enhanced ability to detect and overcome day-to-day challenges, better optimization of one's business towards goals, and improved collaboration/teamwork across large workspaces.
Are You Interested in Procuring Workforce Automation Tools?
Preparing your business for a new software implementation requires a few key initial steps: researching and reviewing your operational processes.
As Winvale’s Channel Distribution Partner, Virtual Mgr has the solutions outlined above to promote efficient and compliant workflows in the federal government workforce. Virtual Mgr’s tools are packaged into mobile applications to deliver streamlined results to your team. All aspects of managing a dispersed workforce - including maximizing employee productivity and validating task completion - are enhanced through Virtual Mgr’s powerful software. If you want to dig deeper into your workforce automation needs, learn more about Virtual Mgr’s solutions or check out the case study below.
