Manufacturing in Australia is set to undergo significant change during the next decades, and workforce issues are already beginning to bite. By Nick Bailey.
Right now, skills shortages and a lean cost environment means employee investments can suffer. These challenges come at a pivotal time for the sector. The Federal Government’s $1.3bn Modern Manufacturing Initiative calls for “bold changes that will create strong, resilient, thriving and internationally competitive manufacturing businesses”.
The problem is, growth is challenging without the right skills. The global COVID-19 pandemic has enlivened the local manufacturing sector, which in turn has sparked an investment in technologies on the floor for process automation to boost productivity.
But what about investing in employees? Finding, and keeping, skilled workers is an ongoing challenge, and the pressure won’t ease quickly.
There’s another issue. Manufacturing is one of the biggest employers of deskless workers, but they rarely, or never, have adequate access to a computer to engage with the company.
It’s a problem that has been reflected in studies that reveal deskless workers make up nearly 80% of today’s global workforce, yet a meagre 1% of total enterprise software spend is dedicated to supporting shift workers. Merely the ongoing presence of the low-tech, mechanical “bundy clock” illustrates the lack of commitment that companies have for deskless workers.
So what role can technology play to improve employee productivity and engagement in the manufacturing sector? At Workforce Software we have identified two significant factors: forecasting and optimising schedules.
Modern solutions, such as those provided by WorkForce Suite, help deliver the right staffing mix to meet demand, and provide an easy-to-use interface without sacrificing enterprise-grade capabilities. The key is to facilitate the interactions that matter most in the work life of an employee: accurate pay, pre-planned rosters, managing unplanned absences and leave approval, while still offering powerful predictive capabilities.
Accurate capture of time and attendance data (the new bundy clock) ensures that staff are paid accurately and compliantly because overtime and shift penalties are configured into the system and bridge across into payroll. Employees have transparency over their shifts; they have the ability to fill unplanned absences with the next qualified worker in the queue; and they can see at a glance their leave entitlements for holiday planning, giving them agency over their working lives.
Critically, all this can take place on mobile devices to support deskless workers who need two-way communications and real-time engagement with their employer. For employers, this dynamic transforms the way they engage staff, capture feedback and act on employee sentiment.
WorkForce Software recently announced a key development within its WorkForce Suite solution as the first SaaS (software as a service)-based provider to fully integrate a set of employee experience (EX) capabilities that facilitate meaningful, in-the-moment interactions between managers and their hourly workers. Critical capabilities delivered in the newest release include a social media-style interface for accessing the system and enabling check-ins by managers, who are able to gauge and respond to workers’ needs.
Taking advantage of these digital interactions through WorkForce Suite can drive more effective employee engagement, provide a safer, more compliant work environment, and boost employee retention for greater organisational resilience and agility.
For the employer, artificial intelligence (AI) or machine learning overlaying the data enables leaders to drive momentum in their business. The WorkForce Suite is primed to supply data and recommendations to leaders for daily, even hourly, decision-making and actions, which can be used as a catalyst for growth. For example, it can be employed to predict optimum staffing levels based on demand, or where staff might need to retrain to ensure compliance.
Making smart, fast decisions is crucial to building and maintaining momentum in the sector and ensuring that productivity is optimised – a much easier task when employees are engaged and connected into the process.
Nick Bailey is Senior Vice-President – APJ for Workforce Software.