Softworks Blog

HR directors in the Public Sector have come to realise that In order to drive change and efficiency in these challenging times, they need to be involved in Workforce Management Projects.  It is the workforce who will be instrumental in the successful implementation of an organisation’s objectives.  The recognition of the importance of achieving this buy-in from the entire organisation has prompted active involvement by HR leaders. This involvement proves to other executives and employees, their commitment and their understanding of these projects and the benefits they can bring to the organisation.  They are demonstrating that they want to be consistently used as strategic partner in the organisation and that their knowledge and expertise should be exploited.

Over the last few years, the Public Sector has undoubtedly experienced some of the most radical changes in history. The drive for change and efficiency has never been so important, and this has prompted many HR directors to find new solutions and channels to meet these challenges. 

Why are HR directors fundamental to the successful implementation of a WFM strategy in the Public Sector?

(1)     Strategic Partner Within today's Public Sector, the HR Director is viewed as a strategic partner. In this role, you contribute to the growth and the success of the organisation’s plans and objectives. You are responsible for creating the vision and implementing your Human Resources plans that will assist your organisation to achieve their overall mission and objectives. 

(2)     Employee advocate  As an employee advocate; you play a vital role in the success of your organisation via your expertise and knowledge about employees. Your skills include, knowing how to create a work environment that encourages employee motivation, participation, achievement and job satisfaction.

(3)     Employee Empowerment  Your goal is to create a work environment in which employees are empowered, productive, contributing, and happy.  From here you can attract, recruit and retain the best employees.

(4)     Change champion  More and more you are been called on to champion change. Your knowledge and ability to implement successful change strategies mean that you are extremely valued by the other senior executives.  Your knowledge of how to link change to the strategic requirements of the organisation, minimises employee dissatisfaction and opposition to change.

Leading organisations today realise the importance of aligning all labour costs, with associated revenue and business profitability.  The who, when, where and doing what, needs to be measured effectively and this is where a comprehensive WFM platform plays its part.   Employees get the tools and operating parameters they need, at every level to deploy resource plans and schedules effectively, while delivering top down management controls over payroll overhead, overtime, contract staff, absence management and other major cost drivers in the business.  Easily accessible knowledge of employee time results in faster decision-making, improved scheduling and better labour cost management, which makes organisations more productive and competitive.

Labour is the biggest single overhead in all organisations; yet, it is often overlooked.  

As you are well aware, employee time is one of your organisation’s most valuable yet costly resources.

Modern WFM Solutions go beyond simple time and attendance functionality.  World class companies today are using Softworks WFM solutions to automate flexible working options, optimise labour planning, scheduling & modelling, respond to union and legislation requirements, track and cost projects and manage planned and unplanned absences. Today’s integrated WFM solutions build a bridge between the operational and the strategic elements of the organisation and therefore require that you are actively involved in these projects.

To discuss how Softworks can assist you implement the perfect workforce management strategy, arrange a free, no obligations demo with our team of industry experts today.

What is Biometrics? 

Biometric data may be created from physical or physiological characteristics of a person. These include a fingerprint, an iris, a retina, a face, outline of a hand, an ear shape, voice pattern, DNA, and body odour. Biometric data might also be created from behavioural  data such as hand writing or keystroke analysis. Generally, a digitised template is produced from the biometric data. This template is then compared with one produced when an employee presents at a reader. 

There are two principal types of systems: 

1 - Identification systems, which confirm the identity of an individual;

2 -  Authentication / verification systems, which confirm that a biometric derived from a person who presents at a reader matches another biometric, typically stored on a card and presented simultaneously

Why Choose Biometrics? 

Environment -The nature of the workplace may require high levels of security. Areas containing sensitive information, high value goods or potentially dangerous material may warrant a higher level of security than would areas with low value goods or areas with complete public access.

Error Elimination- Biometrics eliminate the possibility of human error, meaning your data is accurate and always available. 

Efficiency - Ease of administration may necessitate the introduction of a system where other less invasive systems have failed, or proved to be prohibitively expensive to run.

Reliability - If an employer suffers as a result of untrustworthy staff (Commonly referred to as buddy punching), impersonating each other for various reasons

Cost effective - Reduction in costs as there is no need for password administration, user up time or user support

Simplicity - Easiest possible method of employee clocking

Download our Biometric & Access control solutions brochure to find out more. 

To discuss the best option for your business, get in touch by pressing the button below. 

 We often use the term "family comes first" to help prioritise our social lives. However, with parental leave receiving a lot of media attention of late, an increasing number of modern organisations are quickly adjusting to that mantra. Just last week, Netflix introduced a new measure to ensure new parents are accommodated, providing employees with "an unlimited leave policy for new moms and dads that allows them to take off as much time as they want during the first year after a child’s birth or adoption"*. In June 2015, Richard Branson of Virgin also extended his policies "I’m very proud that Virgin Management has introduced a new initiative giving all employees in our London and Geneva offices a year’s full pay for shared parental leave." ** Managing parental leave is simple with the right solution. 

Scheduling

For whichever period of time your organisation chooses to allow for parental leave, adequate cover will be needed to ensure there is no gap in your business.With Softworks Schedule Optimiser you can easily create and configure complex schedules that match labour to forecasted demand and map employee tasks with skills and qualifications to cover the work previously done by the person on parental leave.

Flexible Working

Even with extended leave, returning to work after parental leave is difficult with many parents admitting to feeling a sense of guilt. The financial burden of childcare costs along with matching child care/school timetables with work schedules are a major concern for new parents. Flexible working arrangements are proven to reduce stress, fatigue and improve in focus employees. In order to attract and retain top talent, businesses need to be able to respond to employees demand for non-full-time working hours and/or flexible working time schedules that will assist them to balance work and domestic responsibilities.

Returning to Work 

With Softworks Alerter, actionable alerts will trigger a notification to the employee and manager to complete a return to work interview when the individual has returned from parental leave. 

Does your flexible working solution easily accommodate your organisation's parental or maternity leave policies or allow for flexible working?  Talk to one of our specialised consultants today to discuss how Softworks can implement the perfect solution for your business and your employees.

*Direct quote. See the Netflix blog for more information on why they chose to implement unlimited leave for new parents. 

** See Richard Branson's blog here  on why they chose to extend shared parental leave

Absenteeism is not something that is confined to a few sectors of the economy. It is one of the most persistent obstacles to productivity, profitability and competitiveness. It causes overtime, late deliveries, dissatisfied customers and a decline in employee morale amongst workers who are expected to cover for an absent employee. The indirect costs often exceed the direct cost of absenteeism. Scheduling based on time and a specific number of employees, in turn, becomes a guessing game. Check out our infographic for more information and for top tips on reducing workplace absenteeism. 

Fines range from €1,900 to €15,000 per employee for non-compliance with the Working Time Directive* 

These days it's almost impossible to find a workplace where all employees are office based and working 9 to 5 every day. Between remote working, flexible hours, engineers on site visits, client visits and sales executives touring the country, it's rare to find a single department with set office based schedules, never mind an entire organisation.

Did you know that according to Ireland's employment legislation, every employee's working hours and attendance must be recorded? There are no exceptions to the rule. During our recent NERA audit, we were required to provide comprehensive documentation of working hours from all members of our team. At Softworks we offer flexible and remote working options and we also have engineers, project managers, sales executives and account managers constantly on the move. We were required to produce the following information for all employees, including those out of the office:

1. A record of the number of hours worked by all employees on a daily and weekly basis - including those out of the office.
2. A record of leave granted to employees in each week by way of annual leave or in respect of a public holiday and payment made in respect of that leave;
3. A weekly record of the notification of the starting and finishing time of all employees.
   

Obviously we were able to produce this information easily as we can use our own automated Time and Attendance solutions! We have various options for our employees to register their time and attendance including; PC/Smart Phone clocking and Assumed hours honour based Email Timesheets.  

With Softworks Time and Attendance solutions, ensuring compliance couldn’t be easier. We can assist your organisation to ensure you are prepared for a NERA audit. We make it easy for your organisation to monitor employee attendance without impacting on your company culture.  We can help you build a clear picture of employee attendance through detailed data and reports on attendance, holidays, absenteeism, flexible working and additional hours.

If you would like to explore how our technology could assist you to prepare for a NERA audit and create a “pain” free environment for managing regulatory compliance, get in touch today.

P.S If you have a NERA inspection coming up, you may find our guide useful.

 *depending on the breach of employment rights legislation

We are excited to share this video of the first Softworks Summit with you. Companies from every industry attended and we covered a variety of topics from the Softworks Road Map to Data Analytics. We were also honoured to have DAA share their Softworks journey. 

We look forward to meeting you at our next event. To reserve your place email swsummit@softworks.com

Softworks are excited to be taking part in this years CIPD HR Software Show. We always love the buzzy atmosphere of the conference and meeting so many new businesses. We will be on stand H102 and we would be happy to discuss all your workforce management needs including the latest in Time and Attendance, Sheduling & Rostering, Absence Management, Access Control, Flexible working and Project Tracking. Should you wish to wish to schedule a private meeting to discuss your workforce management needs with one of our experts, please do not hesitate to contact nwalsh@softworks.com 

The exhibition takes place from 17th - 18th of June. You can find out more about the show via this link

Our team look forward to meeting you! 

We are really excited to share our video with you! We had so much fun making it, every person you see in the video is an actual Softworks employee and every meeting that takes place is really us brainstorming on current workforce management topics and solutions. We hope you enjoy it and as always, we welcome your feedback.   

Calling all you there arty students! 

If you had an entire building with huge walls and halls to decorate, what would you do?

Now is your chance to tell us! Softworks are looking to hire fun, creative people for the summer months to design & decorate our Headquarters with a design of your choice.

Softworks employees are pretty cool, out going and colourful people (If we do say so ourselves..) and we need our building to match!

Have a look on our website to find out a little more about what we do & come back to us with a plan of what you think we would like. Best idea wins! We want you to think outside the box and come up with something weird and wonderful! :) 

You may enter as a team or individual. Just email nwalsh@softworks.com to enter! Best of luck!

*P.S We like positive quotes.. 

Details:

Softworks Headquarters in located in Bray, Wicklow. All materials will be provided. Artist will be employed on a temporary contract untill project is completed during standard working hours. References may be required. Softworks are an equal opportunities employer.