Mark Smith's Analyst Perspectives

A key component of workforce management software is to aid in scheduling and tracking time and attendance, streamlining interactions between managers and employees regarding these aspects of the job and promoting compliance with corporate and regulatory policies. WorkForce Software has been growing rapidly over the last decade while meeting these needs with an application suite that covers issues from leave management to case management. Its product helps businesses deal with overlapping regulations from federal and state governments, union contracts and corporate-level policies, and is being deployed in industries such as education, utilities, banking, the public sector, entertainment and transportation, especially in midsize organizations looking for workforce efficiency. The company is expanding its global reach through its partners and distribution channel.  

The WorkForce Software application suite is built around EmpCenter and is available in several deployment modes: in the cloud through software as a service, licensed and installed on-premises or run in a hosted environment. The suite covers time and attendance, absence compliance, advanced scheduling, employee fatigue management and analytics. The Web-based application suite has a user-friendly interface. It includes a variety of data collection options for gaining time and attendance information from a range of existing technologies. It supports interactive voice response (IVR) as another means to get information from employees. WorkForce Software also provides a product for midsize organizations called EmpCenter Express that was announced earlier in 2011.

WorkForce Software now provides access to its software via mobile technology on smartphone platforms including RIM Blackberry, Apple iPhone and Android-based devices through EmpCenter ToGo. The software makes it easy for managers to see work-related information, updates from employees and required approvals. I expect to see further advances in mobility as the variety of tablets and smartphones continues to expand, forcing organizations to support a broader set of choices in employees’ personal devices. I tried to access the applications from my iPhone and its App Store, but it’s not easy to find; it is part of what is called Vortex Connect, which houses the application and access to EmpCenter. I found no freely accessible demonstration available to try, but the screenshots and reviews make the software look simple, with the ability to perform a range of employee and manager tasks. 

Our workforce analytics benchmark research found that people in organizations spend two-thirds of their time on data-related activities that require automation. Toward this end WorkForce Software provides a packaged library of reports in EmpCenter Analytics and offers the ability to build reports using SAP Crystal Reports technology. It also supports a common data store into which users can import other business-related data about employees and supporting accounting and operational data. The analytics software can show customized views that highlight critical exceptions. I advise the company to make these analytics and metrics available via mobile devices in future releases.  

WorkForce Software also addresses an issue sometimes overlooked: worker fatigue that can come from not enough time off between shifts or other causes managers notice. Handling this is critical in every industry but especially in ones where workers can impact other people through direct action, such as healthcare, transportation or energy, or indirectly through guidance, as in the airline industry and emergency response. WorkForce Software has blended into EmpCenter FM a means to ensure that employees designated fatigued cannot be scheduled, along with auditing and compliance features. 

WorkForce Software is meeting the needs of global customers by supporting localization of applications in other languages, including those that use double-byte characters in Asia Pacific and ones that require right-to-left reading. The current version 8.1 is expected to be supplanted by a new version before the end of the year with new capabilities but a continued focus on usability and functionality. 

WorkForce Software offers a solid foundation of customer- and team-focused applications for workforce management. We will look at it again in upcoming benchmark research on the next generation of workforce management processes and applications, with a focus on collaboration and mobility among managers and employees. The company competes in workforce management with suppliers such as DayForce, Infor and Kronos. WorkForce Software’s ability to manage worker fatigue and policy compliance are distinguishing points of its applications, as is easy mobile access to the application suite across multiple devices. If you are considering adopting workforce management applications, we advise you to put WorkForce Software on your list of providers. 

Regards,

Mark Smith – CEO & Chief Research Officer