Outsourcing Beyond Payroll Rise of Total Workforce Management Solutions

To stay ahead of the competitive business environment and efficiently manage evolving workforce needs, organisations can no longer manage their workforces in silos. With leaders investing in contingent workers, combined with the continued management of a traditional workforce, this presents significant payroll challenges to the HR department. To bring this entire management into a central ecosystem, organisations are increasingly turning to technology that drives total workforce management solutions.

What is total workforce management?

Total workforce management, as defined by SAP, refers to the strategy of managing both full-time and contingent workers using a single, cohesive system. This centralised strategy allows organisations to better understand human capital costs, streamline administrative HR tasks and offer a holistic overview of all employees – leading to higher levels of efficiency and productivity. This increased visibility empowers business leaders to better plan and prepare for unexpected business challenges, enabling organisations to pivot as needed when the market shifts.

Key aspects of total workforce management

As its name suggests, total workforce management goes beyond managing payroll. It encompassess an array of HR functions that allow HR to onboard, oversee and pay both traditional and contingent workers, as well as accurately plan headcount resources, fill roles faster, and close crucial talent and learning gaps. The first step towards embracing total workforce management is by adopting technology that enables seamless connection across multiple HR functions and offering a centralised platform for sourcing, hiring and managing traditional and contingent workers.

Talent acquisition & onboarding

Total workforce management solutions help to modernise and streamline direct sourcing, which reduces the need to use third-party services. Software platforms that support total workforce management often come with built-in recruitment tools that facilitate direct sourcing, enabling HR to manage the end to end recruitment to onboarding lifecycle for both traditional and contingent workers seamlessly. This integrated approach empowers HR to do all their direct sourcing, whether it is for full-time employees or contingent workers, while enhancing the overall candidate experience.

Performance management & development

A total workforce management solution streamlines performance management processes across both traditional employees and contingent workers by enabling them to set career goals, view feedback and identify skills gaps. Confining these activities to a single system enables HR to strengthen performance management for the complete workforce by aligning individual goals with team and corporate objectives, while introducing initiatives that nurture employee growth.

Workforce planning & analytics

Total workforce management solutions offer HR with full transparency over its complete workforce. The data gathered allows HR to analyse and uncover trends and insights, which facilitates informed decisions around workforce planning, staffing levels, and retention and engagement strategies.

Benefits administration

On top of payroll, administering benefits can be a tedious and manual function. Leveraging total workforce management solutions integrate benefits administration and management for both traditional employees and contingent workers. This offers a centralised view for HR when it comes to delivering individualised health and wealth programmes as well as employee assistance initiatives across its workforce.

What are the benefits of a total workforce management system?

The benefits associated with incorporating a total workforce management system as part of the overall HR strategy are multifold. Benefits include:

Enhanced efficiencies & accuracy

A total workforce management system platform centralises key HR information and details that were once stored in silos.  This reduces duplicated data entries and improves data accuracy when it comes to managing traditional and contingent workers. Given that data visibility and insights are critical in today’s highly competitive talent environment, a total workforce management system enables organisations and business leaders to better understand their talent pool and make better data-driven decisions.

Adaptable & agile workforce

Total workforce management solutions often come with dashboards to offer HR and business leaders a complete view of the entire workforce. Coupled with the increased data quality, this offers greater visibility for HR in terms of workforce planning, talent acquisition, budgeting and operational planning. Organisations are then in a better place to respond swiftly to changing market conditions and evolving workforce dynamics, increasing the workforce’s agility and adaptability.

Strategic alignment with corporate objectives

With greater visibility and the use of integrated technologies, business leaders are able to better understand each aspect of their workforce, identify potential inefficiencies and areas of needs, and create a holistic workforce strategy that is aligned with the organisation’s long-term goals.

Improved employee experience

With total workforce management, organisations are able to manage their workforce collectively and spearhead new and meaningful experiences for both traditional and contingent workers. This may mean giving the same career opportunities and training for the collective workforce, which in turn, create stronger linkage and connection among all employees. Concurrently, this empowers and stimulates existing employees, cultivates inclusivity, and builds higher levels of engagement and satisfaction.

As organisations continue to navigate the ever-changing talent landscape, dynamic market conditions, and rise of contingent workforce, total workforce management solution is a transformative approach that can unlock the flexibility and continuity that organisations require today. Beyond traditional payroll outsourcing, total workforce management integrates a wide spectrum of HR functions, which offers increased visibility in managing both traditional and contingent workforce. When the workforce is managed collectively, coupled with integrated technology, this enables organisations to increase their agility and give them a competitive edge in the long run.

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