How a Workforce Management Platform Can Win You New Business
Business is tough right now and likely to stay that way for a while. You need to be doing all you can to keep the customers you have and win new clients.
It may not seem like it, but now is the time to explore how an industry-specific workforce management platform can improve your operations and service delivery and give you a competitive edge. Every cleaning or security shift your employees work puts your services to the test. You need to be assured that everything is running according to plan, and service agreements are being met. But it’s impossible to always be the eyes and ears when you’re working with distributed workforces.
That’s where a technology solution comes in. The right solution built to meet your industry challenges should collect the information you need and provide your guards, cleaners, managers and back-office staff with the essentials they need to do their jobs. Here are four ways a solution custom built for your cleaning or security business’s unique problems can help you retain your current customers and win new business.
1. Quality Assurance
You’re committed to customer service, and you need a workforce management platform to back you up. Look for mobile tools that streamline job site inspections and assess quality standards from the field, then allow you to automatically share that data with your customers.
Inspections and quality assurance features help you analyse trends and resolve deficiencies before they become problems. Checkpoints can be used to perform quick on-site evaluations or inspections. Checkpoint records prove your quality work to your customers, as well as keep your guards and cleaners accountable. You also provide your customers with access to those site-based specifications, as well as training records, quality audit scores and risk assessments — and can see and share results with your teams to improve performance.
2. Scheduling Compliance
Qualified employees are at the heart of every service business. That’s why being able to confidently tell your clients that your employees are properly trained and certified, with data and reports to back you up, could be what tips the scale in your favor. Security contractors must ensure appropriate coverage with qualified officers and handle unexpected schedule changes quickly. And with cleaning demands and customer expectations in flux as health and safety best practices frequently change, you need to know your cleaners are meeting current standards and expectations.
To do this, you need flexible web and mobile tools and real-time information. A workforce management platform built for service businesses like yours makes tracking and updating personnel information seamless. It should allow you to track employee certifications and trainings to align qualifications with open shifts and ensure you have the right person for the right job—every time.
3. Forms and Reporting
It’s not enough for your workforce management platform to collect data and information. You also need to be able to share it with your clients and select individuals within your organisation. Look for a solution that provides both out-of-the-box and custom forms and reports which automate previously written details. And with custom mobile audits and officer inspection forms that you can build in minutes, you can quickly relay security and cleaning quality standards to the right people, attach photos and notes, then confirm information with a digital signature capture.
In addition to sharing information when and where you need it, forms also improve data integrity across your organisation by giving you one source of inputted “truth.” And by eliminating the need to transcribe data from various sources into one system, you also reduce the amount of time it takes to capture details.
4. Employee Engagement
Hiring is hard right now, and you want to do all you can to retain employees and reduce turnover. Engaged employees are satisfied employees, but it can be challenging to feel connected and in communication when your workforce is distributed far and wide. That’s why engaging your staff through a technology offering is so important. It makes up for the lack of face-to-face time and keeps everyone informed and up to date. And when your employees feel empowered, they keep your business competitive and productive—delivering additional ROI through time and money saved and employee retention.
Look for a workforce management platform that offers on-the-go features to give your field-based employees access to job information they need, HR and payroll information, and answers to questions. Your solution should also provide your managers with mobile tools to match available resources with job-site needs at any given moment.
By automating your operations and leveraging information from across your organisation through a workforce management platform, your staff can do more of what’s important — providing your customers with the best possible service. And when your company is operating more efficiently, you’re able to see real improvements to your processes and bottom line. You can then pass along those benefits to your current customers and offer enhanced service options to potential new customers.