Blog
Staffing technology reduces risk, cost and boosts efficiency.
August 16, 2023
Many businesses that rely on shift-based staff are experiencing a severe shortage of workers. At the same time, they confront rising costs on every side.
While facing pressure to attract talent by raising employees’ pay and benefits, businesses must be prepared for possible economic downturns – from recession to natural disasters such as hurricanes, tornados, floods, and fires. This means they need to be able to reduce staff, if necessary, at a moment’s notice.
In times like these, when neither under-staffing nor over-staffing are acceptable and flexibility is critically important, many staffing agencies are struggling to deliver the on-demand talent the industry so urgently needs.
How to get ahead of a rising market
In the highly competitive race to acquire and schedule contingent talent, the leaders will be organizations that can efficiently fill their shifts with workers with the right skills at the right price and the right availability. But the biggest winners will be those who can do this cost-efficiently while minimizing risk.
In today’s high-volume, fast-paced, shift-based environment, corporate recruiters and staffing agencies need to minimize the time spent on repetitive administrative tasks and maximize the time spent finding, qualifying, engaging, and scheduling temporary workers. To protect themselves, they must also ensure that these workers are managed in compliance with all applicable laws, regulations, and company policies.
Automation increases productivity
The best way to increase productivity is to automate the staffing process with fit-for-purpose technology. Manual processes currently in use by most staffing agencies are time-consuming, do not scale easily, and are highly error prone.
The right automation technology not only eliminates redundant data entry but speeds scheduling, timekeeping, invoicing, and payments. It also provides real-time visibility at worksites and creates a much better experience for candidates and workers, allowing them to apply for and accept assignments and even clock in and out via their phones.
Just a few of the features you should expect from today’s staffing automation solutions:
- Shift scheduling, including split shifts, night shifts, weekend shifts, and minimum guaranteed hour shifts
- Worker credentialing
- Attendance management
- SMS/text enabled communications & verifications
- Real-time visibility for your businesses and staffing suppliers, building stronger relationships and reducing the communication burden
- Time in/out; including facial recognition
- Onboarding/offboarding
- Rate calculations for shift differentials
Reduce cost and compliance risk
The right technology can also reduce the two most important risks associated with using non-employee workers:
- Risk of overspending
- Co-employment (misclassification) risk
Organizations that supplement their full-time staff with contingent workers run the risk of overspending if the cost of their non-employee workforce is not properly managed. Hiring must be carefully monitored, rates should be standardized, shift hours controlled, and performance tracked and reported. All of this is much easier and more accurate with the right staffing automation technology.
In addition, it is vitally important to ensure their non-employee workers are properly classified and managed in compliance with all applicable laws, regulations, and company policies. Companies that fail to do so may be considered “joint employers,” making them liable for violations of local, state, and federal labor regulations. This can result in litigation, fines, payment of statutory remittances and employee entitlements, adverse publicity, and reputational damage.
Fortunately, businesses and staffing agencies can protect themselves from co-employment misclassification risks by using compliant management techniques and documenting these procedures via their staffing automation software. By maintaining audit-ready records of employee clock-in/clock-out, payment, tax transactions, and other relevant data, your staffing automation software can protect your company and your clients from compliance risks.
Secure handling of personal data
Another concern businesses must contend with is the protection and management of workers’ personal data. The right staffing automation technology can alleviate these concerns.
The latest technology can ensure proper handling of Personally Identifiable Information (PII), financial data, and other sensitive information. Using information security protocols including data encryption, the software automatically safeguards essential data when it is stored, processed, and transmitted to protect your workers and your business.
Deliver more value – and bulk up your bottom line
Technology can multiply the effectiveness of your recruiting and operations team. First, and most important, it can make everyone more efficient. Second, it can provide visibility into each part of your organization that uses shift-based talent. Third, by providing a single source of truth for all transactions, it can give you the data you need to ensure that your operations are never over-staffed or under-staffed.
You’ll find that the efficiencies you gain from staffing automation technology will deliver benefits both for your daily operations and for your bottom line.
We recently conducted a webinar with representatives of the Recruitment & Employment Confederation (REC) and staffing firm Osborne Appointments on the “Challenges of adopting tech to manage shift workers.” Click here to watch the webinar.
For more information or a demonstration to see how JoinedUp’s smart technology can help you deliver the shift-based talent you need faster and with greater efficiency, visit joinedup.com.
