5 ways to upskill your workforce

Companies are changing their work environment with innovative solutions. If you are not in the game of improving your work and business heroes, you are lacking somewhere. Achieving success can be a hard time if you do not count on professionals ready to complete new and hard tasks effectively. This is why hiring a workforce with the necessary knowledge and skills to enhance the overall growth of your business is of utter importance.

In this article, you will learn about management, employee planning, tips to improve your employees’ productivity, and how we can help you find the best candidates for your company.

1. Defining workforce
2. What is workforce management?
3. Benefits of labor force management
4. Five ways to upskill your workforce
5. What is workforce planning?
6. Why is labor force planning important?
7. How can The Talent Point help you find the best workforce for your company?

1. Defining workforce

The workforce, also known as the labor force, is the pool of employees who are currently working in the company. It generally refers to employees of a particular business or from the public or private sector. But it may also refer to a geographic area such as a state, city, or nation.

The importance of the business can be defined as its “workforce in place”. Other aspects of the labor force constitute the following:

• The word, generally, refers to people who work in manual labor and it does not include managers and employers.
• Both unemployed and working people constitute a country’s population.
• This concept may even refer to someone who is looking for a job.

1.1 Qualities of a good workforce

The ideal worker fits in your company culture and the core values that your organization represents. He or she would also bring several positive changes to your business. To help you implement a good labor force, you can always count on The Talent Point, the best job search platform you will find in the Middle East. With us, you can find a wide range of professionals ready to offer you a high-quality job.

To find the best employee, here is our list of qualities for a good labor force:

• Passionate: Passionate employees are engaged employees. A worker might get the job done, but you will see the difference in the worker’s long-term performance. A dispassionate employee, sooner or later, will show signs of decreased productivity and lacking motivation.

• Confident: The value of self-confidence is often underestimated. Without confidence, human work is mainly relegated to untapped potential. Without confident employees, there is no action and influence.

• Team player: Teams are what makes a company successful, and teams need reliable members to reach their full potential. When workers share responsibilities, it becomes crucial that every single one holds up their end of the job. 

• Good communication skills: Having good communication skills is undoubtedly one of the most essential qualities for a worker. People who communicate effectively with customers, team members, and managers are ideal employees. 

2. What is workforce management?

This is how employers strategically allocate resources and people, comply with constantly changing workplace regulations and laws, and track attendance. Ultimately, the objectives are to reduce risk and optimize productivity. When workforce management (WFM) is part of cutting-edge software, it can also help businesses enhance customer service, improve employee relations and create a positive financial impact.

2.1 How does workforce management work?

Labor force management uses machine learning and historical data to predict future staffing needs. It creates schedules that best suit the forecasted model and automatically tracks employee attendance and time.

2.2 Functions and features of labor force management

A good labor force management should be able to do the following:

• Scheduling: When creating schedules, employers have the opportunity to select workers based on a number of criteria, including skills, preferences, experience, etc. Employees can also exchange shifts with one another.

• Labor forecasting: Fluctuations in consumer demands, holidays, and even the weather can make it a hard time to maximize or even stay within labor budgets. By keeping in mind these scenarios, employers can anticipate factors that may lead to over or understaffing.

• Time tracking: A good WFM captures data at the source (mobile apps, time clocks, web-based time sheets, kiosks, etc.) and automatically apply specific business rules to help ensure efficient and accurate payroll processing.

• Overtime management: WFM systems will generate alerts when an employee’s working hours will trigger overtime or if an employee tries to work extra time without authorization.

• Mobile accessibility: From a mobile device, workers can edit schedules or fill shift vacancies. This feature facilitates employers to ensure optimal coverage, even when workers are not in their workplace.

• Regulatory compliance: Configuring work and pay rules makes it easier to comply with wage and hour laws, collective bargaining agreements, and other employer policies. The system can also provide timecard audit trails, which can be an invaluable tool to limit exposure in the event of a dispute.

3. Benefits of labor force management

The right WFM, when implemented and used effectively, can help employers…

• Improve productivity: Benchmark allows management to cross-reference their attendance and time data against businesses that are similar in size or the same industry or region. If their employee is not measuring up to the competition, they can take corrective action.

• Control costs: Excessive overtime, overstaffing, and other costly expenses can be minimized by using technology to forecast labor needs. With some advanced WFM solutions, employers can keep tabs on how budgets are impacted by schedules.

• Run payroll with greater accuracy: Having a WFM will make your payroll more reliable because it automatically analyzes hourly labor and identifies patterns of overtime. Manual calculations and repetitive data are also eliminated, thereby minimizing human errors.

• Create smarter schedules: With real-time data at their fingertips, the management can quickly identify shift vacancies and fill them before they result in an understaffed situation. 

• Minimize compliance risk: Having an automated workflow that tracks employee eligibility and leaves balances allows easy compliance with state labor laws. In addition to this, the online recordkeeping available in the WFM software is helpful if there is ever an audit by a government agency.

4. Five ways to upskill your workforce

On The Talent Point, you will find only the best employees the Middle East can offer. Your workforce will be highly improved once you visit our job site and start hiring top talent from our multiple talented professionals. 

After you recruit your ideal candidate from a wide range of countries, there are some things you can do to upskill your labor force. For example:

4.1 Find the initial areas and skills

Check the departments in your company that require transformation and do the necessary changes to improve the environment and productivity of your labor force. Another thing you can do is identify the skills that can improve the staff’s ability to contribute to the highest return on investment.

In short, prioritize the section in the firm that needs the changes and benefits the entire system. After knowing what it is, provide the necessary resources to help in the long run. This will help you enhance the departments that can make a significant impact.

4.2 Encourage employees to join courses and training programs

Some skills can only be perfected by following a complete training program. Enrolling in a professional course with a busy schedule can be a difficult task that can take time to finish. However, you can schedule the work and learning for your labor force, so they do not feel the pressure to meet deadlines.

Many technologies like Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence, and Cloud Computing can be extremely beneficial if they know how to use them.

In other words, planning professional courses will add advantages to your company later.

4.3 Motivation for self-training

One way of upscaling the abilities of your staff is by inspiring them to continue their self-training. You can organize competitions to reward employees for learning the new skills by themselves. The more certifications they get, the more opportunities you will have to use the intelligence of your employees to target more advanced projects in your field. Therefore, you should give additional benefits to your workers to keep them motivated.

4.4 Application of the learned skills

Learning the new concepts will empower your business if you allow professional employees to apply the learned skills. Whether they use their knowledge on client projects or house projects, the outcome after completing the process will give them the confidence to keep learning modern solutions and use them for faster and more efficient results.

Applying the acquired knowledge is a necessary practice to know about the considerations and issues that will help your team sharpen their minds. It is also a good way to prepare for future projects.

4.5 Maintain a learning culture

A comfortable environment to learn new things allows employees to add new skills to their Curriculum Vitae. However, maintaining a culture is not a job for a single person, it depends on the collaboration of the whole management to act as coaches and offer complete guidance to study. After the management makes their contribution, the outcome will be building a robust organization in the market.

5. What is workforce planning?

Workforce planning is the process of forecasting, analyzing, and planning labor force supply and demand. It involves examining current and future personnel needs, identifying gaps between supply and demand, and reviewing the current staff. By identifying gaps, companies can ensure that they have properly-skilled employees in the correct roles. This supports the management in maintaining efficient operations and achieving its goals.

Companies can use labor force planning to establish their hiring strategies appropriately. It helps them identify who they need to hire, when they should do it and why it is important to hire them. There are two common planning models that a company can use:

5.1 Operational workforce planning

This model focuses on individual planning in an effort to streamline daily employees’ operations. It is beneficial in helping employers develop daily work schedules for employees and assisting workers in maintaining productivity throughout the day and understanding their responsibilities. 

This model includes elements of talent management to help distribute the employee through the organization. This distribution can facilitate the identification of possible staffing gaps within the company or find roles or processes that no longer support the success of the organization.

5.2 Strategic workforce planning

This model focuses on broader issues within the company, and it helps ensure the labor force aligns with the company’s overall goals, objectives, and long-term vision. It may involve planning for goals that require years or months.

6. Why is labor force planning important?

Having an effective labor force is essential for supporting the overall success of the company and ensuring it meets its long-term goals. It is effective in providing a strategy for evaluating the current labor force, particularly for defining whether the current employees have the appropriate skills to comply with the business needs. This allows companies to identify potential gaps easily and start successful hiring processes.

7. How can The Talent Point help you find the best workforce for your company?

The Talent Point is a platform designed to connect companies and job hunters looking to boost their careers, allowing both parties to communicate efficiently, affordably, and quickly.

In our platform, you will have the opportunity to meet professionals from several fields and positions. For example, healthcare, IT software and hardware, construction, and more.

Get started now and register! By following simple steps, you will be ready to post a new job and start your recruiting process. You will quickly start receiving applications from the most qualified professionals in our platform. Because candidates can also create an account with ease, this journey is beyond simplified.

If you are in the need to improve your workforce, do not wait and join The Talent Point. By choosing us you will benefit from our:

• Job searching tips
• Career advice
• Resume writing
• Motivation advice
• And more!

Would you like to know how you can upskill your employees with the help of The Talent Point? You can contact us via email or through a phone call at +971 43 316 688 for us to answer any questions you may have. On the other hand, if you wish to work with our team, you can also send us your CV to [email protected].