If you ask the manager of a mobile workforce management software UK. What is the biggest challenge you face. Over 9 out of 10 times you will get the same answer: Maintaining seamless communication with mobile workers is very difficult.
According to an estimate, nearly one in five organizations in the UK have employed a mobile workforce comprising more than 6.7 million people. Besides, the modern business ecosystem in the UK is mobile where employees have to rely on mobile access to deliver value. At a time when digital devices have become common, mobile workforce management software UK has also become a necessity for both workers and managers. These cloud-based solutions allow users to access their desired features and communicate with ease anytime, anywhere.
In this ultimate guide, we will explore key features of mobile workforce management software UK that are essential to succeed in today’s dynamic business landscape.
So, let’s get started.
What is Mobile Workforce Management?
Mobile workforce management (MWM) is defined as the process, tools, and tech to empower field teams and deskless workers. The approach focuses on improvement in the productivity of mobile workforces and effective utilization of remote teams.
Besides, companies with deskless employees deployed in remote areas can use mobile workforce management software UK for performance optimization. With the right cloud-based solutions in place, managers can get real-time insights into their teams and make informed decisions.
This way, mobile workforce management software systems allow managers to effectively collaborate with teams and track their location for workplace safety.
Difference Between Remote Workforce and Mobile Workforce
Many people confuse the remote workforce with a mobile workforce. While in reality, both are entirely different.
The mobile workforce usually operates in the field or a specific geographic area. Mobile employees keep changing their location and use workforce management tools to communicate with the office or share their real-time GPS location history. Typical examples include construction workers, security guards, patrolling teams, delivery staff, technicians, etc.
On the other hand, a remote workforce operates outside the office in a fixed remote location like home. These employees also rely on digital tools and cloud-based collaboration platforms. However, these solutions don’t access the physical location of their staff. For instance, programmers, digital markets, customer service agents, and virtual assistants who work remotely are remote employees.
Key Features of Mobile Workforce Management Software UK
It is now clear that the purpose of mobile workforce management software is to manage deskless employees working in the field. Now, let’s explore which features are essential to make mobile workers more productive and efficient:
1. Time Tracking
The heart of mobile workforce management software UK lies in the time tracking feature. It allows mobile workers to clock in as they reach the service area and clock out once the shift ends. The system automatically records the time spent by deskless workers against each shift.
Eventually, the manager can calculate workable hours for weekly or monthly shifts and view trends to make data-driven decision-making. The software also enables team leads to forecast their staffing needs based on the data provided by the time cards.
2. Automated Scheduling
Manual scheduling is always risky. It’s time-consuming, less efficient, and always prone to human errors. Particularly if you have a large team of mobile workers, creating schedules one by one will take a lot of time. Additionally, you need more resources to complete this job which will increase your operational costs.
Mobile workforce management software can address these problems with the automated scheduling feature. It takes managers a few minutes instead of hours to create schedules for mobile workers across different locations. Everything is available in the dashboard, you just need to drag and drop the information and schedule shifts with a few clicks.
3. Payroll Calculation
Companies with large mobile workforces are often concerned about rising overtime thresholds. The primary reason behind this trend is clocking errors, which result in the wrong calculation of workable hours that directly affect payrolls.
However, mobile workforce management software has an in-built intelligent clock feature that enforces correct clocking. As a result, businesses can reduce errors in payroll calculations and avoid overtime costs. Moreover, the whole process of payroll calculation is fast, quick, and efficient.
4. GPS Location History
Suppose you have deployed a team of security guards on a construction site. All your security guards are directed to patrol sensitive areas and keep an eye on suspicious activities to timely respond to security breaches. As a manager sitting in the control room, how would you make sure your security officers and patrolling the site without watching them?
The answer is mobile workforce management software, which allows supervisors to access the real-time GPS location of deskless workers. With the GPS location management feature, you can track your employees’ location history, create patrol reports online, and avoid expensive buddy-punching problems. The whole process is very smooth and contributes to business growth and development.
5. Real-time Insights
In today’s fast-paced business environment, employers have to make quick decisions to stay ahead of their competitors and achieve their desired goals. For this purpose, they need to stay updated on their team’s performance and get real-time insights on a centralized dashboard.
This is possible with mobile workforce management software UK that centralizes all this information in a single place. You can check how many shifts are currently running and which employees have been deployed at various sites. Moreover, you can download weekly or monthly hourly data and access patrol reports for fair performance evaluation.
Final Words
Mobile workforce refers to the team operating within a broad geographic area with continuous movement. Managing mobile workers is a bit challenging because you have to maintain seamless communication and track their real-time location for better results.
For this purpose, businesses rely on mobile workforce management software UK. It empowers team leaders to make data-driven decisions and get quick updates on mobile team performance. Based on the data provided by these solutions, they can forecast their future staffing needs and make strategic plans to achieve their desired objectives with success.