Unify those far away workplaces with global mobility tools

Expanding from a domestic business to a global entity is an exciting prospect. Yet tapping into new worldwide markets brings a unique set of workforce management challenges.

Success depends on a variety of factors but it ultimately comes down to building a consistent, equitable plan to manage employees at home and abroad. Implementing a workforce management software solution that can track and facilitate the needs of a global workforce is crucial to successfully developing an organization’s worldwide ambitions.

A global workforce balancing act

How executives supervise their workforce in one country may vastly differ in another nation for many reasons. What motivates an employee in Argentina will likely vary from a worker with the same title and responsibilities in Belarus or Pakistan.

Studies also have shown that while a population in one country prefers a particular management style, that same approach probably is not as effective in another country. Other differences can include:

Holiday celebrations.

Social attitudes.

Cultural backgrounds.

Language and currency.

Unifying global employees

Despite the myriad differences that come with managing a global workforce, there are common bonds and responsibilities all employees share.

Also read: Global workforce management is complex but more relevant in the remote workplace

They all work for the same organization. As such, human resources leaders should work with heads of other departments and regional managers to create uniform workforce management precedents, policies and standards that cross all borders and incorporate relevant and useful tools for all employees to use no matter where they are located.

Technology and a global workforce management system

When choosing an automated workforce management solution for a global company, organizations should seek ease of use through mobility tools that can quickly show a return on investment. Workforce management software enables savings by:

• Controlling labor costs — Workforce management software cuts costs beginning with the initial clock in by eliminating time theft due to employee fraud. Automating payroll processes also minimizes the need for supervisors to make interpretations and ensures strict compliance with corporate policies.
• Boosting employee productivity — Managers can monitor when their employees punch in and when they actually begin work. A mobile solution can help spot an excessive time lag and can immediately investigate the causes no matter where the employee is located.
• Minimizing risk — Implementing a global workforce management system can provide key regulatory requirements up front and provide alerts to ensure organizations can comply with regional regulations consistently and with confidence.

Mobile solutions ease the burden

Managers need to know where global staff is at any given moment. Whether it’s due to crisis communications during a natural disaster or monitoring employee safety through their whereabouts on a particular job site, mobile workforce management solutions allow managers to  quickly identify and assess staff safety and location through a platform’s photo-verified clock in system.

GPS also plays a key role in global workforce management. Timesheets can automatically sync GPS locations of all employees when they clock in and clock out, so there’s no need to worry about an employee’s whereabouts.

For a number of organizations operating in industries that function globally, pay rates also can get complicated. By implementing the Workforce.com platform, employees’ GPS clock in data automatically assigns pay rates depending on registered location, saving employers valuable time and payroll administrators the headache and complexities of computing pay.

Integrate Workforce.com’s time clock app with payroll and POS systems already in use and have those far-away employees available in an instant via your mobile device.