workforce management reset 2020: strategy and implications

WorkforceManagementRESET2020

Strategy and Implications for Changing Times

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Workforce Management RESETOver the past few months, unprecedented events have challenged the veryfundamentals of how we function and operate. This disruption has spilled into allaspects of our personal and professional life. It has impacted business andcommerce, resulting in re-definition of work, the workplace and more importantlythe workforce.

This 2020 joint study between SHRM India and Kronos India explores the variouschallenges organizations are dealing with in managing their workforce and howthey are gearing up to address them. It identifies and reinforces how humanwellness in the form of employee health and safety has emerged as paramountand has become critical to all current organizational initiatives and priorities. Forthe purpose of this study, respondents were asked to segregate their inputs into:▪ Remote staff (completely working from home)▪ Workplace staff (required to be on-premises all the time)▪ Composite staff (flexible to be on-premises as well as operate remotely)

The study collates survey and interview responses from 238 CHROs and HR Headsto outline a clear and distinct set of needs emerging for each of the aforesaidworkforce categories, irrespective of industry, organization size or otherdimensions. Further the study aims to deliver data-driven recommendations onhow to leverage workforce management strategies to achieve the balancebetween productivity and costs while keeping employee health & safety as thekey priority.

90% organizations see a workforce shortage already or over the coming months.

Top Contributing Factors#1. Temporary Migration of Labour#2. Quarantine & Isolation Norms

Utilization & productivity continues to be a key focus area for 78% manufacturing and 66% service organizations.

SHRM-KRONOS FUTURE OF WORK - TRENDS AT WORK & WORKPLACE STUDY 2020. ©. All Rights Reserved.

WORKFORCE CHALLENGES

Small-size organizations (500-2,500 employees) believe they are better prepared to address the challenges.52% service organizations feel capturing employee availability and preferences will be key to enabling workplace staff.

44% organizations believe remote working policy will be key to enable the workforce.Going forward, key policies for attracting and retaining talent would be:#1. Flexible working#2. Safe Transport (Employee pick-up/drop)#3. Workplace Sanitation & Hygiene

Top Challenges

Remote Staff Workplace Staff#1. Workforce Availability & Utilization #1. Employee Health & Safety#2. Technology & Infrastructure Access #2. Implementing Social Distancing

BRAVINGTHE UNKNOWN

Employee health & safetyis the topmost priority for all.

Clear emergence of divergentneeds for remote vs workplace

staff, irrespective of industry,organization size, or other

factors.

ENABLING TECHNOLOGIES

Top Focus Areas

Remote Staff#1. Data Security & Confidentiality#2. Workplace Policies & SOPs

Workplace Staff#1. Health & Safety#2. Leave & Vacation Policies

POLICIES & PROCESSESUTILIZATION & COSTS

Organizations are primarily relying on work/ activity monitoring tools including timesheets to enable workplace and remote staff.There is scope for further automating 24x7 operations scheduling, flexible shift timings, and workforce availability & utilization.

50%+ organizations believe productivity for their remote staff has increased.Workforce costs have increased - for both workplace as well as remote staff.More than 1/3rd organizations believe visibility to daily employee costs will help optimize it.

Top Measures

Improving Utilization & Productivity#1. Flexible Work Timings#2. Multi-skilled/Flexible Workforce#3. Rewards & Incentives

Driving Cost Optimization#1. Re-skilling & Training Employees#2. Cross-functional Team Staffing#3. Cutting Discretionary Spends

Top Enabling Technologies

Remote Staff Workplace Staff#1. Cloud Technology #1. Contactless Entry/Exit/Attendance#2. Work/Activity Monitoring #2. Scheduling & Staffing Solutions

#1Employee Health and Safety will continue to be the top priority

#2Get the balancing act right – Productivity, Costs & Compliance!

#3Future of Automating Workforce Management: Interaction & Integration

FUTURE TRENDS

Workforce Management RESET: At a GlanceClick on each section to explore more

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BRAVING THE UNKNOWN

So all of us are in the same storm, but we are indifferent boats with different new normals.

- T N Hari [HR Head, BIGBASKET]

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New challenges inchanging times

Disruptive forces over the past few months havecompelled organizations to operate remotely, andstrongly established remote staff as a distinctworkforce category vis-à-vis workplace staff whocan only work in office premises. The uncertaintyaround when things will return to normal combinedwith the limited ability to operate in premises isleading to a new set of priorities and challenges –both for workplace as well as remote staff.

Organizations irrespective of sector, size, strength oremployee type are primarily focusing on employeehealth and safety. 48% organizations areexperiencing this challenge for workplace staff incombination with workplace sanitization andhygiene. Another key challenge is workforceavailability and utilization, and one out of every fourorganizations is facing it for both their workplaceand remote staff. Overall, small-size organizationsare more confident in meeting these challenges ascompared to their mid-size and large peers.

Workforce Management RESET 2020 >> Braving the Unknown

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Organization Size: Small (500-2,500 employees) | Mid (2,501-5,000 employees) | Large (>5,000 employees)

TOP CHALLENGES

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Divergent priorities are emergingfor remote staff and is clearly distinct from the needs and challenges of workplace staff.For example, access to technology and infrastructure is a distinct and top challenge forremote workforce across both manufacturing and service organizations. 37%manufacturing organizations are also seeing policies and workforce compliance as akey challenge, which may result in a new set of workplace SOPs and processes for remotestaff.

Despite all complexities and challenges, operational and transactional processes such asemployee hiring, on-boarding and off-boarding have continued as usual andorganizations are finding it as the least challenging.

Workforce Management RESET 2020 >> Braving the Unknown


MANUFACTURING SERVICE

1 Employee health & safety (69%) 1 Employee health & safety (63%)

2 Workplace sanitation & hygiene (62%) 2 Implementing social distancing (62%)

3 Implementing social distancing (61%) 3 Workplace sanitization & hygiene (54%)


1 Access to technology &Infrastructure (41%) 1 Workforce availability & utilization

(62%)

1 Employee health & safety (41%) 2 Access to technology &Infrastructure (56%)

2 Policies & workforce compliance (37%) 3 Employee health & safety (53%)

WORKPLACE STAFF

REMOTE STAFF

All figures in % indicate percentage of total respondents

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Employee health & safety is the topmostchallenge for manufacturingorganizations across both workplace and remote staff. Additionally workplace staff are finding workplace sanitization &hygiene and implementing social distancing to be the other top concerns.

Manufacturing organizations are also concerned with access to technology and infrastructure and policies andworkforce compliance, especially for their remote staff. This has significant implications for the shop-floor as well as thedistribution network, which will continue to remain impacted as regulatory and other guidelines on social distancing andpermitted physical presence evolve over time.

Today we are managing through installing bifurcations, creating alot of awareness around these protocols, installing 24x7 CCTVmonitoring to check if employees are maintaining socialdistancing, billboards recognizing champions on social distancingand many more such interventions. A lot of employees come inasymptomatic – therefore, we had to resort to multiple levels ofchecking to drive the importance of health and safety.

- Ritu Kochhar [Head HR, PERFETTI VAN MELLE INDIA]

Workforce Management RESET 2020 >> Braving the Unknown >> Manufacturing

“Organization Size: Small (500-2,500 employees) | Mid (2,501-5,000 employees) | Large (>5,000 employees)

Access to technology & infrastructure

All figures in % indicate percentage of total respondentsWorkplace Staff Remote Staff

CHALLENGES FOR MANUFACTURING

Managing workforce costs

Employee hiring, onboarding & offboarding

Employee health & safety

Workplace sanitization & hygiene

Implementing social distancing

Employee engagement & motivation

Workforce availability & utilization

Policies & workforce compliance

Visibility to employee availability & presence

Training & skill development

69%41%

62%30%

61%34%

42%36%

34%37%

36%

32%33%

24%36%

33%

21%41%

14%20%

34%

24%



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Manufacturing is lessprepared to address thetop challenges

Ensuring employee health and safety and implementing socialdistancing remain a key challenge for the workplace staff. Since,manufacturing organizations aren’t adequately prepared to deal withthese, it is imperative for business and HR leaders to leveragetechnology tools and techniques to better manage such concerns.

41% manufacturing organizations are finding access to technologyand infrastructure for remote staff as an issue. About 60% of them feelthey are not adequately prepared to address it. Given the uncertaintyaround the proportion of workforce which can operate at theworkplace and for how long, organizations may need to criticallyassess and balance the amount of investment they wish to maketowards technology and infrastructure for enabling their remoteworkforce.

Workforce Management RESET 2020 >> Braving the Unknown >> Manufacturing


Workforce availability & utilization Policies and workforce compliance





Employee hiring, on-boarding & off-boarding processes














TopChallenge

BottomChallenge

BottomChallenge

TopChallenge

HighPreparedness

LowPreparedness

HighPreparedness

LowPreparedness

WORKPLACE STAFF

REMOTE STAFF

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Availability and utilization of remote staff isthe top challenge for serviceorganizations followed by access to technology and infrastructure.

Mirroring the same challenges as in manufacturing and in the exact order, employee health and safety, workplacesanitization and hygiene and implementing social distancing are emerging as the top concerns for workplace staff inservice organizations.

The retail distribution through our channel partners have come to astandstill and only now are opening up. That's where we are goingto see sort of a hybrid or composite workforce. We will have a verysmall percentage of maybe 2% or 1%, who are necessarily requiredto come to work… We feel that even in branches, a lot of work canhappen from home. We are looking at constraining our hours ofoperation hence.

- Vikram Tandon [Head HR, HSBC India]

Workforce Management RESET 2020 >> Braving the Unknown >> Service



CHALLENGES FOR SERVICE











Employee hiring, onboarding & offboarding

46%62%

33%56%

63%53%

36%47%

26%44%

44%

43%43%

62%41%

34%36%

54%36%

33%

Workplace Staff Remote Staff

22%

20%

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Service feels it is betterprepared to address thetop challenges

While 62% of service organizations are identifying implementingsocial distancing as a critical challenge, 74% of them areprepared to address it (compared to 48% in manufacturing). Thepreparedness on employee health and safety aspects in serviceorganizations (72%) is also better than that of manufacturingorganizations (56%).

56% of services organizations are finding access to technologyand infrastructure as the key challenge for their remote staff.67% of them believe they are adequately prepared to address itcompared to 40% in manufacturing.

While overall three of four ITES organizations felt they wereprepared to address social distancing at the workplace, thepicture was different in other industries like retail, BFSI andlogistics where 38% continue to believe their organizations areunprepared to do so which is almost the same as in the case ofmanufacturing organizations.

Workforce Management RESET 2020 >> Braving the Unknown >> Service



Access to technology and infrastructure




















Employee engagement and motivation

TopChallenge

BottomChallenge

BottomChallenge

TopChallenge

HighPreparedness

LowPreparedness

HighPreparedness

LowPreparedness

WORKPLACE STAFF

REMOTE STAFF

WORKFORCE UTILIZATION & COSTS

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More than 90% organizations see a workforceshortagealready or expect one over the coming months, primarily arising out of temporarymigration of labour and quarantine &isolation norms. Comparatively, the attribution of this shortage to permanent migration of labour is significantly lower,and it may be hence inferred that this workforce shortage may only create a short-term impact. Also, organizationsengaging a higher proportion of contract workforce are seeing a greater workforce shortage, especially frompermanent as well as temporary migration of labour, quarantine and isolation norms, and technology hiccups forremote work.

More than one-fourth of the respondent organizations attributed absenteeism as a contributing factor to workforceshortage. Of these, 78% manufacturing and 67% service organizations also identify employee health and safety as a keychallenge for workplace staff. Therefore, health-related absenteeism may be a significant factor for consideration ofmanufacturing organizations, and may lead to specific policies in the future.

Technology hiccups for remote work is resulting in workforce shortage for service organizations more thanmanufacturing. Over 64% of these service organizations have identified lack of access to proper technology andinfrastructure as one of the their key challenges.

Workforce Management RESET 2020 >> Workforce Shortage


WORKFORCE SHORTAGE


Temporary migration of labour

Quarantine & isolation norms

Absenteeism

Technology hiccups for remote work

Permanent migration of labour

Availability of fixed-term/contract staff

No Shortage

Not sure

61%50%

55%55%

31%25%

28%42%

27%33%

24%38%

9%9%

2%1%

Manufacturing Service

One, of course, is the migrant issue which has impacted us. The other thing is that even thelocals coming in from nearby villages are very skeptical. In case they contract COVID, theywould not be allowed back into the village. This situation required a lot of intervention andcommunication from our end, to build that trust that we as an organization are committedto maintaining 100% protocol to ensure employee safety… Due to these efforts, the workforcepercentage has gone up in our plants now. Our construction agencies are also facing asimilar problem with the local labour… So keeping these in mind, labour shortage is definitelyexisting and we are working day by day on the same.

- Lopamudra Banerjee [Deputy Director HR – SE Asia & Head HR, CARRIER MIDEA]

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Availability of people was a challenge. Even if people were available, the bigger question wehad was – If I’m going to run the factory with only 33% of people, Do I have all the critical skillsrequired present? I can’t have all finance guys or maintenance guys coming into office whilethe rest are not. I need to have the right balance of that 33% coming into work where I havecall the requisite skills which are required for the manufacturing to happen.

- Amit Sharma [VP & Head HR, VOLVO Group]

Workforce Management RESET 2020 >> Workforce Shortage

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“

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Productivity of remote staff has increasedas per 68% respondent organizations. This trend is consistent across sector and organization size. Of these, 41% service and31% manufacturing organizations believe the rise to be 10% or higher

For workplace staff, there is a clear dip in productivity across 33% manufacturing as well as 32% large organizations. Theservice sector is divided with almost an equal number of respondent organizations experiencing either increase ordecrease in workforce productivity.

Workforce Management RESET 2020 >> Workforce Utilization & Productivity


TRENDS IN WORKFORCE PRODUCTIVITY

REMOTE STAFF: MANUFACTURING

REMOTE STAFF: SERVICE

31%15%24%11%4%

WORKPLACE STAFF: MANUFACTURING

WORKPLACE STAFF: SERVICE

41%12%13%11%3%

15%9%13%16%17%

11%12%14%10%9%

Up by up to 10% Up by 10% or more Minor or no changeNot able to measure Not sure/not relevantDown by 10% or more Down by up to 10

Baseline

Employees realize thatduring these adversesituations, they too need toserve beyond and areaccordingly rising up to theoccasion. I see an increasein productivity and also theiroutput from a quality pointof view as well. There areenough and more physicaland intellectual resourcesthat are powering up ouremployees. So, there is asense of confidence andthis combined with a senseof pride is contributing tohigher level of productivity.

- Vinay Jaswal[HR Head – South West Asia,

INTERCONTINENTAL Hotels Group]

“2% 5%

3% 9%

5% 8%

4% 9%

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Measuring workforce utilization & productivitycontinues to be a priorityas per majority of manufacturing and service organizations.

Individual accomplishment of targets and goals is the topmost measure of workforce utilization and productivity forservice organizations. Manufacturing organizations are more reliant on ratio of tasks completed per unit of time andtracking employee activity and time spent on different tasks.

Compared to 2019 (as identified during SHRM-Kronos Study), service organizations are now utilizing individualaccomplishment of targets and goals as a primary measure of productivity. While the usage of only this measure hasgone up, all other measures of productivity such as ratio of employee cost to revenue/profit generated, ratio of taskscompleted per unit of time, adherence to deadlines for tasks assigned, billable hours per employee, spans of control andmanagerial layers, and unplanned absenteeism have dipped significantly in 2020 vis-a-vis 2019.

35% of service organizations rely on spans of control and managerial layers towards measuring workforceproductivity/utilization. 65% of them see a workforce shortage arising from technology hiccups for remote staff. Hence,technology as a critical factor in enabling the service organizations to be lean and efficient in the first place, may end upbecoming a detriment towards workforce utilization and productivity.

Small-size organizations are more closely tracking billable hours per employee and overtime hours compared to theirlarge and mid-size peers. Interestingly, 50% of the organizations which feel better prepared to address remote workforcecosts do not find workforce utilization and productivity to be a current focus area.



UTILIZATION & PRODUCTIVITY MEASURES


Ratio of tasks completed per unit of time

Tracking employee activity and time spent on different tasks

Individual accomplishment of targets and goals

Ratio of employee cost to revenue/profit generated

Adherence to deadlines for tasks assigned

Billable hours per employee

Overtime hours

Spans of control and managerial layers

Unplanned absenteeism

None of the above

Utilization/productivity is not a current focus area

Unable to measure

47%50%

46%63%

38%72%

38%41%

37%33%

24%27%

22%25%

20%35%

11%12%

1%1%

22%34%

6%7%


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A lot of our process-oriented teams have daily targets which they found challenging toachieve as they would face intermittent internet connectivity and power outages. So wedecided to convert them into weekly targets, which eased the pressure of daily targets andgave them some flexibility.

- Lakshmi Satyavarpu [Director – TM & Business Partners, MORNINGSTAR]


“

We have changed the goals for the last quarter, and are rewriting the goals again for thisquarter. It will be on an evolving basis and based on those goals, we are going to continue tomeasure associates as we have always done. So, we are focusing more on the goals beingachieved and not the means (whether it’s through work from home or office).

- Indrajeet Sengpupta [ED & CHRO, HINDUSTAN COCA COLA BEVERAGES]“

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Flexibility is key to improving productivity!

Respondent organizations, irrespective of industry, identify flexible work timings, multi-skilled/flexible workforce andrewards & incentives as top measures towards improving workforce utilization and productivity. On the other hand,leave & vacation policies are not considered a priority and ranked lowest among all measures.

23% of organizations (slightly more in services and small-size) are tracking overtime hours as measure of utilization. 42%of them believe increasing overtime will improve productivity.

Small-size organizations are more favorable towards cross-functional team staffing, increased overtime.freelancing/contract/gig workforce and investments in automation/robotics, and therefore likely to deploy these morethan their peers. Mid-size organizations prefer flexible timings, multi-skilling for flexible workforce, rewards and incentivesand longer work week with shorter shift timings over other measures to augment productivity.



The priority today is to strike the right balance between productivitywhile ensuring right culture among employees. More importantly, allemployers need to build psychological safety in the minds of theiremployees as to how safe is the workplace, is their job safe, are theygoing to be supported if there is an emergency at home?

- Joy George [Sr. Director & Head HR, CDK GLOBAL - India]“

IMPROVING WORKFORCE PRODUCTIVITY


63%69%

Flexible work timings

Rewards & Incentives

Multi-skilled/flexible workforce

Cross-functional team staffing

Investments in technology and tools

Split/staggered shifts

Part-time working

Increased overtime

Shorter work-week with longer shift timings

Freelancing/contract/gig workforce

Longer work-week with shorter shift timings

Investments in advanced technology e.g. automation/robotics

Leave and vacation policy

52%47%

45%54%

40%37%

34%39%

34%42%

28%37%

28%33%

28%35%

26%30%

25%28%

22%33%

22%28%

63%


We continue to focus on ouroverheads & discretionarycosts. We communicate thistransparently to our peopleand encourage them towork out solutions alignedwith our business goals…During Covid, the ideas werechannelized into two broadbuckets: 1. how do weredesign the future, and 2.how do we save money andreap tomorrow. We receivemultiple ideas everydaywhich are helping useliminate cost leakages.

- Ritu Kochhar[Head HR,

PERFETTI VAN MELLE INDIA]

“

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Workforce costs have increasedfor both remote as well as workplace staff. The rise has been steep for workplace staff – as much as 40% of serviceorganizations (and 22% in manufacturing) are experiencing 20% or higher costs. Small-size organizations (73%) are seeingincreased costs for remote staff more than others.

41% of service organizations are experiencing productivity increase of 10% or more for their remote staff. 75% of them areincurring 20% or more costs than usual.

Workforce Management RESET 2020 >> Workforce Costs


TRENDS IN WORKFORCE COSTS

REMOTE STAFF: MANUFACTURING

REMOTE STAFF: SERVICE

22%26%15%12%8%6%

WORKPLACE STAFF: MANUFACTURING

WORKPLACE STAFF: SERVICE

40%18%9%12%3%

9%16%15%15%7%14%

15%9%13%7%5%5%

Reduced by 10% or more Reduced by 10% Minor or no change

Not able to measure Not sure/not relevantIncreased by up to 10% Increased by 10-20% Increased by 20% or more

3% 3%

2% 5%

2% 8%

2%3%

Baseline

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Cost optimization is a key priorityfor organizations irrespective of sector and size, and is primarily being driven by re-skilling and training employees,cross-functional team staffing, and cutting downonall discretionary spends.

Small-size organizations are relying more on cutting down on all discretionary spends and workforce restructuringthrough non-performance, layoffs for optimizing workforce costs. The focus on such measures is reduced withincreasing organization size.

Cross-functional team staffing features among the top 3 measures to optimize costs as well as to improve productivity.

More than one-third of respondent organizations believe visibility to daily employee costs will enable in optimizingworkforce costs. Of these, service organizations are further looking to optimize workforce costs through restructuringemployee C&B, and optimizing leave policy.

While organizations embark on hiring freezes, more often than not, to control and counter workforce costs, cautioushiring is among the bottom 3 ranked items in these times.

Investments in technology e.g. automation/robotics is a lower priority for organizations across sectors and ranks loweron measures for increasing productivity as well as for optimizing costs.



OPTIMIZING WORKFORCE COSTS


Re-skilling and training employees

Cutting down on all discretionary spends

Cross-functional team staffing

Visibility to daily employee cost

Reduced training & learning Budgets

Restructuring employee C&B

Workforce restructuring through non-performance, layoffs

Optimizing leave policy

Cautious hiring

Investments in technology e.g. automation/robotics

Shorter notice period

50%

39%40%

35%48%

33%40%

32%32%

31%36%

28%36%

26%36%

23%29%

23%25%

14%28%

46%


20


For us, the retention costs were huge, but what we really attacked on is discretionary costs.We ensured that we are not going overboard with our manpower costs, through cautioushiring where the need is and also various other costs which can be avoided or naturally werenot required such as travel costs. However, we recently did recognitions for our employeeswho went beyond their normal expectations, something we had never done in the past. Wefelt this its absolutely necessary to do this.

- Aarif Aziz [CHRO, DIAGEO India]

“There has been a dip in demand. For us the questions are more towards – how to reduce oreliminate our day to day running cost. We have gone prudent on our hiring plans, and alsoon some of our expansion plans.

- Devvesh P Srivastav [Head HR – People & Performance, APOTEX India]“

POLICIES AND PROCESSES

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95% organizations have alreadyimplemented or considering adiscrete set of policiesfor enabling workplace as well as remote staff. Given the divergent needs and prioritieswhich are emerging for workplace vs remote staff during these times, it is but natural forseparate policies to evolve for these two distinct workforce categories.

Service and mid-size organizations have been early adopters and already haveseparate policies in place, while manufacturing and large organizations are primarily inthe process of or considering implementation.

About 10% respondent organizations want to implement separate set of policies, but areunsure of how to go about it. 83% of these are in manufacturing.

You are bound to see separate policies for remotevs workplace staff in the near future given thechanging times. Do we need to include a homeoffice reimbursement considering remote workingin the new normal? How to deal with remoteworking? For example, if somebody meets with anaccident working from home – do we consider it asworkplace accident or not? How to deal with whenyou see a beer mug on the table during a videocall – do you say its drinking under duty? – Manymore of such questions that we are still grapplingwith and they warrant a policy refinement.

- Amit Sharma [VP & Head HR - India, VOLVO Group]

Workforce Management RESET 2020 >> Policies & Processes

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SEPARATE POLICIES FOR WORKPLACE VS REMOTE STAFF

MANUFACTURING

SERVICE

3%

5%

16%

4%

28%

17%

22%

29%

28%

46%

No such plans Considering, but not sure how Planning, and have a roadmapImplementing Already have separate policies

TOP 3 POLICY FOCUS AREAS

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Health and safety is the top policy focus area

Respondent organizations were asked to rank key focus areas for policies across workplace policies and SOPs, healthand safety, C&B | pay, leave and vacation, workforce monitoring and compliance, and data security and confidentiality.

Health and safety is a prime consideration for large organizations compared to their small- and mid-size peers acrossboth workplace and remote staff. It has also emerged as the superlative focus area for workplace staff acrossmanufacturing and service organizations. We expect to see a lot of research and best practices evolving in pertainingareas over the next few years.

Despite not being a top priority towards either increasing productivity or optimizing costs, more than one-thirdorganizations are reviewing leave and vacation policies, and its accruing benefits for workplace staff. Compensation &Benefits (C&B) including pay policies is among the lowest priority aspects of implementing separate policies for bothworkplace as well as remote staff across sectors and organization size.

We have not thought of different policies for people working fromhome and those who are physically present working at thewarehouse or doing deliveries on the road. We have recognizedthem in some ways, in different forums for the risk that they areputting themselves and their families in.

- T N Hari [Head HR, BIGBASKET]




1 Health & safety (61%) Health & safety (42%)

2 Workplace policies& SOPs (42%) Leave & vacation (33%)

3 Leave & vacation (41%) Data security & confidentiality (26%)


1 Data security & confidentiality (56%)

Workforce policies& SOPs (52%)

2 Workforce policies& SOPs (38%)

Data security & confidentiality (42%)

3 Workforce monitoring& compliance (36%) Health & safety (41%)

WORKPLACE STAFF

REMOTE STAFF


Employee Health, Safety & Wellness

1 Sanitization & office hygiene (61%) 2 Staggered canteen

breaks (48%)

Attracting & Retaining Talent

1 Flexible work policies(55%) 2 Safe transport for employees

(pick-up & drops) (53%)

Employee Engagement & Motivation

1 Flexible work policies(47%) 2

Safe transport for employees (pick-up & drops) (47%)

Mental well-being initiatives (47%)

MANUFACTURING

24

Different policies for different objectives

A divergent set of policies are emerging as crucial towards employee health, safety and wellness, attracting andretaining talent, and employee engagement and motivation. Given the organizational imperative to focus on all threeaspects simultaneously, the discrete set of policies warrants delicate balance and careful consideration of each.

The key workforce policies and processes in manufacturing organizations revolve around employee health and safety,including increased sanitization and office hygiene, staggered breaks, contactless attendance, implementing socialdistancing and staggered entry and exit timings.

During these times of uncertainty, mental well-being has emerged as a key focus area for large organizations, which areplacing greater emphasis on initiatives linked to it than their small- and mid-size counterparts. Manufacturingorganizations see these initiatives as more towards attracting and retaining talent, as well as employee engagementand motivation, but as less of enabling employee health, safety and wellness.

Contactless attendance did not emerge as a top priority towards employee health and safety for large organizationscompared to their mid- and small-size peers, probably because they are already utilizing it.

50% of manufacturing organizations rank health insurance including COVID-19 coverage among the top 3 measures toattract and retain talent. However, it did not receive the same emphasis towards ensuring employee health, safety andwell-being.



TOP POLICIES GOING FORWARD


Employee Health, Safety & Wellness

1 Implementing social distancing (66%) 2 Sanitization & office hygiene

(63%)

Attracting & Retaining Talent

1 Flexible work policies(57%) 2 Sanitization & office hygiene

(52%)

Employee Engagement & Motivation

1 Sanitization & office hygiene (55%) 2 Flexible work policies (54%)

SERVICE

ENABLING TECHNOLOGIES

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Contactless technology is the prime enablerfor workplace staff across sector and organization size. This is aligned with and expected to continue given organizations’predominant objective of ensuring employee health and safety as well as workplace sanitization andhygiene.

48% of manufacturing as well as service organizations believe workforce scheduling and staffing solutions is a criticalenabler for planning, deploying and utilizing workplace staff, especially given the regulatory guidance on limitedpercentage of workforce presence on premises and no reduction of either pay or headcount. This is also corroboratedthrough 52% of service and 59% of mid-size organizations confirming capture of employee availability and preferencesas an additional factor enabling workplace staff.

Organization size has an impact on the priority of these enablers. The following are comparatively preferred by:▪ Large: desk and meeting room booking system, contact tracing, eLearning/video on safety protocols▪ Mid-size: capturing employee availability/preference, restricted floor/area access▪ Small-size: contactless attendance/entry/exit, workplace monitoring tools, alternate hot seating, visitor access

systems

We see this COVID-19 disruption as VUCA 2.0, being completelydifferent from the earlier VUCA… COVID-19 has accelerated thedigital transformation in many organizations.

- Mahesh Medhekar [VP HR, MERCEDES–BENZ R&D India]

Workforce Management RESET 2020 >> Enabling Technologies >> Workplace Staff


All figures in % indicate percentage of total respondentsManufacturing Service

ENABLING TECHNOLOGIES FOR WORKPLACE STAFF

Capturing employee availability/preferences

Contactless attendance/entry/exit

53%

Workforce scheduling & staffing e.g. shift assignments

Workplace monitoring tools

Proximity devices

Desk & meeting room booking systems

Contact tracing

Visitor access systems

Alternate hot seating for ensured sanitization

eLearning/video on safety protocols

Building/floor occupancy tracking

51%

47%48%

45%50%

39%52%

35%45%

34%36%

34%41%

33%39%

32%31%

28%40%

25%37%

18%21%

Restricted floor/area/workspace access

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Cloud technology is enabling remote staffirrespective of sector and organization size. Activity monitoring, work monitoring software and timesheets are alsoconsidered as critical enablers, more in service organizations compared to manufacturing.

Organization size has an impact on the priority of these enablers. The following are comparatively preferred by:▪ Large: timesheets, project management tools▪ Mid-size: activity monitoring, workforce staffing and scheduling systems▪ Small-size: remote working policy, collaborative tools, BYOD apps

While IT/ITES organizations take pride in project management techniques and tools, surprisingly only 48% respondentsconsider it to be an enabler for their remote workforce in these times.

Anyone can now actually drop a note and set up a video call andnot wait for an occasion to connect. Leaders have also becomevery open so the skip level conversations have improved, thanks totechnology and remote working. It has flattened the organizationand collapsed the hierarchy in many ways.

- Rajita Singh [Head HR, BROADRIDGE]

Workforce Management RESET 2020 >> Enabling Technologies >> Remote Staff


ENABLING TECHNOLOGIES FOR REMOTE STAFF


62%

Activity monitoring

Cloud technology

Work monitoring software

Timesheets

Remote working policy

Project management tools

Workforce staffing and scheduling system

Collaborative tools

Organizational network analysis (ONA)

BYOD apps

57%

45%54%

42%49%

45%48%

41%48%

36%47%

41%47%

38%37%

21%34%

18%27%


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Workforce scheduling and staffing can befurther automatedas per more than 50% of respondent organizations. The following are the top operational activities presenting a scope forreduced manual intervention:▪ 24x7 operations scheduling▪ Flexible work/shift timings▪ Workforce availability & utilization▪ Skill-based scheduling.

The operational activities for increasing automation also differ basis organization size. The following are comparativelypreferred by:▪ Large: weekly off and rotation patterns, team/unit assignment, part-time/gig/fixed-term workforce requirements▪ Mid-size: flexible work/shift timings, skill-based scheduling, festival/holiday staffing▪ Small-size: 24x7 operations scheduling, leave approval

Workforce Management RESET 2020 >> Enabling Technologies >> Future Automation


Such increased automation in workforcemanagement will positively impact employeeperception of fairness and equity, as per 83%respondents. These findings continue to be alignedwith and further build on the responses receivedduring the SHRM-Kronos Future of Work study 2019.

SCOPE FOR FURTHER AUTOMATION

All figures in % indicate percentage of total respondentsManufacturing Service

24x7 operations scheduling

Flexible work/shift timings


Skill-based scheduling

Team/unit assignment

Weekly off & rotation patterns

Leave approval

Part-time/gig/fixed-term workforce requirements

Festival/holiday staffing

Overtime

52%50%

49%

49%60%

48%50%

45%39%

45%50%

28%39%

27%33%

25%25%

12%19%

66%

AUTOMATED WORKFORCE SCHEDULING AND IMPACT ON FAIRNESS & EQUITY

8% 7% 38% 44%

Somewhat Positively PositivelyNot sure Negatively No ImpactSomewhat negatively

FUTURE TRENDS

Everything is going to be on-demand. So, there will be more individuals to completethe work. The legal framework and regulations will need to be taken into consideration.Remote working has to be at zero loss of productivity. Further, we are seeing robotswhich are coming in for repeated and automated tasks. There is a need to simplify thetasks as well. Automation is going to change many of the human-driven tasks.Customer interface jobs will become more tech-centric. There will be a lot morephysical distancing which will occur.

- Sanjay Bose [Executive VP & Head HR, ITC HOTELS]

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The world is rapidly changing. Thepandemic has only made that moreapparent by challenging our ability torespond quickly and handle a variety ofchanging circumstances with theworkforce. Workforce managementtechnology will become increasinglypivotal to manage this and will have tobe easily accessible, adaptable,intelligent and capable of supporting thediverse needs of the workforce.

If anything, the recent pandemic hasresulted in a complete disruption of theworkforce. The distinct and divergentneeds that have emerged across the twoprimary categories of workforce i.e.workplace staff and remote staff, aregoing to set the tone for new priorities forBusiness Heads as well as CHROs over thenext 12-18 months.

Workforce Management RESET 2020 >> Future Forward

“


I would say people have embraced the pandemic and the new normal with a lot ofpositivity. When we introduced various policies and completely moved to work fromhome, there was no reluctance and everyone supported the organization. The verynature of jobs are evolving and are becoming more digitally viable. In such situations, Iforesee that people who are flexible, adaptable and tech savvy are the ones whowould sustain and go a long way ahead.

-Mini Vinod [Head HR, ARTHUR J GALLAGHER & CO]

“

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Employee Health &Safety will continue to bethe Top Priority

For workplace staff, health and safety has definitely become alimiting factor to smooth operations. Managing health risksproactively is not just critical for business continuity – a perceptionof health risks can be devastating for employee morale andmotivation, apart from far-reaching implications for clients as wellas overall business.



TREND

#1

Contactless technologies and effective workforceplanning and scheduling tools will enableorganizations to achieve this priority. However,implementing these will involve strong proceduralcontrol which requires real-time visibility to allworkforce aspects. In case of remote staff, aspectsbeyond physical wellness need to be considered inorder to manage productivity and motivation.Fatigue management, stress reduction and mentalwellness will become increasingly important andorganizations will have to relook at working hours,rest hours, leave policies and provide more flexibilityin schedules to ensure sustainable productivity andminimized burnout. Remote working has alsocreated a need for organizations to have bettervisibility on their people so that coordinating andmobilizing a spread out and diverse workforcebecomes smoother.

32

Get the balancing actright – Productivity, Costs& Compliance!

Cost and productivity may seem to have taken a temporary backseat, having been overshadowed by the health impact of thepandemic. However, they will continue to remain an underlyingconcern for organizations to focus on. Effective workforcemanagement tools that can help track and measure productivitywill become even more important.



TREND

#2

Organizations are already thinking of defining newproductivity standards for the new normal. However,that will require new data sets and structures as wellas real-time access, which very few organizationsare today geared up for. Workforce policy-makingwill rapidly evolve to encompass the above, and as aresult administration could become morechallenging given the variation and speed ofresponse required by organizations.

Empowering managers and employees will helpachieve business efficiencies. A high performingworkforce will require the right tools. Creating best-fitschedules, tracking time and attendance,administering absence and leave, and measuringproductivity will help organizations drive businessoutcomes by engaging employees, controllinglabour costs, increasing productivity and minimizingcompliance risk.

33

Future of AutomatingWorkforce Management:Interaction & Integration

With the changing nature of work, workplace and workforce and aswell as offices and workers across the world striving to stayconnected, the demand for global workforce management willbecome even more complex. Rather than working in regional silosas in the past, today organizations have evolved as unifiedenterprises wanting to have systems that enable higher degree ofinteraction and integration of various data sources, to help them ineffective planning and scheduling of their available workforce,while ensuring focus on employee health & safety, attracting &retaining talent as well as employee engagement & motivation.



TREND

#3

Workforce staffing and scheduling solutions will playa larger role in effective workforce utilization andmanagement of productivity as well as costs.Advanced technology solutions viz. BYOD Apps,Organizational Network Analysis (ONA) tools,Building/Floor Occupancy Tracker and Visitor AccessSystem may has witnessed limited usage acrossorganizations thus far, but are increasingly findingacceptance with rising investments in technologytools and solutions. This will also aid organizationsand leaders as they strive towards ensuring balanceof work and mental wellness for workplace as well asremote staff under current times of uncertainty.

34

Workforce Management RESET 2020 >> Respondent Profile

R E S PO N D E N T PR O F I L E

Workforce Management RESET: Strategy &Implications for Changing Times 2020 study findingsare based on responses from 223 CHROs, CPOs,Heads of HR Business Partner, Heads of C&B, Rewards& Recognition, Employee Engagement Heads and HROperations Heads through online survey comprisingprimarily of multiple-choice and rank orderquestions. Limits were incorporated in survey tool toensure balanced mix of respondents byorganizational sector and size.

The respondents represent a diverse set oforganizations across Auto and Ancillaries, BFSI, FMCG,Hospitality, IT/ITES, Manufacturing, Pharma, Retail,Services and Transport & Logistics with overalldistribution of 52% and 48% in manufacturing andservice sectors respectively. The figures indicated inthis report reflect the percentage of respondentsopting for the particular response choice, unlesscategorically stated otherwise.

Additionally, 15 CHROs and HR Heads wereinterviewed to understand the key contours definingthe remote as well as workplace staff priorities andimpact. These conversations shaped the directionand reiterated the key findings of this report.

35

Workforce Management RESET 2020 >> Acknowledgements

Aarif AzizCHRODiageo India

Amit SharmaVP & Head HR – India Volvo Group

Devvesh P SrivastavHead HR – People & Performance Apotex India

Indrajeet SenguptaExecutive Director & CHROHindustan Coca Cola Beverages

Joy GeorgeSenior Director & Head HRCDK Global - India

Lakshmi SatyavarpuDirector – TM & Business PartnersMorningstar

Lopamudra BanerjeeDeputy Director HR – SE Asia & Head HRCarrier Midea

Mahesh Medhekar Vice President - HR Mercedes-Benz R&D India

Mini VinodHead HRArthur J Gallagher & Co

Ritu KochharHead HRPerfetti Van Melle, India

Rajita SinghHead HRBroadridge

Sanjay BoseExecutive VP & Head HRITC Hotels

T N HariHead HRBigBasket

Vikram TandonHead HRHSBC India

Vinay JaswalHR Head – South West AsiaIntercontinental Hotels Group

A C K N O W L E D G E M E N TSclick on each profile to read more

https://www.shrm.org/shrm-india/Pages/Excerpt-from-Interview-with-Aarif-Aziz-CHRO-Diageo-India.aspx

https://www.shrm.org/shrm-india/Pages/Excerpts-From-the-Interview-With-Amit-Sharma-Chro-Volvo-Group-India.aspx

https://www.shrm.org/shrm-india/Pages/excerpt-from-interview-with-devvesh-p-srivastav-head-hr-people-pefromance-apotex-india.aspx

https://www.shrm.org/shrm-india/Pages/Excerpts-from-Interview-with-Indrajeet-Sengupta-Executive-Director-CHRO-Hindustan-Coca-cola-Beverages-Pvt-Ltd.aspx

https://www.shrm.org/shrm-india/Pages/Excerpts-from-the-Interview-with-Joy-George-Senior-Director-Head-HR-Cdk-Global.aspx

https://www.shrm.org/shrm-india/Pages/Excerpts-From-the-Interview-with-Lakshmi-Satyavarpu-Director-Talent-Management-Business-Partners-Morningstar.aspx

https://www.shrm.org/shrm-india/Pages/Excerpts-from-the-Interview-with-Lopamudra-Banerjee-Deputy-Director-HR-south-East-Asia--Head-Hr-Carrier-Midea-India.aspx

https://www.shrm.org/shrm-india/Pages/Excerpts-from-an-Interview-with-Mahesh-Medhekar-VP-HR-Mercedes-Benz-Research-Development-India.aspx

https://www.shrm.org/shrm-india/Pages/Excerpts-from-Interview-with-Mini-Vinod-Head-HR-Gallagher-Service-Center.aspx

https://www.shrm.org/shrm-india/Pages/Excerpts-from-Interview-with-Rajita-Singh-Head-HR-Broadridge.aspx

https://www.shrm.org/shrm-india/Pages/Excerpts-from-the-Interview-with-Ritu-Kochhar-Head-HR-Perfetti-Van-Melle.aspx

https://www.shrm.org/shrm-india/Pages/Excerpt-from-Interview-with-Sanjay-Bose-Executive-Vice-President-Head-HR-Itc-Hotels.aspx

https://www.shrm.org/shrm-india/Pages/Excerpts-from-the-Interview-with-TN-Hari-Head-HR-Big-Basket.aspx

https://www.shrm.org/shrm-india/Pages/Excerpts-from-Interview-with-Vikram-Tandon-Head-HR-Hsbc-India.aspx

https://www.shrm.org/shrm-india/Pages/Excerpts-from-Interview-with-Vinay-Jaswal-HR-Head-South-West-Asia-Intercontinental-Hotels-Group.aspx

Kronos is a leading provider of workforcemanagement and human capital managementcloud solutions. Kronos industry-centric workforceapplications are purpose-built for businesses,healthcare providers, educational institutions, andgovernment agencies of all sizes. Tens of thousandsof organizations — including half of Fortune 1000® —and more than 40 million people in over 100countries use Kronos every day. Kronos merged withUltimate Software on April 1, 2020, to create one ofthe world’s most innovative HCM and workforcemanagement companies. Visit www.kronos.in.Kronos: Workforce Innovation That Works.

SHRM, the Society for Human Resource Management,creates better workplaces where employers andemployees thrive together. As the voice of all thingswork, workers and the workplace, SHRM is theforemost expert, convener and thought leader onissues impacting today’s evolving workplaces. With300,000+ HR and business executive members in 165countries, SHRM impacts the lives of more than 115million workers and families globally. SHRM providesa platform for thought leadership, sharing of bestpractices and professional networking within theIndian and global HR communities in order to takethe profession higher through continuous andcollaborative learning. For more information aboutSHRM, visit www.shrm.org.

Kronos is a leading provider of workforce management and human capital management cloud solutions. Kronos industry-centric workforce applications are purpose-built for businesses, healthcare providers, educational institutions, and government agencies of all sizes. Tens of thousands of organizations — including half of Fortune 1000® —and more than 40 million people in over 100 countries use Kronos every day. Kronos merged with Ultimate Software on April 1, 2020, to create one of the world’s most innovative HCM and workforce management companies. Visit www.kronos.in. Kronos: Workforce Innovation That Works.

SHRM, the Society for Human Resource Management, creates better workplaces where employers and employees thrive together. As the voice of all things work, workers and the workplace, SHRM is the foremost expert, convener and thought leader on issues impacting today’s evolving workplaces. With 300,000+ HR and business executive members in 165 countries, SHRM impacts the lives of more than 115 million workers and families globally. SHRM provides a platform for thought leadership, sharing of best practices and professional networking within the Indian and global HR communities in order to take the profession higher through continuous and collaborative learning. For more information about SHRM, visit www.shrm.org.

https://www.kronos.in/

https://www.shrm.org/

workforce management reset 2020: strategy and implications

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