Staffing agencies are missing out on actionable insights by relying on outdated systems that hamper a data-driven approach to workforce management.
Management tools like candidate tracking and digital HR systems represent a progressive move from paper systems and spreadsheets. But the time and cost of extracting, collating and analysing data from disparate sources mean a data-driven approach to workforce management isn’t possible for many agencies.
JoinedUp’s end-to-end solution for shift-based workforce management unifies agency data and puts sophisticated analytics to work.
The end-to-end system lets agencies use historical and real-time data to streamline recruitment, management and financial processes and offer a refined user experience for workers and clients.
Staffing agencies amass vast datasets during day-to-day operation.
But only the most forward-thinking agencies have been able to leverage that data to design more intelligent data-driven strategies for high-volume or shift-based workforce management.
The reason is simple: agencies’ data is siloed — spread across separate applicant tracking systems, digital HR tools and legacy management tools like spreadsheets and custom databases.
Manual extraction and analysis are time-consuming, so agencies can’t capitalize on the deep insights offered by using such data stores for real-time reporting.
In addition to preventing a data-driven workflow, legacy systems slow time-to-hire, causing agencies to lose candidates and fail to deliver for their clients.
In this article, we’ll look at some of the pitfalls of using disparate systems to manage shift-based workforces and see how an integrated system can help agencies make the most of their data.
Forecasting and planning
For small agencies without an end-to-end overview of worker data, forecasting and planning to meet clients’ dynamic labor needs is challenging.
It’s even more complex for those managing shift-based workforces.
Having to extract and collate reports from several systems makes it hard to make real-time decisions on basics like staffing numbers and daily shifts to fill. Agencies can’t get an accurate picture of costs, hiring time, worker availability or other key planning metrics.
In the fast-paced, shift-based environment, getting these wrong can result in over or under-hiring and missing other critical targets.
But in a data-driven planning system, information is readily available in one dashboard, allowing agencies to react quickly to rapidly changing labor demands.
Teams can also use data insights to spot and respond to delays in the recruitment process and use historical data to provide more accurate fulfilment timelines and costs to clients.
Know your spend
Calculating the costs of shift work at high volume is made more challenging by complex rate structures.
It can be challenging to get an accurate picture of spend from siloed data spread across multiple non-integrated systems.
By placing workforce data in one place, agencies can see at a glance if they’re overspending or spending inefficiently. Advanced data-driven systems automate reporting to make this process even easier.
Staffing agencies can decrease churn and drive down recruitment costs by assessing which candidate sources generate the most effective hires.
Improved experience
Agency workers expect a seamless experience — and this is especially true for tech-savvy Gen-Z and Millenials.
Faced with outdated processes for applications, time recording and other admin, they’ll look to alternative agencies offering a more streamlined process.
A single end-to-end system is an opportunity for agencies to present workers with a simplified, more efficient user experience.
It allows them to put analytics front and centre of recruitment to discover which parts of the process may be causing candidate drop-offs.
Making the most of data
When discovering how a data-driven approach can revolutionize workforce management, most agencies start by pulling information and reports from spreadsheets and various management tools.
This can be effective. But it’s also time-consuming — and it doesn’t always generate the depth of insight needed to meet dynamic shift-based labor management challenges.
A single system with sophisticated analytics and reporting unifies siloed data, giving agencies an accurate real-time picture of recruitment, management and financial workflows.
It means agencies can combine current and historical information to improve recruitment efficiency, plan more effectively and stay ahead of both clients' and workers’ needs.
Put data to work with JoinedUp
JoinedUp is an end-to-end management tool that unifies agency data and eliminates inefficient siloes.
It features configurable dashboards and custom reporting on performance, spend and more. It’s an invaluable tool for kickstarting a data-driven approach to shift-based workforce management.
Want to see how JoinedUp by Beeline could work for you? Contact us to find out more.
