1. Kevin, First of all, for the readers - Tell us a bit about yourself!
I’m native to Michigan, and very proud of my state. When Inc. named WorkForce Software a “Hire Power” recipient for being a top 10 private job creator in Michigan, it was a huge milestone for me on a few levels. There’s a resiliency and adaptability here that I think has been essential to the company’s growth.
I’ve been in enterprise software since day one, and was first exposed to the complex and – to my initial surprise - dynamic world of workforce management when I joined Fastech in 1993. During my time there, I had the privilege of working with some brilliant colleagues. Fortunately I was able to convince two of them, Kathy Cannon and Mike Knister, to split off and form a new company that offered a more flexible and comprehensive workforce management suite specifically tailored for large employers. That was back in 1999, and now we’re 350 employees strong, supporting clients in 40 countries (and set to more than double that by year end), and still enjoying every minute of it.
2. What led you to HR?
Great question! I don’t know how many MBA graduates set out to build solutions to strategic HR challenges, but I’d wager it doesn’t get the attention the topic deserves. From my very first job, I quickly realized the disproportionate impact effective workforce practices have on a company’s success. Once I dipped my feet into the strategic aspects of staffing, labor utilization, and compliance at Fastech, I was hooked. I learn a tremendous amount from our innovative clients year in and year out, and there’s some really fascinating stuff happening in the workforce management space right now. It may be a reason that the industry is growing at such a breakneck pace… every ounce of efficiency and productivity that we can help an organization unlock goes directly to the bottom line. Those types of “hard dollar” returns are a rarity in the HR technology spectrum and, in my opinion, one of the reasons why our space is really heating up as of late.
3. In case folks aren't familiar with WorkForce Software, can you give the elevator speech?
Absolutely. We specialize in helping large organizations simplify complex workforce management challenges, for all employee groups, and across all locations. Our flagship product, the EmpCenter suite, fully automates employee time, pay, scheduling, and leave management processes for some very diverse organizations. Automation delivers efficiency, but it also shores up compliance – which is of particular concern to high profile companies. And most critically, EmpCenter’s design allows companies to view current employee data from across the organization in a single platform. That richer pool of data is where the real strategic value comes into play.
4. Do you want to share more about your recent acquisition?
Absolutely! Just a few weeks ago, we announced the acquisition of RosterLive, an Australian-based software firm that provides a similar array of solutions, but focused on addressing the needs of small-to-midsized employers (SMBs). It’s a really exciting move for WorkForce Software, as it helps us advance several core strategies:
The first is to expand our leadership position in workforce management. RosterLive’s highly flexible solutions perfectly complement our EmpCenter suite, with a similar set of timekeeping, scheduling, and absence management capabilities, yet aimed at smaller organizations. This allows us to reach a broader swath of the market while remaining purely focused on what we know best.
The second strategic goal is broadening our global footprint. We also recently announced a new office in the UK, which are aggressively staffing up, a data center in the Netherlands to support our expanding European client base, and a series of global partnerships that will make EmpCenter available more broadly than ever before. Adding RosterLive to the WorkForce Software family not only gives us a great product set and some fantastic people… it puts us squarely on the map (in a literal sense) in the fast-growing Australian market.
5. Some folks may consider time management pretty basic stuff (e.g. time clock in and out) coupled with a headache of bundle of compliance issues. Is time and attendance a completely matured market, or are there still innovations occurring? And if so - what are they? Use this as a chance to brag on folks in your company and the cool stuff they are doing!
You’ve struck the central tipping point in workforce management today. For a long time “workforce management” has been treated largely as the automation of time clocks, and nothing more than a faster method of tracking “punch in / punch out” transactions. Those misperceptions are rapidly breaking down now, and that evolution is partly to thank for our organization’s rapid growth over the past 36 months.
After roughly two decades in the industry, we could dedicate this entire post on ways I’ve seen strategic workforce management address “big picture” business issues for clients… but let me share just a few examples of what we’re seeing today:
- “Big data” is a topic that is probably very near and dear to the hearts of your readers – and workforce management has a role to play as well – but ‘big data’ is nothing without complete and granular ‘little data’, such as: who did what when, in what location, and how much were they paid. These are great, bedrock pieces of data, which, of course, is critical in ensuring payroll accuracy, and the more “traditional” aspects of workforce management. However, when you combine that data with information from other parts of the enterprise – be it client surveys, productivity data from the plant floor, patient data from a hospital, you name it – now you can get truly understand how your workforce and labor strategies affect your business in a direct and meaningful way. Very, very different from the old “punch-in / punch-out” model.
- Using leave management data, combined with time and attendance data, to identify where higher rates of leave requests point to a business concern, such as a difficult shift pattern or possible abuse of leave programs.
- Improving staffing agility by giving managers the ability to let their teams know of an open shift through a mixture of email, text, and automated phone messages in one fell swoop; improving response times for qualified staff by reaching them via the method that’s most convenient and accessible
6. Since you get to interact with customers globally, where do you see the HR profession today and where is it headed? And do you see regional differences?
One of the topics that always intrigued me and, honestly, infuriated me a bit was the whole “when will HR get a seat at the table” discussion. From my perspective, HR should always be part of the strategic inner-workings of a company. After all, labor is typically the single largest expense any company will carry. However, once the ‘great recession’ hit its peak and companies began to take a keen interest in reducing costs and boosting efficiency, labor and workforce topics took center stage. I believe that’s why you saw a spike in interest around talent management during the past several years as well.
There has been a wonderful transformation where HR – once typically viewed as the “people people”” – now holds a very strategic role in the organization... and I don’t see that changing any time in the foreseeable future. That’s why we focus on making workforce management solutions that are designed for enterprise use.
There aren’t tremendous regional differences across North America from an operational or strategic standpoint, but the regulations and policies can be radically different. For example, there are hundreds of state-specific leave regulations on the books in addition to those such as the FMLA at the Federal level. This creates an incredibly complex situation for multi-state employers, so being aware of those differences and managing leave appropriately in each local is critical.
7. Given your global reach, help complete this sentence, " If you are opening offices in XYZ Countries, be really, really careful because the time management laws and enforcement will catch you quick."
Ha! Truth be told, I could answer that question for every country across the globe. Each location has its own nuances and policies to which you must adhere and each can trip you up if you don’t have your act together. For example, there’s the Working Time Directive in the EU – which mandates such things as breaks, length of workweek, and other such things – but there are also instances where member nations have opted out of some elements (such as the UK) or passed regulations that are more generous than those offered in the Directive (such as France.) In short, team-up with a good global partner and make sure you have good legal council in those locations... it’s the best way to ensure you are minding all the regulations no matter where you set up shop.
8. Lastly, if readers want to learn more - where or who should they contact?
The first place to go is our website – workforcesoftware.com. The site has a wealth of information about our products, services, and the latest news about our fast-growing company. From there, you can find a number of contact methods based on a company’s location and purpose for reaching out. A good catch-all is info@workforcesoftware.com, and honestly that’s enough to get you started. We’ve come a long way, but we’ve still got a lot of small company culture. Reach out and one of our team members will be happy to point you in the right direction.
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