How To Select The Best Employee Management Software

Employee management software has transformed in recent years from bloated, clunky apps that only ran on large desktop machines to streamlined, user-friendly programs that run on devices of all sizes and shapes.

With the introduction of the cloud and business-specific tools, what used to be a complex and time-consuming task (that many managers still did on paper) is now easier than ever thanks to the power of technology.

But with so many options out there, how can you select the best app for your team?

In this article, we’ll answer that question and discuss what to look for in employee management software so that you can choose the right program for your business.

What Is Employee Management Software?

Employee management software is a broad category of apps specifically designed to direct, organize, and optimize your team’s activities.

These programs provide foundational support for managers and all manner of employees whether they are part of a remote workforce or an on-site team.

What To Look For In Employee Management Software

1) Accessibility

Recent world events propelled accessibility into the top spot on the list of what to look for in employee management software — and those world events don’t look to be stopping anytime soon.

Whether you run a team that’s always on the go (e.g., out in the field) or a remote team that used to work face-to-face in the office, they all need access to the tools, documents, and information that make it possible — and easier —for them to do their job.

Bottom line: It’s now absolutely necessary for your employee management software to work anywhere, anytime, and on any device.

Inch, for example, is based in the cloud so you and your team can use it anywhere there’s internet access — be it wired or wireless.

Inch is also available on Windows, iOS, and Android devices, giving your team the flexibility necessary to be in sync no matter what devices you all use.

2) Staff Scheduling

The staff scheduling side of employee management software involves the days and shifts your team members work.

In the past, creating weekly and monthly schedules was done largely via computer programs that were not designed with group organization in mind (e.g., MS Word and Excel). Some businesses even continued to rely on the pen-and-paper method for their scheduling needs.

While such scheduling methods were effective at one time, the advent of a more mobile and remote workforce has made them less efficient, less productive, and less useful than ever before.

The gold standard for team scheduling now involves business-specific apps, such as Inch, that incorporate powerful features, including cloud-based distribution, geofencing, automation, artificial intelligence, push notifications, and other forms of instant communication.

Programs with built-in staff scheduling provide many benefits for your business and streamline the way your team works and your business operates.

3) Task Management

At the heart of the best employee management software lies the ability to assign, organize, and optimize essential tasks.

It doesn’t matter if your team works in-house, offsite, or online, assigning work and making sure that it gets done in a timely manner is crucial for your company’s success.

The Inch app, for example, makes this easy and gives you the power to distribute tasks across your team and prioritize what gets done when — whether the right person for the job is just down the hall or all the way across the country.

Employees can even access the task list from any device — phone, tablet, laptop, or desktop — so they always know where they need to go and what they need to work on next.

4) Time Tracking

Another essential component of employee management software is time tracking. The time tracking features in modern software such as Inch allow you to track both your team’s full workday and an individual employee’s time on task.

For example, Jennifer uses the Inch app to clock in at 8:55 a.m. to start her workday (along with the other 11 members of your team). She then uses the Inch app to record when she starts working on a specific task (9:05 a.m.) and when she stops (10:30 a.m.).

This process continues throughout her time in the office (or wherever she works) until she clocks out at 5:03 p.m. to end her workday.

In the past, many businesses relied on pen and paper to conduct this important activity. That often meant relying on hand-recorded data, entering it into a computer, and then examining the output to look for trends and discrepancies.

Now, the Inch app makes it easy to track and control when your team works without having to allow for user error, deal with incomplete forms, collate reams of paper, and spend hours entering information into your computer.

And, with Inch, you no longer have to cobble together multiple apps that don’t mesh well just to keep everything digital. Inch is your one-stop, turnkey solution to all aspects of employee management.

Not only can you assign tasks to anyone, anywhere, but you can also:

• Turn any phone into a time clock and allow employees to clock in and clock out from anywhere
• Set up geofencing so that team members are in the right place when they start and end their work
• Prevent early clock-ins and forgotten clock-outs
• Reduce time theft
• Export timesheets for simplified payroll processing
• Much more…

Whatever type of team you manage, the Inch employee management software can help your business simplify time tracking for more accurate payroll.

5) Team Communication

One of the biggest restrictions of modern employee management software is communication. Staying in touch with your team — whether they work in the office, in their living room, or on the road — can be a full-time job in and of itself if performed incorrectly.

So, whether you communicate by talking directly to each employee or by distributing information via SMS and push notifications, the tool you use for the job becomes incredibly important.

With Inch, you can send private and group messages at the click of a button and organize conversations by different teams, locations, or skill sets.

That way, you can send and receive employee communication without skipping a beat.

6) Labor Cost Management

Labor costs are one of the largest expenses that most businesses have to deal with.

But with employee management software in place, your business can gain more control over both the way your team works and the costs associated with this activity.

For example, the Inch app allows you to set limits on labor expenses and then view and control labor costs as you create schedules and assign tasks. How does this help?

This prevents overtime from eating into your budget and helps you distribute shifts and tasks equitably amongst your employees — all with the goal of keeping labor expenses under control.

Decreasing labor costs in this way can have a profound effect on your company’s bottom line and, by extension, its ultimate success.

Choose The Best Employee Management Software

If you’re searching for the best employee management software, look no further than the Inch app.

Inch is a voice-operated team scheduling, organization, and communication app that takes the core features of employee management to the next level.

Our software incorporates job management and time tracking in one powerful solution and is designed to make it easier for managers and employees to get aligned on their to-dos, ensuring that all tasks get completed on time.

In addition to the core features, Inch also simplifies communication in a number of important ways. Employees can perform a wide variety of tasks from any smartphone, tablet, laptop, or desktop computer, including:

• Working from a shared task list
• Getting clarity on work that needs to get done
• Receiving voice-assisted reminder notifications
• Clocking in and out of tasks at different locations
• Completing work assigned to them
• Communicating with managers and each other

All of that and more without having to touch a mobile screen or report back to the office.

For managers of in-house, remote, or distributed teams, our software makes it easy to assign tasks manually across their teams or populate tasks automatically based on preset conditions.

This unique feature ensures that all work is covered and keeps employees accountable and clear on their specific responsibilities, expected outcomes, and deadlines.

If coordinating field service teams, operations teams, or maintenance teams is an issue for your business, Inch is ideal.

Our software makes it easy to assign work to the employees that are closest to the jobsite or have tasks generate automatically as the need arises and follow work progress and task completion in real time.

Inch helps eliminate frustration for employees, headaches for managers, and inefficiencies for the business.

Whether you need help setting up when each team member will work or what tasks they will perform, Inch gives you unprecedented control over a complicated process and makes it easier than ever to keep your business’s employee management activities organized, efficient, and productive.

For more free resources to help you manage your business better, organize and schedule your team, and track and calculate labor costs, visit TryInch.com today.