The WFC Group Blog

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It's not uncommon for there to be tension between HQ and storefronts in retail when it comes to IT, HCM systems and mandatory processes. For regional managers, some degree of autonomy is seen as a way to succeed beyond expectations, while business leaders trust in tried and true solutions, viewing experimentation as a risk. These days, both are likely to agree that utilizing a strong workforce management system helps avoid common productivity pitfalls, but choosing between standard and local capabilities can be a battle.

Credit: The Container Store

No store is an island in the world of retail. Chain operators see value in delivering a consistent experience no matter which location a shopper may choose to visit, and a lot of that comes down to overseeing employees and their productivity in completing important tasks. When each storefront runs as tight a ship as the rest, the whole ship floats — but how can the captains in HQ make sure no one gets lost at sea?

Summit season is in full swing, and we're soaking up every second of it. Fresh off the heels of our sponsorship and attendance of the 2017 Kronos Manufacturing Executive Summit, we're now gearing up for a fresh look at the evolving state of workforce management for retail and hospitality at the 2017 Kronos Retail and Hospitality Executive Summit in Lake Tahoe, which we are attending and sponsoring. This year's summit is bound to be enlightening. Here are a few timely things we look forward to discussing next week.

At any given time, most of us have at least one mobile device on hand. We are more informed and more equipped with this immediate knowledge than ever before.

Today's blog post is from The WFC Group's retail subject matter expert, Mike Tier

If you work in the retail industry you probably already know the benefits of investing in workforce management technology to help control labor costs and improve workforce productivity. But according to the latest KPMG 2014 Retail Industry Outlook Survey, 

For most people we talk to, Kronos inTouch Devices are such an established part of the workforce management process that the thought of adding functionality doesn’t even occur. The devices create a smooth process between organization and employee time capture, so why mess with something that works?

What is a Workforce Scheduler?

A Workforce Scheduler is an automated labor scheduling solution that can create schedules with an extremely accurate staffing mix automatically. It factors in such things as anticipated demand as well as company scheduling policies. When set up properly, it is a tool that can save you an incredible amount of time and money, while also being much more accurate and concise than paper schedules or other methods ever could. Here are some of the benefits we’ve seen from the companies we work with:

Congratulations. You’re the one in charge. The leader of the pack. The one running the show. All are turning to you for advice, guidance and leadership. The problem? They’re all out on the floor! Meanwhile you’re in your office sitting behind a desk doing administrative work.

We see this problem all of the time with the retail clients that we work with. The employees are out on the retail floor while the manager is in the office - when they should be anywhere but. If this sounds like your company, we have a couple of lessons that we wanted to share from the highest performing retail organizations we've come across:

If you’re managing a large organization, you may have heard about a technology known as a “WorkForce Scheduler with Optimization”. This software package is extremely powerful - especially to those companies that have a lot of locations. It has the ability to streamline the entire schedule generation process - reducing time and money spent on scheduling - as well as limit over-scheduling employees and ensuring a company-wide standard.

Everyone wants to know what the future has in store - especially the retail industry (pun absolutely intended).

At the WFC Group, we work hard to keep up on the latest news, trends and technology to help us make decisions and keep our clients informed. In the retail industry, that means keeping up with the plans, strategies and goals of the top retail executives. We came across a recent KPMG survey that went straight to the horses mouth by asking executives for their 2014 outlook. We wanted to share 3 key findings that will impact the industry.