The core focus of workforce enablement is to drive greater productivity and efficiency within an organization’s existing workforce. HR, IT, and other employee-oriented leaders can examine processes in their respected areas of expertise, then develop strategies to both consolidate and improve the efficacy of essential resources. That means listening to employees themselves about their experiences and pivoting towards investment strategies that support them in their roles. From improving wellness initiatives to reduce sick days, to replacing outdated software that employees use every day, there are dozens of ways employers can increase employee productivity.
Business leaders ignore employee satisfaction at their own peril. Poor employee attitudes can hurt productivity; they can lead to disruptions, terminations, and departures as well. Workforce enablement focuses on improving elements that contribute to greater worker satisfaction. That includes benefits and perks, such as improved health programs or compensation for public transportation. It improves better collaborative or technological support when workers are on the job.
Customers, employees, and partners increasingly look to senior leaders to develop diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives as part of their workforce strategies. Companies with progressive and well-funded DEI programs are proven to create more successful workplace environments; they establish themselves as a competitive and more desirable employer as they look to populate their workforce with top talent as well.
Programs designed to improve employee satisfaction or technologies designed to improve productivity or planning may go unused or fall short of workers’ expectations. If senior leaders are unaware, the organization may continue paying for these resources nonetheless. Workforce enablement involves eliminating unnecessary employee-focused resources and acquiring successful ones that are more cost-effective. Strategic workforce planning allows employers to home in on underutilized resources within workers’ functions, such as software or hardware, and retire them as well.
Modern staffing involves a wide range of options—workforce enablement focuses on identifying and executing the right options for your organization. Determining which employment strategy—be it full-time hiring, contingent staffing, working with freelancers, or others—is right for each role helps reduce time to value, saves on costs, and optimizes the overall output of an organization’s workforce. Determining which tasks to outsource allows full-time staff to focus on more valuable tasks as well.
Employers are expanding the ways in which they listen to or collect data about employees—an essential strategy for identifying new workforce enablement solutions. Purposeful employee surveys, internal analyses of processes and productivity, and strategic reviews of policies and procedures can allow new opportunities to emerge and lead to more successful strategies and investments.
Effective benefits programs can improve employee wellness and satisfaction, driving productivity as well as marketability during recruiting. But benefits are expensive—they become wasteful when they are underutilized. Worse yet, omissions of desirable benefits that employees could find elsewhere could hurt morale, recruitment, and retention. Successful workforce enablement involves the optimization of benefits to deliver on these KPIs.
As organizations adapt to both market-level and macroeconomic disruptions, they must quickly pivot from “business as usual” in terms of how their workforces operate. This becomes difficult when workers are resistant to shifting responsibilities or new technology adoption, for example; organizations struggle when they lack the right talent or the right employee resources as well. Leaders must both encourage and empower workers to meet new challenges as part of a leading workforce enablement strategy.
Uvation partners with leading public and private sector organizations to optimize their workforce enablement initiatives. We start with an in-depth, consultative analysis of their existing processes, helping organizations achieve a deep understanding of their programs, workflows, and investments. Next, we help them measure elements like productivity, employee satisfaction, and cost effectiveness to identify improvement opportunities within their existing strategy. Finally, we help them develop a roadmap to success including strategic initiatives and investments that will deliver on their and their employees’ key workforce objectives.
The workforce experts at Uvation stand by our clients as they implement new workforce enablement solutions and adjust or eliminate existing ones. We work with organization decision makers as they evaluate the success of those programs, including how workers respond to these new changes and initiatives, as well as topline business results. We also work with organizations on adjustments or remedial initiatives to ensure their new programs and investments stay on track.
Uvation maintains a close connection with the organizations to whom we provide workforce enablement solutions. Maintaining that familiarity and communication allows us to quickly pivot and respond to changing conditions in their target markets, in the job market, or within their existing workforce. Uvation also stays abreast of the latest workforce enablement strategies and solutions, so that we always bring the best opportunities to the table.
Most of today’s workers are disengaged (51%) or actively disengaged (13%) in the workplace, Gallup reports
Nearly one-third of organizations are replacing full-time employees with contingent workers to save costs.
In 2019, 55% or organizational redesigns focused on streamlining roles and workflows to increase efficiency.
Workforce enablement is a broad term that encompasses all initiatives aligned with creating a more effective workforce. Although the concept has been around for decades, its precedence has increased due to new opportunities driven by the proliferation of digital tools and connectivity. New workforce models such as contingent staffing and the “gig economy have introduced new opportunities and challenges to workforce enablement as well. What’s more, an increased focus on equity in the workplace is inspiring workers to demand more from their employers in terms of diversity and inclusivity within their teams. As a result, many organizations are reprioritizing workforce enablement; they are allocating financial resources and personnel to improving its wide range of elements to create a happier more effective, and more desirable workforce. Uvation aids organizations as they pursue these opportunities and as they attempt to understand the new complexities of modern workforce enablement. To understand its contributing elements, we can break down these initiatives into three categories:
Workforce enablement initiatives begin at the policy level, where business leaders establish clear goals with regard to productivity, hiring and staffing strategy, equity and inclusivity, and employee satisfaction and morale. These are not easy tasks, but they are growing in importance. As workforce enablement becomes more complex, business leaders often work with consultants to ensure they can understand their employees, identify the right goals, and implement policies that are fair and effective.
As specific policies come into focus, employers must identify the resources they will provide employees to realize their goals in their entirety. Optimizing resources for workforce enablement means identifying the right technologies, tools, and investments; but also, eliminating unnecessary, unwanted, or even detrimental aspects of the employee experience that don’t contribute to the organization’s newly established goals.
Uvation maintains a close connection with the organizations to whom we provide workforce enablement solutions. Maintaining that familiarity and communication allows us to quickly pivot and respond to changing conditions in their target markets, in the job market, or within their existing workforce. Uvation also stays abreast of the latest workforce enablement strategies and solutions, so that we always bring the best opportunities to the table.
Modern Challenges in Workforce Enablement
As modern workforces evolve, new and unique challenges to successful workforce enablement are growing. Here we define leading strategies for any modern, successful workforce enablement initiative. Consider these methods as you determine the best path forward for your own organization.
ENABLING THE REMOTE WORKFORCE
Companies all over the world have pivoted to a hybrid work model where team members regularly collaborate from company premises, home offices, and on the move. Employers must optimize workforce enablement strategies and technologies if they hope to empower these “distributed” teams in a worthwhile capacity.
SUPPORTING ALTRUISM
Employees are no longer satisfied with competitive pay and benefits alone—they expect employers to work towards sustainable, environmental, or social justice goals. Employees who are aware of how their work contributes to those goals are more motivated as a result.
FOCUSING ON EMPLOYEE WELLNESS
Workforce experts are raising alarms about burnout in the workplace, among other hazards of modern working environment. Employees and the public increasingly look to employers to support employees' personal wellness as a result." Modern employers must proactively support employee wellness through specific programs and policies, which contribute to greater employee satisfaction, productivity, and retention.
LISTENING TO EMPLOYEES
Modern employees expect to have a voice, and a seat at the table when important decisions are made about policies that affect them. Employers can develop new and innovative methods for factoring employee sentiment into decision making; they can include representatives of employee interests on committees that impact employee experiences and productivity as well.
PRIORITIZING DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION
Digital tools have evolved to become people-facing portals employees interact with every day. Employee enablement means remaining consistently open to new digital innovations and considering how introducing new tools can help employees succeed.
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