Workforce Management Blog

Synerion North America Inc. acquires ITR Systems Division

Synerion becomes the largest Canadian mid-market provider of WFM solutions following the acquisition of ITR Systems Division.

Dec 15^th, 2011, Mississauga, ON – A veteran in the WFM industry, Synerion announced this week their acquisition of the assets of the  ITR Systems Division.  Combined, the merger will create a company with more than 65 years’ experience and 20,000 customers worldwide, in a wide array of industries. The merger of the ITR division with Synerion means more effective, efficient and superior solutions for Synerion’s and ITR’s clients.

About Synerion

Tracking more than four million employees in various industries, Synerion provides comprehensive Workforce Management (WFM) software solutions and services that enable organizations to effectively optimize their most valuable asset – human resources. Using cutting edge technology and industry best practices, Synerion’s WFM Suite offers organizations a set of integrated tools for the measurable management of workforce performance. The solutions help companies meet organizational goals and maximize business performance.

About ITR

Established in 1965, ITR is the largest privately owned Canadian provider of workforce management systems, with more than 45 years of experience. With offices across Canada, ITR delivers exceptional, scalable solutions and responsive customer service. ITR’s Systems Division develops, implements and supports innovative software that helps organizations of any size and in any industry manage all aspects of their workforce including: time and attendance; employee and job scheduling; accruals; labour allocation; and time and labour reporting.  Tracy Parzych CEO of ITR believes that Synerion will be able to nurture and grow the ITR System Division.  She added, “The merger will enable the software to become even stronger and bring new opportunities to the employees”.

Ernie Pozzobon, President and CEO of Synerion North America, says this merger will provide expanded capabilities, and better levels of customer support.

“Synerion is excited about the possibilities and opportunities that will stem from the acquisition of ITR’s division and looks forward to creating many new and innovative releases in the human resources software arena in the future.”

“Moreover,” Pozzobon said, “the products and consulting services that Synerion delivers, combined with the complimentary products with which the company integrates, will create synergistic value. Customers will feel this synergy and ultimately receive a higher return on their investment.”

To learn more about Synerion, visit www.synerionwfm.com.

What is a workforce management system?

A workforce management system is a comprehensive tool which seeks to automate, regulate and centralize the process of workforce management. Scheduling, time and attendance, managing employee requests and absence management all represent different aspects of workforce management.  Clearly managing a workforce without an actual workforce management system would be a highly involved task that would eat up a lot of resources.

Why invest in a workforce management system?

-          Saves Money

• A workforce management system has been proven to save organizations of all different sizes money in a variety of ways. For example a WFM system automatically calculates the exact amount to be paid to employees based on the number of hours worked. The alternative to a WFM system is manual payroll calculation which is prone to human calculation errors.

-          Improves morale in the company

• Occasionally employees will have their friends punch them in for work if they are running late or punch them out on time if they leave early. This process is known as “buddy punching”.  Buddy punching hurts the morale of the employees who work their entire scheduled shift because they are being paid the exact same amount as those employees who are showing up late or leaving early. As a result more and more employees will begin to engage in this behavior creating a toxic environment.

-          Improves productivity

• Managers often spend a great amount of time dealing with administrative tasks such as approving employee absence request, creating schedules, generating workforce reports, etc. However workforce management solutions automate all of these processes resulting in more available time for managers to focus on other tasks.

-          Optimizes your workforce

• Workforce management systems have built in tools which allow managers to develop schedules based on reoccurring patterns to meet the needs of their clients while also taking into account labor laws, union rules, vacation days and sick days of employees.

To get more information on workforce management and to see how a workforce management system could benefit your company please visit our website.

No matter what industry you are in, companies know that every dollar counts. So why wouldn’t you want a solution that can help save your organization money while improving operational efficiency?

By implementing an automated time and attendance system, you can save your company 2-5% of your annual payroll expenses. This could amount to thousands or even millions of dollars a year. With time and attendance systems, companies of all sizes are able to realize a significant return on investment.

How does automating your time and attendance save you money?

-Decrease in payroll errors

-Decreasing total payroll processing time

-Decreasing unauthorized leave time

-Improving labor reporting

-Eliminating costs associated with paper timecards

-Eliminating the risks of employee buddy punching or time fraud

-And much more…

What should you consider when choosing a time and attendance system vendor?

-Have a few companies present their solution so you can get a complete picture of what a time and attendance              solution can do for your organization

-Consider the level of support you will be receiving from the vendor if any issues arise with the system

-Speak to the company’s current customers to see if they are happy with the solution, the support, etc

-Do not focus too much on the price tag as a low cost solution may not have the capabilities that your organization will require to get a significant return on investment

For more information on Time and Attendance along with Workforce Management visit our website

Don’t be deceived by the oh-so-innocent look on their face. Some of your employees may be guilty of having participated in what is commonly known as “Buddy Punching.”

What is buddy punching?

Buddy punching features an employee “punching” the time card on behalf of his buddy, another employee who is late arriving, early leaving or absent from work that day. This practice enables employee absence without consequence.

How does this affect your company?

• Productivity goes down
• Return on investment (ROI) is reduced
• Bottom line profits decrease
• Workforce Management becomes complicated
• Decrease in employee motivation

According to a study by Nucleus Research, a global provider of research and advisory services, 74 % of organizations experience payroll losses directly related to buddy punching. This amounts to billions of dollars in losses per year!

Is there a solution?

Fortunately, yes!

Nucleus Research found that organizations can save an average of 2.2% of gross payroll by eliminating buddy punching through the use of biometric time clocks. These terminals identify the employee by scanning their finger or hand as they are clocking in, thus making it impossible to get away with buddy punching. Organizations can contact workforce management software companies about investing in time clocks and other tools to optimize their business performance.

For more information on workforce management please visit our website

http://www.manufacturing.net/Articles-The-Benefits-Of-Automating-Workforce-Management.aspx

As the global market continues to become more fast-paced and competitive, companies across all industries are trying to control costs and meet their budget requirements without it affecting their ability to deliver quality products and services to their customers.

In the manufacturing industry, companies struggle to improve the management of their workforce through optimized scheduling and eliminating unnecessary costs in order to improve productivity, and ultimately improve their bottom line.

Reducing Costs

Recent studies show that human error associated with manually processing employee timecards can account for 1.5-8% of the company’s annual payroll costs. On top of that, another 2-5% of annual payroll costs can be contributed from buddy punching – the practice of an employee punching in the timecard on behalf of another employee who is arriving late, leaving early, or absent from work that day.

On average, it takes payroll administrators 5 minutes to manually process employee timecards. Now in a manufacturing company with 100 employees, that can translate up to 8 hours spent on processing payroll.

By automating your time and attendance system and implementing biometric terminals, unnecessary costs associated with human error and time theft can be eliminated, and the administrative workload can be reduced – saving organizations thousands, or even millions of dollars every year.

Controlling Costs

With a comprehensive workforce management solution, managers are provided with a better overview and stronger control of their workforce.

Time and attendance systems allow companies to accurately track employee work hours, eliminating increases in payment associated with rounding. Coupled with the ability to apply the appropriate rates and agreements to each employee’s shift, both managers and employees can be with confident in the accuracy of their wage payments.

Workforce management solutions assign work in a more cost-effective manner. By creating optimized schedules based on available attendance, absence balances, and monthly limits, workforce management systems have the ability to reduce overtime and outsourcing costs. Rules-based solutions governing legislative, union and contractual agreements assure that payments will be made according to employee schedules, preventing unnecessary payments of overtime due to unauthorized early arrivals and late departures.

Improved Productivity

Combined with the appropriate scheduling and absence management software, WFM solutions can further improve the way you do business by building optimized schedules to maximize employee productivity. WFM solutions help manufacturing organizations ensure they have the right people, with the right skills and certifications, doing the right jobs, for each shift. Managers are also given a complete picture of employee absences so they can plan scheduling employees accordingly, based on operational needs to prevent understaffing.

The ability to track labour costs to identify if a task is profitable is essential. Time Costing systems help manufacturing companies collect, analyze, and calculate work hours by task/project for costing purposes to determine whether a product is profitable. Workforce management solutions help Manufacturers easily identify if the cost of the product is consistent with the investment in it, and if there are any suspicions of a loss, companies can take immediate corrective action.

Making the Change

Every organization is different. Manufacturing companies looking to automate their workforce management solutions need to find the right solution to meet the specific needs of their organizations. The ultimate goal of implementing a workforce management solution is to enable your company to cost effectively allocate employee time by optimizing scheduling and time and attendance management. With the right workforce management solution, organizations can control labor costs, minimize compliance risks, and mostly importantly, improve workforce productivity.

For more information on WFM systems please visit our website