THE NEW WORKFORCE.COM

Workforce.com transforms into a timely success story

The new Workforce.com builds a global allegiance for its workforce management technology and research.

BY STAFF REPORT

Creating innovative HR technology that empowers employees while also saving organizations time and money is an accomplishment to be applauded.

Such innovation has been at the root of Workforce.com since its founding in 1922 when James R. Angell led a joint initiative between the

Engineering Foundation and the National Research Council to take workforce science to new levels through unifying modern engineering, labor, management and educational bodies. Nearly a century later Workforce.com is mining its rich history as a trusted source of workplace insights to author a new chapter as a media organization that logically and naturally merges with its own full-featured workforce management platform.

Workforce.com’s next phase will be a success story steeped in its past and the commitment to a future of improving business performance and empowering staff through workforce management technology.

Such keen devotion to its clients doesn’t happen in a vacuum. Workforce. com’s talented and diverse team customizes its offerings to their client’s evolving business needs, be it large or small, and provides on-demand insights and market-ready expertise to boost employee engagement while helping organizations trim labor costs and meet complex compliance requirements.

Among those dedicated to superior customer service is Chicago-based Workforce.com software engineer Leon Pearce, who has maintained a commitment to promoting the product’s ease of use.

“People are the most significant competitive advantage any business can get, so they need to be truly engaged for long-term success,” Pearce said. “We want to help tackle these complex problems and streamline those processes so they can focus on the essentials of managing their workforce: worker happiness, welfare and efficiency.”

While Pearce and his team work externally to keep clitive processes, build trust with front-line staff and improve ents satisfied, another Workforce team member dedicates business productivity.” herself to the well being of internal staff. Since being hired Levis credits Workforce.com’s software among the facin the fall of 2019, Meg Levis has proven herself to be a go-to, tors setting the company apart from others. all-purpose HR generalist. “We have the best and most user friendly workforce man

Initially brought into the fold as an executive recruiter, agement software on the market,” she said. “The second facLevis has proven more than capable of handling talent actor that sets us apart from other companies are the people quisition as well as benefits. on our team. We have the best people researching and sup

“On the recruitment side, I handle the full recruitment porting the software. These people behind the software are process which includes sourcing, interviewing, creating what truly makes Workforce.com who we are as a company.” compensation structure and extending offers to candidates,” said Levis, who cut her teeth in HR as part of Target Corp.’s The Intersection of Research and Software Executive Team Leader internship program and worked full Sarah Kimmel, Workforce.com’s Vice President, Research time with them after her internship as an ETL-HR. “I also and Advisory Services, said her team has been tracking curhandle the onboarding and training experience for my new rent and emerging practices in several areas of HR, which hires. For the HR side of business, I am responsible for bengrew into the annual HR State of the Industry Survey. She efits, 401(K), company culture, compliance and employee then established the Workforce Business Intelligence Board. relations.” “This research feeds directly into our editorial content

Juggling so many responsibilities for a growing compaand keeps us informed on how HR is evolving in practice,” ny takes dedication and organization, said Levis, who also Kimmel said. “We also began integrating public datasets on spent time working for staffing management company Methe talent market in order to answer questions that practidix in Chicago. tioners couldn’t easily answer. Integrating research into the Workforce.com technology “INTEGRATING RESEARCH INTO THE is the next logical step. It can help direct technology toward WORKFORCE.COM TECHNOLOGY solving real-world problems IS THE NEXT LOGICAL STEP. IT that practitioners are facing. We can integrate our talent CAN HELP DIRECT TECHNOLOGY data into the technology in a TOWARD SOLVING REAL-WORLD way that makes it more widely accessible and useful for PROBLEMS THAT PRACTITIONERS organizations who need to do workforce planning or diversiARE FACING.” ty audits.” — SARAH KIMMEL, WORKFORCE.COM’S VICE That said, research, softPRESIDENT, RESEARCH AND ADVISORY SERVICES ware and technology isn’t very effective if not used properly. As an example, Pearce evoked

I have always been passionate about human resources and the tool wielded by the Marvel Comics’ God of Thunder. how large of an impact HR professionals can have on their or“You could own Thor’s hammer but that’s not very useful ganization. This is why it is so great to work for a company with if nobody can lift it,” he said. a rich history in the HR industry, that also focuses on building Software fundamentally changes business operations, solutions for HR professionals to maximize their impact. which means it’s also important to make sure the partner you choose aligns with the vision you have for your teams. How Workforce.com Technology Benefits HR “With the emergence of Software as a Service as the fu

Considering that human resources practitioners must ture of technology adoption, you are not necessarily buying be all things to all people, the sheer volume of work they into what it is today, but its ability to improve and help your perform to keep a business functioning smoothly can be company reach its potential in the future,” Pearce said. overlooked and underappreciated by organizational leaders Ask multiple questions of the software provider, Pearce and employees. Workforce.com technology supports their added, such as: efforts and provides them with the opportunity to become • How many features did they release in the last 12 months? strategic business partners, Pearce said. • Who is their chief technology officer?

“In essence, we build the software with the purpose of • Do they understand the future of work and what’s your improving workforce compliance, automation, engagement product road map for the future? and productivity,” he said. “This helps HR stay compliant • What improvements to the user experience have been with ever-changing labor regulations, automate administramade recently?

Leon Pearce is a senior software engineer for Workforce.com.

• What percentage of revenue do they commit to new research and development compared to supporting old infrastructure? • Are they going to grow and improve your product as we grow and improve our business? • When it comes to implementation, a common complaint about HR software is when it purely serves management and not the rank-and-file employee. • Ask to see it live in a demo and test the software by placing it in the hands of the end user and get their honest feedback, Pearce said. And there are numerous techniques to understand if users like a product.

Yet, he pointed out, many of these techniques are flawed.

“You can compare companies based on revenue, but then are you evaluating how good the product is or how slick the salespeople are?” he said.

App store ratings give a voice to the people who actually use the software. Since users didn’t choose it, they will be honest with their opinion.

“The biggest mistake we see is when software is chosen because it ticks the boxes of a proposal and not how it works and is used by the front-line employees,” Pearce said. “Is it intuitive and easy to learn? I’d always make sure to evaluate whether it enhances or detracts from the employee experience.”

Research, Technology and People Management

Managing people, especially through change, is difficult and complex, Kimmel said.

“Interventions can have unintended consequences, which can affect the organization’s reputation in damaging ways,” Kimmel said. “How do we mitigate this risk? How can we know what’s best for our organization? Without research, you might as well just roll the dice and follow your gut, which may sound like a good idea until you realize that it’s just shorthand for giving in to your unconscious biases about how you wished the world works.

The good news is that many smart people are out there asking useful questions, testing theory against practice, sharing the outcomes and utilizing advanced people management tools.

“The better news is that they’ve been doing it for quite some time,” Kimmel said. “Workforce was founded nearly 100 years ago in the space between business, research and practice, and we’re still there today.”

Pearce added that Workforce.com’s technology fits seamlessly into the big picture of people management, helping guide where the world of work is heading and providing a path for HR to be there alongside it.

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