You’ve probably heard that nearly half of all startups fail within the first five years, but did you know the odds of successfully scaling are relatively bleak?
Of the startups that survive five years, only about one in 200 become successful scaleups. According to McKinsey & Company, just 22% of businesses launched in the past decade have successfully scaled.
Once they’ve developed a proven business model, figuring out how to scale is a significant challenge for most startups. Luckily, there are some ways young companies can set themselves up for long-term success. This is where workforce management software becomes invaluable.
The days of “back of the napkin” planning & execution are long gone.
Why Startups Should Consider Workforce Management Technology (Software)
Startups need solid internal infrastructure to scale. This means having the right people and technology to create a structured foundation for growth.
Having a workforce management system can help eliminate much of the guesswork about whether your business has the right talent, the right skills, the right role, and the right time for optimal operations. Becoming aware of these resource requirements & trends within your startup can create additional bandwidth by filling in opportunity gaps that may have been missed without business analytics tools.
How Workforce Management Software Can Scale Your Startup
Workforce management technology is designed to help you manage every aspect of your workforce – from assigning tasks and tracking attendance to helping employees stay organized and collaborative. Here are a few ways the features of workforce management systems can support your scalability.
Workforce Management Software Provides a Single Source of Truth
Because of their broad capabilities, workforce management systems are centralized platforms for all your workforce and project management needs. All your company data is in one place and can be easily analyzed and compared.
Having a single, all-in-one system avoids investing in several different technologies (e.g., platforms / subscriptions), each with its own learning curve, cost structure, inputs & outputs. It makes it easy to find “key” information you need when you need it.
Workforce Management Software Can Help Define & Track Your Goals
Workforce management solutions have built-in project management tools to help your startup align individual tasks with organizational goals. This can help your business define and maintain a clear mission and vision necessary for scaling. These tools are equally helpful across the organization, including line staff, teams, and management, with summaries being provided to the Board of Directors and potentially even investors.
Aligning employees’ individual tasks to the company’s strategic goals also enables team members to see how their work contributes to the company’s overall success. This can infuse a sense of purpose into your workforce and increase motivation for more efficient work.
Workforce Management Software Simplifies Resource Planning
Some workforce management systems have resource allocation tools to help employees complete the appropriate assignments at the right time. This can help you track your organization’s overall bandwidth so you don’t take on more work than you can.
Resource allocation tools can also help you more accurately forecast future projects based on resource availability. This ensures you can develop realistic estimates for new products and professional services.
Workforce Management Software Increases Transparency & Accountability
With an open platform designed for task tracking across your business, any company member can see what projects are being worked on in real time. Workforce management technology can also alert leaders if any tasks are at risk of falling behind.
This technology builds company transparency and helps keep employees accountable for fulfilling their individual tasks and goals.
Workforce Management Software Offers Access to Invaluable Micro-Information
Using technology to track all aspects of your business gives you access to a wealth of information that can be used to make insightful decisions based on up-to-date data. Some of the information these systems can track include:
- Billable vs. non-billable hours
- Employee productivity and focus levels
- Average meeting time rates
- Analytic comparisons to monitor growth
- Employee attendance levels
- The tasks or services that take the most time to complete
All of this data is helpful to have in your back pocket as you make decisions to scale.
Workforce Management Software Can Scale With You
Some startups may think they should invest in smaller platforms because they don’t need as many “bells and whistles” as larger corporations. However, if your goal is to scale your business, you need a solution to scale alongside you. This helps avoid unnecessary time and headaches associated with upgrading platforms later.
Some workforce management solutions have features that allow you to track unlimited projects, which means you’ll always be able to grow your dashboard. The more data you collect, the more insight you’ll have to make growth-oriented business decisions.
Position Your Startup for Scalable Success With Workforce Management Technology
Workforce management technology has the power to sustain your business with features that let you better manage your teams and projects. This scalable technology can create a foundation suitable for sky-high growth, regardless of your startup’s stage.
Get the benefit of better data and clearer progress tracking. Schedule your demo now!