text: In a word, efficiency and productivity, says Mansfield. An employee asks for a day off. The request is logged, and the manager is alerted and reviews the request. If approved, the information gets onto the schedule and to payroll. If necessary, qualified substitutes are found.
  Awareness. Gain a better handle on who's working, when they're working, and integrate with performance data.
  Cost savings. Cost savings should be possible with most approaches.
  Compliance. Improved data and reporting mean better audits and better documentation in case of suits and charges.
  Engagement. Supervisors, managers, and employees are more engaged when less of their time is spent on routine annoyances and more on what is important to the organization.
  Decision making. Automation helps to make sure that data are clean and accurate, and that results in better data, better reports, and better decisions.
  Accuracy. Decrease in error rate means less manual involvement. In turn, that results in savings in labor costs.
  So, when making your case, certainly mention efficiency, effectiveness and accuracy, but also mention what it does for managers and employees, Lombardi says.
  The Curve Ball of the ACA
  And then there's the big curve ball, the Affordable Care Act (ACA). It may have a significant impact on workforce management strategy and also a significant impact on workforce technology. Many companies will have important—and potentially costly—strategic decisions to make. And many of those decisions will be data-driven.
  Regardless of your ACA strategy (pay or play, etc.) your administrative burden is huge. Especially the burdens of tracking eligibility and reporting will be eased by automation and the associated tools.
  Mansfield coaches his son's hockey team. They had a game they didn't play very well in, so he put them in a room and told them to work together to figure out how to play better. After a while, he went into the room, and they were doing what he had asked—talking to each other via smartphones and tablets.
  Mansfield realizes that companies may not be able to meet all their employees' technological preferences, and in those circumstances, you have to work to find a balance.
  You can still work toward a system that is:
  With information available in real time
  That produces data that helps view employees as assets
  And how about how you pay those assets? Working with outdated pay ranges can create turnover, pay equity issues, low morale, and legal challenges. Also, granting merit increases without an accurate budget or distribution method has the strong potential to damage your professional credibility.
  Budgets for consulting services remain tight but your organization still has to get the job done. For HR professionals to successfully handle basic compensation work, you need to feel comfortable with the process–from market pricing positions and aging survey data to handling wage compression and developing a merit matrix that recognizes performance and market relationships to many other things in between. Suffice to say, these compensation conundrums require careful and thoughtful attention.
  How to get there? Fortunately there's timely help in the form of BLR's new webcast— The DIY Compensation Makeover: How to Primp, Plump, and Prioritize Your Compensation-Based Initiatives–on March 25 in just 90 minutes, you'll learn a step-by-step guide to update market data and adjust pay structures, as well as get expert guidance in basic compensation techniques. And you'll sharpen your personal compensation skills and be in poised to boost your personal credibility within your organization.
  Register today or find out more about this interactive webinar.
  By participating in this interactive webcast, you'll learn how to:
  BONUS: Excel spreadsheets and instructions will be provided for many of the topics discussed.
  Join us on March 25–you'll get the in-depth The DIY Compensation Makeover: How to Primp, Plump, and Prioritize Your Compensation-Based Initiatives