Managing a large workforce is complicated, even for the most experienced and skilled managers. As a cherry on top, these days, multiple teams and departments are working under one leader. Instead, what happens is that the managers get worked over. As a manager, your job is to maintain quality and teamwork. However, you end up doing many time-consuming, unimportant tasks due to the lack of the right workforce management tools.
The Evolution of Workforce Management
Over the years, the work world has gone through rapid social, cultural, economic, and professional changes. Moreover, even the way we do our jobs has changed a lot. For example, these days, businesses rely on both external (outsourced, freelancers, etc) and internal employees (permanent hires, full-time and part-time workers, etc). These days, the focus on employee well-being (it is not an option anymore) is as important as employee accountability, responsibility, and productivity. So, to manage ourselves and our diverse workforce, we have no choice but to rely on advanced workforce management tools.
Read Also: Top 15 Best Clock-In Clock-Out Apps for Your Organization in 2026
What is External Workforce Management?
Make your workday more productive
Time tracking and work management can help you reach your goals
faster.
Did you know that, according to a not-so-recent economist impact report, about 30% businesses rely on external hires to get their work done. Why? Because of the cost savings, flexibility, and reduced risk. Simply put, the way you manage this outsourced workforce is called external workforce management.
| Did you know that the way you manage your internal and external workforce is known as total workforce management? |
What are Workforce Management Tools?
Workforce management tools, also known as WFM software, simplify every task related to how you manage your diverse employees and teams, such as scheduling, time tracking, and productivity tracking. The tools help business owners, leaders, and managers gain useful insights into employee work.
Key Features of Workforce Management Tool
Choosing a workforce management software that has features aligning with your workforce requirements, workflows, and structure is very important to get the desired outcome. These are the features you need to look for.
1. Capacity Planning
To get work done, you need resources. These are mostly skilled human resources. However, since you have a limited budget for everything, you can neither understaff nor overstaff. You must have an optimal number of employees assigned to every project and task. Workforce tools measure this exact number based on your specific metrics.
2. Productivity Tracking
Advanced workforce management systems and software solutions even track the productivity of employees in real-time. This is also KPI-based. However, a cost-effective solution that is much better for this job is productivity tracking software.
3. Workflow Visibility
With the right workforce management tool, you also get features to see workflows and processes in real-time on your dashboard.
4. Location Insights
Just like it tracks the time, the top workforce management software also has GPS and geofencing features to track employee locations. This lets you know where they are working from and whether they are wasting too much time on, let’s say, long routes.
5. Data Compliance & Privacy
The confidential data of your business must remain within the 4 walls of your organization. For the same purpose, the best workforce management software solution provides you with data compliance and privacy features to secure your crucial information.
6. Personalized Insights
The right workforce tools come with features to even personalize work insights. This ensures that individuals get details specific to their productivity levels, helping them focus more on what they need to improve.
7. Seamless Integrations
In short, integrations mean one focused platform, diverse functionalities. For example, your time tracking software is also monitoring employee activities. What it’s doing is pulling this feature from your employee monitoring software. Similarly, your workforce management tool can also integrate with, let’s say, your project management software.
8. Multi-Device Compatibility
This ensures access from anywhere and at any time. You need to choose a workforce management software solution that runs smoothly on Windows, macOS, Android, iOS, Linux, PCs, smartphones, and laptops.
9. Real-Time User Monitoring
You need to identify how, when, and what work is happening in your organization without micromanaging. With the real-time user monitoring feature, you get exactly this information on your real-time dashboard.
10. Predictive Analytics
This is an AI-powered feature found in advanced workforce management tools. What it does is gather and analyse past data to forecast future requirements within seconds.
11. User-Friendly Interface
Only some of your employees are tech-savvy. For those who are not, a workforce management software solution with a complex interface will be a problem. Overall, they will spend more time learning the tool than using it. You know what we mean. Right?
12. Customization
You will also want to choose a workforce management tool, which you can customize to match your preferences. For example, the preferences can be the level of access permissions you want, your workflow types, the tasks you want to automate, etc.
13. Automated Scheduling
Scheduling the right employees to the right tasks is the most daunting work for any organization. To reduce the time consumed on this task and to optimally deploy your staff, look for workforce tools with the automated scheduling feature.
Benefits of Using Workforce Management Tools
Implementing the right workforce management tools will provide businesses with many advantages, including:
- Productivity Tracking: With the right workforce tool implemented, tracking employee and organizational productivity becomes automated.
- See Availability: You can see which employees are available on your dashboard at a glance in real-time. Overall, this helps you optimally schedule or reschedule to balance workloads.
- Identify Improvement Areas: Real-time productivity reports ensure that you quickly spot any areas where your employees need to be more focused and efficient.
- Optimize Processes & Workflows: Your workforce software helps you get rid of any obstacles. However, if you have an advanced tool, you can automate repetitive tasks to free up more time for work that matters.
- Improve Employee Well-Being: Real-time personalized employee insights make it easy to spot signs of overwork and burnout, helping you set schedules that suit the employees’ work-life balance needs.
- Enhance Cybersecurity: Workforce management tools are equipped with data compliance and privacy features, which secure confidential and sensitive information.
- Policy Compliance Tracking: Your workforce software can also let you easily configure policies and even track which employees are compliant.
- Improve Communication: Thanks to real-time productivity insights, every conversation between managers and employees will lead to something fruitful.
- Save Money: Reduced absenteeism, improved employee well-being, and increased productivity lead to reduced costs. Obviously.
Top 5 Workforce Management Tools for Businesses
Will you focus your time and energy on growing your business or on finding an asset that will just help in steadying the workforce? Since your answer was the former, here is a list of the top 5 workforce management tools for your convenience.
- DeskTrack
- Quikchex HRMS
- Keka
- Zoho People
- GreytHR
1. DeskTrack
DeskTrack is the best, all-in-one integrated employee monitoring, productivity tracking, project management, and time tracking software for your remote, hybrid, fieldwork, and in-office workforce.
Key Features:
- Real-time screenshot monitoring
- Real-time job application management
- Real-time project management
- Real-time tracking
- Real-time Productivity monitoring, analysis, and calculator
- Real-time employee scheduler
- Real-time attendance tracking
Pros:
- Prevents insider threats
- Schedules employees and tasks in 30 minutes
- Improves employee productivity
- Reduces expenses and time wastage
- Create and post job applications to 1000s of job boards within seconds. Track application status in real-time.
Cons:
- None
| Most Affordable Paid Plan | User Rating |
| $5.99/user/month | 5/5 |
2. Quikchex HRMS
With a focus on simplicity and effectiveness, Quikchex HRMS is one of the best workforce management systems and HR management tools for SMEs.
Key Features:
- Employee management
- Payroll processing
- Attendance and time tracking
- Leave management
Pros:
- User-friendly interface
- Robust client support
- Customizable reports
Cons:
- Limited advanced analytics features
| Most Affordable Paid Plan | User Rating |
| $50.41/month base fee + $0.50/user/month | 4.5/5 |
3. Keka
Keka has every HR functionality that you can think of, simplified. Plus, it is also a good payroll software solution.
Key Features:
- Recruitment management
- Attendance tracking
- Performance management
- Payroll automation
Pros:
- Comprehensive features
- Easy onboarding
- Strong consumer support
Cons:
- Expensive
| Most Affordable Paid Plan | User Rating |
| $50/recruiter/month | 4.4/5 |
4. Zoho People
Zoho People is also an HR software solution. However, what sets it apart from others is that it is cloud-based.
Key Features:
- Leave and attendance management
- Performance appraisals
- Employee self-service
- Recruitment management
Pros:
- Affordable
- Integration with other Zoho apps
- Customizable workflows
Cons:
- Less user-friendly interface
| Most Affordable Paid Plan | User Rating |
| $0.54/user/month | 4.4/5 |
5. GreytHR
GreytHR is another HR software with quite a few handy features, such as payroll processing. However, the customizations are limited.
Key Features:
- Payroll processing
- Leave management
- Employee self-service
- Attendance tracking
Pros:
- Robust compliance
- User-friendly interface
Cons:
- Limited customization
| Most Affordable Paid Plan | User Rating |
| $0.39/user/month | 4.3/5 |
Read Also: Top 10 Best Employee Monitoring Software for Mac & Windows
The Future of Workforce Management
DEI has the maximum emphasis these days. That’s diversity, equity, and inclusiveness for you. What it means is that:
- Businesses must welcome employees from diverse backgrounds and be open to different opinions.
- Organizations must treat all employees equally.
- Organizations must involve all employees in everything that’s even slightly, directly, or indirectly related to their work.
HRs and workforce management systems are focusing on implementing DEI strategies, and developers are working to build workforce management tools around DEI and its core values. Overall, based on our experience and the changes implemented so far, we will see more of this in the future.
DeskTrack: The Only Tool You Need for Workforce Management
As we mentioned before, DeskTrack is the top workforce management tool, which is an all-in-one, integrated, real-time tracking, productivity monitoring, project management, and employee monitoring software solution. What makes it the choice of 8000+ businesses around the world is that it provides what every workforce tool provides and much, much more. Plus, it’s scalable, customizable, and integrable with all the other tools and apps you use. Try now and realize why it has gained 100000+ users already.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Q. What is External Workforce Management?
Ans. The way you manage your outsourced workforce is called external workforce management.
Q. What is Total Workforce Management?
Ans. The way you manage your internal and external workforce is known as total workforce management.
Q. What is the Best Tool for Workforce Management?
Ans. We shortlisted the top 5 workforce management tools for you.
- DeskTrack
- Quikchex HRMS
- Keka
- Zoho People
- GreytHR
Q. What is the WFM Tool?
Ans. WFM software solutions simplify every task related to how you manage your diverse employees and teams, such as scheduling, time tracking, and productivity tracking. The tools help business owners, leaders, and managers gain useful insights into employee work.
Q. Is DeskTrack a Workforce Management Tool?
Ans. DeskTrack is the top workforce management tool, which is an all-in-one, integrated, real-time tracking, productivity monitoring, project management, and employee monitoring software solution.
Q. What are the Benefits of Using Workforce Management Tools?
Ans. Implementing the right workforce management tools will provide businesses with many advantages, including:
- Productivity Tracking
- See Availability
- Identify Improvement Areas
- Optimize Processes & Workflows
- Improve Employee Well-Being
- Enhance Cybersecurity
- Policy Compliance Tracking
- Improve Communication
- Save Money
