Driven by a variety of factors, including labor demographics and a growing realization by some companies that human capital really is a resource, the concept of “Workforce Management” is a growing one. But what is does it really mean?

To a large extent, today's Workforce Management concept has its roots – or at least close ties – to the pioneering efforts of Gene Gagnon and a few others 30 years ago in the area of warehousing and distribution, which led to today’s Labor Management Systems.

That is tied to at least three of the four elements of what Workforce Management is all about, according to Ed Gill, a partner in Accenture’s Workforce Management practice.

As shown in the chart below, Task Management, Workforce Management Systems, and Operations Workforce Optimization, are all clearly aligned with traditional distribution LMS concepts – which are now being applied across retail, manufacturing, hospitality, and other business sectors (the Task Management section on the chart focuses on retail, but can be applied to any industry).

The slide was presented on a recent Videocast on Workforce Management on our Supply Chain Television Channel, which featured not only Gill but Jim Chamberlain of DSC Logistics and John Ogg of Gaylord Entertainment describer their success with Workforce Management. That excellent broadcast can now be viewed on-demand: An Enterprise View of Workforce Management: Maximizing the Return on your Labor Investment.)

Source: Accenture

DSC Logistics has been able to reduce variable labor costs by 20% from its adoption of Workforce Management principles technology, according to Chamberlain, as well as move to much more objective rather than subjective analysis and decision-making.

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