Mobile forms may be well-known for the benefits they offer field workers. However, they can also be used for the back office. In fact, many industry leaders have designed and rolled out these digital forms across their offices. One of the departments which can definitely benefit from mobilizing paper forms is Human Resources.
Human resources is one of the core departments at an enterprise. Some even say it’s an important factor for success since it manages a company’s most important asset: the people. Because of this pressure, HR executives are constantly on their toes. This is especially true in the construction, mining, health care, and logistics industries.
If you belong to one of these four sectors, you may already be facing the human resource challenges listed below. However, read on and you’ll discover how mobile forms may be the best solution to overcome them.
Mobile Forms vs. Construction Industry Issues
The very nature of this industry is the main reason for its unique HR environment. Executives are constantly under pressure to manage people to ensure minimal effects to production. This can be difficult considering the challenges they face.
HR Challenges in the Construction Industry
According to surveys, the following are the most common human resources issues faced by construction companies.
- Recruiting Qualified Workers – While all industries have been facing tough competition for top talent, the construction industry has it worse due to certain factors. For starters, there is the perception that construction jobs pay less, are excessively strenuous, and can lead to permanent disability or death. HR executives also have trouble finding workers who have the skills and experience required for each project they handle.
- Unpaid Work – HR executives responsible for payroll have it tough too. They need to be wary while generating payroll to avoid accidentally paying more or less. Moreover, they need more than just billing for work as proof of work. For instance, they may require visual documentation of issues faced on the site along with additional documentation such as signed approvals from supervisors.
- Safety of the Whole Workforce – Construction is a risky activity, and accidents may take their toll on both the workforce and company. Human resources have to deal with direct and indirect costs such as medical expenses, lost productivity, and even lawsuits. Therefore, preventing these risks by training everyone on safety is a priority.
- Stagnant Productivity Levels – While productivity in manufacturing has doubled over the past 10 years, it has remained relatively flat in construction. The main reason for this is unproductive time. Approximately 60% of direct labor time is spent on waiting for materials and equipment, traveling to sites, and taking early breaks.
How Mobile Forms Help
There are several ways these digital forms can help HR departments in construction companies.
- Mobilize Job Application Forms – Skimming through each resume can be a tedious, mistake-riddled task. On the other hand, providing specific fields for job applicants to fill promises better and quicker results. Answers can be filtered by a back-end system, displaying candidates who best suit a certain project.
- Amplify Your Employer Brand – Using mobile forms indicates a company’s openness to adopting the latest technologies, including mobile. Not only does this create a good first impression on new hires, but it also retains talent since it enhances employees’ productivity and communication.
- Streamline Payroll Operations – Mobilizing forms such as the weekly timesheet allows HR to effectively track time for the payroll pay period. Mobile forms can also be used on the field as proof of work as well. Workers can send texts and images detailing issues and challenges in real-time. With evidence of their hard work, HR can ensure they are paid fairly.
- Protect the Workforce – There are many ways mobile forms can be used to ensure the health and safety of workers. They can double as checklists which employees can follow to avoid mishaps. Forms can also be used to report hazards on the field early on, preventing accidents from occurring in the first place.
- Enhance Workforce Productivity – Mobile forms effectively counter unproductive time. By promptly reporting inventories and inspections, they can ensure workers have all the equipment they need to become productive. Adding form controls such as the Location control can also help reduce travel time. By reporting their locations, workers can help the back office effectively plan their schedules and appointment to sites.
Mobile Forms vs. Mining Industry Challenges
Like the construction industry, the mining industry is a challenging industry for human resource executives. Employees are a major asset, which means HR needs to effectively balance their needs and the company’s.
HR Challenges in the Mining Industry
The mining industry may share some of the challenges faced by the construction industry. However, it has many issues of its own, including:
- Retirement of Aging Workforce – The aging population in most mining countries is the most significant portion of the workforce. Unfortunately, its retirement creates a major gap. Further contributing to the issue is the low number of younger workers.
- Extended Work Hours – An Australian government study revealed 30% of employees complained about extended periods away from home interfering with their ability to develop and maintain relationships. Approximately 20% of workers’ partners wanted them to change jobs.
- Lack of Diversity – Despite the perception that the mining industry is male-dominant, there have been positive steps to help integrate women into the workforce. Unfortunately, the number of female miners is still low. This is mainly because of their inability to achieve a good work/life balance due to extended hours and expectations of overtime.
- Lack of Recognition and Rewards – The mining industry has one of the largest employee turnover percentages around. Tough work conditions aside, the lack of motivation has caused many employees to abandon their jobs. Human resource managers need to keep motivation levels high to retain their valuable trained workers. Unfortunately, performance management can be a challenge, especially since those evaluated are on-site.
How Mobile Forms Make a Difference
Rolling out these digital forms can make a major difference across your mining enterprise since it achieves the below.
- Empower Your Whole Workforce – Mining companies can employ and retain young miners with the help of mobilized forms. A study by PwC revealed young workers, especially millennials, are more likely to work for employers who deploy technology which empowers their personal lives and supports communication and innovation. As for older workers, several studies indicate their equal openness to embracing new tech. What makes mobile forms ideal is that it won’t make your older employees fear becoming irrelevant. In fact, they’ll enjoy using these forms as they help them get more work done.
- Strike a Work-Life Balance – Mobile apps have been making a difference in workers’ lives across industries. Mobile forms are no different. They enable the communication of data quickly, ensuring faster results. They can also be configured to send data to back-end systems such as a team tracking system or business intelligence tools. This allows supervisors and managers to make better staffing decisions and effectively reduce overtime. In addition to reducing employee turnover, efficient HR management can support diversity within the team.
- Acknowledge the Achievements of Workers – While keeping an eye on the market and ensuring the salaries you pay are on point`, frequently recognizing workers can increase retention. One factor which you can definitely reward workers for is upholding safety best practices. For instance, supervisors can award points to their teammates and note who has been following safety instructions. The gamification of safety compliance with mobile forms can definitely make a difference in morale.
Mobile Forms vs. Health Care Industry Issues
The health care industry is quickly becoming one of the most highly regulated industries. This adds pressure on HR professionals as need regulations lead to new challenges.
HR Challenges in the Health Care Industry
Currently, the following challenges have been tormenting human resource employees.
- Medical Staffing Challenges – Human resources executives are burdened by several staffing issues. The first and foremost is the lack of nurses. Baby boomer nurses are retiring and available nurses aren’t enough to support the current demand. Another prominent issue is high turnover. Physicians, nurses, and medical assistants alike leave their jobs during the first year of employment. Interestingly, only 27% chose better opportunities while 14% left for better pay. Most professionals left due to issues such as long work hours, burnout, and lack of training and development.
- Complex Compliance Regulations – New health care regulations are quite strict. What makes complying with them harder is the significant number of variable-hour employees in the workforce. HR executives need to effectively classify their employees and track their work hours. Patient data safety is another concern, especially considering how often data breaches occur in health care facilities these days.
- Inefficient Credentialing Procedures – To reduce risk and liability to their employers, health care HR professionals need to track the certifications and credits acquired by the staff. A system needs to be implemented to track and report credit and license expiration dates.
- Health and Safety Training – Proper training is vital as it ensures the safety of both the staff and their patients. This, however, can be difficult considering the limited time health care professionals have on hand. Therefore, a system needs to be developed to help providers resolve this issue.
How Mobile Forms Counter these Issues
The aforementioned issues can easily overwhelm healthcare organizations and their human resources department. Luckily, rolling out mobile forms can make a difference.
- Overcome Talent Shortages – While you can’t resolve the staff deficit in your country, you can begin hiring smarter with the help of technology. Using mobile forms, you can improve the process of searching and shortlisting candidates. As these forms ensure better reporting, HR can better identify open roles for staff members coming off assignments.
- Ensure the Satisfaction of the Workforce – Mobilized forms can help improve worker satisfaction in two ways. One, they can effectively counter time management issues which result in long hours and burnout. Users can enter their work hours via timesheets designed for mobile. Upon submitting their timesheets, a back-end business system can calculate how much time they have worked in a week and effectively assign other staff members instead. Two, digitized forms can be designed as employee satisfaction surveys. Based on the staff’s answers, HR can improve overall regulations to better meet their needs.
- Streamline Compliance – Mobilizing paper forms is beneficial for regulatory compliance. It replaces paper and manual tools, therefore reducing the risk of stolen, lost, or damaged documents. Mobilized forms also allow the capture and storage of all important information, simplifying administration processes and providing a clear electronic audit trail.
- Effectively Track Staff’s Credentialing – By combining these forms with push notifications, healthcare organizations can alert their staff before their credentials and credits expire. Health care professionals can then submit images of their renewed certifications as proof via forms.
- Provide Regular Training Opportunities – Using these forms, you can directly deliver training materials to your staff through checklists and interactive forms. You can even use controls such as the Web View control to allow access to external sites. From there, workers can view new training materials from the convenience of their mobile phones.
Mobile Forms vs. Logistics Industry Problems
Despite the constant push for automating the industry, human resource management is a critical element of success. Not only does it ensure effective internal and external data sharing, it encourages innovation and improvement. However, human resources professionals have their hands full with numerous issues.
HR Challenges in the Logistics Industry
From PwC’s Transportation & Logistics 2030 Vol. 5, the following are some of the challenges human resource executives will be facing over the coming years.
- Need for Elder-Friendly Workplaces – Transportation and logistics companies need to change their work environments to meet the needs of older workers. Only then can they avoid the risks to productivity and quality caused by the retirement of aging employees.
- Sector’s Negative Image – While experts aren’t sure how they will retain their experienced workforce, they are equally confused about attracting talent. Image problems prevents the industry from attracting sufficient talent to overcome the expected shortage by 2030.
- Lower Wages – Companies in the logistics industry are known for paying lower wages than enterprises in other industries. While salaries vary depending on employees’ roles, this issue needs to be addressed quickly. This is especially true for jobs within the road sector as drivers are the least paid although they spend the most time on the job.
- Lack of Advancement Options – Most employees in this sector have medium or low qualification levels. Now, post-secondary programs are available, indicating there’s hope for the new generation. The question is: what about the experienced but not formally educated staff? They require training to bridge the knowledge gap between them and upcoming talent.
How Mobile Forms Help Logistics HR Experts
Mobilizing the paper forms used in logistics companies can transform them through the following benefits.
- Adapt Work Environments to the Needs of Older Workers – According to PwC, technological advances have been helping with this goal. Mobile forms can deliver long-term benefits with a relatively much smaller cost. They help the ageing workforce by streamlining processes, enhancing productivity, and saving time.
- Improve the Industry’s Image – The logistics industry is considered one of the ‘boring industries’, especially due to the low usage of tech. However, mobile has the power to attract young and skilled people. Mobile forms take your enterprise’s mobility capabilities to the next level, improving talent’s perception of the industry.
- Save Funds to Spend More on Employees – Mobile forms can save a lot of costs, including paper and printing costs. Enterprises can then invest those sums in their workforces instead. This improves morale and reduces turnover in the long run. It also enhances productivity, ensuring better cash flow.
- Constantly Train Employees – You can assign training tasks to ensure employees are up to date with the latest in the industry. Moreover, you can provide training materials and checklists directly to employees’ apps. That way, they can always have access to the information they need to be efficient.
So Why Not Try Mobile Forms Today?
Now that you know what these forms can do for your enterprise’s HR departments, how about trying them yourself?
Download our free Ready2Use Mobile Forms and find out for yourself how these digitized forms can transform your enterprise.
