As technology and artificial intelligence play increasingly large roles in the economy and as the global population increases, the question of how to manage people effectively becomes more critical. Companies evaluate their assets, refine their budgets, and audit their ROIs. Many implement premier software to manage accounting, product systems processes, customer relations, and even human resources needs. But what about managing the productivity of the greatest (and most expensive) cost of doing business—human capital?
Human capital management (HCM) is becoming more prominent as companies seek to manage assets and to allocate resources better, and business software companies, such as Asure Software, are going beyond time card tracking to do so. Through HCM, master employee records can be kept in one place. With all the data logged, managers can better allocate their workplace talent in a cost-effective way. A company can even break down the overhead cost of each employee, down to how much electricity every office uses. When streamlining systems, this kind of detail makes efficient business sense.
Eric Garton, a Harvard Business Review contributor, discussed HCM in his 2017 article “What If Companies Managed People as Carefully as They Manage Money?”, which used talent productivity statistics to demonstrate how and why companies should manage people better. According to the article, only 15 percent of employees make a tangible difference in their workplaces. It also noted inspired employees are three times more productive than dissatisfied employees, but only one out of eight employees is inspired. Garton argues businesses should measure, invest in, monitor, and reward employees in order to improve each employee’s contribution. Essentially, Garton is lobbying for a metrics aspect to every annual review.
Asure Software offers a cloud-based system that does this. The software helps organizations measure, monitor, and analyze employee interactions and performances, providing the information necessary for managers to make strong, evidence-based decisions about everything from promotions to raises. When applicable, the software can even track compliance with government regulations (e.g., required job training). Asure Software offers expansive insights and tools in the following areas: asset and move management, benefits administration, full-service meeting room scheduling, hoteling and mobile workforce management, human capital management, payroll and tax management, talent management, time and attendance management, and workplace usage and occupancy sensors.
Asure Software won a Bronze Stevie® Award for Best New Product or Service of the Year in the Human Capital Management category of The American Business Awards®. Asure Software also took the People’s Choice Stevie Award for Favorite New Products.
The analytics provided by companies like Asure Software do more than just track time, though. By measuring employee productivity and seeing where different team members excel, a company can capitalize on strengths and improve areas that need more attention. This streamlines employee deliverables and product lines. It can even provide opportunities to improve customer relations and to reduce costly time spent in meetings.
When managers can identify star talent, that star talent can be rewarded. This motivates standout employees and, ideally, inspires other team members to achieve that status. It fosters a rewarding cycle that can resonate positively throughout the business culture.
The bottom line is this: HCM affects every organization’s bottom line. It makes practical, financial, and system-based sense to get real metrics and to manage people well because the organization and individual employees both benefit.
“To bring great stories to life, that’s the core message,” says President & CEO, Philip A. Nardone Jr.. “Those great stories are about the companies—their technologies and innovations—that are changing lives.”
By just about any measure, it’s succeeding in that goal. Their customer service team upped its satisfaction score to 95.3% last year, from 94.2% in 2016. It did so after handling 13,500 more support tickets and 2,475 more calls than in 2016. What’s more, the service team, which operates out of the firm’s California headquarters, was also able to maintain an average wait time of just one minute.
Attracting—and especially retaining—a diverse workforce should be an important focus for employers in all sectors.
A member of the Swiss corporation Sonova Group, Phonak launched the world’s first behind-the-ear hearing aid in the early 1970s, and a few years later, they introduced the first digitally programmable hearing device. In the 1990s, Phonak developed the market’s smallest FM receiver, which paired with a wireless transmitter to minimize background noises and to enhance the clarity of individual voices.
The sentiment also simply makes sense. The art of storytelling has connected generations, communities, and cultures for as long as humans have existed. Storytelling—or, in a broader sense, communication—is a foundational pillar of any civilization, culture, or people. The story and the emotion it elicits are why songs sell and why people celebrate holidays, attend events, and, ultimately, make purchases. 
“Our CEO, Steve Bilt, is a master at creating an effective corporate culture,” says the company’s chief marketing officer, Jody Martin. “He believes that, to be successful, the mission has to be motivating, both personally and financially to employees; inclusive to all employees, not just a few; and continually reinforced in a variety of ways.”
The crystal People’s Choice Stevie Awards will be presented to winners at The International Business Awards banquet on Saturday, 20 October at the InterContinental London Park Lane Hotel. 
