6 Best Workforce Management Software

Homebase makes scheduling easy from a dashboard that allows you to view the schedule by day, week, or month, giving you an overview of the individual team member’s availability weeks in advance. Additionally, team members can input their availability and submit time-off requests to prevent you from scheduling someone who’s going to be out on vacation on a given day or week.

Homebase got a perfect score in this criterion because it has both shift swapping and labor forecasting. Compared to other providers on this list, only Homebase, Deputy, and Paycor have these features. When I Work has labor forecasting but still in its beta stage.

The timekeeping tools in Homebase are easy to use for employees and managers alike. Employees can clock in remotely from their phone, or you can set up a kiosk at your workplace for employees to sign in onsite. You can then compare hours scheduled versus hours worked. If you upgrade to one of the paid plans, you’ll be able to send text reminders to employees, such as messages about changes affecting their shift.

It only got a 4.75 rating out of 5 because you need to upgrade to a paid plan to use more advanced features, like preventing early clock-ins and having your managers approve time sheets.

The team communication and messaging features of Homebase make it stand out as a workforce management tool. You can send everyone a message and receive alerts for key activities, such as when someone hits their overtime hours limit. With the Plus plan, you can even set up message read receipts, so you’ll know whether employees got the message. Only Homebase and Connecteam have this feature in its messaging app.

Homebase has plenty of integrations from job boards like Indeed to productivity tools like G Suite. For example, if you use our top recommended payroll provider, Gusto, you’ll find that you can easily export time worked from Homebase into Gusto for seamless payroll processing.

If you’re in retail, you can integrate Homebase with POS systems like Lightspeed and Square to support reporting. Homebase even has an employee performance widget that gives you access to information about your employees that you may need at a glance, such as their emergency contact information.

Deputy boasts a variety of scheduling functionalities, such as drag-and-drop scheduling, shift swapping, and templates for easy shift duplication. It also manages shift swapping for your employees. Compared to all the other software on this list, only Deputy analyzes the foot traffic and weather so you can modify your schedule based on these data. Another standout feature is its option to choose pre-loaded sample data from six different industries (restaurant, bar, etc.), or use your own. This is helpful to a new business building its first schedule.

Deputy’s scheduling dashboard also shows your labor costs. (Source: Deputy)

Deputy has self-service availability and time off tracking. However, Deputy, like Homebase, goes the extra mile by offering mobile clock-in with geolocation to prevent time theft. Deputy adds facial recognition for iPad/tablet clock-ins. Similar to Homebase, Deputy provides auto-alerts for overtime and hourly limits and time sheet approval.

Deputy provides robust communication tools for you and employees to stay in touch. It has a news feed option that lets you post information for your whole team, such as when you plan to open late due to bad weather, or need to remind employees to order new uniforms. You can also assign tasks to employees, and send SMS/email notifications. It also has a journal function where you can track your performance management documentation.

Deputy’s add-on and integration options could make a difference in your purchase choice between it and other workforce management software. While it integrates with some of the same tools Homebase does (Gusto, Square), it has many more integration options into payroll software like ADP and Paychex.

One of the features it includes that Homebase doesn’t is the ability to invoice customers through its accounting add-ons to software like QuickBooks and Xero, and nine POS systems. Deputy has more than 40 integrations.

Connecteam’s time tracking and scheduling tools allow businesses to monitor employee hours and create work schedules in a simple and efficient way. Employees can clock in and out of shifts from their mobile devices, and managers can view this data in real time to track employee hours and ensure that shifts are covered. Managers can also create and manage work schedules, assign shifts to employees, set shift start and end times, and add breaks to shifts.

Connecteam’s mobile time clock has geolocation capabilities. (Source: Connecteam)

One of Connecteam’s unique features is its reporting and analytics capability. The other software in this guide have reporting capabilities but only Connecteam enables businesses to track key performance indicators (KPIs) and gain insights into their workforce’s productivity and efficiency. Some of the KPIs that Connecteam can track include: employee hours worked, shift coverage, on-time arrival/departure rates, and task completion rates.

Among the software we evaluated, only Connecteam and Zoho People have this feature. It includes features for creating and delivering training materials, quizzes, and courses to employees. It can be especially helpful for onboarding new team members. Businesses can use Connecteam to create onboarding courses that cover topics such as company culture, policies and procedures, and job-specific skills. This can help new team members to get up to speed quickly and efficiently.

Like Homebase and When I Work, Zoho People’s scheduling dashboard has a drag-and-drop interface, which makes it easy to move schedules and tasks. Aside from this, the software’s scheduling capabilities include shift rotation, which enables managers to effortlessly establish recurring schedules. It also has time-off management that streamlines the process of requesting, approving, and tracking employee time-off, ensuring that scheduling remains balanced and compliant with staffing needs and employee preferences.

The premium package allows you to schedule jobs for businesses that make customer or client appointments in advance. (Source: Zoho People)

Like Connecteam, Zoho People has a training and development feature. It plays a pivotal role in assisting businesses in nurturing their workforce’s skills and knowledge, ultimately leading to improved employee performance and organizational growth. By leveraging these capabilities, businesses can establish structured and effective training programs tailored to their specific needs. The platform facilitates the creation and delivery of diverse training materials, including courses, modules, and resources, providing employees with accessible and engaging learning opportunities.

Only Zoho People has this feature among the workforce management software in this guide. The HR chatbot named Zia is a powerful tool that can help businesses to reduce the workload on HR staff and give employees 24/7 access to HR information. Zia can answer a wide range of employee questions about HR policies and procedures and complex questions about HR topics.

Paycor’s time tracking solution is ideal for companies that require hourly payment or need to monitor work hours for salaried employees. It offers various clock-in methods, including PIN, biometric fingerprint, and proximity badge, to deter buddy punching and time theft. Like Connecteam, its geolocation tracking is available on mobile apps, along with PTO request monitoring, and overtime tracking. It also has compliance management, providing a unified platform for seamless timekeeping and payroll integration.

Paycor Scheduling, available as a paid add-on, is designed to streamline and automate the employee scheduling process. It allows managers to create, edit, and share their schedules. Employees can manage their availability, swap shifts, and stay informed about schedule changes. It also monitors schedules based on job roles or shifts, empowering businesses to control their budget and ensure employees receive enough rest periods.

Among all the software on this list, only Paycor has comprehensive payroll features, including payroll processing, tax compliance, and employee self-service. It also has some unique features like auto-run, On Demand pay, and Paycor wallet. Autorun allows you to process your payroll on a specific day. OnDemand Pay, on the other hand, allows employees to access their wages before payday. Paycor wallet allows employees to view their paystubs, request time offs, and many more.

With Paycor, businesses can facilitate benefits enrollment, manage employee contributions, and automatically update deductions, ensuring accuracy and compliance with changing regulations. Employees also have self-service access to their benefit information, simplifying the selection of plans and access to important documents. It also allows users to generate reports to track and analyze benefits costs and trends, enabling businesses to make informed decisions and optimize their benefits offerings to attract and retain top talent while maintaining cost control.

Unlike the other software applications in this guide, When I Work time tracking features, such as break management and early clock in prevention, are already included in its basic plan. So if you are not looking for more advanced features, this software gives value for your money.

The scheduling features within When I Work have some nice little upgrades over other scheduling software, including the ability to set recurring shifts and color-code different positions. It’s great for restaurants or any business or nonprofit where people come to you, such as a museum or retail store. It also allows you to set up remote locations with GPS, and you can even include job instructions. That makes it super if you do off-site work like catering and need to provide workers with location-specific information, like the gate code of the subdivision.

When I Work scheduling feature allows employees to swap shifts. (Source: When I Work)

When I Work’s task management feature allows managers to create and assign tasks to their employees in a simple and efficient way. Managers can create tasks with detailed descriptions, due dates, and priority levels. Managers can also assign tasks to multiple employees and set start and end dates for tasks.

Employees can view their assigned tasks from their mobile devices or computers. Employees can also mark tasks as completed, add comments to tasks, and upload files to tasks.