3 Ways to Simplify Workforce Management with Mobile Forms and Employee Timekeeping

By: Jeff Ward

I can actually say that I survived my first World of Concrete trade show. For me, there was a buzz of excitement and the atmosphere was electric at the Las Vegas Convention Center. It was like being on the trading floor of the NYC Stock exchange, but the excitement wasn’t for an opening bell or trading, it was around CONCRETE. Very powerful indeed.
As we get busy in our day to day life, we forget just how important concrete is to our lives and to our environment. Roads, Buildings, Jobs, Growth. Could you imagine the world without concrete? A few questions came to mind.

Would we be able to drive our 4×4 Trucks or Hot Rods down the road?
Would we be able to take Momma to a fancy dinner?
Where would we live?
What would life be like today?

I met a bunch of smart, hard working, men and woman that are dedicated to their trade and their companies. They were looking for ways to improve themselves and their companies to get better results in less time. To these people, I raise my Beer to you and say, “THANKS for all of your hard work, and long hours that you put into growing the infrastructure of AMERICA.” Because of you, I can enjoy the open road, a fancy dinner with Momma, live in a wonderful home, and I can enjoy a better America.

It was interesting to see that everyone I spoke to at the World of Concrete seemed to be looking for something specific… a tool, a process, or something to give them an edge in the construction industry. They wanted to find things that would make them a little different, a little more profitable, a little more efficient, a little safer, or help them work a little smarter.
It really became obvious to me that a lot of the folks at the World of Concrete really saw technology as a way to get the edge on the competition. I was impressed with by the technical savvy of the attendees. They weren’t asking the basic questions you typically hear about union payroll rules. They asked if we had a mobile app. I was excited to tell them that we not only have a mobile app, but we also have web-based software to connect employees in the field to the office.
I went on to further explain that there are 3 ways this snazzy mobile app and web-based software simplifies managing their workforce:

1. Capture and Manage Data using Mobile Forms from anywhere

Through this mobile app, you can manage all of your company resources from any device. All completed forms, regardless of what kind of device was used, are easy to find. This is because all of the information is sent to one place inside of WorkMax. This really caught the attention of the payroll folks, because most of their employees are in the field and don’t typically even come to the office. They were very excited to learn that everyone could access and complete mobile forms or digital forms from anywhere. It was so fun to show them how I could quickly create a mobile form on my iPad in 2 minutes and that exact form could then be pulled up on my iPhone instantly. It knocked their socks off, if I do say so myself.

2. Simplify Managing Remote Employees with Alerts

Even while you’re on the job site, you can’t know exactly what’s going on with your employees all the time. Sometimes, you’re at one location and you’re employees are at another location. At times, it can be difficult to manage mobile workforces, but WorkMax simplifies managing all of your mobile employees, no matter where they are. I can’t tell you how many questions I got at the trade show about Geo-fencing. Everyone is familiar with GPS, but not everyone is familiar with how you can use GPS technology with WorkMax to create a virtual Geo-fence. For those of you that aren’t familiar, Geo-fencing allows you to set up a radius or perimeter around a physical location to identify the work area of an employee or where an asset should be. Based on GPS location, if the employee attempts to clock in or out of the system outside of the defined perimeter or radius, an alert is sent to their supervisor. This helps to ensure the employees are where they are supposed to be when they are assigned to a job site or project. It is extremely useful to supervisors with large crews in multiple locations.

3. Combine Mobile Safety and Injury Forms for with Employee Timekeeping

I always love asking people if they know how many safety forms were completed at their company today or how many injuries were reported. At the show, I asked 10 different people and most didn’t know or just thought it was a great question. Then, I asked them how many employees typically forget to clock in or out daily. Most of them answered that it is a RARE occasion someone forgets to clock in or out. I could barely hold back my excitement when I pulled out my iPhone, clicked on clock out and I was prompted with a question. It asked if I was injured on the job today and I had to answer the question before I could clock out. I showed them how simple it is to gather safety or injury information when you combine mobile forms with employee timekeeping. The next step was to show them how quickly you can answer the question, how many safety reports were completed today. I pulled up my iPad and showed them how they could quickly search by location to see how many safety forms were completed. I could also show them the most common injury type that occurred across the entire company. I got a lot of WOWs and that’s awesome. They couldn’t believe how simple it could be to get this information instantly; typically, it takes them days to receive injury reports.

In conclusion, being at the World of Concrete was an overall great experience! I love helping people improve their businesses with technology. In addition to seeing the many technology solutions at the trade show, I was also amazed by all the physical tools available, all the yellow iron, and all the many other types of suppliers that contribute to the Concrete Industry. Everyone there was an established part of the Concrete World that has helped to shape who we are as a country and a society.
I am a proud member of this industry.
I would challenge all of you to pat yourselves on the back for the great work you have done and the sacrifices you have made for Concrete.
I would also challenge you to open your eyes to new ways of doing things. To better ways of doing things to simplify your life at work.

To learn more about WorkMax Mobile Forms and Employee Time Tracking:

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