Managing a business has always been very hard. Owners and managers of businesses face a very hard time to do good management of their workforce. Coordination in tasks, checking up on the performance of employees, and making sure productivity takes just so much time and effort. And that’s why field force automation is in trend at present times.
A study by McKinsey & Company shows that automation and AI tech are transforming workplaces, thus leading to more productivity and efficiency. Many businesses now use very good tools to do field force management and manage employees in a nice way.
And so, one of the biggest innovations is field force automation. But what is field force automation? Let’s check out how this technology is changing workforce management.
How Businesses Used To Do Workforce Management In Previous Times?
Businesses had to depend on manual methods to manage their workforce before they had tech like automation. These methods used to take lots of time and also caused many many errors. So here are three ways businesses used to take care of workforce management in the past times:
Daily Manual Schedules
Managers used pen and paper or online spreadsheets to make schedules for employees. This method needed continuous adjustments and led to mistakes. A single error could disrupt the entire workflow. Keeping track of multiple employees using manual ways had to do with so much stress.
Recording Attendance By Hand
Employees recorded their working hours using manual methods, for eg. punch cards or attendance registers, etc. This method depended on employees because they had to remember to fill in their attendance correctly. Human errors were very common, thus leading to wrong payroll calculations.
Meetings In Person
Supervisors used to take daily or weekly meetings to give tasks and track their progress. These meetings took lots and lots of time. Employees had to stop their tasks to join the meetings, thus lessening productivity. Without having updates on a real-time basis, managers had to depend on verbal reports. They had no way to check whether employees had completed their tasks on time or not.
What Is Understood By Field Force Automation?
Field force automation is the use of tech to keep check on field employees. It makes processes, for e.g. scheduling, tracking, reporting, etc happen by itself. Businesses use field force automation to check on their workforce on a real-time basis and make better efficiency.
Using field force automation, now businesses don’t have to depend on methods that were used back in the past. Everything is now done in digital ways, thus making workforce management go on in a nice way. Employees can check their schedules in a very easy way, and also update about their tasks, and report their progress using mobile apps only.
Many companies now use field force automation software to take care of their field teams. Some popular field force automation solutions are:
TrackoField gives many great features like GPS tracking, attendance management, task monitoring, etc.
Zoho Field Service which gives features to automate scheduling and reporting, etc.
Salesforce Field Service is another one that helps to join up with CRM tools to do workforce management in a good way.
These field force automation solutions help businesses to track employees, give them tasks, and also makeup reports in a very easy way. Managers can also use all info from one place only.
How Has Field Force Automation Made Workforce Management Much Better?
Field force automation will change workforce management in 2025. Businesses are now more efficient and organized. So, here are five ways field force automation solutions have made better workforce management:
Tracks On Live Basis
Managers can track the locations and task progress of employees very fast. GPS tracking helps businesses to make sure that employees get to their set locations on time. This lessens delays and also makes better accountability. So if an employee faces an issue, managers can help them then only. This lessens cases of issues in work and makes for better efficiency.
Easy To Give Task
Field force automation solution gives tasks on the basis of availability and location of employees. This makes sure that the nearest employee takes care of a job, thus lessening travel time and making better productivity. Managers now don’t have to call employees to give tasks. Automated task allocation makes better efficiency and lessens cases of confusion.
Quality Reports
Making reports using manual ways takes time and effort. Field force automation automates the process, thus giving the right data very fast. Managers can see such quality reports about performance because now they don’t have to spend hours on paperwork. The system records attendance, task completion, and working hours of employees.
Better Communication
Field force automation has great tools for communication. Employees and managers can message each other, and give updates or alerts also. This lessens the need for long meetings and phone calls. Clear communication makes for better teamwork. Managers can send important updates without getting disturbed when they are working.
Better Decision Making
Field force automation software collects and checks up on big amounts of data. Businesses can use this info to make better workforce planning and manage operations. For eg., if data shows that some route takes very long to travel, managers can just adjust assignments. If an employee performs well on a continuous basis, then businesses can give them a reward also.
Conclusion
Field force automation has changed how businesses manage their workforce in 2025. Methods which were used in past times were very slow and had many issues also. But now using field force automation software, businesses can check up on employees in a very easy way.
Field force automation software like TrackoField has made workforce management very easy and more efficient. And as tech becomes better, more companies will depend on automation for managing their workforce.