Are Your Company’s Workforce Reporting Capabilities Good Enough?

Many of our clients have referred to the benefits they get from the reporting capabilities of our software. And it’s a pattern we’re seeing more and more as the requirements for accurate and timely reporting grow.

Only last month, a report released by the Financial Reporting Council Lab (FRC) reiterated how getting workforce reporting right is becoming of increased importance. The report examined the issue from an investor perspective and highlighted the fact that investors are looking for far greater transparency around workforce issues like skills, training and development, and company culture.

It highlighted the fact that today’s investors want to understand what companies are doing to develop productive workforces both in the short term but also for the future. They want clarity over what workforce and financial data is measured, monitored and managed. Yet, the report also points out, there’s a great deal of variability in terms of the quality of the reporting companies are currently providing.

As the FRC report mentions, it’s not only investors who have an interest in workforce reporting. Various stakeholders, including the workforce itself and those who might be considering joining it, have an interest in the insights organisations provide through accurate reporting.

There are other external pressures on companies to get to better grips with the provision of accurate and insightful workforce reporting too. For example, the UK Corporate Governance Code has for many years now promoted good practice and encouraged greater reporting transparency; the revised 2018 code aimed to set even higher standards and it seems inevitable this aspiration will continue to grow in the future.

There are all kinds of other reasons why the need to get reporting right is in the spotlight like never before – for example, with gender pay reporting. The requirement is likely to increase too with other pay reporting demands, such as ethnicity pay reporting, anticipated to be incoming. Having effective reporting systems is absolutely fundamental to getting any kind of pay equality in the workplace.

But effective reporting is every bit as important for the management of day to day operations and internal processes of a business too. Poor reporting could easily lead to a raft of non-compliance issues. And it’s not difficult to see how a badly tracked employee relations issue could lead to numerous problems. Something as comparatively straightforward as a disciplinary process could go on to have serious implications beyond the organisation if inadequate reporting practices resulted in it being poorly managed, or action being taken on the basis of inaccurate or incomplete information.

In fact, poor quality reporting could drive poor decision making in general. Companies are full of data – but not all of them are using accurate, up-to-date (ideally real time) information as part of the decision making process. Inefficiencies in effective reporting could mean decisions are being made and actions being taken that are actually leaving companies vulnerable.

It seems inevitable that the requirement and demand for accurate and high quality workforce reporting is set to grow. The FRC report comments that not only are investors seeking more detailed, transparent disclosure of workforce matters right now; companies must anticipate even greater levels of reporting expectations in the foreseeable future.

The longer companies delay making sure they’re set up to deal with those requirements and demands, the harder it will be to close the gap in the future.

If you’d like to start addressing improving your workforce reporting systems, then you might find it helpful to speak to us. For over 20 years we’ve been providing clients with HR software and payroll software that offers exceptional reporting functionality that will scale up as your business grows. If you think you’d like to find out more, please contact us today.