Employee management is an important part of any business. You need not only skilled employees but also employees you can depend on. Part of proper employee management is keeping track of hours worked through an effective time and attendance system. Attendance systems can also be used to help improve employee productivity. This is because accurate time tracking can help uncover habits in behavior that limit productivity and negatively impact an employee’s performance.
Eight Ways Time and Attendance-Keeping Software Improves Productivity
- Accountability: part of effective work is being accountable for your actions. When work hours are being tracked, employees can feel more accountable for their daily activities. Employees can become more punctual and also focus on completing tasks effectively and efficiently. Plus, any mistakes can be recorded, discussed, and improved upon. Giving employees the chance to better themselves can help in improving your overall workforce.
- Data On Absenteeism: a sign an employee may be becoming unproductive is increased absences. Issues such as missed hours, coming in late, or missing an increased number of shifts can point to a variety of underlying issues. Once you know these patterns, you can help an employee improve their attendance. Often, such issues can be related to issues in an employee’s personal life, such as family or health issues. Providing proper support can help in improving such a situation.
- Better Scheduling: time-tracking software can provide you with a bigger picture of when employees are working, who is available, and who is on vacation. This brand information allows you to more effectively schedule employees, ensure everyone gets the time off they need, and also that you have enough employees on hand for large projects.
- Morale Improvements: dependable employees who rarely miss shifts and also provide updates when issues arise should be praised and rewarded when possible. With a clear record of attendance, you can publicly praise your most reliable employees and in some cases provide rewards such as vouchers, bonuses, and other professional incentives.
- Better Optimization of Daily Tasks: with improved employee information, you know who is available and when. This makes it easier to assign tasks to various employees. This can help with important activities and also prevent work from being spread unevenly among your employees.
- Prevent Time Theft: in businesses that use less precise methods of time tracking, incidents of time theft are far more common. Time theft refers to an employee entering hours they did not work, such as entering an 8-hour shift when they went home two hours early. Attendance monitoring tools make tracking hours easier and can properly calculate the time an employee worked.
- Reduced Paperwork: using a software-based system for attendance recording can help reduce the amount of admin work required for proper timekeeping. With a system in place recording data, calculating hours, and financial figures, you’re free to spend your time on other mission-critical tasks. This can include employee training, managing employee needs, and hiring. Also, a software-based time-tracking program can reduce human errors such as data entry mistakes, messy handwriting on timecards, and other general errors.
- Improved Training: the larger picture time and attendance software provides can also be used to identify common employee issues. Some workplace issues are larger than a single employee and sometimes these issues can be detected by attendance data. This allows you to isolate these root causes and provide improved training or make other workplace changes that can help reduce these occurrences.
Final Thoughts
Productivity is a broad term and can cover a lot of different employee responsibilities. With time and attendance management tools, you can improve employee attendance, reduce tardiness, and find performance issues that can be used to help your employees become better at their work.