In a lot of ways, employees are the most important asset that a business has.
A lot goes into running a business, and if you want to be successful, you need to be efficient and productive. There are a lot of different things you’ll need to stay on top of, and one of those is attendance.
If your employees aren’t working when they should be, it can have a negative impact on customer service, productivity, and the ability to achieve business goals. An effective attendance management system will help you keep track of employee attendance with ease.
So what is attendance management, and why is it so important? Keep reading for more.
What Is Attendance Management?
Attendance management is a practice that allows a business to keep track of employee hours. This involves monitoring and recording the time that employees work and the time they take off.
In the past, this could only be done using paper. The introduction of punch time cards and spreadsheets made this easier. These days, the most effective solution is through attendance management software.
Do You Need Attendance Management?
All employers should track attendance in some way. Regardless of how you implement it, you need a system that complies with FLSA timekeeping requirements.
By using an attendance management system, you can accurately monitor your employees’ hours. This allows you to ensure everyone is working when they should be, and it’s especially important for those who work hourly.
How to Track Employee Attendance
There are several attendance tracking options available. Understanding these options will help you make the best choice for your business.
Paper
This is the oldest method, in which you can use paper or a notebook to track hours. Employees can write their dates and times worked so you can pay them.
This is a simple and convenient method, but it may also be the most susceptible to time theft. Employees may write down more hours than they’ve actually worked, which can become a major issue. On top of this, handwriting may be difficult to read and the paper could get lost or damaged.
Time Clock
Employees can punch in and out on a time clock system. This can be quite an effective method, though there are some costs to setting it up. You also need to maintain a time clock and ensure no employees are punching others in and out to give them extra hours.
Spreadsheet
A spreadsheet can be a useful method as employees can enter their times themselves and you can use formulas to calculate their pay. Like with a paper system, however, employees could put down more hours than they’ve worked which will lead to you paying them extra.
Time Tracking Software
The most comprehensive solution is time-tracking software. With this, you can either let employees enter their own time or you can do it yourself.
They can also use this software to input vacation and sick days. It will calculate their time off and hours worked to ensure everyone is paid correctly.
You can typically integrate time-tracking software with payroll software. The two tools will work together to ensure all employees are paid correctly with minimal input. It will even calculate taxes automatically.
Benefits of Employee Time Tracking Software
Despite the other options available, most businesses these days are turning to time tracking software. It offers various benefits that could help almost any business.
Improve Productivity
Productivity is vital for business success, and this can only be achieved when your employees are working. Time tracking software makes it easy to ensure all your staff are working when they should be. If there are any drops in productivity, you can quickly check to see if it’s due to absenteeism, employees turning up late, or something else.
Ensure Accurate Pay
By tracking their hours, you can make sure your employees are always paid as they should be. It also allows you to pay for overtime accurately.
It’s beneficial to be able to monitor both hourly and salaried employees. By using attendance management software, you can see how much your employers are working even if you don’t see them in person. This is vital for companies that allow for remote working, which is becoming far more common these days, and you may already allow it within your company.
Check Punctuality
You can monitor employees closely with attendance management software, so you’ll be able to see how punctual individuals are. You’ll also be able to tell if anyone is regularly leaving early.
Another thing you can track is how many days off your employees use. If you allow a set number of vacation or sick days, you’ll want to keep an eye on this.
Smooth Business Operations
Efficient business operations don’t just depend on the work of individuals, but your team as a whole. If one person is missing, it could affect the coordination of other employees and potentially entire teams. This is especially true for those in leadership roles.
Interruptions to business operations mean you may not be able to get tasks done properly or on schedule. Tracking attendance and absences will help you pinpoint where these issues might occur. You can then assess such situations and determine how you can mitigate any issues caused.
Simplify Discipline
In an ideal world, you wouldn’t need to discipline any employees, but sometimes it’s necessary. Without discipline, you could end up seeing delays, unpredictability, and inconsistencies in work quality. It can spread quickly, so if one employee keeps turning up late and nothing happens, others will start to do the same.
Time tracking software makes it easy to see when someone is consistently arriving late or leaving early. You can then take suitable action to put a stop to it and ensure others don’t start doing the same.
Effective Attendance Management Within Your Business
There are various approaches you can take towards attendance management, and using software is often the most effective. You can monitor attendance, lateness, hours worked, and more with ease.
TimeTrak is a user-friendly time-tracking tool that uses a graphical interface to display all the information you need. It’s accurate and efficient, and we offer free setup assistance so you can get going with it in no time. Get your 14-day free trial now.
