The human resource department is an important part of business growth and one of the most crucial roles it needs to fulfill is attendance management. On a daily basis, employers need to ensure that employees are present at the workplace during the required hours. Failure to do so can lead to decreased productivity, loss of employee respect for company policies and a decrease in employee morale. Managing absences, paid leaves and tardiness will not only help efficiency but will also allow companies to create a positive impact on customer experience and overall finances dramatically decreasing unnecessary staffing, hiring costs and other related expenses.
What is attendance management?
Attendance management is the process of tracking employee hours dedicated to work. Tardiness, absences and sick leaves are only a few of what you can monitor using an attendance management system.
Why is attendance management necessary?
The accuracy of tracking employee attendance is vital to help you pay the right amount commensurate to the work rendered. Attendance management is necessary for every business for the following reasons:
- More accurate recording of time - People are bound to make mistakes and an attendance management system ensures a more accurate recording of time less prone to human error.
- Increased productivity - Manual logging in and logging out, filing and seeking approval for leaves consume time on the part of an employee and their immediate managers. Using a time tracking system with added HR features can save the company time which can be devoted to more important tasks.
- Easy monitoring of employee performance - The time devoted by an employee towards work may not be the only basis for performance but this somehow reflects employee dedication at work.
- Easy payroll processing - At a glance, the HR team could easily generate the employee’s number of absences and tardiness without manual computation. Not only will it be quick to calculate the monthly payment, but will also facilitate correct compensation for overtime, tardiness and absences.
- Effortless trailing of remote employee attendance - A modern attendance management system allows every business to manage remote employees who couldn’t comply with a physical recording process of work attendance.
How can you manage employee attendance?
There are several ways for employers to know whether their employees are reporting on time or are actually ignoring attendance policies:
- Paper timesheet - Concrete physical records are still common in some small businesses where employees are asked to log their time of arrival and departure. The downside of this system is that employees can actually manipulate time and may lead to financial loss for the company.
- Online timekeeping spreadsheet - A spreadsheet readily accessible for all employees can help track attendance. The spreadsheet can be created with customized formulas that will automatically compute wages and deductions.
- Time clock - A mechanical time clock can be installed in the workplace for attendance tracking. Using a daily time record, employees can punch in and out for their arrival, break time and departure.
- Attendance software - Big companies usually use software to let employees log in and out of the system and also apply for paid sick leaves. Advanced attendance software will also allow the HR department to upload payslips and track available paid time off.
What to look for in an attendance management system?
As HR processes evolve, the attendance management system has also become seamless, uncomplicated and easy to use. HR teams looking for an app or software to manage employee attendance should consider the following features:
- Clock in and clock out - Probably one of the basic attendance management essentials is for employees to record their arrival and departure at work. Clock in and clock out should be a primary feature of any attendance management system because from there emerge all other features.
- Payroll integration - What is employee attendance for if not to compute compensation based on the number of days an employee worked? A useful attendance management system should not only allow for computation and access to regular salary but also to bonuses, flexible payments and other monetary employee benefits.
- Leave management - When an employee applies for sick leave or vacation leave, they usually submit an application form, notify HR and then wait for signatories to approve the leave application. In the case of automated attendance management, employees will have an overview of their available leaves, apply using the software or app and then HR could approve easily in return.
- Alerts and notifications - Alerts on missed log-ins and outs are useful for employees to sort out any errors. Some attendance management systems even notify employees of holidays, anniversaries and other HR-related concerns.
- Self-service - Employees should no longer need the full-time assistance of an HR staff to comply with attendance policies. Through an automated attendance management system, employees could fulfill attendance tasks even remotely.
- Reporting - Any attendance management system should allow you to generate monthly or weekly reports that would include missed days, excess hours, absences, and other information pertaining to employee performance.
What challenges should attendance management resolve?
Attendance management is not only important to make clocking in and clocking out easier. There are a lot of challenges that HR people should address when it comes to tracking an employee’s time at work. When choosing an attendance management system, consider the challenges which you should be able to resolve. Late arrivals, for instance, can be detrimental to the business especially when employees always dont arrive on time. A late employee may need more time warming up for work. Tardiness will affect focus and efficiency which compromise the quality of outputs.
Moreover, excessive breaks can disrupt operations while unexpected absences will let you incur more expenses to fill in the gap. Early departures may also lead to loses and may impose a negative impact on employee morale.
All these challenges
Investing in attendance management systems
Keeping a complete and accurate record of your employee attendance is possible using the right tool. Although it may seem to be another expense, investing in software and applications for attendance management is worth it. In case none of the currently available systems are applicable and may fully address your need, exploring HR platforms like Zebra can aid streamline your processes and track attendance correctly.
An attendance management system offers flexibility for a changing workforce. Not only will it resolve time tracking challenges but it will also promote transparency between employees and their employers.
