In the search for increased revenue, and thus, viability, businesses often look outward, rather than inward. According to a
small business survey, a mere 20% of small businesses will invest in tools to improve employee productivity this year; support for this strategy lags behind others such as expanding into new markets and launching new customer acquisition methods. As Carl Jung famously said “Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes.”
According to an anonymous survey of retail and service industry employees
by Kessler International, an incredible 80% of workers admitted to “time theft," which is the act of entering inaccurate time and attendance records or false employee work hours that can alter the data in payroll systems. Yet as technology continues to revolutionize the way we do business, small business owners often neglect to update this crucial aspect of their model: their
employee time tracking system. Time and attendance systems based on paper time cards or sheets to track hours, memory recall of the past week’s schedule and “buddy punching” lead to
hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars lost each year because the business is working without accurate attendance records. Meanwhile, there are time and attendance apps that offer owners and managers a faster, more accurate payroll processing with real time input that requires less effort from your hourly workers spending time to track time.
Switching to an automated system that utilizes time and attendance software will help you track your employee attendance, leading to a more productive, efficient and happy workplace for all involved.
“It’s much more relaxed now, knowing it’s not going to take me so long. Now the door’s open and people can actually speak to me at the end of each month,” said Seawell.
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Towards the end of each month,
Select Labs’ Toni Seawell closed her office door, gritted her teeth and prepared for the long hours, late nights and high stress associated with preparing payroll for the company’s more than 150 employees. It was obvious that it was time to implement a new and better process to track the time and attendance of those 150+ employees. A
biometric attendance system was put into place, revolutionizing the payroll workflow for Seawell and Select Labs.
“I’m better able to handle month-end processes now that payroll takes less than a day,” she said. “It’s much more relaxed now, knowing it’s not going to take me so long. Now the door’s open and people can actually speak to me at the end of each month,” said Seawell.
The advantages of upgrading from a manual time tracking system to a dedicated
time and attendance system aren’t always obvious. Here are 10 benefits of tracking time accurately:
1) Spend less time on payroll management.
Nowhere is it more obvious that time is money than when you’re spending hours on payroll processing. The most basic benefit to your business is that less time will be spent, both by employees and HR, tracking, recording and processing their time spent working each day, week and month. By upgrading, some businesses cut their time calculating payroll each month by up to 70%. Employees can focus on their respective jobs, rather than the additional task of accounting for themselves.
2) Prevent buddy punching and other time theft.
Time theft can include everything from taking a longer lunch than allotted or clocking in for a friend when they’re late to work, otherwise known as “buddy punching.” The American Payroll Association estimates that over 75% of businesses lose money from buddy punching. Whether intentional or innocuous, time theft can be costly, and automated time and attendance systems prevent it altogether.
3) Prevent human error in bookkeeping.
Nobody is perfect, not even if they have a calculator, spreadsheet or other computation device handy. Even the most accurate typist makes one mistake for every 300 keystrokes. One misplaced digit or decimal can lead to accounting errors that need to be corrected, or worse, are left uncorrected and can affect your bottom line negatively.
Human error in memory recall. Buddy punching or knowingly clocking in before starting to work is one thing. Asking employees to recall exactly when they started and finished work, not to mention accounting for breaks, lunches and other lapses; or conversely, when they started working overtime, can be an exercise in futility. Even reporting work hours multiple times a week often only leads to a “somewhat accurate” timesheet, according to a report by AffinityLive.
4) Keep employees informed
An all-too-common question for those working in HR is how much time off an employee has left this year, or whether they have any sick days remaining. Rather than letting discrepancies cut into work, quality time and attendance software will allow employees to access that information on their own at any time.
Allowing employees to see their time records on demand will help them see how well they’re
utilizing their time at work. The insight gained from seeing how much time is spent on particular projects or at certain sites can be invaluable and will help them eliminate inefficiencies.
5) Spend less time and resources on paperwork.
Merely sorting through, organizing and processing paperwork can be time-consuming. Additionally, the cost of replenishing the items needed to maintain an old time and attendance system, paper, pens/pencils, printer ink and toner, etc. can be prohibitive in the long run
6) Stay on the right side of the law.
Compliance with labor laws is important, but it doesn’t have to be stressful. State and federal labor laws, such as the Fair Labor Standards Act, regulates things like overtime pay and record keeping, both of which can be problematic to track if you have a manual time and attendance system. Meanwhile, business owners themselves want to manage overtime costs, but when employee scheduling and tracking is manual, those employee hours can put you at risk of falling out of labor law compliance.
Rather than opening yourself up to future lawsuits, which can result in millions of dollars awarded in back wages, stay on the right side of the law with accurate time tracking. One of the basic features of a smart time and attendance app is giving the business owner and manager an overtime alert if any schedule includes too many employee hours.
7) Utilize a system that can grow with your business.
A paper-based system may work, in some respects, for your small business now. If you expect your business to grow, and who doesn’t hope for the best in that regard, you’ll want a system that can grow with you as you hire more employees and have more information to track.
Rather than beginning the search for an upgrade before it’s too late, get out ahead of the curve and upgrade while your timekeeping needs are still manageable.
Choose a system with a range of features such as integrating with popular payroll software and project management software, real-time data into employee scheduling, customizable reports, and more. Use an employee productivity tool that actually makes your business more productive as it grows.
8) Create a central database that can be accessed throughout the company.
If your company is spread out across multiple offices or sites, it’s much easier to calculate payroll via a system that is standardized for all employees. This creates a central database, with guaranteed practices, that unlimited users can access from anywhere, including on the go, without disturbing the proper functioning of your time tracking software.
The disadvantages of relying on time-consuming and outdated methods of employee time-tracking are numerous, it costs time and money; it can get you in legal trouble; it can lead to stress-related illnesses for those who have to spend hours each week collecting, correcting and calculating timesheets; it distracts employees from completing the tasks they were hired to tackle each week. Rather than staying in the past, embrace the future by switching to a quality time and attendance system, and let your company enjoy the benefits of accurately tracked time.
How would adding an automated time and attendance system save your company money each month?
