Tracking employee attendance becomes increasingly important with the increasing size of your workforce. As your business grows, it can be harder to track the whereabouts of each person. You might have an employee tracking system in place already, but how old is it? When was it last upgraded? If you’re still using an old manual system, it’s likely to be both inaccurate and vulnerable to fraud. Upgrading can fix both of those problems, and save your organisation money in the process.
The Risk of Inaccurate Timekeeping Information
The greatest issue with older manual timekeeping systems is simply that they’re not as accurate as modern systems. That means you’re missing out on essential information that could benefit your organisation.
For instance, how does your manual system deal with issues where employees forget to clock in or out? What happens when they forget to clock out and slip into overtime?
Most older systems just don’t have any way of dealing with these kinds of problems. Modern systems, on the other hand, can notify employers when this happens, so that the problem can be fixed quickly.
An Out-of-date System Encourages Time Fraud
If you’re using an out-of-date time and attendance system, it’s likely that there are multiple ways to cheat that system. For instance, there’s “buddy clocking”, where one person hands over their timecard to a friend, and that friend clocks them in. Then there are other issues such as “forgetting” to clock out when taking breaks, or adding a few minutes here and there when filling in time sheets.
Those older systems don’t allow you to see who’s clocking in, so there’s no way to make sure each person is doing it honestly.
Switch to a modern system and you can eliminate this problem. For instance, a biometric system requires that each person authenticate by presenting their own fingerprint. This way, you can be certain that if the system says someone is at work, that’s where they are.
The Potential for Human Error
Most of the time, when an attendance system misreports where someone is or how long they’ve worked, good old human error is at the bottom of the problem. It’s much more common that someone makes a genuine mistake, than that they consciously try to cheat the system. For instance, employees may overestimate how long it takes them to complete specific tasks, or overestimate their total hour for the day. Or, they might underestimate how long they spend on breaks. If employees have to regularly fill in their own timesheets with this information, those rounding errors can add up to a significant amount.
A modern timekeeping system can precisely record when people enter the workplace and when they exit. There’s no human reporting needed, so everything is accurate, and free from error and bias. And, your employees aren’t spending their valuable time on tasks that can be performed more accurately and quickly by the system.
…And Payroll Errors
Payroll presents more opportunities for human error to creep in, but with an up-to-date timekeeping system, this problem is avoided too. If you integrate your new timekeeping system with payroll, it’s all taken care of automatically. And, it’s all done correctly the first time, so no time is wasted on finding and fixing errors.
Regulatory Compliance Issues
Depending on your organisation, there may be industry regulations you must adhere to. If any of those affect how long employees can work, for instance, then an outdated timekeeping system may be jeopardising your ability to stay compliant. In fact, if any part of your business operations relies on accurate timekeeping, then a modern system is absolutely essential.
Employees Benefit Too
Your employees can also benefit from using an up-to-date timekeeping system. There’s little risk of miscommunication and error with a modern system, which means employees know exactly what’s expected of them. Those employees that have problems with timekeeping will have an incentive to improve. Employees who already excel at this aspect of their work be pleased to know that their consistency and punctuality is accurately recorded.
Another benefit for employees is that they no longer have to fill in forms or use a key-card to access the workplace. They make fewer mistakes, and employers don’t have to spend as much time fixing those mistakes. If you have a card or key system, for instance, how much time has been lost when employees have to locate a manager to let them in somewhere?
Is an Out-of-Date Timekeeping System Costing More than you can afford?
Maintaining profitability is a constant concern for every business. There are many ways to improve productivity, but it’s important not to overlook those simple solutions that can make a big difference. If you’re using an older timekeeping system, upgrading to something more modern can save your organisation time and money, and improve your overall profitability.
See how ACUTEC Attendance can help improve your organisation’s productivity.
