Why You Should Automate the Employee Time Clock

Photo Credit: centralfloridastaffing.com

For many, running an office can become a time exhausting affair. Not only is work management a factor, but also human resources and payroll. Many small business owners can find themselves overwhelmed quickly when the office grows, particularly when it comes to keeping accurate payroll. There are several new pieces of technology that can help an office run smoothly, however, and that can help lessen the anxiety that can come with managing staff.

One innovation that can help keep the office efficient and functional is an employee time clock. Time clocks not only help keep the workforce on track, but can also record time worked and even time off with more accuracy than hand entry can afford. A time clock is easy to operate and often just as easy to put in. For many business owners, this automated system is just what they need to help their business run efficiently and smoothly.

While there are many types of employee time clocks, biometric and web-based are some of the most popular, and offer numerous benefits. With these units, businesses can:

1.     Minimize Human Errors - These types of tracking systems actually ensure the elimination of errors (at least the human ones) while recording work hours. Studies show that there is a 99% accuracy rate.

2.     Checks and Balances are Infallible - Simply put, with the system’s biometric features the software is impossible to evade.

3.     Productivity and Efficiency - There is an increase across the board in both these areas.

4.     Value Added to the Company - With the addition of the system, you are adding a serious money-saving addition to your business.

5.     Employees are Happier - With fewer errors in recording, your employee will be much happier with you.

6.     Efficient Processing for Payroll - Everyone likes getting paid on time and this system allows you to do just that.

There are numerous advantages to adding a time clock to the office. Be sure to find a unit that works for you and your business, so that you can take advantage of the technology that is out there.

How Fingerprint Time Clocks Help The Bottom Line

When an employer looks at their bottom line, they almost always see that payroll eats the biggest chunk of the money. It is the biggest expense business owners face. Add to that, whether white or blue collar, employees have long been involved in payroll fraud. Fortunately, the implementation of fingerprint time clocks can help steer away from fraud.

Fingerprint time clocks capture the unique fingerprint of each employee for use when he or she comes to work every day, whether on site or off site. Removing theft of time from the equation may help employers get a handle on payroll costs, as well as curtail time theft.

With this new technology, employees will no longer be able to punch the time card of a co-worker, reducing time theft. A time clock will also eliminate the time consuming task for the human resources department of having to manually calculate payroll. Additionally, there is no storage space needed like there is if you have to store time cards for tax record purposes.

To set an employee up in the fingerprint scanning system, an employer need only have the employee put his or her finger on the scanner and his or her unique fingerprint is scanned. The fingerprint scanners are easy to use and are portable and easily tied into a company’s computer system.

Streamlining the preparation of payroll, as well as taking the idea of employee theft of hours out of the equation of running a business, allows employers and their employees to focus on the job at hand – running the business. Electronic payroll systems integrate well with fingerprint time clock and can help streamline a business to an even finer degree.

Tips to Help Implement a Time Clock

There’s no doubt that employee time management is a critical component of any workplace’s productivity and efficiency. Employee time clocks can be a valuable resource and vehicle when managing employee’s times and making sure those employees are spending their time wisely.

Time clocks help businesses accurately store and track employee time data. Using this data, management can assess whether or not the company is performing as efficiently as possible and if any productivity issues are present in the workplace.

An employee time clock will not work up to its potential if it is not implemented correctly. All employees, not just management, should be familiar with the time clock system and how it works. Your employees will be the ones, after all, using the time clocks to punch in and out and to track payroll and time data.

After selecting and purchasing a time clock system for your workplace, arrange an orientation session for your employees. Consider asking a representative from the time clock company from which you purchased the product to help you with the session. Take time to make sure that all employees understand the details and capabilities associated with the time clock system and answer all questions. Consider distributing users manuals or cheat sheets that detail how to use the time system.

To correctly implement a time clock system, make sure that system can grow with your business. Limited scalability systems will not accommodate company expansion and growth, so go with a system that can last with your company through such changes.

Make Office Security a Priority in Your Workplace

Keeping your company’s information and client information guarded, as well as your employees safe, are all part of office security. Office theft can lead to the loss of client information, personal employee information, and valuable office possessions.

It’s absolutely vital that a workplace has a high level of office security. There are several steps a workplace can take to increase its level of office security, safeguard its employees, protect its possessions, and keep company and client information safe. Most office crimes take place in workplaces that have little or no security measures in place.

As a first step in increasing office security, consider hiring a security professional to do a full security assessment. A complete, professional assessment includes your office’s current security measures and potential weak points. Once the assessment is completed, a workplace should follow up on its recommendations and consult with local law enforcement accordingly.

General measures that a workplace can take to increase office security range from the physical make-up of the office to communicating policies with employees. It’s essential that employees are not only aware of the office security policies and procedures, but that they strictly follow these policies and procedures. Measures to help increase office security include:

·      Installing key card access and security cameras around exterior areas.

·      Creating a security system for accessing computer systems and online data.

·      Securing and locking important paperwork and data.

·      Keeping employees informed on what to do in the event of an emergency.

·      Install a fingerprint time clock.

·      Arranging office spaces so that unwelcome visitors are easily spotted.

·      Instituting a company badge policy so employees are easily identified.

How Fingerprint Time Clocks Help The Bottom Line

When an employer looks at their bottom line, they almost always sees that payroll eats the biggest chunk of the money. It is the biggest expense business owners face. Add to that, the idea that whether white or blue collar, employees have long been involved in payroll fraud. To steer away from this, the implementation of fingerprint time clocks can help.  

Fingerprint time clocks capture the unique fingerprint of each employee for use when he or she comes to work every day. A fingerprint time clock can be used with employees that work either on site or off site. Removing theft of time from the equation may help employers get a handle on payroll costs. 

With this new technology, employees will no longer be able to punch the time card of a co worker and it also eliminates the time consuming task for the human resources department of having to manually calculate payroll. Additionally, there is no storage space needed like there is if you have to store time cards for tax record purposes.

To set an employee up in the fingerprint time clock system, an employer need only have the employee put his or her finger on the scanner and their unique fingerprint is scanned. The fingerprint scanners are easy to use and are portable and easily tied into a company’s computer system.

Streamlining the preparation of payroll as well as taking the idea of employee theft of hours out of the equation of running a business, employers and their employees can focus on the job at hand – running the business. Electronic payroll systems integrate well with fingerprint scanners.

Interview Etiquette

After hours of work submitting resumes and covers letters, you finally are invited in for the interview! Yet for many the interview is one of the most nerve wrecking parts of any job search. You want to make a good impression and may arrive early in your best suit to make a good impression.

Remember, however, that etiquette in interviews goes a long way to impressing an employer. There are some things you should remember to do the next time you head into an interview for your dream job. Here are a few tips that may be helpful in the interview process.

Listen carefully to what the interviewer is saying and ask plenty of questions.

The interviewer first presents the problem. Take time to organize your thoughts, ask clarifying questions and then explain to the interviewer your thoughts. The interviewer will give you important information and help so be sure you listen!

Structure the problem and then work out a plan to solve it.

Often interviewers will give a scenario and ask how you’d handle it. Think for a moment about the case. Place for a structure and a concept firmly in order to clarify each step and determine which analysis you want to do in order to arrive at a solution.

Think before you speak…

Take time to organize your thoughts and avoid jumping to conclusions.

Concentrate on the essentials.

Focus on the issues that really matter and give reasons for your decisions. Be able to clarify your reasoning clearly.

Generate hypothesis and then examine possible options.

Make suggestions and then do the calculations of these major problems when solving them. The interviewer looks to the same things as any client: innovative approaches that can be changed by the company’s rules and thus creating a sustainable and competitive advantage.

Summarize your thoughts together and draw conclusions from your analysis.

Sum up your key points at the end of the interview and the hypotheses developed by your options and make the final push to show that you are the best option for the company. Show why you want to, and should be, punching into the company time clock every day. You want to ensure that the business does not think about any other prospective employee except for you after you leave and following these simple steps is a great way to start.

Making A Smooth Transition to A Biometric Time Clock System

Human resource professionals are faced with many decisions on a daily basis, not the least of which are the items that relate to payroll. In some companies, especially those with telecommuting or other off-site employees, the switch to a biometric time clock is becoming more of the norm than in the past. It’s difficult and time consuming to track hours with the use of an old style time clock and also these card-based time clocks can lead to employee hour fraud. 

While your employees may be resigned to the fact that they have to punch a time clock, they may balk at the idea of a biometric time tracking system and might consider it an act of Big Brother checking up on them.

The introduction of any kind of new technology, especially a time tracking one, needs to be done with grace and tact and most importantly you need to show the employee how this new system will benefit them on a daily basis. The chief employee benefits are that they can rest assured they won’t have to worry about mistakes in the calculation of their hours. They will also be better able to track not only hours worked but also time off, comp time earned and they may even be offered the option of going online to schedule vacations. This will make it easier for them and easier for the human resource professional that used to juggle vacation schedules manually. 

With a biometric time keeping system you can have it programmed to recognize fingerprints or you can give your employees unique pass codes so they can log in to their own system and begin tracking their workday as soon as they start work. The system can also be set up to log in when they start, log off for breaks and log off at the end of the day. A biometric time clock eliminates the chance for employee fraud of having a fellow co-worker log them in and out for hours they might not have even worked. Open lines of communication between the human resources department and the employees will make the switch more palatable but the bottom line is the implementation of a new time and attendance system is the company’s decision. 

Biometric time clocks offer your employees the chance to log in and track hours worked, whether they’re close to overtime, whether they have time available for a day off and how many sick days are left. These time clocks offer employees peace of mind and eliminate their need to go to the HR office to see if they have time available. Instead, they can look it up themselves and that offers them autonomy.

Biometric time clocks pay for themselves in the long term by offering employers the benefit of freeing up human resource employee time from not having to manually calculate hours worked. It also virtually eliminates the possibility of inaccurate time keeping and mistakes in paychecks.