Tag: attendance management

How to Manage Employees Across Multiple Locations

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December 21st, 2020

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With many employees still telecommuting, businesses are familiar with the challenges of managing employees they no longer see in person. Some of the most common pain points are confusion regarding new procedures or projects, diminished productivity, and administrative difficulties. Businesses can implement several strategies to help reduce these issues.

Provide Clear Guidelines

Employees are navigating their new norm while trying to keep up with their typical responsibilities. If employees aren’t sure what they’re supposed to be doing, their work isn’t likely going to align with the company’s needs. Confusion also causes delays and can stifle productivity. Businesses should set clear policies, update project priorities, and clarifying timelines for telecommuting employees.

Prioritize Communication

Employees may feel lost, neglected, or disconnected after so much time spent at home rather than in the office. They’re less likely to care about company policies without oversight and may lose interest in their work. Communicating often across multiple channels can help unify employees during these challenging times. Recognizing hard work, establishing a virtual coffee hangout before work hours, and other efforts to maintain open communication can help remind employees they are still a valuable part of the team.

Utilize Technology

Day-to-day administrative tasks are much more challenging when switching to a remote workforce. Without technology, attendance, meetings, and collaboration among employees are almost impossible. Many businesses embraced video conferencing to maintain meetings and facilitate communication between departments working on various projects. Investing in attendance tracking software is also critical to avoid time theft and unchecked absenteeism.

Actec understands the challenges companies are facing as the pandemic continues into the new year. We developed our absence tracking mobile app to help businesses accurately track employee attendance and identify concerning trends. Our mobile app also streamlines the administrative side of attendance reporting, as it is a self-service platform with several communication channels to suit employee preferences. Contact us to learn how our absence tracking mobile app can help your company.

HR 101 for Small Businesses

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December 7th, 2020

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Many startups and several small businesses often rely on a single individual to manage human resources tasks. Some business owners make this decision due to the small nature of the company and perceived lighter workload. However, even the smallest of businesses have to comply with labor laws and other work regulations.

When a single employee manages HR, that individual has to balance compliance with administrative tasks and ensuring all employees receive accurate and prompt paychecks. Their busy workload often means they have little if any time for other HR tasks like recruiting, onboarding, and scheduling.

Investing in HR software can help small businesses reduce manual tasks and master the following essentials:

  1. Compliance. Federal labor laws are complex and constantly evolving. HR ensures the company complies with these laws and handles all required forms such as I-9s, W-2s, W-4s, etc.
  2. Payroll. HR ensures employees receive their paychecks on time without errors. Payroll is a complex task involving collecting timesheets, calculating pay, and accounting for taxes and withholdings. This process is prone to human error when done by hand, which can result in costly compliance fines.
  3. Recruiting. Finding the best person for an open position is a significant challenge. HR employees have to publish job listings, filter candidates, and perform background checks. Poor talent acquisition standards can result in high turnover and poor job performance, which has long term consequences for the company’s success.
  4. Onboarding. HR has more work to do once recruiting candidates for open positions. New employees have to fill out several forms, learn company policies and procedures, and meet their team. Onboarding is critical to help employees find their groove and understand their role within the organization. Without it, they may flounder, make avoidable mistakes, or struggle to engage with their team.
  5. Attendance management. HR manages employees’ schedules and leave requests to ensure the company has the appropriate staffing. This includes paid time off, sick leave, overtime, and more to comply with labor laws. They are also responsible for other areas of attendance, including tardiness and absences.

Without absence management software, it’s difficult to track attendance. Managers from different departments may provide sick leave requests at different hours of the day, and late arrivals may go unnoticed if it’s less than five minutes. While five minutes may not seem significant, it adds up over time—especially if the employee skims five minutes off the end of the workday and extends their lunch break as well.

Robust absence management technology allows companies to track attendance with much greater accuracy. It also allows employers to notice trends and identify attendance issues that can hurt workplace morale, productivity, and profits. To learn how mobile absence tracking software can help your business, contact the experts at Actec.

6 Attendance Management Mistakes Costing Companies Money

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February 4th, 2019

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Absenteeism, tardiness, long lunches, and leaving early are all attendance issues that affect a company’s bottom line. However, problems with attendance don’t always rest solely on employees. There are several mistakes management can make that confuse employees or muddy the waters in regards to what’s expected of them. The following are several common mistakes that perpetuate absenteeism:

  1. Missing or incomplete policy. Many employers outline vacation leave, sick leave, and federally protected absences in their company handbook. However, some neglect to discuss an actual attendance policy. Taking the time to do so can mitigate confusion regarding attendance. For example, employees who leave early every day because they neglect to take their lunch break can disrupt the workflow if other employees need to discuss a project with them.
  2. Poor enforcement. If management neglects to fully enforce an attendance policy, employees will abuse it. It can also hurt employee morale if one employee is late on a regular basis and management does nothing to address it. It can lead to accusations of favoritism or encourage other employees to do the same. Management needs to enforce all aspects of their attendance policy even if it means having uncomfortable conversations.
  3. Failing to distinguish between types of absences. Some absences are unavoidable. For example, employees fall ill or may need to care for family members. However, other absences are fraudulent and can speak to a larger issue. Employers need to take the time to learn the root cause of employee absences to stay ahead of any potential attendance issues.
  4. Not requiring doctor’s notes. Requiring a doctor’s note for absences can cut down on the number of false requests for time off due to illness. Some employers choose not to do so for short-term illnesses, but it’s worthwhile for long-term absences, especially if the absences could fall under federally protected leave such as family medical leave or disability.
  5. Not accommodating returning employees. When an employee returns to work after an extended illness or injury, employers should consider accommodations to ensure his or her success. These adjustments can prevent a relapse and make employees feel more secure about returning to work.
  6. Not keeping track of attendance. Even if employers have attendance policies, they can’t possibly know how effective they are without tracking absences. Implementing an absence reporting program can help management identify trends and address burgeoning issues before they become chronic problems.

If your company is struggling with absenteeism or attendance issues, Actec can help. Contact us to discuss our absence management solutions.