Only about 17% of people actively track their time at work. The problem with this is that when you’re not paying attention it’s so easy for time to slip right by you. As an employer, if you aren’t prioritizing tracking your employee’s time, you could be missing out on many productive work hours. Implementing employee time tracker software is a great way to help fix this problem.
However, if you’re going to use this kind of software it’s important that you do it right. In this post, we’ll go over 6 tips that will help you to effectively use employee time tracking software.
Keep reading to learn more.
1. Choose the Right Software
The most important thing to make this transition successful will be to find the best employee time tracking software for your company. This software should be able to either integrate into or completely replace your systems for things like payroll and workers’ comp.
By making sure these systems all work together you will help to save a lot of time and unnecessary stress, especially for your HR and payroll departments.
When you decide to add time tracking employee software the first thing you should do is to decide on your specific goals and reasons for adding this new software. This will help you come up with a set of features and options that the software must have in order to be considered.
2. Test the Software First
Once you’ve identified a software option that meets your requirements, be sure to test it out before making a commitment. Many software companies will offer a free trial or demo period to allow companies to do just that.
Use this time to evaluate how practical and useful the software truly is. Check that it definitely can integrate with your other systems, that the interface is user-friendly, and that it can perform all of the functions that you need it to.
You don’t want to commit and purchase software only to then find out that it won’t actually work for your company or that it is generally too difficult to use. Prior to testing it, make sure to have another clear set of requirements for the software so you know exactly what kinds of things to look for during the trial period.
3. Promote the Benefits
There is a strong possibility that this change will be met with resistance from some of your employees. But to make this a truly successful initiative you need to have them on board.
There are obviously many benefits to the company from adding time tracking, but there are also benefits to the employees themselves. Make it a priority to promote these benefits to the employees.
Focus on benefits like how this software can help them improve their productivity and help to ensure they get the proper amount of breaks and that they’re paid for all of the hours that they work. Because this software leaves very little room for dispute about the hours an employee works as opposed to some other time-keeping systems.
4. Offer Technical Support
Implementing new software can present many challenges, even just having to actually learn how to use it. To counter this be sure to offer thorough technical support during the changeover.
Even better, get ahead of questions and help desk tickets by providing extensive training on how to use the new system. This should, at least, include educational videos or tutorials and a FAQ page. A good idea is to have a couple of employees in each department trained in the software first so that they can be prepared and be the go-to person in that department for related questions.
Even with you promoting the benefits of this change to your employees you’ll likely still not have everyone on board. The last thing you want is for those employees to be unhappy and also not have a good way to actually learn how to use the software.
5. Pay Attention to the Metrics
After spending all of the time, money, and effort to implement this new technology, you need to be sure you’re utilizing it to its fullest capacity. Many of these systems come with built-in data trackers and can provide you with various metrics about things like what tasks take the longest, which of your teams or team members are the most efficient, etc.
Likely, collecting information like this was one of the goals you identified in the first tip. Now that you have access to it be sure to use it as this information can help you to boost productivity and efficiency.
However, it’s important that you don’t go overboard with the data. Focusing on every minute detail and requiring your employees to track every single minute of their work day can be more harmful than helpful. Micromanaging and setting unrealistic goals can lead to lower morale and even issues with work quality because of the pressure to always be working faster.
6. Keep Feedback Constructive
In that same vein, be sure to keep all feedback to your employees constructive. Don’t use the data you collect to shame or put people down. Instead, if an employee isn’t working as efficiently as you’d like look for realistic areas they can improve in and encourage them as they work on getting better.
Start Using Employee Time Tracker Software Today
Using employee time tracker software to track how your employees spend their time during the workday can help you to develop a more productive and efficient workforce. If you’re going to implement this software, follow these tips to make sure you’re using it as effectively as possible.
If you’re ready to level up your business we can help! Contact us today and we’ll be happy to answer any questions you may still have.
