Maximising Productivity with Time Management Software

Tracking and analysing your employees' time and attendance allows you to reduce staff costs, increase productivity, improve job-costing, and plan future projects more efficiently taking full advantage of today's flexible working practices. A surprising number of companies still manage portions of such administration with bulky paperwork or by using different systems for different departments.

The disadvantages of manually processing physical paperwork don't need to be highlighted because they are obvious to anyone who has discovered that an important document has somehow managed to go missing. There are a few disadvantages to not choosing an integrated workforce management system for your company that are, however, worth highlighting. Firstly the ability for different departments to communicate and interactive will be difficult when your time tracking system is not integrated. This is particularly true when it comes to correlating time worked by employees, project time budgets and client billing. All three of these processes are closely related but at any time you may have project managers, employees, hr personal and the accounts department requiring the same information. Time Attendance Software (also known as a Time Management System) that provides useful features to all departments will always have an advantage over each department utilising its own 'system'. Also of note would be time spent by multiple departments imputing the same information or loss of time due to errors.

Most mid-range and top-of-the-range HR Management software will provide a centrally stored information hub for all your employee data, files and correspondence, making the filing and retrieving of vital information quick and easy to manage. The stored information can be used to run reports on past and present data, such as training and development requirements. Integrating a time and attendance software functions into HR management software greatly reduces time spend on data-input, filling out forms, and dealing with employee queries.

With the better workforce management software solutions out there your employees can also directly view their annual leave entitlements and requests for leave can be approved or requested automatically. Employee reviews and recruitment processes can be monitored and recorded on the system. Managers and division heads will be able to more accurately draw job cost reports, compile performance reviews and plan their time allocation for upcoming projects without having to request data from any individual department.

Of course the availability of different workforce management software features differs from supplier to supplier. Here are a few questions worth asking before deciding which solution to go with:

• Is the system compatible with local legislation on workforce management (e.g.: FMLA leave in the US)?
• What are the core functions of the software and which functions need to be purchased separately? (Ideally ask to arrange a demo - especially if there is large cost involved.)
• Can the system be accessed via a browser? How easily can offsite or mobile employees access the system?
• Can access control, visitor management and fire evacuation features be integrated with the solution?
• Can the software be customised in any way to more ideally suit your company or does the software provider have systems tailored to your industry?
• What sort of aftersales support and training does the provider provide?

And the last question to ask yourself is: what functions does the company need to prioritise and what can the company afford to implement right now? A flexible solution that allows you to scale the solution with your company needs is usually the most affordable in the long run.

It is well known that any change in the company processes will be met with hesitation by some staff members who are comfortable to maintain the status quo. It is up to key decision makers to push for innovation in a way that allows all staff members to enjoy the benefits of efficient workforce management and time attendance software solutions. This is made easier if you choose both the right software for your company and the best partner company to help you implement these improvements to your company.

Advance Systems combines Time Attendance Software and an HR Management System to provide powerful workforce management software for medium and large enterprises. http://www.workforce-time-management-software.com