Why employee time tracking can be helpful for your business
Time is a valuable resource for all businesses. The phrase ‘time is money’ holds true, and now it seems as if companies are expecting more work from staff in less time. Keeping track of time at work can therefore benefit both employer and employees, as it accurately records data for staff. With the latest tracking systems and tools, time tracking can also be achieved with little to no management involvement.
Monitor progress, not just time
In a world where online shopping is worth over £50 billion in the UK alone, the demand for delivery is bigger than ever. Understandably, buyers then want to know when their purchases will arrive. Vehicle tracking then becomes key for these delivery businesses. Providers, such as Movolytics, offer vehicle tracking in real time. They can identify exactly where drivers are, and how much of the journey they have completed, as well as other additional information to boost efficiency.
We can take two lessons from how vehicle tracking is used by delivery companies. The first is to find a tracking system suited to your staff; your team won’t necessarily find vehicle tracking useful in your business. And second is to monitor not just time, but progress.
It’s important for employers to know how efficiently staff are working on a day-to-day basis, and how much value they’re adding to the business. With the increase of working online, instant access to information can very well speed things up for employees. However, studies have shown that more and more people are wasting time at work due to having the internet at their fingertips. According to a survey by Salary.com, 89 per cent of employees admitted to wasting time at work every day, with 31 per cent admitting they waste roughly 30 minutes daily.
Time tracking can help fight this, as it forces staff to monitor their efficiency. Employers are able to identify trends within staff, to ensure everyone is working at the same pace and keeping projects moving. There are some softwares, such as Liquid Planner, that offer timesheets for each member of staff to plan, organise and track their work week. Similar tools include Trello and Asana, both of which allow for tagging and deadlines for tasks and easy to use functionality.
Collect your own data on project times to improve your business
It’s not only employers that can benefit from tracking time at work — employees are able to see how efficiently they are working themselves, and use the data to help them stay focused and motivated while at work, as they can physically see a deadline. Jan Yager argues in Work Less, Do More that deadlines can help us by “bestowing active status on a project and assigning it a tangible date to which we are committed”. Having a history of data, of actual time spent on projects, will improve your ability to estimate how long future tasks and projects will take you to complete.
Similarly, if there are projects that take up more time than initially expected, managers will be able to note this from the data given on the tracking system. They can then highlight any shortfalls in the team, and offer more support on specific areas, or even hire more staff to help meet the deadlines set.
Tracking systems can increase communication between employers and employees
It’s important to clearly communicate with your staff about the tracking system, and let them know what will be tracked, and how. You should also be clear that the tracking system will encourage more open and honest conversations between staff and managers, and will accurately show how the work day is progressing.
If employees have been pushing for an increase in their salary, they can use the tracked data to provide evidence of how efficiently they’ve been working, and even how they have personally created any revenue for the company. Managers will also be able to use the data to process payroll information efficiently and fairly, by checking to see if any staff have worked overtime, and pay staff for the correct time that was taken on tasks and projects.
Having a tracking system can be beneficial for both employers and employees, which should be highlighted. Staff should be aware that they can benefit from having a tracking system in place, meaning they are more likely to stay on board, rather than be put off.
