What is employee time tracking?
Employee time tracking is the process of recording the amount of time people spend on tasks and projects. Organisations use both manual and automated time tracking methods to gain insights that can help increase efficiencies, improve resource allocation, and reduce costs.
Why is time tracking important?
Time tracking is key to understanding employee productivity and attendance to help ensure employees are being paid correctly and working as efficiently as possible. By understanding how much time is spent on tasks and projects, an organisation can identify inefficiencies and implement solutions, such as reallocating tasks or providing additional training or support, and make more informed decisions about future assignments and project timelines. For service-based organisations, time tracking is essential for creating accurate invoices and building customer trust.
With the hybrid and remote work model here to stay, reliable and accessible time tracking is necessary to confirm employees are working when they’re supposed to be and spending their time productively. According to a 2023 report on working from home around the globe, 33.5% of employees worldwide work either fully or partly remote, and the number of remote workers is expected to continue increasing.
What does time tracking software do?
Time tracking software digitalises and automates time tracking processes, such as clock-ins and clock-outs, time sheets, GPS tracking, reporting, and analysis. This software helps organisations accurately track and manage employee work hours, attendance, and productivity. It also helps guarantee that employees are paid correctly for the hours they work, including overtime.
Organisations use employee time tracking software for:
Employee time and attendance tracking
A clock-in and clock-out system provides a centralised view of employee arrival times, absences, breaks, overtime, vacation, and personal time, helping organisations schedule resources and projects, identify inefficiencies, and calculate payroll and overtime.
Resource and task allocation
By monitoring productivity and workload across teams, time tracking software helps organisations make informed decisions about resource and task allocation, keeping projects on schedule and making the best use of employees’ time.
Client billing
Automated time tracking eliminates manual steps and errors to help ensure client billing is accurate and timely, helping build trust between organisations and clients and improving on-time payments.
Project management
By tracking time spent on each phase of a project—from planning through review—time tracking software enables organisations to better manage timelines, resources, and costs, keeping projects running on time and on budget.
Performance evaluation
Time tracking software that collects data on task completion times and employee productivity provides valuable insights into skills gaps and employee time management, enabling managers to provide constructive feedback in performance reviews and set attainable goals.
Compliance reporting
Consistent and reliable time tracking methods enable organisations to record and report accurate working hours, helping ensure all employees are treated fairly and in accordance with labour laws and regulations for working hours, breaks, and overtime.
Display employees’ planned and recorded working time for a seven-day period in a clear, user-friendly interface.
How does time tracking software work?
Time tracking software works by allowing employees to easily record their work hours and tasks completed throughout the day, week, or month. The software then compiles and organises this data, providing reports and insights to managers and HR. Cloud-based time tracking software integrates with other business systems to provide a unified view of employee time and attendance.
Key time tracking terms:
Time tracking is the act of recording time spent on a specific task or project.
Time sheet is a paper or digital document used for recording employees’ arrival and departure times and the amount of time spent on a task or project.
Time tracking software is a digital tool that records and analyses time spent on tasks or projects, in place of manual time tracking methods, such as punch cards and sign-in sheets.
Empower operational leaders and stakeholders to understand the financial impacts and potential risks of decisions related to overtime, productivity, and compliance.
Time tracking methods
The methods of capturing time have evolved over the years—from paper and pen to employee time clock with a punch-card system (credited to Willard Legrand Bundy) to AI-enabled time recording, analysis, and reporting. Some of the most common methods used today include:
Excel templates, which use formulas to calculate time, and require manual data entry and analysis.
Mechanical punch clocks that stamp times on a piece of paper employees insert into a machine to record time in and time out.
Biometric control systems that scan employees’ fingerprints or pupils to verify their identity and record the time they enter and exit the workplace.
Swipe cards (like credit cards), which are swiped through a card reader at the front desk or workstation when employees start or end their workday.
Paper spreadsheets, which are completed and submitted by hand, stamped, and retained for future reference.
Digital spreadsheets that record, calculate, and store time tracking data on a hard drive or USB stick.
Mobile apps that use GPS and geofencing features to track employees’ time and location, remind employees to clock in and clock out, and provide detailed reporting.
What are the benefits of time tracking software?
By centralising and streamlining time tracking processes, time tracking software makes it easier for organisations to collect accurate, real-time information that leads to improvements in:
Productivity: Accurate time tracking helps organisations increase employee accountability, provide constructive feedback during reviews, prioritise projects and tasks, and optimise workflows.
Cost savings: Insights into labour cost inefficiencies, such as excessive overtime, lengthy processes, and inappropriate staffing levels, can help organisations implement cost-effective solutions.
Compliance with local, industry, and company policies: Maintaining a clear, accurate record of employee working hours helps organisations comply with labour laws and union rules for overtime, breaks, and minimum wage, which can be crucial during labour audits.
Employee satisfaction: By giving employees visibility into their work hours, overtime, and pay, organisations can boost employee motivation, morale, and trust.
Forecasting: The data from time tracking can help predict future labour needs and costs, helping organisations create reliable, cost-effective budgets and financial forecasts.
Simplify time management to support rotating schedules, cross-midnight time recording, auto and mass approvals, alerts, automated recalculations, and embedded reporting.
Challenges of implementing time tracking software
While time tracking software offers many benefits to employers and employees, cost and integration can present challenges for organisations preparing to move to cloud-based time tracking. Some of the key challenges organisations should consider include:
Cost: To alleviate the costs associated with time tracking software, organisations can start with just the features they need and choose pricing plans and solutions that best fit their budget.
Compliance: Taking compliance into consideration, organisations must ensure the software can scale to meet all relevant labour laws, local and regional regulations, and union rules.
Integration: To provide a seamless user experience, time tracking software should smoothly integrate with existing HR, project management, and payroll systems.
Technical difficulties: Unpredictable system performance, software bugs, and compatibility issues can prevent users from consistently using time tracking tools, which makes the data less reliable.
Training and support: Additional time and resources are needed to provide sufficient training and ongoing support to ensure all employees can use time tracking tools effectively.
By understanding business goals and challenges upfront and taking the time to explore different cloud and on-premise software options, payment plans, and vendors, organisations can find the best time tracking software to fit their business needs and budget.
Easing adoption of time tracking software
To simplify the adoption of employee time tracking software and ensure employees are using it consistently and correctly, organisations should:
Provide training sessions tailored to different types of users and organisations
Create self-paced demos on recording time and reviewing working hours, payroll, and overtime
Hold open forums to discuss concerns about time tracking processes and highlight the benefits, such as eliminating time spent on manual processes and ensuring more accurate, timely paychecks
Key features to look for in time tracking software
With time tracking software, it’s easier than ever to keep track of employee time, attendance, and productivity without relying on manual, error-prone processes. Time tracking software offers a range of features that can help organisations manage projects, timelines, payroll, and client billing more effectively.
Automated clock-in and clock-out records start and end times, breaks, and intervals during employee work hours for both onsite and remote workers, eliminating errors and gaps from manual processes.
Mobile accessibility allows users to track time and manage tasks on the go using any mobile device.
Customisation enables users to customise time tracking settings and features based on individual or team needs, as well as local regulations and union rules.
Geolocation tracks where employees are working around the globe, which is especially valuable for remote employee time tracking and analysis.
Artificial intelligence (AI) automates time tracking processes, analyses patterns, and generates real-time insights about productivity trends and potential issues and solutions.
Real-time reporting summarizes recorded hours, project progress, and other relevant data to help keep projects and people on schedule.
Monitoring and analytics provide insights into time usage and efficiency, supporting better decision-making and performance improvements.
Integration connects time tracking software with other tools and software used in the workplace, such as payroll time tracking, project management systems, and accounting software.
User permission settings allow managers to set different levels of access and permissions for users or teams within the organisation.
Security measures protect sensitive employee data both within and outside the organisation.
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