Still using pen and paper to track employee hours? Chances are, you don’t realize how much manual timekeeping is costing your business. It’s 2018, and that means it’s time to enter the age of modern timekeeping. Whether from paying employees more than you should or just putting yourself at risk for a legal battle, outdated timekeeping practices are costly. Read on for 5 ways manual timekeeping is costing your business, and why you should stop. (Like, now.)
1. Employee Time Theft
Pen and paper timekeeping systems are incredibly easy to exploit. From padding hours to buddy punching, most employers are shocked by the drop in employee hours their very first pay period after automating. Even if you notice only a small reduction, this advantage will quickly compound. Advanced timekeeping tech has a jaw-dropping ROI, and when you do the math, it quickly pays for itself and provides ongoing savings. (Not to mention it also makes your life a lot easier!)
2. Inaccurate or Insufficient Records
Without trustworthy employee hours data, it’s hard to make informed decisions about human resource allocation. As we all know, data is critical to success. If you don’t know what you’re dealing with, how can you possibly improve? Handwritten time cards also don’t give you the entire picture even when they are correct. The result? We’re sure you can guess: decreased productivity.
3. Unnecessary Admin Costs
With manual timekeeping and hard-copy attendance records, your admin team really has to handle the brunt of the work. They must spend tedious hours troubleshooting time sheet inaccuracies and missing information. Then, they have to manually enter the data into payroll. When your HR staff can devote only minutes instead of hours to processing payroll, they are free to work on company initiatives that boost employee productivity and loyalty–instead of data entry.
4. Increased Overtime
Manual timekeeping systems don’t have built-in alerts to notify supervisors when associates are approaching or have exceeded their authorized hours. Without these digital warnings, you must choose between simply being surprised by your labor costs each pay period, or forcing your management team to micromanage your employees. Either way, it’s a lose-lose situation. And the larger your organization, the more unplanned overtime costs you.
5. Higher Employee Turnover
Inaccurate timekeeping and restricted access to basic information contribute to employee frustration and higher turnover. And many employers don’t realize how high these costs can be.
Numerous studies have demonstrated that it costs about 20% of annual salary to replace a team member making less than 50k a year, and the costs increase with higher paid employees.
The math on that one is simple: for an employee making $30,000 a year, that comes out to $6,000.
Automated time and attendance systems allow staff members to handle their time cards and monitor PTO, vacation, and other accruals without having to go through a manager or HR. When employees are empowered, they feel better about their jobs. The result? Increased productivity and an overall better place to work. (For all of us!)
What Do You Think?
What has been your experience with manual vs. automated timekeeping? If you’re currently using manual timekeeping and would like a demo of our automated timekeeping system, simply fill out this online form to set one up today! Still not quite convinced? Check out our webinar “On The Fence About Timekeeping?” to learn why you may want to reconsider. And don’t forget to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn to make sure you never miss a beat!
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