How To Improve Employee Efficiency with the Right Timesheet Management System

Time is gold. Or in the modern business context, time is money. You have probably heard this old adage so many times. When it comes to running a profitable, safe, and reliable business, this saying still rings true today.

One of the greatest assets of a company is its employees. This is really evident as who else can influence the success and downfall of an organization but the people who are working in it. In reality, they are essential for a company to generate income. And there is no doubt that income is what’s keeping a company alive.

The sad thing is, while employees are extremely vital in the success of a business, not every business owner thinks of it that way. Yes, they appreciate their employees, give them reasonable compensation, proper tools to excellently perform their jobs, and care for their wellness with health and vacation benefits, but what they usually overlook is how employees use their time efficiently.

Win-win Situations with a Timesheet Management System

In reality, when you think about employee efficiency or time management, this is a win-win situation. The company will benefit because there will be no employee idle time and no project or activity is wasted. Losses are minimized and operations will run like a well-oiled machine. The employees will also benefit because it will make their work less stressful and more fulfilling by knowing that they have allocated and used their time well. The need to work overtime will also be minimized, so employees can spend more of their precious time with their family and loved ones.

By integrating a suitable timesheet management system in the company’s day-to-day operations, everyone will benefit, from the business owner, to the executives, to the managers and supervisors, as well as the employees, which is essentially the whole company itself!

Many companies actually do have their own time reporting system in place, but the problem is that it is too taxing or burdensome to use. There are time recording systems that are so complicated, employees take a whole day working on it just to update its contents and submit a decent report to their managers. It is kind of ironic – a whole day spent just to provide an efficiency report.

Most of the time, because of the complex nature of their timesheet management system and the fact that they have so many tasks to do in so little time, employees sometimes ignore the system and just never comply with the reporting requirements. This makes department managers run wild, as without reports they have no basis on how to make the best decisions that will benefit everyone. And the manager himself could not enforce the system to his team because he himself is burdened by using it.

How many times have you heard corporate stories like this? This is a common situation (for companies not using TimeSheet Reporter), and if you really examine it, the problem is not the time reporting system itself, but its complexity and user-friendliness.

Getting the Right Time Reporting System

The obvious solution to that problem is to have a simplified timesheet management system. What if a company could use a program that their employees have already been using all this time, readily available, easy to use and access, and build on that? Studies show that when you streamline a work process, the probability of employee compliance increases as you simplify it. And compliance further increases when you use something that is already familiar and recognizable to the users. Again, these are very observable truths.

Microsoft Office’s Outlook Calendar is already a commonly used program among office workers as part of their personal time and information management scheme. The reason is that it is very easy to use even for someone with limited knowledge in using computers. The program is also included in some standard applications that are usually already installed in office computer units, so it is accessible.

What if you combine this very simple program with supplemental software to customize a timesheet management system that perfectly fits all the reporting requirements of your company? This would be a huge benefit to your company.

By integrating with the Outlook Calendar a supplemental timesheet reporting program that can include in the appointment window an employee-defined organization, project, and activity, then it would be a lot easier and simpler. For employees that are in field work most of the time, enhance it with an option to do this when offline, as well as a feature that allows them to report their time with their mobile devices, such as a smartphone or tablet.

Add another feature that converts all these data into a report, which is available both in written and graphical representation, then time reporting seems to have become almost effortless. An employee can just click a “submit” button and his report is recorded and instantly sent to his supervisor or manager.

A supervisor or manager can then clearly see the report and effectively and quickly make a decision whether to approve it or not. If it is approved, the submitter will see it immediately, and if rejected, the report simply goes back to the submitter with some remarks on it.

Another advantage of having a common method of submitting time entries is that everything is standardized. The supervisor or manager can easily detect if there might be some lapses or insufficiencies in a report and can immediately call the attention of an employee for revisions. Reviews and alterations come within minutes or hours, and not days after when the employee has already forgotten what he is reporting about or what had transpired.

And to further improve company operations, what about if you can also integrate this simplified and customized time reporting system into other vital office systems such as ERP, CRM and accounting? The manifestation becomes apparent and company-wide, improving not only your business’ employee efficiency, but corporate reputation and branding, customer service satisfaction, and financial bottomline as well. Those are tremendous benefits that will certainly boost a company’s success.

It may sound too good to be true but it surely is possible. All it takes is innovation, an awareness to use something that is already there and add to it another thing that would simplify it and at the same time develop its functionality in a way that best serves both the employees and the company.

Actually, there is a software company right now that offer this kind of solution for your time management needs. A time reporting system that does not suffocate your employees or put them in an uncomfortable position will go a long way in operating a sustainable company.

And you might have guessed it by now – a system that can help you with all the above is TimeSheet Reporter.

Browse around our website to learn more about the solution and, if you have not already done so, get a free trial as well.

We’re looking forward to helping you.