How Using a Time Clock Calculator Will Help You to Keep Track of Time
How Using a Time Clock Calculator Will Help You to Keep Track of Time
Want to grow your business and reputation and make as much money as possible in the process? Of course you do, that’s why you’re here in the first place. What with the responsibility of running a business, managing it, and of course, overseeing all of the other admin that goes with it, it can be hard to find time to manage your employees and their schedules. This is why today we’ll be looking at how using a time clock calculator will help you keep track of time in the workplace.
What are time clocks and how have they changed?
You’ve almost certainly heard the expression ‘clocking in’ or perhaps ‘clocking off’ when referring to starting or beginning a shift, but what does that mean? Well, it references the fact that employees have to literally punch in and out when starting a shift, as they will have a timesheet which they literally punch in when starting work, and punch out when finishing their shift. They would insert a time card into a slot located on the time clock machine, where the card would then print a timestamp on the card, logging the time the employee began their shift and finished their shift. This was designed to enable employees to keep track of the hours they worked, along with providing a timekeeper with official records of the hours each employee worked. Since then however, times have changed, which is why time tracking software is so effective. Here’s a look at how using a time clock calculator will help you to keep track of time.
A time clock calculator is more accurate than a timecard
As effective as timecards were back in the day, times have changed, and modern technology has advanced hugely over the years. While timecards were reliable, they certainly weren’t completely accurate all of the time. You see, with timecards, employees often have to record shifts from memory alone, as they have to do so after their shift has ended. Often, they would estimate the hours worked, and as you know, in the business world estimation is never reliable. You see, all employees are legally entitled to breaks, and this is where timecards really show their vulnerable sides. You see, more often than not, employees using timecards would fail to accurately log the start and end time of their break, whether intentional or not. With time tracking software however, all of the guesswork is removed. All of the data can be logged at the click of a button, and is accurate down to the last millisecond. No longer are employees forced to estimate how many hours they worked, and how long they took for breaks etc, as the digital software accurately logs the info for them, in a matter of seconds.
Create more efficient working schedules
No matter which business you happen to be involved with, there’s a good chance that some weeks or months will be busier than others. Whether you’re running behind with a deadline, or if you’re simply benefitting from more customers than usual, if you’re overworked and under-staffed, you won’t create a lasting impression on your customers, at least, not a good one. The great thing about time tracking software is the fact that it enables you to create efficient working schedules in advance. If for example, you can see that you have a big project with an impeding deadline, you can monitor the status of the job via the software, and can then reassign people as you see fit. If you envision a busy week, you can pull people off of certain jobs and put them onto the more pressing tasks at hand. With a time clock calculator, not only can you keep track of time, you can also get a head start on big tasks that you know will require additional manpower. Team leaders can look at who is available and who isn’t, and can then move things around accordingly. When it comes to managing your workforce, this is almost certainly going to be one of the more expensive and time-consuming processes associated with your business, which is why it’s so important to stay one step ahead of things.
Create an automated system that benefits all parties
With manual clocking in and out systems, not only is the burden placed on the employee to clock in and out, but it is also placed on managers or team leaders responsible for timekeeping, as they may need to chase employees in order to obtain their timecards. If you’re a small business with just one or two members of staff, this isn’t going to be too much of an issue. If however, you have a large workforce, chasing down individual employees so that you can obtain their timesheets can be a large burden and can take a lot of time and effort. Not only that, but for employees, having to wait in line and having to tally up total hours worked, while subtracting minutes for breaks or early finishes etc, can be a real headache and can waste a lot of time. Time tracking software however, creates a fully automated time clock for employees and employers alike. In basic terms, it makes keeping track of time much easier and quicker, helping to save, well, time.
Get an overview of real time labour costs
Do you want to find out exactly how much you are spending on labour? If you do and you happen to track time manually with paper, or similar methods, you’d better be willing to give up A LOT of free time going through timecards etc. and tallying up hours for each employee. Knowing how much you are spending on labour, and on anything else for that matter, is very important in the business world, yet there aren’t many business owners out there who will relish the prospect of manually working out what their labour is costing them. By simply making the jump from paper timesheets to time tracking software will help you keep track of time with minimal effort. You see, with a time clock calculator, you can see which positions in your company are costing you the most in labour, and where you are spending less perhaps. The info provided can then be compared with other industries so you can get an idea of whether you’re spending more or less on labour than other businesses similar to your own. If you are worried you’re spending too much, you can keep tabs on overtime and can see where overtime costs may gradually be increasing. Here you can then see whether or not the overtime in question is justified, and if not, you can simply cut back and help save your business money on unnecessary labour. The software in question will show you which employees are working the most, and the least, so you can then decide whether or not any alterations need to be made.
Clock in and out from anywhere
As mentioned earlier, with manual clocking in methods, employees require access to a timestamp machine, which means that they need to be in the office in order to clock in and out. If they work in the office all of the time then that’s fine, but what about those that work from home, or those that are out of the office a lot? Well, ordinarily they would simply have to punch their timecard the next time they were in the office, and would therefore again have to work from memory. For employees out of office on Friday, this may mean clocking in and out for Friday when they get in on Monday, which could result in inaccurate info. The great thing about using a time clock calculator however, is that because it is cloud-based, employees can access the system from anywhere, at any time, using their laptop, computer, phone, or tablet. This ensures that they can log their shifts and track their time anywhere, at any time, without having to be in the office. The benefits here are self-explanatory for employees that are out of office a lot of the time. It’s also useful for freelancers and independent contractors who perhaps work in a different physical location.
Keep track of time and increase employee productivity
If you pay your employees by the hour, studies have found that accurately tracking the amount of hours they work each week/month, will help increase employee productivity within the workplace. Time tracking software such as a time clock calculator also comes with built-in features which allow employees and employers alike to monitor the progress of each task, and to see how far the task has progressed. You therefore, can assign help when needed, and can also praise employees for their hard work when you can see that they’re well ahead of schedule. Praise and positive reinforcement only serves to boost morale and increase employee productivity. So, not only does the software let you keep track of time, it also helps you to improve the productivity of your members of staff.
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