Attendance management of employees is one of the significant responsibilities in HR operations. Like any other domain, understanding the scope of work, and the various concepts, and analyzing the best ways are essential for effective management.

Before we move towards the importance of the attendance management software, let us understand some basics of what attendance is and what is attendance management.

What is Attendance?

In simple words, attendance is the state of being present at a place of work according to the company’s policies. 

 

However, the concept of attendance is not that simple. In certain companies, an employee has to be present within a specific period for a specific number of hours to be considered present. 

 

For example, in factories, usually 3 shifts of 8 hours each are followed. If a laborer works any one shift then he has to, be present from the start till the end of the shift, serving for 8 hours.

 

However, for employees who are customer-facing or whose work is time-dependent, attendance could mean serving for a specific time period. 

Apart from the above definition, attendance can be considered to cover a wide range of concerns like absenteeism, productivity, time accounting, workforce management, etc. 

What is Attendance Management?

Attendance management includes a set of activities and employee processes essential for time accounting, productivity, discipline, and statutory compliance.

The attendance management process involves:

• Designing Attendance Policies
• Managing and Operating Attendance Devices & Registers
• Maintaining Accurate Time Records
• Keeping Track of Overtime
• Monitoring Absenteeism
• Generating Records
• Effective Payroll

What is the Need for Attendance Management?

Tracking an employee’s attendance is essential for a company’s profitability, reliability, and reputation. 

There are five broad reasons why attendance management is required:

Productivity

Time spent in completing a work is a crucial input variable of production involving human workers. Thus, increased time at work will result in higher productivity.

Smooth Running of Operations

The absence of a team member does not only affect the personal productivity of one employee but simultaneously affects the productivity of the team and the overall organization. The absence might lead to coordination issues, delays, higher work-in-progress, etc. 

Discipline

Indiscipline in the organization leads to delays and variability of both quality and the delivery schedule. It is also infectious as other employees may adopt the bad habit and thus compound the issue.

 

When diligent employees notice that indiscipline is tolerated, at first they get frustrated and resentful, and eventually, they leave the organization searching for a better worksphere.

Having time discipline helps in reducing variability and delays.

Time Theft

One of the reasons why time clocks were introduced in the industrial era was to ensure employees got paid only when they were at work. With inaccurate timekeeping, some people misuse the system and indulge in time theft through late arrival, numerous break periods, early outs, etc.

Accurate Payroll Inputs

Attendance inputs are crucial to correctly calculate the salaries of employees. Salaries are paid for the days one works, and this information can be derived from attendance data. In addition to this, this data is also used to find the shift allowances, overtime payments, and attendance bonuses.

How Can Implementing a Software Help an HR?

Maintaining proper attendance is a key factor in ensuring the efficiency of the organization. Thus equipping yourself with a proper monitoring system is necessary. 

Incorporating an efficient Attendance Management System can increase the efficiency of managing the workforce. It helps avoid manual tracking methods like maintaining an Excel sheet which can result in data inaccuracy.

There are numerous benefits of implementing a software but we will talk about the 5 most important benefits your organization can get after onboarding an efficient attendance tracking software.

Benefits of Incorporating Attendance Management System

Paperless Work Environment

An attendance tracking system will help you cut down the paper trail and promote a paperless work environment which is a crucial aspect of corporate responsibility.

 

Therefore, all your HRMS problems will be automated and taken care of, and a cloud-based HR software will help you cut down the overall costs.

Reliable Data

A central attendance system will always provide accurate data. It eliminates the cost and inevitability of human errors and enhances efficiency and productivity. 

 

A centralized attendance tracking system tracks data in real time, reducing the risk of time theft. 

Moreover, no employee can take advantage of corporate policies by logging in for incorrect hours with the help of this system.

Cost Effective

An organization is always at risk of high costs when it comes to manual tasks. Problems like delays in overtime payment, absenteeism, etc. can be eliminated by incorporating automatic strategies.

 

A centralized attendance tracking system will make it impossible for any employees to tamper with the saved data resulting in an honest and cost-effective workplace. Additionally, it will also eliminate payroll errors which is a huge cost saver.

Increased Productivity

With centralized attendance management software, one can easily cut down on manual tasks like updating employee working hours and cherishing simple yet effective payroll processing.

 

Implementing software will cut down hours to minutes, leaving you with more time to focus on things that are more important to the company, resulting in maximized productivity.

 

Real-time Tracking

Real-time tracking refers to the method of tracking the current location of your employees through GPS and GEO tagging. With this technology, you can track your employee’s location and have a real-time record of their client meetings, etc. 

 

You can also opt for GEO tracking which will automatically record the employee’s attendance as soon as they are within office premises.

 

Conclusion: Importance of Attendance Management Software in 2024

By implementing an attendance management system, you can easily overcome your challenges of time theft, maintaining discipline, reduced productivity, and inaccurate payrolls and focus on making your organization’s vision and mission a reality. 

 

In the modern world automation is the key to success and productivity. So, if you are looking for a cloud-based HR software that can simplify workforce processes and provide solutions to all your HR problems, SHRMpro is the one-stop location for you.

 

With a user-friendly interface, we have automated tasks like employee data management, attendance management, training sessions, etc. catering to all your HRMS solutions to all our clients across the globe. 

 

To know more about our attendance management system and how we can solve your attendance tracking challenges in your HR, book a demo of our HR software today!