Employee time tracking apps are the need of the hour for all the small and medium sized companies. Most small and medium sized companies track their labor hours and cost manually. Labor hours are recorded manually and labor cost is calculated manually or in semi-automated spreadsheets. Having daily updates helps companies determine their daily wages and the on-going projects cost. In this modern and techy world having an automated app makes things easier, saves time, and reduces the chances for mistakes.
It all depends on the mindset of the people concerned. The older employees still want to continue using a pen and paper to record their hours and find it more convenient even though it is more time consuming and prone to errors. Younger employees are more accustomed to using apps and prefer a hassle-free approach to record and submit their labor hours. The other problem lies with payroll personnel that tend to prefer using manual punch cards and semi-automated spread-sheets to record, collect, and calculate labor hours.
There are a few points that should be kept in mind when a company is looking to automate the recording, collection and calculation of their labor hours and payroll hours. Here are some guidelines:
Customized Apps
Every type of business has its specific requirements. Two companies in the same industry can have different work cultures and operating environment. If an off-the-shelf app is not available, the company should invest in developing a customized app. It would be easier for both the employee and the employer to adapt to the new technology and make it work for them. It will also help in running the whole process more efficiently.
For the employees, a customized app will help them accept and adapt to the changes easily. Some of the basic labor hours types that the app must be able to collect are as follows:
- Regular Working Hours
- Vacation Hours
- Sick Leave Hours
- Paid Holiday Hours
- Bonuses Accrued
- Commissions earned
The selected app should be able to record and distinguish between these various types of hours. The company should be able to collect, record, and cost these hours separately for each employee. This will provide more visibility for the company in determining which employees are contributing more to the company’s growth and which employees and work groups are adhering to the overall budget project cost guidelines which in return will help improve company profits.
Communication
The communication between the departments is necessary to avoid any type of conflict between the members. Also, interoperability of the apps for various departments is vital. The app should look and feel the same for employees of different departments and the employee should not have to learn or adapt to a different app when they are transferred temporarily or permanently to another department. They also should not have to worry about being paid correctly. Everyone should be able to communicate with the help of a standard app.
Off-Site Work
If the employee is assigned to an off-site project, they should be able to use the same app that they use on-site to record their labor hours. The company should also provide a safe internet connection off-site and make the connection seamless. This way the employee can record and submit their labor hours in the same standardized manner whether they are on-site or off-site.
Detailed Reports & Data Export
A good app should always be able to produce detailed reports of all data inputs and be able to export, email, and submit the recorded labor data in a standardized format to the company’s payroll and HR departments. Having standardized reports format helps the company to process their payroll and costing data more efficiently while saving on manual data entry costs. It also helps the company compare the different employee’s performances. The company will also get better visibility in the work-in-progress status for all their projects in a timely and efficient manner.