Employee time tracking is a proven way to improve your business. And the best employee time tracking solutions have been shown to increase profitability, trust and productivity — on both the employer and employee end.
But what’s the best way to onboard people who aren’t familiar with employee time tracking? Here’s a step-by-step guide to familiarizing new employees with attendance tracking software.
Teach employees about time tracking in general
Education is a crucial piece for employee time tracking, but most companies skip a key part of the process. Before you jump into the specifics of your system, give employees context about why attendance tracking software is beneficial — to the company and to them. Create a handout or short video that explains the benefits of employee time tracking, and make it specific to your business, if you can. Ask employees to complete a short quiz on those benefits after learning about them.
If you’re using Time Tracker, those advantages could include:
- Faster submission of timesheets and time-off requests
- Simpler, quicker approvals or denials of requests
- An automated system that’s designed to get everyone paid faster
- Transparent scheduling that keeps managers and employees on the same page with up-to-the-minute daily, weekly or monthly schedules
- Reporting on past projects that managers can use to ensure they’re giving employees enough time to finish a task or project, and that they’re staffing up appropriately for busier times
While the advantages of time tracking will vary depending upon what your company has in place, the best employee time tracking solutions should have clear benefits that you can market back to your workers. And taking the time to educate employees at the outset will not only cut down on errors but also prevent time theft.
Explain your employee time tracking system
Once you’ve outlined the benefits of attendance tracking software, walk employees through your system. Give them clear guidelines for tracking their time, such as:
- Whether your company uses time cards, time clocks or weekly timesheets
- How to clock in and out
- How long their breaks should be and how often they should take them
- How to correct entries if time is entered incorrectly
- Who to contact with questions
Create a simple educational process or checklist that employees can work through to learn the basics. The best employee time tracking solutions will give you a headstart in that department.
For example, with Time Tracker, start with the Online Help Center. There, you can find answers to common questions such as:
- How do I edit my user profile?
- How do I make a time entry?
- How do I submit entries for approval?
- How do I take back a time entry I already sent for approval?
- How do I delete an entry?
Scroll through the topics to determine which articles will be beneficial to your employees, or simply search the entire help database whenever you need it.
Schedule check-ins
After you’ve educated new employees on your attendance tracking software, give them time to get acclimated. Check in briefly on day 2, day 5 and day 10, for example, or set your own check-in schedule. Whatever the schedule is, avoid micromanagement. The best employee time tracking software will allow you to take a more hands-off approach, and if yours isn’t doing that, consider another solution.
Show results
Finally, don’t forget to close the training loop. After an employee’s first month, offer some insight to them on how their work is affecting your business. Pull a report to:
- Show them where they’re spending their time.
- Tie that back to company profits or productivity.
- Explain how the hours they’re working are contributing to their benefits (PTO, health insurance, etc.).
Eventually, use that information during the review process to improve efficiency and identify places to improve. At the beginning, though, focus on the positives. The best way to keep your workers engaged in employee time tracking is to show them how and why it’s working.
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