Benefits of Attendance Tracking System in Businesses

Not implemented an attendance tracking system in your business yet? People are no strangers to the system of attendance. It has been there since kindergarten. Not only did it make sure kids were present on time at school(and colleges subsequently), but It has also proven time and again to have a positive impact on the academic performance of students. An attendance tracking system creates consistency in all aspects. 

The same can be said about a business environment as well. An attendance tracking system is mandatory to make sure employees show up on time (or log in on time since it is primarily work-from-home now) and fulfill their duties.

The market is cluttered with too many software providers selling tools for attendance management, including ones for small businesses. Truth be told, these are unnecessary costs whose benefits can be reaped using a spreadsheet—more on this in the later sections of this blog.

First, let us look at some critical information about the attendance tracking system.

Benefits of Attendance Tracking System 

The following are the most common benefits of employee attendance tracking for businesses of all sizes, irrespective of the industry.

Identify Potential Attendance Issues

One of the main reasons for the attendance tracking system is to find out whether any issues need to be dealt with.

Attendance records are required to make sure that working hours are not being abused both by the employees and their employers. It is also essential for monitoring planned and unplanned days off.

A Necessity for Remote Working

At the beginning of 2020, when remote work was widely adopted because of COVID-19, many employers were reluctant to make the switch from the office model of working. Discipline and quality of work were the main concerns for them.

Tracking attendance remotely has massively helped drive this shift. For small businesses in India, a shared Google Sheet gets the job done most of the time.

Ensures Timely and Full Payment 

The attendance tracking system is helpful for payroll purposes. Because exact hours are available, it ensures that no employee is over or underpaid.

Employers can calculate overtime pay accurately. Keeping records of work hours also shows the work levels of each department. 

Boosts Employee Morale and Productivity

An important factor that decides employee satisfaction is the prompt handling of time off requests. If employees have applied for time off and are awaiting approval, they might find it challenging to focus on work.

The attendance tracking system makes it easy to review and approve planned time off. This relieves employees of the stress associated with the uncertainty of unapproved time off requests. 

Real-Time Analysis of Productivity for Better Hiring and Scheduling Decisions

Productivity tracking depends on the availability of real-time attendance data. A realistic view of productivity levels lets business leaders make better hiring and scheduling decisions.

A deep analysis may even lead to the identification of trends that can help save costs. These practices aligned with the business’s goals and objectives ensure that the business stays on target without imbalances in working hours.

Reduces Absenteeism     

Businesses cannot operate efficiently if employees are absent. What’s worse is that it will affect the business’s overall costs.

The simple solution to this is to keep a record of absent employees. Keeping a record clears up any inconsistencies and highlights unusual levels of absenteeism to be addressed swiftly.

Proof for Wage and Hour Audit Purposes 

Most businesses do not even consider the possibility of an audit or a lawsuit until one land at their doorsteps.

Then comes the scramble to get things in order to keep legal action at bay. Hence it is always better to be prepared for the unexpected. Keeping accurate attendance can help businesses win a case against a claim. 

Also Read: What Can A Business Do To Improve Cashflow

What all can be Tracked Using an Attendance Sheet Template

Using a standard sheet template, an employer will be able to mark, track and view the following about their employees: 

• Employees’ time in and time out
• Attendance per week, month, year, and for custom periods
• Break time per day
• Days taken off on personal leave
• Days taken off on sick leave
• Days taken off for vacation
• Explanations from employees who are not showing up for work without prior notice

Different Ways to Track Employee Attendance

Businesses can choose to keep track of their employees’ attendance using the following methods: 

• Using employee cards
• Fingerprint and retina scans
• Traditional register books
• Using spreadsheets

Out of them, we are now going to predominantly focus on the different types of attendance templates in spreadsheets.

Different Kinds of Employee Attendance Sheet Templates 

You can use MS Excel for maintaining attendance sheet and we cover in-detail all about it. Below is a glimpse of some of the templates you’ll find though to give you an idea.

Training Attendance Template 

This template can be used for any training programs that are run at the office. The top section of the template can be used to document information about the nature of the training program.

It can also include a column where attendees can sign when they arrive. To collect more information, simply add more columns.

Attendance Spreadsheet 

The attendance tracker template lets businesses manage employees on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis.

For each employee, this template can be used to track shifts, sick leave, vacation time, and personal time. The color-coded attendance categories give a quick overview of attendance patterns and employee availability. 

Timesheet Template

The main objective of this template is to track the number of hours an employee has spent on a particular task.

Employees can use this to follow their own hours, and managers can use this to manage payroll and keep accurate records. It includes sheets for daily, weekly, bi-weekly, and monthly tracking. Below is a screenshot of the free timesheet template from Lio.

Employee Vacation Tracker

Although primarily meant for managing employees’ vacation hours, this can also be used to manage employees’ schedules. List the available/used vacation and sick leave hours to view employees’ leave time within a specific period. 

Also Read: Why Tracking Business Expenses is Way Important Than any other thing?

Using Lio to Track Attendance

Step 1: Select the Language you want to work on. Lio for Android

Step 2: Create your account using your Phone Number or Email Id.

Verify the OTP and you are good to go.

Step 3: Select a template in which you want to add your data.

Add your Data with our Free Cloud Storage.

Step 4: All Done? Share and Collaborate with your contacts.

Conclusion

Employee attendance tracking system is not to be taken lightly. Businesses should keep track of how many employees are coming into work and how they are utilizing their time.

Such a record will help frame long-term HR policies that work out in favour of both the business and employees.