Knowing how paid and hourly employees spend their time can help you make better staffing and scheduling decisions. Plus, you can more accurately track labor expenses and boost employee productivity.
But, when you track employee hours, there are a few other practical advantages, which we’ll touch upon later.
So, let’s check out the top four time tracking methods every business owner should know about!
1. Web-Based Time Tracking
One of the simplest ways to track employee hours is to use a tried and tested web-based application. These employee time clocks load up in your browser, and you’re good to go.
A good tip here is to look for the most hassle-free option that doesn’t overcomplicate things. Some applications, such as TimeTrakGO, have a quick-start wizard, so you can start tracking employee hours in no time at all.
2. Cloud-Based Attendance Tracking
The next level up from simple web application tracking has to be cloud-based attendance tracking. You can find a great example of this tracking at timetrak.com.
The great thing about cloud-based tracking is that a company handles everything for you with their in-cloud time clocks. This means you have excellent flexibility where your employees can work in various locations and log their hours.
With this type of tracking, you tend to get several processes automated. For example, This can contain things like scheduling, vacation requests, paid time off, tracking exceptions, and hour computation, among other things.
3. Pen and Paper Tracking
You can start tracking employee hours with pen and paper if you’re old school or working anywhere with bad internet connectivity.
You’re good to go if employees keep track of the date of their shifts as well as the start and stop hours. This analog method isn’t for everyone, but it’s a simple solution that requires little employee training.
It also requires a lot of employee trust. One issue that might arise with this method is that you spend time watching when employees arrive and leave and then checking what they input as their hours.
4. Spreadsheet Tracking
Putting your employee hours into a spreadsheet application like Excel or Google Sheets is another basic method. You can do this, even if they record their time on pen and paper.
Excel time tracking eliminates the need to manually compute hours worked and export data to your payroll system. The only issue is with this method is that you have to spend time inputting the data. This could be time spent better focusing on developing your business.
Track Employee Hours the Smart Way
Nowadays, there are some straightforward and effective software-based ways to track employee hours. Whether you just use a simple software in your browser or a cloud-based system, you’ll save a lot of time and stress dealing with attendance tracking.
We appreciate you checking out our tips. Please feel free to browse other helpful articles on our blog.