In this fast-paced world, where humanity is moving towards more and more efficiency, thanks to computers & technology, the world has become a global village. It has become a challenge for growing companies to manage and track the attendance of their employees, especially due to their presence at multiple locations with a focus on diversity and work-from-home culture.
Attendance management systems are an invaluable tool for today’s HR professionals. By automating manual processes and providing clear insights into attendance data, attendance management systems have the potential to save time and money while improving employee attendance. This article will explore the 15 features of attendance management systems and how they can help HR professionals in their daily work.
Features Of The Attendance Management System
- Integration With Biometric Machines:
- Over-Time Tracking:
- Tracks Work Time:
- Cloud-Based:
- Employee Self-Service (ESS):
- Quick and Accurate Reports:
- Integration With ERP Softwares:
- Notifications & Intimations:
- Security & Compliance:
- Mobile Access:
- Shift Request:
- Remote Work Request:
- Exemption Request:
- Attendance Approval:
- Multi-level Approval:
Integration With Biometric Machines:
Attendance management systems integrate with biometric attendance machines such as fingerprint scanners or facial recognition devices to track employees’ clock-in and clock-out timings, which can significantly improve the efficiency and accuracy of attendance function. This integration eliminates the need for manual timekeeping and ensures that the attendance records are accurate and tamper-proof.
Additionally, biometric machines can also help to prevent time fraud, such as buddy punching, where one employee clocks in or out on behalf of another, which can be a significant problem in manual timekeeping and can lead to inaccuracies in attendance records and payroll calculations.
Over-Time Tracking:
The managers must notice employees’ dedication to the company. Attendance Management Systems track how much the employees do overtime, allowing managers to measure employee dedication by knowing which ones are willing to put in extra time and effort for the company. Thus, helping managers to analyze who is more suitable for promotion at the time of performance evaluation.
Tracks Work Time:
Companies can track the actual work time of the employees to ensure that the weekly scheduled hours are completed. Based on this data, HR can also work on the company policies and processes to maintain employee health and mental satisfaction. For example, suppose the data shows that employees consistently work longer hours than expected.
In that case, it may indicate that there are issues with workload management or that employees feel overworked and stressed. This information can be used to adjust workloads either some financial benefits like overtime allowance or employees are well-rested to improve employee satisfaction.
Cloud-Based:
Cloud Attendance Management Systems provide great flexibility and scalability. Companies can run them and manage the employees from anywhere in the world with the internet. It also helps in cost cutting of the server machines which are required to deploy the software on-premise while making it easier for IT managers.
Employee Self-Service (ESS):
With attendance data accessible through ESS anytime, Employees can self-manage their attendance and adjust to it. It helps in giving them more control and transparency into their attendance records. This feature helps employees maintain their work-life balance by accurately knowing how much they are working. The ESS dashboard helps employees know all the analytics related to their attendance.
Quick and Accurate Reports:
This is one of the best time-saving features of the Attendance Management System. It can help managers quickly access accurate attendance reports with one click and make informed decisions. Reports can also be easily exported and shared with other departments and stakeholders such as HR, Payroll, and Accounting etc. to ensure that all the management can access the reporting they need.
Integration With ERP Software’s:
A good Attendance Management System can be integrated with ERP software’s such as SAP, Oracle, and Microsoft Dynamics. This helps managers in managing the organization and HR at one centralized place. Attendance Management System can also be integrated with other modules such as leave management system, payroll management system, Reports Management, and HR Letters Management.
Notifications & Intimations:
Attendance Management Systems keep employees updated by giving repeated intimations/notifications on their web dashboards and in mobile app about absence, late, or half days, even they are reminded about their missing entries if they forget to mark their attendance (in or out).
Security & Compliance:
An attendance Management System helps organizations comply with local labor laws and regulations by observing how much employees work throughout the week, and their compensations are made accordingly. This saves the company from heavy penalties imposed due to the violation of rules & regulations while keep everything very transparent.
Mobile Access:
With everything accessible on mobile phones its very convenient for everyone, nowadays it is supposed to be quite essential for the software to have mobile app/version. Attendance Management Systems are accessible through a mobile application, making it easy for employees and managers to maintain attendance on the go.
Shift Request:
Employees can request unplanned shift timings if required. This ensures that any change in predefined shifts or in schedule are approved from the managers and put into the system, so the Attendance management software doesn’t wrongly mark check in, late or half day of the employee.
Remote Work Request:
Employees who have to work from home can make a remote work request which the line manager can approve/reject with additional comments. This feature is helpful for employees who cannot come in person for medical or personal reasons and for the organizations which have the culture of remote working/work from home either in pandemic or in normal scenario.
Exemption Request:
Attendance exemptions can be made through the ESS portal. The employee will request the exemption allowed in the company policy for approval. The manager will then review the request, match it with the company policy, and approve or reject it with comments.
Attendance Approval:
Managers can see attendance requests made by their subordinates in one place and approve them with a single click. This feature saves manager time and ensures that all the pending approvals are done in time and hassle free for everyone.
Multi-level Approval:
The requests are approved on multiple levels. First, the request will be approved by the line manager and then move to the HR manager or HOD and then management etc. This feature ensures that everything is managed as per the company approval workflow while ensuring transparency and fairness within the organization.
Conclusion
Attendance Management Systems are an invaluable tool for today’s HR professionals. By automating manual processes and providing clear insights into attendance data, they have the potential to save time and money while improving employee attendance.
The 15 key features discussed in this article include integration with biometric machines, over-time tracking, work time tracking, cloud accessibility, employee self-service, quick & accurate reports, integration with ERP software, notifications and intimations, security and compliance, mobile app, shift requests, remote work request, exemption request, attendance approvals, and multi-level approval.
These features not only help HR professionals in their daily work but also helps in maintaining the company policies, complying with local labor laws and regulations, and giving control and transparency to them over HR functions.
