Good time and attendance software can do wonders for your business. However, no matter how good and feature-rich the software, it’s important you take careful consideration of several things before committing to or implementing that solution. Here are a few things to consider before committing to a new time and attendance system for your business.
1. What are Your Business Needs and Requirements, Specifically?
What exactly do you want from a new time and attendance system? You should take time to assess your current business scheduling needs and requirements. The more you drill down to specific requirements, the easier it becomes to select software that addresses those needs.
When defining what you require of attendance software, it can help to consider a few factors about your business, such as:
- The size of your organization and its locations
- The complexity of your workforce scheduling
- Any labor-related or industry regulations you must comply with
An attendance system that can cater to your business specifically based on some or more of these factors gives you an excellent place to start when considering what software you may want to implement.
You should also consider any pain points or issues you have with your current time-tracking system. Is it costly? Inefficient? Outdated? If there’s something about your current system you’d like to see improved on, then look for software that can address those issues directly.
2. What Type of Budget are You Working With?
Time and attendance software pricing can vary widely, and you don’t want to either overspend or underspend when it comes to critical workforce management software. Look beyond the initial cost of the software to see what kind of value it can bring. You should especially look for a solution that can provide long-term value and a return on investment from the software’s ability to streamline your operations. Seek out transparent pricing structures and make sure you consider all the costs associated with the software, such as support, training, and implementation.
3. Will the Software Integrate Seamlessly with Your Other Systems?
Seamless integration with your existing HR, payroll, and business software can help you maintain business continuity, reduce data recording errors, and generally prevent disruption. Not all time and attendance software will work with all systems, or some software may require additional tinkering to work with disparate systems.
Make sure you know if the time-tracking software you’re considering will work with your systems before committing to it or attempting implementation. You’ll also want to ensure the new software will work well with your existing hardware in addition to your software.
4. Will the Attendance Software Help You Maintain Security and Compliance?
Employee and sensitive business data requires robust protection at all times. Before implementing a new time-tracking system, check to see if that system provides real security and data protection. Also, the software needs to adhere to whatever compliance measures your business must adhere to, including all applicable industry, labor, and reporting laws.
5. How Much Training Will Your Management and Employees Require?
No matter the capabilities of a time and attendance software package, it can become a burden if it requires an undue amount of training to learn how to use it. Even with training, a nonintuitive or poor user interface can also create a lot of issues.
Strive to find time-tracking software that offers modern features, ease of use, a clean interface, and easy navigation. The requirements to learn how to use the system shouldn’t become a hassle for users. Also, if the system doesn’t have intuitive features, then data entry errors will likely occur.
6. Will the Time-Tracking Software Go the Distance?
You shouldn’t have to start looking for new software options every time a change to your operations comes around. Think long-term and seek longevity, scalability, and flexibility. The hosted aspect of modern, cloud-based solutions, such as Ecotime time and attendance software and others, makes them ideal for scalability and flexibility.
Attendance software often requires several considerations before implementation. If you take a little time to look at what your business needs and what the software can provide to meet those needs, you should do fine. Work with the software vendor and ask questions before you implement their workforce management tools.