What is attendance management and essential aspects to be considered while creating an attendance policy?

One of the essential roles in HR operations is managing employee attendance. Also, understanding the scope of operations, numerous ideas, and best practices is critical for good management, just like any other domain.

What is Attendance Management, and how does it work?

Attendance management is a set of activities and personnel processes required for timekeeping, discipline, productivity, and legal compliance.

The attendance system is made up of several components. For the entire system to function correctly, all of these subsystems must be in good working order. An administrator’s task is to set up and maintain each sub-system daily.

Factors that influence which sort of attendance is best for your company or team

The nature of your business, the industry you’re in, and the product/service offerings you give all influence how you track attendance and how flexible you can be about it. When deciding between flexi-time and fixed-time attendance, the following six factors should be considered:

The nature of the job/requirements of the company

This aspect determines which sort of attendance is best for your company or department. If you work in the ‘services’ business as a nurse, doctor, bank teller, customer-facing representative, hospitality worker, and so on, you are likely to be subjected to a fixed-time attendance system. Fixed shifts are preferable for customer care departments and service industry professionals because they allow them to provide fast help and reaction to their consumers. Fixed timing is chosen once again when dealing with actual items, such as manufacturing, construction, or agricultural sectors.

If your company deals in stocks and commodities, your staff must report to work on time! Work must begin when the market opens, necessitating a strict attendance standard.

Flexi-time attendance is becoming more popular as the IT business evolves. The majority of IT employees work on outsourced or offshored projects, and they work in separate time zones. They either work in the same office or work from home. Flexi-time attendance is available in organisations where work is done on laptops, and employees have the option of taking work home.

The location(s) of your office and the amount of time you spend commuting

Few individuals live close to their places of employment, and our cities are becoming increasingly congested. Travelling to work and back home is something that most employees detest due to traffic jams, inclement weather, and never-ending construction and diversions. If possible, allowing for some flexibility in a person’s arrival and leave times can help to alleviate this suffering. Alternatively, you may consider adjusting your regular business hours to assist.

Keeping a work-life balance

Our obligations increase as we become older. Taking care of elderly parents, sending off children at school, and running errands (especially those involving banks or government offices) all demand us to combine job and personal obligations. Examine your company’s demographics to assess how many employees would benefit from a flexi-time attendance policy.

What is the best option for the team?

Switching to a flexible workspace entails many trial and error to identify what works best for you. A separate clock determines each person’s peak productivity. Some people require external discipline to stay focused and complete work on time, but others may generate outstanding creativity and productivity late at night. It’s not a problem to experiment with flexi-time attendance if your company can operate using online collaboration tools.

Cost

A firm’s overhead costs are higher when it has a fixed-time attendance policy in place than if it has a flexi-time attendance policy. More electricity, food, water, and additional support for housekeeping workers are required to maintain the office, raising the cost.

High-quality talent retention

Suppose your company is in the creative industry, such as video production firms, ad agencies, publications, social media and communication agencies, and so on; in that case, you may want to keep top-notch creative people on board! Work-life balance, improved well-being, increased employee-employer trust, and improved loyalty are advantages of flexible working patterns that help retain creative employees.

Notes on the End

Simply capturing time in and time out for payroll purposes or to mark attendance is no longer sufficient in today’s digital and knowledge economy.

Your time and attendance system shouldn’t be a one-size-fits-all solution; instead, it should be a tool that captures not only accurate time and attendance data but can also be used by HR to boost employee engagement and productivity. Your company requires a time and attendance system that is also capable of integrating with your payroll software. Ensure that teamwork is not jeopardised, regardless of the type of attendance system or scheme you use.