We were recently asked, by a reporter for Women In Business, about some tips for using time tracking and labor scheduling software, and also about the best ways to use the software. Here’s what we had to say …
3 Tips for Choosing Staff Scheduling and Time Tracking Software
1. Find software that works the way that your business works. There are a lot of options, web-based, server-based, cell-phone based, or time-clock based. The best software will also depend on whether or not you are doing project-based time tracking, or hourly-based time tracking. Not all software will fit all businesses. TimeForge, for example, works best with retail and restaurant industries, although it does work well for other groups, including tutoring companies and YMCA’s!
2. Make sure the time tracking software interfaces with your desired payroll company. You can always enter hours from a report, but doing this every week or two, combined with the inevitable typos, will quickly add up to a time and profit sink hole. TimeForge interfaces with many popular payroll products, and we have reports for those that aren’t supported (or call us, and we’ll write that integration for you).
3. Prepare for the future. Look for software that can be extended to handle staff scheduling and HR needs, as well as helping with staff communications. With the combination of Gen X/Y, Baby Boomers, and others in the workplace, the software needs to be able to move with your business direction. TimeForge provides online scheduling, time card tracking, payroll export, staff messaging, HR management, and a host of additional features.
3 Tips for Best Use of Staff Scheduling and Time Tracking Software
1. The number one issue will be staff buy-in, especially if your staff is used to what they’ve “been doing”. Make sure that the staff buy into the benefits, or some employees will continue doing things the old way, causing confusion while getting the new system up and running.
2. Migrate into the software, starting with the most immediate need, and then adding one or two new features a week from the software. Doing a complete overnight switch-over of a labor management can be burdensome even for medium and large businesses.
3. Make sure to track the human factor. Time tracking systems will produce lots of reports explaining productivity and early / late staff members, or projects that are over budget. Unfortunately, they don’t account for exceptional customer service, staff members going out of their way, managers making sure that staff get holiday hours, and other human factors that run your business.
You can read the entire article at Women In Business.
Sign up for a free trial of our online scheduling software to see how much more free time you’ll have every week.
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