February 2016 – Time and Attendance

Short term absence and the impact it can have on a business

Short term and long term absences are often a real problem for organisations as they leave them short staffed and over worked. In the case of a long term absence employers often find themselves having to contract in agency staff in order to cope with the growing workload. Short term absence however is harder to deal with as contracting staff in for the odd day or two can be costly.

long or short term

Short term absences are very disruptive to an organisation, with many managers often having to scramble around looking for cover, which on occasion is not readily available. This can leave organisations short staffed and lacking expertise. Long term absences however have the opposite effect on businesses as they can be easier to manage. The tasks that would normally be completed by an absent employee will often be split up and passed onto other members of the team, or agency staff could be recruited to cover the absence period.

Most long term absences are covered under the Equality act 2010, so employers need to make sure they are complying with all legislations. Keeping a note of all employee absence records throughout their illness is crucial and this information needs to be kept secure at all times.

Elf Productivity’s Ceequel® software suite provides your Human Resource department with a secure way of easily recording every employee absence. Just by virtue of the fact that an employee has not clocked using Ceequel® Time and Attendance, the system will know the start day, end day, number of working days absent and the category of absence. In Ceequel® Human Resource Management software, notes can be made within the system and access can be given to managers of the sick employees. In addition, attachments such as fit notes or return to work documents can be scanned in and attached to an individual’s records, thus providing your Human Resource department with a complete overview of every employee’s medical history. Short term absences can also be monitored within the system allowing you to keep track of everyone within your workforce.

Individual absence reports can be set up to run on a weekly, monthly or yearly basis, allowing managers to spot any absence patterns creeping in at the earliest stage.

Many organisations are now also monitoring reports such as the Bradford factor, which is designed to penalise employees who have lots of absence occasions, as opposed to those with a genuine long term ailment. Using Ceequel ® Time and Attendance, this report can be calculated automatically over a rolling 12 month period and emailed to the appropriate line manager.

Having an easy to use system in place that allows you to not only track employee sickness but also record key information and can save your business time and money, for more information contact us today!

Could you be more productive?

Managing your time on a day to day basis is often a daunting tasks to most people. Understanding just how much time you need to set aside for each task is often hard when you have no way of measuring how long each task takes. Implementing the below seven tips can help you to effectively manage your time and could even provide you with extra time to finish off tasks that may take longer than expected.

Time Management

Effectively managing your time is a daunting task for any employee. Although we would all like to believe we do it well the realisation is you probably spend over 50% of your time completing mundane tasks and unproductive processes. Spending your time more effectively on more important tasks is likely to stop you from missing deadlines and having to complete tasks outside of work.

7 Tips to Help You Maximise Your Time

Using the 7 tips below will help you maximise your time making it easier for you to complete tasks on time and to the best of your ability.

1. Tracking

Keeping track of how long it takes you to complete each individual task is the easiest way to grasp a hold on which tasks require more time. Knowing which projects take the most time allows you to effectively manage your weeks as you can allocate the right number of hours needed to complete each project and schedule tasks that take less time in around them.

2. Breaking up projects.

Breaking up bigger projects into smaller tasks allows you to manage your time more effectively. Knowing how long each part of a project takes makes it easier for you to recognise where you fall behind. This information allows you to allocate your time better the next time around, meaning you will hit your deadlines every time.

3. Kill unnecessary meetings

Meetings take up time and time is precious when it comes to the completion of everyday tasks. Attending a meeting that could have possibly been avoided on a day when you have an important project due is unnecessary and time consuming.

When planning a meeting you need to determine if one is really needed or can what you are going to be discussing be done over the phone or via email. You also need to decide if you really need so many of your staff or colleague to attend, if the meeting needs to go ahead and could it be completed by yourself and do you really need to take a colleague with you.

Scheduling short 10 to 15 minute meeting instead of the automated half an hour provided by your calendar is the most effective way to get meeting’s done but without the needing to waste any unnecessary time. Although the idea of using a timer in a meeting can often be seen as disrespectful it is the easiest way to make sure you stay on top of your day to day schedule. Meeting’s that drag on longer than expected often leave you scrambling to finish tasks before the end of the day with many having to be pushed to the following morning.

4. Multitasking is a waste of time

Completing multiple tasks at once seems like the quickest way to get things done however it’s actually the least productive thing you could do. A human has an average attention span of about 8 seconds meaning it tasks around 26 minutes to properly refocus on each task you’re completing meaning the work your producing in this time is actually not to the best of your ability.

Rather than completing all your tasks at once you should focus on one task at a time and reward yourself with breaks inbetween new projects.

5. Prioritise

There’s nothing worse than coming into work to see a list of past tasks on your desk that need amending. The easiest way to deal with this is to complete the most important task first. Schedule a block of time for this project and try to complete it within the allocated time. Make sure to take a note if the project takes longer than expected as this information will help you effectively manage your time next time you have to complete a similar project.

6. Distractions

Employees are their own worst enemy when it comes to avoiding distractions. We’ve all gotten caught up in checking and responding to our emails before so much so that a considerable period of time has gone by and we’ve still to make a start on that important project. Realistically most of the emails you receive can wait, after all you don’t get paid for checking your emails your value is based on how productive you are at completing the essential tasks you are given. Giving yourself a selected period of time each day in order to check and respond to your emails is the easiest way to achieve the most from your day.

7. The 45/15 rule

We’re not designed to work on tasks for endless hours and after about 45 minutes we actually begin to lose focus. Allowing yourself to spend 45 solid minutes working on each individual task followed by a 15 minute break to focus on a distraction of your choice is the best way to achieve the highest levels of productivity. Making sure you only take a bathroom break or check on any desktop or phone notifications whilst in your designated non-working time stops you from wasting productive minutes.

While employees can take note of the above seven tips to improve their productivity, without a time and attendance solution linked to employee tracking it is impossible to see which of your workforce are the most productive.

For more information on how you can track your employee’s productivity contact us today!

Do you know the most productive day of the week?

Every wondered what the most productive day of a business week is?. well now we know, a recent study done by Accountemps has shown that Tuesdays are the most productive day off the week, with 33% of HR managers saying they seen a rise in there staffs productivity. Wednesday was the next productive day with 23% followed by Monday on a surprisingly high 14% as many employees are often still tired from there busy weekends.

productivity

When it comes to completing a big project or making a start on the little tasks you’ve been putting off, it has been analysed by Accountemps on 300 HR Managers, that Tuesday’s are apparently the most productive day of the week. After all no one likes Mondays. While Fridays signal the start of the weekend with many employees choosing to finish early meaning little work is actually being completed.

The survey showed that 33% percent of Human Resource managers noticed a rise in productivity levels on a Tuesday compared to Thursdays and Fridays which both scored below 10%. Wednesday was the next most productive day with 23% and Monday surprisingly scored higher than the last two days of the week with 14%.

Giving your employees projects that require the most focus on a Tuesdays is therefore a suggestion that many employers have probably never even considered.

The goal of course should be to attempt to replicate the improvements found on a Tuesday. To assist in making this happen, we have four tips:

– Prioritise

Each day make a list of your key tasks and ensure you focus on these and try not to get side tracked

– Limit distractions

When working on key projects or tasks, turn off likely distractions such as mobile phones. Sign out of social media sites and even close Outlook.

– Quality is paramount

While many employees will try to rush certain tasks, it is often the case where time has not been allocated accordingly that the quality diminishes and results in the task either having to be repeated or improved.

– Consider technology

Utilising Elf Productivity’s Employee Tracking software, employees can be set standards to complete tasks and these can be compared to actual times. Quality can be improved as management can assess the works completed and allocate a score for quality or monitor any waste. As this module links directly to Time and Attendance a reconciliation of productive and non-productive time can be produced at the touch of a button.

For more information about Elf’s employee tracking software contact us today!

Do you know the most common day of the year for employee absence?

February is a depressing month for most people as normality sets back in after the busy Christmas period and the weather gets more horrific by the day. Its no surprise that according to a recent poll done for day break the first Monday of February has been named ‘national sickie day’ as employers are expected to receive a higher number of sick calls today than any other day of the year. The study showed that around a third of adults took the day off and over half of the people surveyed said they didn’t feel guilty for doing so.

Absence

As the Christmas blues began to creep in and the weather become all that colder, more and more people decide to take time off work.

The first Monday of February has officially been named ‘national sickie day’ with expected sick claims coming from 500,000 employees. A recent survey carried out by OnePoll for Daybreak, showed that a third of working adults took the day off and 53 percent of them said they didn’t feel guilty for “pulling a sickie”. The poll also showed that over half of the people surveyed put on a ‘fake’ sick voice and 46% of them said their reason for “pulling a sickie” was because they were tired.

The North West and London were top in the list of places that recorded the highest number of sick days, with Wales and the west Midlands experiencing the lowest number of days. The poll also found that the most popular excuses people used when calling in sick, was that they had a cold, flu or food poisoning. Employee absences on this day were also thought to cost industries up to £50 million.

The vast majority of businesses cannot afford to be dealing with unnecessary costs associated with employee absences.

Having a fully functioning Time and Attendance system in place can help your business monitor every absence your employees take. Elf Productivity’s Ceequel software suite provides you with a system to track your employee’s absences; not only on a weekly, monthly or yearly basis but also by a number of pre-defined terms. Absence codes can be customised within the software and details about every absence can also be stored. Reports can be generated at the touch of a button – providing mangers with the ability to spot when an employee has taken excessive time off where absence patterns are beginning to manifest.

Recording Reasons for Absence is an imperative part of any T&A System

According to the CIPD Annual survey report done in 2015 these are the top reasons manual and none manual employees gave for being off work for a short period of time. Minor illnesses such as sickness, flu were the most common reasons given, followed by muscular injuries and back pain.

absence reasons

Employee Absence reasons and just how believable are they?

Not all employee absence reasons are seen to be acceptable by employers.A recent study has revealed that employees are most likely to let you have the day off if you are sick but are less likely to appreciate you taking time off because you are stressed. The study also revealed that employers n employees view flu as being an acceptable reason not to go to work.

Sick woman

There are a number of reasons why an employee may need to take a day off work sick. However not all excuses used are considered acceptable to an employer. A survey carried out on 2,500 employees and employers in the UK has revealed the most accepted reasons for people taking the day off. It won’t come as a surprise to anyone that vomiting and diarrhoea are the top two acceptable reasons, with 73 percent of employees choosing not to spread the sickness bug around the office and a further 71% not risking the journey into work with a bad stomach.

The survey also showed that flu was the next valid reason to take a day off with 58% of employers and employees admitting they wouldn’t expect attendance with flu like symptoms. Surprisingly despite the all growing rise of the mighty ‘man flu’ the study also showed that woman were more likely to call in sick than men.

Sickness Graph

Being able to effectively manage your workforce is a crucial part of any business. Implementing Ceequel® Time and Attendance suite lets you easily monitor your employees and note which are out of the office and log the reason for absence.

This information is easily accessible to all mangers within your organisation and reports can be generated on a weekly, monthly or yearly basis. Reports can also be ran using a number of terms to show a more detailed outlook on individual absence’s and reasons for absence allowing you to monitor and spot when certain employees are taking advantage.

For more information on how you can manage your employees, contact us today!

Absent employees might just be ‘sick’ of working

The reasons employees give employers for being off sick can range from believable to down right bizarre but not all employees are actually ill. A recent survey carried out on human resource personal showed that a high percentage of people have taken a day off work when they weren’t actually sick.

Ill Person

When it comes to taking time off work, employees have been known to come up with many creative and sometimes justifiable excuses as to why they are unable to make it into the workplace. These excuses can range from the bizarre to downright unbelievable. This is often because an employee at some point in their career will reach a point where they feel they need to take a day off.

Surprisingly, a survey carried out by CareerBuilder of 5,647 full-time employees, hiring managers and human resources personnel, found that 38 percent of employees had taken a sick day in the past year when they weren’t actually ill ! We’ve all been there, after all there’s nothing worse than waking up on a weekday morning, barely able to open your eyes, then realising you have to get up and go to work.

Although ringing in sick at the time may seem like a good idea, most employers actually know when you’re faking it. CareerBuilder’s survey showed that 33 percent of businesses will check if an employee is actually ill.

67 percent of employers admitted to asking for a Fit note (sick note) with a further 49 percent making a personal phone call. The survey found that 32 percent of companies had checked an employee’s social media channels to see if that person had been out the night before.

As a business, making sure you stay on top of the days and reasons your employees have off is key. Implementing Elf Productivity’s Ceequel Time and Attendance system can help you monitor your employees absences. Reports can be configured within the system to run based on a number of factors, thus monitoring the days your employees take off on a monthly or yearly basis. This functionality allows you to spot any absence patterns.

For more information on how you can manage your employee absences using Ceequel Time and Attendance, contact us today !

Clocking For Every Eventuality

Here at Elf Productivity Ltd we provide our customers with a wide variety of ways to clock. Deciding how to clock your companies time and attendance data can come down to a number of factors such as cost, situated area and preferred method. Clocking systems with fob and proximity capabilities are available as well as biometric systems.

clocking