April 2020 – Time and Attendance

A Message To You…..

Over the course of the month, inspiring commercials produced by a well-known high street bank have started to appear on TV, titled “A message to myself in 6 months’ time.”

The commercials are essentially video messages created by members of the public, currently in lockdown, with the intention of sending a motivational memo to themselves for 6 months’ time.

They range from people being thankful for family and friends, to a couple sharing their isolation wedding arrangements for when they eventually tie the knot later in the year; you get the general idea.

During this unfamiliar and surreal time, is it still ok to plan? Can we prepare for the future during a period of severe restrictions, with the country locked down to such a degree that there is no definite ‘end date’ in sight?

Where do you see yourself in 6 months, a year or 5 years’ time is a question normally reserved for job interviews. The answers range from the usual run-of-the-mill, “Hopefully working here” to the eye-opening “I’ll be sat in your chair!”

So, considering the recent adverts, we have a message for you, “Where do you see not only yourself but your business in a year’s time? When restrictions are finally relaxed and lifted will your business still be operating in the same way?

More importantly, do you want it to be?”

At the start of 2020, nobody could possibly have envisioned the situation we all currently find ourselves in. For business across the UK, it is without question a testing time. However, will you look back at this moment with regret or will you be thankful that you had chosen this time to consider real investment for your company?

If this period is causing you to focus on a much needed and long overdue overhaul of your company’s processes, then ELF Productivity Ltd has the answer.

ELF Productivity Ltd’s Ceequel® software suite encompasses Biometric Time and Attendance with Human Resources, Access Control, Shop Floor Data Capture and mobile-clocking Apps for both I-Phone and Android, along with hardware that incorporates both facial recognition and proximity terminals.

Clear and precise Real-Time information as it is processed through your business.

We have no tangible idea of what the coming months hold or when we will see some degree of normality return, but one thing is clear, do not stop planning for the future. Make certain that you can pinpoint this moment as a pivotal time when you made the key decision, that once able, you were proficient enough to move your business forward.

Ensure that the message you send to your ‘future-self’ today is one that you will be happy to receive in a year’s time.

For a closer look at ELF Productivity Ltd’s Biometric Time Management system, contact us today on 01257 256000 for a free, no obligation demonstration and quotation of Ceequel® software suite.

Or alternatively, please feel free to download our brochure catalogue here.

School’s Out!

School’s already out for the summer and you’re either working remotely, in a 3-month isolation or like the remainder still heading into work.

Slimming World/AA sessions have already been booked in advance of the 3 stone + predicted weight gain that is set to infiltrate the UK’s population as we binge watch, binge eat and binge sleep our way through lockdown!

UK 2020 Lockdown. It sounds like a bad Gerard Butler film! Life as we know it, placed on hold and held to ransom because of a vicious little virus.

Under normal circumstances the finger would be pointed at the irritating ‘bug’ that is better known as Trojan but unlike Trojan this worm is proving much harder to erase and will require something a lot tougher than Bitcoins to shift it!

Ctrl-Alt-Delete; the default setting for eliminating everything and everyone but as we’ve discovered you can’t just press ‘escape’ in the hope that everything will disappear.

So, what do we do? We do what we have always done, adapt to the situation.

Remote working. Not for everyone as we know, as some workers can’t just ‘work from home’ but for those that can, the current situation could prove to be a real turning point in their careers.

Juggling and rotating work with childcare has never been an easy balancing act, however there’s now a real opportunity and valid option for workers who perhaps had never considered it and for employers who previously hadn’t wanted to entertain or contemplate the idea.

Which brings us to the ‘F word’………furlough.

Before the Covid-19 crisis, nobody had really heard of furlough but with a large percentage of the UK workforce literally out to pasture for at least 3 months what will this time-off reveal not only to the workers themselves but their employers too?

As we are seeing daily, workplaces, particularly manufacturing are turning their companies over to new products. Inventors are revealing new ideas and creations to assist the NHS, whilst other businesses are adapting their products to help plug a gap in the supply chain.

Everybody working together, everyone realising that the UK can step-up and still actually ‘make stuff.’

Once Covid-19 is yesterday’s news, we will look back at this time and realise that it actually helped to bring British manufacturing and British inventions back to life.

Once the UK is through this crisis, we will come out stronger, more resilient and more eager to invest, create and produce. The assembly lines will be in full on production mode.

Made in Great Britain, back on the global manufacturing stage again, where it should be!

ELF Productivity Ltd and Ceequel® software, continuing to support, manage and assist all our clients during the Coronavirus outbreak.

If you are interested in a Biometric Time and Attendance Management system for your workforce, please feel free to contact us on 01257 256000 to arrange a free, no obligation quotation and demonstration of Ceequel® software suite.

Or if you prefer, our brochure catalogue can be downloaded here.

We’ll Meet Again…..

Dad’s Army, the iconic TV show that showcased some of our finest actors is now in middle age, a classic series that was birthed from our last great conflict, WW2.

The 8th May 2020 will see the world observe the 75th Anniversary of the end of WW2. Sadly, given the current climate there won’t be any formal celebrations, however the unity, camaraderie and solidarity from the 1940’s era is clearly rising again.

A ‘team temperament’ is intensifying as we face and fight a very different enemy.

Many leaders today come equipped with a lot of ‘hot air’ but only when you have been tested through ‘fire’ can you truly call yourself a great leader!

Baroness Karren Brady was once quoted as saying “A real leader faces the music, even when they don’t like the tune.”

Whilst there will always be conflict of some degree in many ‘war-rooms’ how many of your ‘troops’ would step up and follow you into a very different corporate battle?

What type of leader do you think you are and does the private image match up to the reality? In your head are you ‘Stormin Norman’ when the reality is perhaps more Private Pike?

Private Pike, the youngest member of the Dad’s Army platoon and a very much indulged member. Always feared his domineering mother and lacked the confidence to step out, hence the now legendary phrase; “You stupid boy!”

His ‘boss’ of course was Captain Mainwaring, who was as pompous as he was brave and patriotic. With no prior combat experience, he was limited in his key strategic decision-making. He was also jealous of his right-hand man….

Which brings us to his second in command, Sergeant Wilson. An upper-class, public school educated, suave and superior gentleman with a fondness for the ladies. Well, one lady in particular, a certain Mrs Pike!

Lance Corporal Jones, the oldest member of the team. A leader beforehand who liked to reassure everyone whenever a crisis emerged with the renowned phrase “Don’t panic.”

Advice not heeded by Private Frazer and his dour, blunt and woeful, “we are all doomed” stance!

Private Walker, a fit and able-bodied black-market spiv. A shirker who was well-able but preferred to take the easy route.

Finally, we have Private Godfrey, a frail, gentle, amiable medical orderly. An old school gent.

A diverse bunch of individuals and looking at the characters, would you and your team identify with any of them?

Whilst the Dad’s Army unit might not be to everyone’s liking, the one endearing factor they did have was unity…..and a great sense of humour.

Despite everything that is currently happening around the world, we need to adopt the very same solidarity that saw us through WW2.

It’s during our greatest trials that patience, endurance and strength are produced. Only by adhering to the same ‘team solidarity’ that saw our grandparents and great-grandparents witness victory in WW2 will we crush this new enemy.

As our gracious and beloved Monarch has already reminded us, we will get through this time, we will see better days and we WILL meet again.

ELF Productivity Ltd and Ceequel® software, still delivering, still maintaining and still supporting our clients during the ongoing Covid-19 crisis.

If you are interested in a Biometric Time and Attendance Management system for your team, contact ELF Productivity today for a free no obligation, quotation and demonstration of Ceequel® software suite.

Or alternatively, our brochure catalogue can be downloaded here.