Time and Attendance – Page 7 – Time and Attendance

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

A Multitude of Ways to Clock

Here at Elf productivity we understand the many problems an organisation may encounter when trying to clock. Our software has been designed to work on numerous devices meaning clocking from even the remotest of locations is possible. As well as the on site options of biometric, facial recognition, card and fob, clocking can also be completed via a land line,smartphone or even through email.

Clocking infographic

Employee Time Management

Having ways to effectively manage the time you spend working on a day to day basis is essential if you wish to stay on top of all tasks and complete every piece of work to their pre set deadlines. There are a number of ways in which you can mange your time bellow are 5 suggestions.

time managment

Managing working time on a day by day basis is an important factor when it comes to increasing employee productivity and making sure everyone within an organisation is hitting their deadlines. Time management however is a hard thing to master and can only truly be learned through lots of hard work and practise. Here are 5 tips to help all employees squeeze the most out of their day.

1. Prioritise

Attempting to complete too many tasks at one time could massively reduce the quality of the work you’re submitting. Learning how to deal with a heavy work load is essential if you wish to exceed in every task and always submit work on time. Prioritising your work based on a number of factors such as deadline date or importance is an easy way to manage your time. You should always make sure to complete the most important items first and leave some time spare for unforeseen tasks.

2. Ask for help

Never be afraid to ask for help, if you have too many tasks to complete and know one of your colleges is capable of completing that task then make sure to ask them to assist. Although delegating tasks out can often seem time consuming and doing it yourself seems like the easier option this choice is often stressful and a poor use of your time. Passing tasks on to others doesn’t have to mean you lose control as you can review the assignments and make any final changes.

3. Don’t take on more than you can handle

Almost all employees in every business would jump at the chance to help their co-workers out with extra work however this isn’t always plausible. Saying yes to every request is the easiest way to clog up your workload and disables you from being able to manage your pre exiting tasks. You should think about the tasks you are being asked to do and choose the one’s you would like to complete and say no to every other request. Doing so will stop you from setting unrealistic goals.

4. Schedule your time

Scheduling your time is an excellent way to manage your work load and increase productivity. Splitting your days up in to sections and completing different tasks in each section helps you effectively manage the work you currently have on. Putting time to one side at the end or start of the day to check your emails or return calls limits the chances of distraction.

5. Give 100% to every task

Always give your all, too every task, even if it’s one you feel is mundane. Every employee has their favourite tasks to complete but all tasks should be viewed the same and always competed to the highest standard. Tasks you feel are too big or you dread to start should be the ones you complete first. Dividing these tasks up can also help you deal with the completion of them. Completing the unpleasant tasks first gets them out of the way allowing you to move on to more rewarding and engaging tasks.

Making sure your employees are fully motivated should be a key aspect of any business as an unmotivated employee can potentially cost your organisation valuable time and money. Here at ELF Productivity Limited we have created an effective time and attendance system which can not only calculate hours worked but also monitor the time spent on each activity, thus providing a reporting tool breaking down each employee’s day. This information can help identify employees who are either cherry picking, the easier tasks or those employees who are being burdened with the more mundane or difficult activities. Distributing these tasks more evenly can have a huge improvement on overall employee morale and therefore motivation.

For more information on how we can help your organisation manage your employees time more efficiently, contact us today!

5 Reasons to Streamline your Time & Attendance Processes

Streamlining your businesses time and attendance processes could benefit your organisation in a number of ways. Implementing a time and attendance systems allows you to not only automate your processes but also provides you with analytical data on all of your employees absence records.

5 reasons to streamline your time & attendance proccesses

Remote access to key data – Ceequel Applications

The Elf productivity Ceequel application suite contains 3 mobilised apps that are accessible to download on Apple,Android and Window phones. The Apps available are titled Ceeqel Clock, Ceequel track, Ceequel serve and have been designed to integrate with your web based Ceequel system.

Ceequel Apps