Time and Attendance

In the busy contemporary working environment, time management is imperative. However, getting the most out of the hours we spend at work can be a difficult skill to master. Throughout this post, we’re going to investigate why time management is so important in the workplace and what employees and organisations can do to manage time more effectively.

The Advantages of Good Time Management

From an organisation’s perspective, the old saying that “time is money” still holds true today. By employing staff who possess excellent time management skills, the following benefits are achievable:  enhanced productivity and efficiency as tasks are completed swiftly, improved reputation as client deadlines are satisfied, higher quality finished products through better planning processes and finally, increased company revenue. For employees, the acquiring of proficient time management skills leads to: reduced stress levels, increased job satisfaction, better quality of life and brighter career prospects.

Tips to Improve Time Management – Employees

In order to achieve efficient time management skills, employees should remember: Organisation, Prioritisation, Communication and No to Procrastination. Organisation sees the creation of a “To-Do” list which outlines all the activities that need to be completed over a designated period. The prioritisation stage ranks the activities in order of importance or urgency. Despite often being overlooked when discussing time management, communication with colleagues is vital. Never be afraid to ask for help if you are struggling to meet a deadline. On the other hand, if you are concentrating on a particular task and do not wish to be disturbed, politely make your co-workers aware of the situation. Procrastination is something that we’re all guilty of from time to time. Make sure you don’t fall into the trap of wasting valuable time on unnecessary distractions.

Tips to Improve Organisational Time Management – Time and Attendance Systems

More and more organisations are investing in Time and Attendance Systems with employee tracking software to gain a greater insight into their day to day operations. Time and Attendance software enables organisations to collect and process employee attendance data swiftly and accurately, facilitating processes such as: employee clock in and clock out reporting, calculating basic and overtime hours worked by employees, configuring complex shift patterns and creating payroll reports. Employee tracking software meanwhile, monitors employees as they progress from one activity to another, delivering comprehensive real-time information for accurate productive and non-productive time analysis, together with activity based costing.

Developed and supported by ELF Productivity, Ceequel® Employee Management Software delivers an innovative, reliable and cost effective solution to an organisation’s Time and Attendance, Access Control, Human Resource Management and Shop Floor Data Capture software requirements. For more information, contact us today.

According to recent surveys, investment in HR technology appears to be on the agenda for a considerable number of organisations in the coming years, regardless of whether they are a Small to Medium Sized Enterprise (SME) or a large company. While it’s no surprise that businesses are turning to technology to optimise their HR processes; after all, the Human Resource Management landscape has been evolving for some time now; a number of key drivers have emerged which can no longer be ignored. Throughout this post we will explore each driver in more detail whilst also touching upon some of the outstanding features of Ceequel® Employee Management Software, developed by ELF Productivity Limited.

Human Resource Management Software – One Size Definitely Doesn’t Fit All!

An investigation into the HR activities of over 400 large European companies revealed around 45% of HR managers believed that HR technology suppliers did not sufficiently understand the requirements of their organisation thus creating a significant gap between client expectations and the delivered service. Furthermore, over 70% of respondents were willing to increase spending on Human Resource Management software in order to bridge the aforementioned gap. Here at ELF Productivity, we create the code which makes Ceequel® Time and Attendance software one of the most innovative and dynamic solutions available today which enables us to tailor Ceequel® to a customer’s specific requirements.

Optimisation of HR Processes – Not Automation

HR managers were also keen to stress that HR software features such as Time and Attendance, Absence Management and Shop Floor Data Capture are required to streamline the ‘Human’ aspect of Human Resource Management. Better data analytics regarding employee attendance and performance enable managers to make more informed decisions while easier access to employee records, qualifications and appraisal information facilitates internal recruitment strategies. Ceequel® delivers a true holistic solution to an organisation’s Time and Attendance, Access Control and Human Resource Management software requirements, providing our clients with all the necessary tools to cope with contemporary HR processes.

User Experience

Interestingly, 80% of the large firms researched revealed that the improvement of user experience was the key driver for updating their Human Resource Management software. HR managers believed that new systems should offer a sense of flow and be an upgraded version of their existing HR processes. HR staff added that HR software should mirror consumer market technologies as much as possible to enhance familiarity and user confidence. Ceequel® Employee Management Software modules are based on Microsoft SQL Server technology which enables them to complement each other and your existing infrastructure seamlessly. ELF Productivity also offer training services, making our modules even more user friendly. Training for all users of a new Time and Attendance system will be provided, detailing how to create absence management reports and configure shift patterns for example.

The Shift to ‘Workforce Technology’ – Employee Self Service

‘Workforce Technology’ refers to the implementation of systems that allow non-HR employees to take responsibility for the management of their own HR information. This is an increasing trend in the HR technology sector, with the empowering of employees to take control of their own data seen as an effective motivational tool. Millennials in particular, have responded well to the introduction of workforce technology. Findings from a survey researching employees of SME’s also support the growing demand for Employee Self Service modules. 70% of respondents who still used old fashioned methods of submitting holiday requests, stated that they would be very confident using an online platform to carry out such processes and that it would save them considerable time. Ceequel® Employee Self Service is a web based solution allowing employees to access their own records. The accessibility of the platform is also extremely flexible; the module can be deployed on a central kiosk or alternatively, on an employee’s PC whilst also being accessible from a smart phone or tablet.

For more information regarding Ceequel® Employee Management Software, please contact ELF Productivity.

The fierce battle to become the 45^th President of the United States of America reaches its climax on Tuesday 8^th November 2016. If successful, Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton will become the first female president while Republican nominee Donald Trump could become the oldest president to take office if he is victorious.

Both candidates are generally unpopular with the American public following controversial campaigns. Clinton who has recently been cleared by the FBI of any wrongdoing with regard to her usage of a private email server, is considered to possess the required temperament for the Oval Office despite reservations over how honest and trustworthy she is. Trump, whose campaign has been beset with criticism over derogatory comments previously made by the Republican candidate, is believed to be the one who could potentially bring about real change in Washington. There are concerns however, over his suitability to the role and the impact his election could have on global security.

Let’s take a closer look at both candidates:

Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton was born on the 26^th October 1947 to parents Hugh and Dorothy Rodham in Chicago, Illinois. She is the wife of former US president Bill Clinton and has one daughter. Clinton served as US Secretary of State from 2009 to 2013 and held the status of First Lady of the United States from 1993 to 2001. She is the only former first lady to be elected to the US Senate and hold a federal cabinet level position.

Businessman, politician and television personality, Donald John Trump was born in Queens, New York on the 14^th June 1946. His father Fred Trump was a self-made real estate broker; his mother Mary was a Scottish immigrant. Trump is chairman and president of The Trump Organisation. Trump’s business interests have included: Office Towers, Hotels, Casinos, Golf Courses and a range of Food and Drink brands. Donald Trump also hosted and co-produced reality series The Apprentice from 2004 to 2015. Trump has been married three times and has five children.

The wait is almost over…who will be hired?

Are you looking to improve your organisation’s internal recruitment and succession planning processes? Ceequel® Human Resource Management software modules enable managers to identify all internal candidates who possess the required skills and experience for a new role within a company. Detailed listings can be generated to simplify gap analysis containing information such as: qualifications held by employees, occupational history and previous appraisal information.

Developed and supported by ELF Productivity, Ceequel® Employee Management Software is the ideal solution for all your Time and Attendance, Access Control and Human Resource Management software requirements. For more information, contact us today.

The rise in employee absences throughout the UK due to mental health problems has been well documented in recent weeks. Findings published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed that over 127 million hours of sick leave were taken in the UK during 2015 as a result of symptoms such as stress, depression and anxiety; a 25% increase on 2014 figures.

In addition to mental health issues, pain attributable to musculoskeletal, neck and back problems were also prominent causes of employee absence along with minor illnesses. What you may not be aware of however, is that another condition which affects approximately 1 in 7 adults, costs the UK economy an estimated £2.24 billion per year.

According to The Migraine Trust, 25 million working days are lost annually in the UK due to migraine related absences. Migraine attacks are more common than asthma, diabetes and epilepsy combined with working age adults the most affected demographic. While symptoms differ from person to person, migraines usually last between 4 and 72 hours and often include painful headaches, vision difficulties, sensitivity to light and vomiting.

All absences are costly to organisations; however, migraine and mental health employee absences are two particular cases that make absence management an extremely difficult task.

With regard to mental health issues, there is an undoubted lack of communication between managers and employees. Managers are typically uncomfortable discussing mental health issues as they fear making the situation worse while employees are often reluctant to discuss mental health issues due to embarrassment or concerns over their career prospects.

Migraine sufferers tend to take more sick days than their colleagues and due to the contrasting nature of individual attacks, length of absence can fluctuate. There is also a fear amongst managers that some employees see a migraine as the ideal excuse for pulling a sickie due to the immediate onset and short duration of the condition.

Ceequel® Time and Attendance software provides organisations with a comprehensive absence management solution. Our software modules offer a swift, dynamic approach to collecting and processing employee attendance data, significantly improving clerical efficiency and accuracy. Other great features such as Bradford Factor Reporting are also available through our Time and Attendance solutions. A vital tool in combating absenteeism, Bradford Factor Reporting enables managers to identify recurring short-term absences taken by employees, providing a clear representation of disruption caused.

For more information regarding Ceequel® Employee Management Software, contact ELF Productivity today.

According to The Telegraph, UK recruitment figures decreased significantly in the wake of the Brexit vote. The surprise verdict to leave the European Union caused numerous firms to undertake precautionary cost-cutting measures with London hit particularly hard.

On a more positive note, the UK employment landscape appears to have stabilised with statistics now following a similar pattern to previous years. A leading recruitment firm which specialises in the IT and Financial sectors is encouraged by the resilience of the UK market as the road to recovery from similar downturns is usually lengthier.

Nevertheless, when economic fluctuations occur, organisations must possess the means to remain efficient and keep costs firmly under control. For many companies, Human Resource Management software is becoming an indispensable tool.

With Ceequel® E-Manager, day to day workforce management has never been easier. Our software can even be installed to a remote cloud server enabling managers to access their employee data wherever whenever.

Some of the outstanding features offered by Ceequel® Web based Time and Attendance software include: lateness and absenteeism reporting, detailed employee listings, employee job tracking outlining hours worked on a designated activity or project, employee holiday authorisation, employee clock card views and a comprehensive wall chart roster facilitating shift rotation and absence planning.

Ceequel® Employee Management Software is a genuine holistic solution to an organisation’s Time and Attendance, Access Control and Human Resource Management software requirements. For more information, please contact ELF Productivity Limited.

Most people have been late for work at some point in their lives, and research proves that many workers admit to regularly clocking in way later than they should. But why? Well, the common reasons employees give are the usual stuff you’d expect: heavy traffic, adverse weather conditions and broken alarm clocks. But what about the more unusual excuses? We’ve scoured the internet to find some of the truly wild, weird and wonderful reasons workers really gave for arriving to the office late. Of course, we’re not recommending that you actually use them, but hopefully they’ll amuse you…

1. “I had to untangle some squirrels”

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Reddit user mard86 wrote:

“My co-worker sent an email saying he would be late because he was trying to untie a squirrel tail knot. I asked for a picture, and he delivered.”

Here’s the original email:

“I was pressed into squirrel rescue this morning on my way out. 5 young squirrels got tangled in Christmas lights in my neighbor’s yard. We got the lights off, but now their tails are one big knot, so I have to bring them into a rescue place to untie them, as I am unequipped to untie squirrel tail knots. I should be in this afternoon.”

If you couldn’t make it up, chances are it’s true.

2. “I was getting new emojis.”

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In autumn 2015, thousands of workers the world over were late for work because they’d updated their phone. Apple helpfully offered iPhone users the chance to update iOS whle they slept. A convenient offer, apart from the fact that the update erased their alarm, meaning that many overslept. Several took to social media to express their fury at being late, but some were still pleased that the whole thing had given them a set of shiny new emojis. Priorities.

3. “I had to wait for a sloth to cross the road.”

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We’re all used to seeing animals across the road – how many times have you seen a daring cat dart from one side to the other? In Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica earlier this year, commuters found themselves stuck when an adventurous (and adorable) sloth decided to cross a busy main road. The sloth is the slowest mammal on Earth, which meant tailbacks quickly built-up. Eventually, a helpful member of the public grabbed the sloth and took it to the other side of the road, but plenty of people had already been delayed.

4. “I was playing Pokemon Go.”

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In summer 2016, the world was gripped by a compelling craze: Pokemon Go. So much so, some people found catching the pocket monsters more important than getting to work on time. Turns out that for many, the morning commute was packed with Pokestops that were just too tempting to pass by. The Pokemon Go craze has died down a little now, as all crazes do, but it surely won’t be the last augmented reality game to get players so hooked they clock in late.

5. “I was having sex.”

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We’re not sure every manager would be as sympathetic as this Reddit user’s was…

6. “A cat hijacked my car.”

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Intagram user Misssohmasteelcat was made late for work by a cheeky feline who wouldn’t budge from her dashboard. She wrote:

“I don’t know this guy, but he made me late for work by refusing to get out of my car. He likes to nap in my car and make my seats all very furry and ginger. He is so adorable.”

7. “My llama gave birth.”

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On questions website Quora, someone asked users the craziest reasons they’d heard colleagues give for being late to work. One user responded to say that a high-powered manager at his former firm called in to say she was going to be late because her llama had just had a baby. According to him, ‘the llama excuse’ became the default reason for people avoiding workplace social arrangements.

8. “I dreamt I was already at work.”

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Not one but two of the respondents to the Quora question said that they or a colleague had been late for work because they had overslept and dreamt that they were already in the office. Dreams can take us to some pretty strange places, but work? For many that would be more like a nightmare.

9. “I had to go skiing.”

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Each year, website CareerBuilder.com compiles a list of the most outlandish excuses for being late that bosses have heard in the previous 12 months. This one, from their most recent survey, really takes the biscuit:

“There was fresh powder on the hill. I had to go skiing.”

10. “I was putting a raincoat on my cement duck.”

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In 2012, someone told CareerBuilder that their employee claimed to be late because they were putting a raincoat on the cement duck in their garden. Rain was due later that day, apparently, so presumably the worker was worried the statue would get wet. Hadn’t they ever heard the phrase “nice weather for ducks?” Also, if you really must put a raincoat on your fake duck, how long does it actually take to do?

Following the publication of the Business Population Estimates, the British Chamber of Commerce believe that now is the time for business owners to invest, recruit and grow.

According to figures released by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, a record 5.5 million UK private sector businesses were in operation at the start of 2016, with 99.9% falling into the Small to Medium Sized Enterprise (SME) category. Since 2010 the UK business population has grown by 23% with approximately one third of all UK businesses based in either London or the South East. The number of employing businesses also increased for the third successive year with an overall total of 1.3 million.

Despite the uncertainties of the current economic climate, there is a sizable influx of new businesses and an increasing number of start-up companies growing into larger organisations. Many industry experts believe that the key to this trend is improved efficiency through investment in technology.

All organisations experience pitfalls at some stage, whether they are a start-up, SME or large manufacturing company; here are a few examples outlining the advantages of investing in top quality employee management software…

Access Control

It was recently reported that approximately one in five people in the UK are affected by crime in the workplace with the majority of cases described as internal incidents. Access control software enables organisations to ensure that their site is secured. Access to particular areas can be restricted to specific personnel or at certain times of the day, week, month or year. Access control software can also be used to monitor which employees enter designated locations and how long they spend there. Proximity cards and biometric fingerprint or facial recognition are some of the access control solutions available to organisations.

Time and Attendance with HR

It’s no secret that payroll and other Human Resource Management administrative tasks can be overly complex and time consuming thus having a detrimental effect on employee productivity. For this reason, human resource management software modules such as Time and Attendance are becoming a real necessity. Time and Attendance software offers features such as: calculation of normal and overtime hours worked by employees, shift rostering, recording of holidays, absence management and payroll reporting. Additional Human Resource Management software modules can also be used to facilitate activities such as new employee induction.

Shop Floor Data Capture

In the manufacturing sector, efficiency, capacity utilisation and economies of scale are of paramount importance. Shop floor data capture software can be utilised to monitor the progress of employees from one activity to another. Depending on the capabilities of the software, job and machine costing features could also prove invaluable.

Developed by ELF Productivity Limited, Ceequel® Employee Management Software provides a reliable, comprehensive and cost effective solution to our customers’ Time and Attendance, Access Control, Human Resource Management and Shop Floor Data Capture requirements. For more information, contact us today.