Tag: Productivity

12.5 working hours a week are being wasted on these 10 tasks

High productivity levels within a business are a key aspect to the survival of any organisation. So it’s surprising to find that on average 12.5 working hours a week are being wasted by UK employees on unproductive tasks. A survey carried out by vouchercodespro found that employees who worked seven and a half hours a day were only using 5 of those hours to complete their given tasks.

According to a recent survey carried out by VoucherCodesPro.co.uk’s, employees spend 12.5 working hours on average each week ‘dilly-dallying’ with tasks that have nothing to do with their current workload.   The survey was carried out on full time employees within the UK, who should be working approximately seven and a half hours a day.   However only five hours of that time was being spent productively.  The other two and a half hours were most commonly being wasted on the same 10 tasks.  Can you guess what these are?

Out of the employees surveyed 89% of them admitted to overly checking social media channels such as LinkedIn, Facebook and twitter in work time. This was then closely followed by internet shopping/ paying of bills which 84% of employees admitted to doing.

Working Hour Distractions Chart

Of the employees surveyed 58% of them admitted they weren’t scared of the repercussions as they didn’t believe they would get caught. 22% of employees admitted they were careful not to be caught off duties.  Surprisingly 20% of people revealed that their boss didn’t actually mind them taking time out from their supposed tasks as long as all work was completed on time.

Amazingly some 39% even admitted to viewing adult websites during working hours.

Do you know what your employees are doing during working hours and do you have a method of recording employee productivity?  Why not consider Ceequel® Employee Tracking?

 

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!

The Latest Advancement in Keeping Time and Attendance

For many years Employers have been trying to find a way in which they can accurately record and track their employees time and attendance data. Old fashion methods such as mechanical punch cards were often time consuming and resulted in the loss of money for many organisations. Modern day technology has revitalised the way in which companies can now track and record their employees time and attendance data.

Ever since hourly wage was invented, employers have been looking for a reliable, tamper-free way to keep track of what hours each employee worked. Originally, there were simple write-in time cards, and in time those were replaced by mechanical punch cards. These cards made it impossible to simply alter your time, but they also take valuable minutes off of workers’ productivity as one shift lines up to clock out, and the other lines up to clock in. The bigger the crowd, the more minutes are wasted on time clock rigmarole. While technology has advanced, and many businesses have adopted ID cards with swipe-in features, those cards are little more than a computerised version of the punch clock.

Elf Productivity Ltd. has decided to offer businesses a different option, one that’s simple, effective, and which eliminates the shift change bottleneck that older methods create.

Time and Attendance Software

The way our time and attendance software works is that employees log in to your business’ network, and sign in from their own devices. This means that any connection capable device, from a workstation to a smartphone, will allow an employee to clock in. There’s no wasted time standing around a clock, and even better, there’s no need to buy a peripheral device for employees to “clock in” with at all. Not only that, but this software makes it possible for employees to work from home or in the field without losing track of how many hours they’ve been on the clock.

It’s simple, straightforward, and best of all, it’s only one of dozens of features that will help streamline your business’ network. If you’d like to know more about the features we offer, simply contact us today!

Is it Time for your Business to seek additional help for its Human Resource Operations?

In this day and age many businesses outsource at least a few of their business processes, the most common being their human resource functions. This is often because businesses feel that the outsourced company can provide them with a higher level of expertise.

When you are evaluating which business functions should be outsourced, you should ask yourself if you can get the same results when you hire someone internally to do the job. If you do not think you can get the same level of expertise, you may want to consider outsourcing. Today, you will find that many businesses outsource at least a few of their human resources functions. Even the companies who have a department filled with quality HR professionals are likely to outsource at least one of their human resources functions.

Every company will give you different reasons on how they knew when to seek help with their human resource operations. However, you will find that many of their answers will have common explanations.

Lower Costs

Businesses are always looking for ways to cut down on expenses. One of the largest expenses that a business can have is the salaries of the staff, but as expensive as this may be, if there are no employees, then the business cannot operate. Businesses want to find solutions that are affordable, but still allow their business to continue flowing smoothly; one of the best solutions is to outsource human resources.

Minimising Mistakes

UK Labour Law enforces many regulations, these regulations have an impact on millions of employers and employees every single day. When you combine those regulations with other laws and regulations, it can definitely cause plenty of headaches for professionals to ensure the company is following all the rules. By outsourcing your HR functions, you will have help in understanding the laws and regulations that must be followed.

It does not matter if your business is looking for a complete solution or if you just need a solution that will supplement the processes you already have, outsourcing your human resources functions will be sure to lower your expenses, minimise the mistakes, and improve your business’ overall production.

If you want to take better care of your business and your employees, contact us for additional information.

Employee Self-Service puts the Power back in your Employees’ hands

For many years now the updating of employee data has been a task for your human recourse department. Modern day software such as employee self-service now makes it possible for your employees to manage and update their own personal data. It’s simplistic to use and works by providing each individual employee with their own web based profile that they can sign into.

The more people you employ, the harder it is to keep track of everyone; even a mid-sized enterprise of a hundred people or so is going to experience constant change as people get married, divorced, change banks, move to new addresses, and make a thousand other little adjustments from one year to the next. In the past, keeping up on all these changes was the Human Resources department’s job. Thanks to advances in software, though, you can implement employee self-service.

What is Employee Self-Service?

Employee self-service is when you put the responsibility of tracking employee information back in the hands of your employees. Rather than filling out forms, handing those forms to Human Resources, and then having them input the changes, why not cut out the middle man and let your employees fix their own details?

It sounds like a revolutionary idea, but in a world where Facebook is old hat, and social media has altered the way software works forever, it’s actually quite simple. Every employee has his or her own company profile, and when that information is changed it goes right into the system. There’s no need to fill out any paperwork, and no need to waste time by stacking a task onto someone else’s shoulders (especially a task that can be completed in minutes).

Employee self-service does more than save time and money, though. It lets employees take control of their own information, and it gives them the ability to do tasks for themselves. This simplifies your infrastructure, and it means that more people can spend more energy on the job at hand instead of on making sure you have their updated direct deposit, married name, new address, or any other details.

For more information on how we can help your business, simply contact us today!

Shop Floor Data Capture gives you Instant Access to Data you need

Making sure your company constantly hits its production targets is crucial if you want to remain in business. That’s why the implementation of a shop floor data capture system is imperative. Having accurate information to hand on production numbers during every part of the process allows you to identify where and when you’ve fallen short.

Numbers make the world go round, and they can be a matter of life or death for your business. If you need to fill orders, but find out too late that you haven’t completed enough of the product, then you’re in serious trouble. That’s why it’s important to get regular updates on your numbers by using shop floor data capture to keep tabs.

What is Shop Floor Data Capture?

The simple answer is that shop floor data capture is when you use sensors and computers to keep track of your production numbers. Say you were making lengths of pipe, under normal circumstances your machinery can produce 100 lengths in an hour, but due to a worn-out gasket that needs to be replaced you only produce 95 an hour. That isn’t a problem in the short-run, but over days and weeks that means you’re producing a lot fewer pieces of pipe than you thought. Shop floor data capture would notify you of the slower production, and you’d be able to fix the problem in time to keep your orders filled.

Shop floor data capture gives you instant updates on your numbers, making sure that if there’s a discrepancy between what you think you’re producing, and what you’re actually producing, then you can catch it quickly enough to fix the problem. Shop floor data capture keeps you up to date, and it ensures that you know exactly where you are in minutes rather than in hours or days.

For more information on how shop floor data capture can help your business succeed, simply contact us today!

Accurate Time and Attendance: Never Experience A Problem Again

Recording your individual employees accurate working hours on a day to day basis is often a difficult task. The information recorded has to be precise in order to avoid paying your employees the wrong amount. A simplistic way to record this data is through the implementation of a time and attendance system.

Paying workers for their time on the clock is a tradition that’s gone on for generations. While the system is fine in theory, there have always been problems presented by the time clock. Perhaps the biggest is creating a simple system that everyone can use, and which doesn’t take five minutes for the previous shift to clock out, and another five minutes for the next shift to clock in.

In order to make sure every worker gets paid for their time accurately, Elf Productivity Ltd. created a better system.

The Future of Time and Attendance

What Elf Productivity Ltd. did was create a digital time clock that every employee can access with ease from any device that’s signed into your company’s network. There’s no need to stand in a back hallway in a single file line, because everyone can sign in using their employee identification numbers and passwords. Everyone can do it at 9 on the dot if that’s when the shift starts, and work can get started immediately.

Even better, if there are mistakes in the amount of time someone worked (say that they forgot to clock out, or had computer issues and couldn’t clock in), then those mistakes can be fixed with a few strokes of a keyboard. There’s no need to get a new paper time card and re-punch it, or to make a mark with a pen showing the time you really clocked in or out. As far as your business is concerned actual, physical time cards should be as relevant to your day-to-day operations as stone tablets thanks to Elf Productivity Ltd.

For more information on how our fully integrated software suite can help make your business more efficient, simply contact us today!

3 Tips for a Successful Time and Attendance Policy

Creating a successful time and attendance policy is crucial for any organisation. Without having one in place employees are able to do as they please. As a business it is important to know if any of your employees are breaching your company policies. A simplistic way of doing this is by implementing a system which will record each of your employees time and attendance data.

Reliability and timeliness is one of the most important qualities that can make up any employee. Employers need to know that the employees who are running their business plan to show up on time and are ready to work when they arrive. For this reason, setting up a Time and Attendance policy is crucial. Here are three tips that will help any business create the best policy possible.

Expectations

The best thing that you can do when you are setting up guidelines for your employees is to communicate with them. For example, if you need to be certain that your staff will be in the office for a particular period of time each day, communicate this information with them. To determine this, look at the culture of your field of business. Seeing how other businesses in your field operate can help you determine what is acceptable.

Discipline: Stick With It

When you are creating your company handbook, the discipline policy will need to be included. This will ensure that employees are aware of the rules. You will also need to explain what the disciplinary procedures are if these rules are violated. Also, discipline should be consistent when the policy is broken.

Set an Example

Employees are more likely to follow a policy when they see the leaders in the company following the same policy. This means that leaders should always follow the same rules that they have in place for their employees in regards to time and attendance.

Setting up a system for your time and attendance policy is also an important process. Ensure that employees are able to clock in and out with ease by selecting a reliable system. Contact us to learn more about the benefits that we offer for your time and attendance needs.

How to make Human Resources Jobs Easier

Your Human Resource department is the centre of your organisation. It relays messages to every department and is key in making sure all company and employee data is tracked and up to date. Without a fully functioning HR department your business would run into turmoil.

Your HR department is the nervous system of your business. It routes messages from every other department, and ensures that everyone gets necessary information in order to keep things working smoothly. Whether it’s making sure that new employees have all their data in the system, or ensuring that transfers, promotions, etc. are all tracked, human resources is the department in charge.

So why make HR’s job any more difficult than it already is?

A Single, Unified Network to Make Human Resources Happy

Computer networks are the major tools businesses use to keep track of all their information. These networks store customer information, employee information, create time tables, keep track of order numbers, and handle all of the heavy lifting your company needs. If you’re using multiple networks, though, you’re driving your HR people crazy.

Imagine this scenario: you have two departments. Your employees report to the first department, and tell the Department-One people how many hours they’ve worked, the Department-One people write it down, walk across the hall, and hand their notes to the Department-Two people, the Department-Two people then take those notes, and input the hours worked into their own machines.

Why would you use such a convoluted system? Why not cut out the first department entirely, reducing the number of steps you’re taking and ensuring that fewer mistakes being made? The same questions would apply to using an outdated software suite, or attempting to use multiple suites that can’t talk to each other.

One Software, One Company

Elf Productivity Ltd. set out to create a unique software suite that would allow your business to do everything, without having to switch back and forth: it’s a time clock, a database, a communication network, and all the different sections can be password protected as you see fit.

If you want to see increased productivity, fewer headaches, and faster results in your business, then contact us today to see how our unique software solutions can help you.

Employee Self Service saves Time, Money, and Frustration

Your businesses Human Resources department often wastes a significant amount of time each month updating individual employee information. Not only is this time better spent elsewhere, it is also costing your business money. By implementing an employee self service system you can transfer the task of updating employee data over to your employees.

We’ve all heard the old saw about how the Human Resources Department moves as fast as an arthritic tortoise in a school zone. You got a new apartment last month, you got married, you opened a different bank account, and even though you submitted the forms as required, it still took more than a month for HR to get around to correcting your details. Maybe you missed a pay cheque, had an important work correspondence sent to the wrong address, or you just had the wrong name on your taxes, but while details change, the story stays the same; if there was a faster way to alter your personal information, neither you nor your company would be inconvenienced.

Fortunately there is a way you can sidestep HR entirely, it’s called Employee Self Service.

How Does Employee Self Service Work?

The concept is pretty simple: under a more traditional system you would fill out a form detailing your personal information changes, along with any necessary proofs, and you’d give those forms to the HR department. HR’s personnel would put those forms on a big stack, and eventually work its way to making your updates. This might take days if you’re lucky, weeks on average, or more than a month if there’s a big backup of work.

Employee Self Service, on the other hand, allows you to skip the middle man. You simply log into your business’ network, go to your profile, and change the information to reflect what it is now, you save the change, and then go back to doing your job.

It’s That Simple?

It is, actually. While there are still a lot of tasks that require HR personnel, technology has put the power to control personal information into the hands of employees. The changes can be done in mere moments, ensuring that all information is current and up-to-date without getting bogged down in an inbox somewhere.

For more information on Employee Self Service, and how it can change the way you do business, simply contact us today!