Time Management – Page 6 – Time and Attendance

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 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.

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

Effective – Absence Management

Almost all organisations struggle with the cost of employee absences this is often because they don’t have an effective absence management solution in place. Having access to a system that provides you with the ability to track and view every absence your employee has ever taken would save your business time and money.

Employee absences cost businesses a significant amount of money each year. Having a system in place that is able to effectively manage these absences could not only save your organisation time and resources but also streamline the absence management process.

There are four main types of absences that every business experiences and these include short term absence, long term absence, authorised and unauthorised absences. Keeping track of the different kind of absences each of your employees take is essential, as it allows you identify absence patterns creeping in at the earliest stage. Tracking your employees also allows you to identify any genuine long term ailment, ensuring your company provides the necessary support and care.

Absence management goes beyond just tracking your employees. As it will also ensure your organisation has procedures in place to deal with employees who take advantage of your company’s occupational sick pay or are frequently off when holiday requests have been denied.

With ELF Productivity’s Time and Attendance system, absence management can be provided at the touch of a button. Breakdowns including long term absence, high number of occasions, reasons for absence, and cost to the business due to absence are all viable. Other advantages include immediate notification of return to work requirements as ELF time and attendance operates in true real time.

Graphical reporting and dash board overviews are also standard within the Ceequel portfolio suite.

In addition and where required the Bradford factor calculation can be automated and reports automatically distributed at pre-defined dates and times.

Tracking your employee absences could not only save your organisation money but can reduce the number of time your HR department spends chasing people up, for more information contact us today!

Elf Annualised Hours Automation

Annual or annualised hour systems have significantly grown in popularity over the years, with many businesses now implementing them as a way to improve employee productivity and reduce the number of people being paid overtime.

Using annual or annualised hour systems within a businesses – is not a new concept. The use of them within organisations dates back to the early 1980’s. However over the past few years there has been a significant increase in the number of manufacturing companies now providing these as part of their employee’s benefits package.

An annualised hour system is where an employee is provided with a contract that states the exact number of hours they are required to work in a twelve month period. These hours are then often worked as “chosen” regular hours or via a plannable shift pattern.

A separate “pot” of hours is then budgeted for which is for emergency use and which attracts an overtime payment. The remaining time is often left unallocated and is available to be used on an as-needs-basis.

Many manufacturing companies are now introducing an annual hour system as an efficient way to achieve continuous production from all employees throughout the year. Annualised hours can also significantly reduce the amount of overtime hours being paid. Hours can be decided on an individual employee basis – at the beginning of the year and overtime hours will only ever take affect when the number of hours worked exceeds the set number.

Having an annualised system also gives your managers greater control of their employees working patterns, providing them with potential ways in which they can maximise productivity and minimise overtime within their workforce.

It enables a business to effectively and efficiently iron out any peaks and troughs in manufacturing demand, and benefits Employees by providing them with a consistent wage – usually 1/12^th salary.

Using ELF Productivity’s Time & Attendance module, the administration of an annualised hour solution is streamlined and provides reporting at any point during the year, ensuring employees are rostered evenly, thus mitigating overtime while ensuring production levels are maintained.

For more information on how annualised hours could benefit your business contact us today!