Your HR team has a lot on their plate. Recruiting new employees, keeping track of performance records and monitoring compliance with state and federal laws keep them busy. Add in tracking employee attendance and performing payroll services and you’ve likely got a team that is frequently overwhelmed. Though giving them more hours in the day is not an option, you can help them manage time by automating some of their tasks. When you implement a system integrating payroll with time & attendance, you essentially turn two tasks into one. Interested? Here is some more information on why this one change can make a huge difference in your business.
Why Integration Helps Your Bottom Line
Many business owners make the mistake of thinking that sales and marketing are the only parts of their team that adds to the bottom line. The truth is, HR can either help your bottom line or suck profits from it depending on how the department operates. Here are some ways that integration can help your HR team become an asset.
It Saves Your HR Team Time
How much time does your HR team spend processing payroll? Does it involve constantly referring back to clock-in and clock-outs? Do they have an easy way of determining who gets overtime and if that overtime was approved? Do they need to alter the way they pay some employees based on the project or location in which they’re working? There are endless variations to the above questions.
The bottom line is, if your HR team has to answer even a fraction of these questions every two weeks, they are wasting precious time. This could mean overtime pay for your HR team members or more HR hires to keep up with the demand. When you use a system that automatically integrates payroll and timekeeping, you are eliminating numerous unnecessary tasks. This saves time which in turn saves money.
It Reduces Timekeeping Mistakes
Every business owner and HR manager know the nightmare of a timekeeping mistake. An employee notices he or she didn’t get paid correctly and the ordeal starts. There are complaints, picking through records to find out what went wrong, and the inevitable fall-out of reduced trust among your workers.
When you automate and integrate attendance with payroll, you greatly reduce the chances for mistakes. If your team is properly trained on the tools and your HR team interprets them properly, you can all but eliminate payroll errors.
It Helps Create an Engaged Workforce
Your employees have better things to worry about than wondering if they’re going to be paid correctly when payday rolls around. If your team doesn’t trust that they will be fairly compensated, it can harm productivity and morale. It can also discourage them from putting in extra time or energy.
Having a foolproof system that delivers the right compensation every time takes the worry off everyone’s minds. Employees feel valued and HR departments no longer have to worry about answering angry employee phone calls on payday.
Tips on Integration
Convinced that you need to integrate your payroll with your timekeeping? Once the decision has been made, the actual integration process can be quite simple. Use the following suggestions to help you through the transition.
Keep it Flexible and User-Friendly
Putting a complicated system in place that is difficult to learn and use won’t help anyone. The trick is to have an easy system that everyone has easy access to and that is a snap to utilize. One of the best systems involves biometric timekeeping with your employees’ personal smart devices. They are already familiar with how their devices work, so training is minimal. This also increases flexibility, as employees can track their schedules from anywhere as long as they have their device with them.
Consider HR Software
Utilizing HR software that does the integration for you can be a huge time saver for your HR team. Look into options that allow for customization so your HR team can decide what they track and can set options for each employee. This helps them organize salaried vs hourly workers, pinpoint scheduling issues, and monitor overtime.
Educate Your Employees
Tell your employees that you are putting a new system in place and the reasons why. You never want your team to feel like you are using technology to micromanage or spy on them. Make sure they know the benefits for both the company and for them as individuals. Then conduct a company-wide training to make sure everyone is familiar with the software and how to use it.
Your HR team is a vital part of your company. If you give them the proper tools, they can be a huge asset that consistently saves you time and adds to your bottom line. Consider giving them a tool to integrate payroll with time and attendance tracking to help them use their time wisely and help create an engaged workplace.
