Attendance recording is a key human resource management practice every organisation follows, regardless of the business type. Today, more businesses are turning to technology to automate this tedious task.
A manual attendance process can be home to human error risk, inconsistency, and employee proxy marking. In contrast, online attendance management software is free from such risks and provides accurate data at an affordable price. Now, say goodbye to the cumbersome HR roles and responsibilities of recording attendance, tackling leaves, and regularly communicating attendance policies. An online attendance system keeps the data updated and safe by integrating employee presence in the organisation through a standard platform.
In today’s digitally-able work environment, a sophisticated platform for attendance management becomes essential. Not only does online attendance maintain employee visibility, but it also simplifies compliance. Thus, if you want an online attendance management system, let’s look at how you can choose the best one.
Must-Have Features to Look for While Selecting Attendance Management Software
Tracking employee attendance is essential to maintain progressive business operations. It allows HR to issue accurate employee data for the services and comply with local and federal labour laws. The following necessary features will help the banking industry and financial institutions to find the right time attendance systems:
- Managing Scheduled Attendances
The right staff attendance and payroll management application for your organisation should automate and simplify attendance management. Banking employees or insurance agents must check in and out every day to mark their presence. If employees are working from customer offices, selecting software that enables them to mark attendance from any location would be helpful.
Look for online software that automatically marks employee presence even when they forget to punch in during holidays or make mistakes while checking in or out. In such circumstances, the attendance system should allow for adjusting attendance entries.
- Leave Management
Employee leaves and attendance are closely related, so the online software must have leave management features. It simplifies core HR operations by enabling organisations to configure leave policies online. It helps employees check their leave balances, raise leave requests, convert absences into leave, or take some time off.
The online software gives credentials to the HR team to approve or reject leave requests. It should also provide all employees with a customisable leave request module to submit their applications.
- Timesheet Features
Online attendance software should have timesheet features to let employees record their working hours on specific projects and tasks. It enables human resource management to monitor employees’ progress, assign jobs, reject or approve timesheets, and send them to higher authorities. The software should be able to generate error-free employee data.
- Report Generation
While choosing a web-based attendance system, look for a system with excellent reporting capabilities. It saves administrators time and helps to identify potential attendance issues. Ultimately allowing them to take proactive measures to resolve the problem.
For attendance, the software should showcase the employee list of who is present, absent, or leaving early for the day. For time off management, the system should list employees available for the day. HR managers should be able to notice the pending jobs, completed jobs, and scheduled versus logged hours from the online software.
- Cloud-Based System
Cloud-based attendance software is popular nowadays, where the attendance data saved in the system stays secure irrespective of business size. It allows every employee to access all the files from any device and location. Employees far from the office and in remote positions can access these files from any smart device to securely mark attendance.
Without accurate attendance data, the HR department will either underpay or overpay the employees. It strains the company’s budget or results in costly tax and legal issues.
- Payroll Integration
Employee attendance software should be integrated with the organisation’s payroll software. It makes it easier for companies to calculate salaries every month based on login hours, leaves, overtime hours, etc.
- Employee Schedule Management
An online attendance system removes human resource management’s monotony from employee scheduling and makes the process simple and transparent. It enables everyone to create multiple shifts simultaneously and define time boundaries with shift allowances.
The system should automate shift rotations so there are no conflicts or errors. Whenever there are changes in the shifts, the system automatically notifies employees to plan their schedules, preventing last-minute hassles and conflicts.
- Calendar Integration
An ideal online attendance system should be synced with digital calendars like Google Calendar, Microsoft Outlook, etc. It helps employees or employers in a team communicate their availability. This feature is useful for remote workers to check a person’s availability through the shared calendar.
Different Factors to Consider While Choosing Attendance Software
An efficient attendance management software provides functionalities allowing HR roles and responsibilities to track attendance and obtain accurate data. The following section describes different factors to consider while choosing the software:
- Usability
It is an important factor when identifying attendance management software online because complicated systems result in errors and lead to loss of employee trust. Easy-to-use online software enables employees to access their portals easily and reduces the learning time.
- Cost-Effectiveness
Automated online attendance software should be cost-effective as it eliminates the manual tracking system associated with expensive costs. Consider an online software providing detailed and accurate analytics that allows companies to detect and address attendance related-issues by saving companies money.
- Data Safety
Consider the safety of employee information in the online portal because it is case-sensitive and personal. Ensure the data collected in the software cannot be authorised by outsiders or altered, preventing malpractices. There must be password control, audit trails, and secure data storage.
- Compatibility
An organisation should ensure the online software is compatible to avoid disruptions and costly upgrades. Easy integration with the organisation’s systems helps smooth processes.
Types of Online Attendance Systems
Attendance management is crucial for BFSI companies as they require all employees to sustain punctuality and discipline. With technological modernisation and inventions, a free online attendance management system for employees has become streamlined and efficient. Let’s look at the most popular online attendance systems:
- Biometric Devices
These devices use biometric technology to track attendance accurately while eliminating the need for manual tracking and avoiding time theft. Some image-based systems capture an image of the employee’s face using an algorithm to identify its unique features. On the other hand, a capacitor system uses sensors to detect the electrical impulses of the fingerprint and convert them into digital patterns for marking attendance.
Image-based systems are less expensive and not as accurate as capacitor technology. Advanced machines are using a combination of fingerprint and facial recognition for secure attendance tracking. Some other features of biometric devices include real-time data, remote monitoring, and employee self-service portals.
- Mobile Device Solutions
BFSI companies use online attendance software accessible from every employee’s mobile device, especially for remote workers or those in the field. It captures and updates the attendance from any location, ultimately increasing productivity, better accuracy, and faster access to real-time data.
Geo-location tracking helps human resource management verify field employees’ locations, ensuring where they are supposed to be during working hours. It also sends notifications to the official department for late or absent employees, which minimises disruption to operations.
Wrapping Up
Therefore, having reliable online attendance management software is crucial for all BFSI companies to accurately track employee attendance and leave policies. Adopting digital attendance management systems changes the workforce because their functionalities are integral to all employees’ everyday workflow.
It is better to perform some research and take trials to arrive at the right solution. With the intelligent application of cutting-edge digital assets, attendance management systems could be a boon for any company and its employees. These systems are ultimately turning complex processes into easy-to-monitor activity.
At sumHR, we improve the impact of human resource management in different organisations globally to build a flexible and configurable end-to-end HRMS. It helps HR teams automate mundane administrative tasks and streamline the employee’s HR experience. Our platform gives human resource management the credibility and appreciation it deserves.
