Attendance - Get Rid Of It Altogether?

Why is attendance, the act of being present, considered important? You might have resources that are very efficient at work, but they come to work very late, are absent frequently at work and do not put in the hours equivalent stipulated by your organization. What will be the impact of this in your overall work environment?

This will for sure affect the assignment of the other employees and your clients.

Poor attendance will cause bad feelings among co-workers who follow the rules and practice good work ethics. Absenteeism creates more work for others or leaves important work that needs to be done in a group undone.

One employees habitual lateness to work or absence in a small business will even affect production schedules, cause others to reschedule their planned leave and reflect badly on the company if the customer service suffers due to his absence.

Employees who show up for work regularly and give proper notice of absences are practicing good attendance. Attendance as a work ethic includes sticking to work schedules, being ready to start work on time, remaining on the job during the workday to complete duties and limited use of leave.

Employers would actually rather have an employee who is less capable on a job and is at work every day than an employee who is very capable but misses work a lot. It is called dependability. Employers need dependable people to get the job done. Good attendance and punctuality show an employer that you have a good attitude towards your job. And again punctuality does not only apply to arriving at the correct time in the morning to office, it also refers to returning from lunch or coffee break in a stipulated time.

However there are also situations when the employee is on leave for a genuine reason. It is up to the managers to professionally handle the absence. Employers who manage attendance of their employees efficiently save company money and improve the overall effectiveness with which his workers perform. Some tips to the employers to accomplish this leave management task.

Early intervention with the employees who are on leave frequently to understand the real issue.
Good communication with the employees who return to work is of vital importance.

Check if flexibility is the issue that your workforce is looking for, that is causing him to frequently skip work. If so, try to be flexible about family and caring commitments and discuss with your staff how the work can be broken down and completed.

Setting a good work attendance record is not only good for you but also for your company. Attendance is usually rated higher than productivity and quality. A worker who fails to understand the effect of poor attendance on his workplace also may lack other work ethics.

Some companies have a manual register to mark attendance. Some organizations use ‘Automated time and attendance systems’ like electronic tags, barcode badges, magnetic stripe cards, biometrics and touch screens. This is linked to a computer to perform all necessary calculations to generate employee timesheets which are used to calculate the employees’ wages. An automated system reduces the risk of errors that are typical in a manual system, and allows the workforce to be more productive instead of wasting time on tedious administrative tasks.

You may follow our related blog content on how Attendance Tracking in Organizations is done.

Time stamping machines have been in use for over a century and are still used by many organizations as a cheaper alternative to time and attendance software.

We cannot get rid of attendance tracking altogether; we can bring in some amount of flexibility based on the company rules in favour of the employees. If you do not track attendance, you will not be able to determine the hours an employee has put in to achieve the results? When they come in and when they go out? How many leaves they take in a week, month, or year? And are you paying them for their absence also? For all this to be in place, you should have an Employee attendance tracking system.

Remember, when you work for someone and accept pay from them, you are forming a work contract. It is your duty to be at work regularly and on time. Employers don’t hire people to give away money – they hire them to produce results. And don’t forget – success is built on teamwork and if you don’t do your part – you cause the ‘team’ to erode and begin to fall apart. When you do your part, the company succeeds and makes money, and you make money.
GO TO WORK – IT PAYS!

What do you think? Is Attendance tracking mandatory or can it be discretionary. Would love to hear your thoughts.

Image courtesy:hrsoftwarehub