The Complete Guide On Time Tracking Software And Its Impact On Employees

Not so long ago, the remuneration received by a Worker or an Employee was based on ‘Clear-cut Productivity’. For example, if somebody plucked X apples a day from a farm, he would get paid less than somebody who plucked more than X number of apples.

In the modern Manufacturing trades also, the workers are paid on the absolute number of goods produced, or on the number of repetitions of an activity. With many modern trades however, this system doesn’t work and the employees have to be paid based on the time spent.

A Time Tracking Software fundamentally is the same timesheet that is automated and has added functionalities to aid transparency and accuracy.

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Time tracking software is used in synchronization with other work management tools such as tools pertaining to Accounting, Customer Support etc. Time tracking also helps the Management and the HR teams of Organizations in studying employee behavior and efficiency as well as formulate management policies.

What Are The Benefits Of Time Tracking Software?

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There are multiple benefits associated with the implementation of advanced time tracking software in organizations. Most of these benefits are towards improving productivity, increasing transparency and in automating workforce management. Some of the main benefits of Time Tracking Software are:

1. Analyzing Productivity: One of the most important benefits of a Time Tracking Software is that it provides scientific and verifiable tools to measure employee productivity. It captures data from the employee time sheets and converts those into actionable information. These information can be the data pointers for an organization to judge its operational efficiency and formulate training programs, schedules and deadlines. It also helps the organizations to identify the better performers and reward them suitably, thus creating a better work culture.

2. Transparency: Since time is intangible, time tracking software is a great tool to bring about transparency in the workflow. Time tracking allows for a far better visibility of processes, workflows and employee activity. The time tracking software also automates the attendance and the overtime functions thereby improving the deadline compliance as well as making the time office functions more transparent and free of disputes.

3. HR Management: The time tracking software when combined with human resource management software becomes an invaluable tool in the hands of the HR teams to simplify the mechanisms behind compensations and rewards/punishments. Apart from Productivity Analysis, time tracking software also helps in Absence Management, Talent Management, Payroll, Attendance, Scheduling and Labor analytics. Apart from these, the time management software also helps the HR teams in arriving at optimized staffing levels, to manage overstaffing as well as discover the bottlenecks in the work flow systems. It also promotes paperless processes which minimizes human errors and increases data accuracy.

4. Automation: The Time Tracking Software automates various billing systems and other procedures such as automatic generation of bills and invoices based on the time spent. It also integrates with the time budget; automatically updating the timesheets when one inputs the activities by the hour. The software automates the various HR functions as well as discourages time theft, which is the unproductive time spent by worker or a professional where they didn’t spend time on the task at hand but wish to be paid for it.

How Does It Help The Employees?

Although a time tracking software might feel like an exclusive tool in the hands of the management to enforce better time-keeping, it also has numerous benefits for the Employees, specially the ones that are hardworking, sincere and motivated. Some the main benefits are:

• With improved transparency, the high performers are easily and fairly identified and recognized through better monetary compensation, bigger responsibilities, etc.

• Efficient time management software ensures that there are no ambiguities in the compensation that is allowed to an employee with regards to the productive time spent. Many employers try and under-bill their employees with manual timesheet entries, but this risk is non-existent with an automated time management system.

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• Eventually, a Time tracking software inculcates ‘time discipline’ in the employees thereby promoting a culture of efficiency and good work practices. Since the compensation system becomes automated and fully transparent, it also motivates the employees into thinking that efforts and performance are suitably rewarded within the organization.

• The transparency in the time tracking software help the employees into realizing their full earning potential as well as motivates them to push themselves for better results and higher levels of efficiency.

The Top 5 Time Tracking Software In The Market

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There are quite a few number of feature-rich and popular time tracking software in the market today. Obviously, like all other software, the usefulness of the time tracking software depends on the individual organization or individual in the case of freelancers. But nevertheless, some Time Tracking Software have certainly made their presence felt in the market. The prominent ones among them are:

• ClickTime: ClickTime is one of the pioneering software in this field. The software makes it easy to plan, manage and report Employee Time Statistics. It therefore improves productivity, efficiency and employee utilization.

2) Hubstaff: Hubstaff is among the most well recognized and popular time tracking software. It has got various features for recording employee productivity such as recording the keyboard activity, the mouse activity, random screenshots,etc.

3) Cashboard: Cashboard is among the most widely used freelance time tracking software. This software is known for its features such as: Auto-Invoicing,  Sending Automated Reminders, etc.

4) Paydirt: Paydirt is an extremely popular time tracking software in Europe. The software comes with a built-in timer as well as functionalities to send invoices in over 17 different languages.

5) Xpert-Timer: Xpert Timer is a floating desktop app that has the functions of automatic and manual time tracking along with built-in capabilities of tracking tasks as well as subtasks.

Bottom Line

For businesses, large and small, one of the most difficult things is to keep track of their employees time. However, this is perhaps the most important element of your business, as without proper time tracking, it is impossible to know just how the employees are spending their time and what tasks they are covering. Moreover, Time Tracking Software does not rob the employees off their freedom to do their jobs. It just eliminates the prospect of Managers hovering over them all the time to see what they are doing! In short, the time tracking software goes a long way in promoting transparency, rewarding performance, and inculcating efficiency and timeliness in an organization!

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