The seismic effects of the pandemic advanced digitization on all fronts, but it's work where the impacts could be felt by virtually any of us. Many traditional processes were cut short with the remote arrangement, so businesses across the board are now ramping up on data science – with the specific purpose of deepening their understanding of people analytics. 

For HR managers, this has meant mostly focusing on gathering data points that allow them to identify crucial behavioral patterns from their workforce, and sophisticated workplace time and attendance (T&A) platforms have been a valuable aid on this journey. After all, Acumen noted that by automating time tracking, companies can eliminate daily lost productivity and recapture some over $666 thousand in yearly wages. In particular, the best Mac time tracking apps are very useful for tracking your team's time and eliminating inefficiencies.

However, despite the general assumption that T&A is there to make employees' lives harder, the truth lies elsewhere. Rather than making important workforce decisions based on gut feeling, by leveraging data, executives can work to improve and introduce better workplace policies, incentivize and reward their teams, organize better handovers and training, and even prevent both inefficiencies and negative employee experience.

Research has confirmed that employees that work from home are working more and facing a bigger workload than pre-Covid, with people spending additional two hours a day logged on at their computer. Naturally, this has many adverse effects: From burnout to heightened risk of heart disease, it's vital that employees keep a close eye on their teams. Through T&A software, they can monitor the actual times of employees' activity and discourage them from working after-hours.

There's no doubt that T&A technologies will play an important role in the new world of people analytics, helping managers to drive a better understanding of their employees. Here's why.

Data gives no space for inaccuracies

Any business that is looking to thrive needs to have dedicated employees that show up to do the work. This is why the concept of attendance management is not anything new. Companies across the globe have been relying on some sort of framework for decades – be it physical clocks, paper records with time stamping, or even complex Excel spreadsheets. But while these tools can meet their main purpose, they do little to empower HR managers to collect data and draw tangible workplace trends.

With the power of technology, HR can leave outdated systems behind and shake off the notion that it's too people-oriented to be concerned with data. And with T&A software that offers visibility even within larger distributed teams, HR managers are equipped with the tools needed to prove the impact of the resources invested into their activities.

Effective tracking of key metrics is the main benefit. Not only can HR managers analyze time and attendance data, but they can also directly monitor workload distribution, overtime trends, revenue per employee, absenteeism, or even training expenses. Ultimately, this guides businesses towards a healthier bottom line, making sure that their resources are deployed wisely – and with extreme precision. By assessing these KPIs, leaders can develop better hiring, retention, and productivity strategies.

Strategizing suddenly becomes easy

Through easy self-service functionalities, anyone can check in the T&A system. That way, managers and HR leaders get an instant overview of work activity – especially when integrated within tools like Google Calendar or Outlook. By visualizing the trends through comprehensive reports, businesses can start communicating with insights, rather than assumptions, and make stronger and faster HR decisions.

Employees can also request paid time off, sick leave, or any corrections to their attendance records via T&A software. Then, the company can set up an automation that approves these by default if certain conditions are met – or notify a responsible individual if they aren't. This can subsequently trigger another set of helpful actions, such as automatic messages to any affected team members or a request to fill in a handover document.

Such transparency presents many optimization and planning opportunities. With insights from both historical and real-time data, companies can better manage labor costs, set budgets, or even adjust workloads. This boosts forecasting abilities massively: For example, by observing spikes in vacation requests over the year, they can better compensate for fluctuating workforce by contracting temporal hires or outsourcing to freelancers.

Speaking of freelancers, HR managers can use T&A systems to control labor expenses. This is particularly important considering that the popularity of flexible arrangements keeps growing massively. HR professionals can predict the amount of work a project will take, the budget they will need, and monitor the individual's performance throughout the process.

Payroll management – optimized and efficient

Even in today's business setting, payroll inaccuracies occur on a regular basis. Smaller companies, in particular, tend to rely on manual processes that are prone to error or delays. But while payroll management can be complex and time-consuming, its importance shouldn't be underestimated. In fact, it's believed that almost 50% of employees would seek a new job after only two payroll errors.

By linking payroll management to T&A software, such complications can be a thing of the past. As it considers vacations and days off, flexible arrangements, multiple shifts, overtime rules, promotions, and any other possible irregularity to the payroll, the software can guarantee a smooth salary delivery – and thus a better employee experience.

With digitization advancing fast, today, we are seeing an emerging battleground for people analytics: time and attendance. By diving deep into the insights that modern software can provide, HR can become an increasingly data-driven field that not only contributes to better business performance but is also an active actor of change.

Adam Day, President and CEO of Time Rack