Mechanical Employee Time Clocks – Is Your Business Getting the ROI It Deserves?

Does your company use mechanical employee time clocks? Have you ever given thought as to why you started using one in the first place? The simple answer is likely because you wanted better workforce management and improved ROI.

Of course, setting out with an objective is one thing – actually achieving that objective is entirely different. Granted, you may have noticed a slight improvement when you started using a mechanical clock, but are you truly getting the best possible ROI? It can be easy as an employer to overlook the obvious and not ascertain whether the system you have put in place is actually achieving your objectives. That being said, it is still extremely important to do so.

What to Base Your Decision On

The decision to implement a workforce management system should be based on the need to streamline your time tracking and get a better Return on Investment from your payroll. Sadly, traditional time and attendance systems can fail when it comes to getting the results you deserve. If you are using manual systems like a Bundy clock to manage your payroll, you could be losing thousands of dollars in productivity.

To determine if your employee time management system is achieving your objective of improved ROI, try evaluating its performance by asking the questions below. Once you have measured the performance of your existing system, you’ll have a clearer idea as to whether or not traditional employee time clocks are capable of serving your business needs, or if you should invest in an automated solution.

1. Have Buddy Punching Practices Been Eliminated or Reduced?

According to the American Association of Employers, every business in America loses 20 cents for each dollar earned due to employee theft, most of which occurs through time theft. Bundy time clocks are simply unable to combat the menace of buddy punching and other forms of wage theft. On the other hand, automated workforce management solutions, such as time tracking software systems with biometric features, are able to effectively reduce and even eliminate buddy punching, thus providing your business the ROI it set out to achieve.

2. Has Your Business Reduced Time and Attendance Data Entry Errors?

Small and medium sized businesses that use mechanical employee time clocks have to collect time and attendance data from paper time cards and record it onto paper time sheets for payroll purposes. Such procedures leave your business wide open for human data entry errors. The need to transfer numbers multiple times leads to even more potential errors. In comparison, automated workforce solutions are able to record work hour information with utmost accuracy and in real-time. Plus, automated systems save considerable time when it comes to collecting information and processing payroll.

3. Did You Experience a Reduction In Payroll Processing Time and Errors?

This is the last stage in your time and attendance process. Not surprisingly, the mechanical time clock does not fare very well here either. After time and attendance data has been transferred onto paper time sheets, a complex calculation procedure follows culminating in payroll reports. If done manually, the process is rather lengthy considering you have to calculate employee wages based on different pay grades. In addition, the process is vulnerable to human error. Time tracking software solutions are able to process complex calculations with just a few clicks providing you better ROI by reducing your payroll and administrative costs.

If the answer to any of the questions above is negative, there is likely a need for a better time and attendance tracking system. Unfortunately, in some cases the answer for all three of these questions is negative. This is when automated employee time clocks can positively impact your ROI. By switching to web-based time tracking software, you can be sure to achieve maximum ROI and employee productivity.