Most time clock software has significant flaws. Let’s take a look at why this software is usually not effective in clocking employee time accurately.
Automatic calculation of breaks
Does the time clock software know exactly when breaks were taken and how long the break was for? Mostly this is guesswork and is not tracked accurately. It’s important that software will track accurately when breaks started and how long they were for.
It’s too easy to add time “manually”
It’s easy using most time clock software to add the time manually. This usually means that at the end of the day the employee types in when they were working on and when they started. To track time correctly all time should be clocked in “real time”. This means that the person tracks the time on their computer and records the activity they are working on at the exact time they start and stop work.
If there is manual recording of time it should be clearly identified and separated from “real time” recording of time.
The reason why it is important to track time in “real time” is that it is very difficult to remember and record times accurately, after the fact. It’s very hard for employees to remember at the end of the day the exact times when they started and stopped work. Also this method of manual time entry completely relies on trust with your employees.
Automated confirmation of time worked
Clocking in and out is not enough to know if a person is working. They could clock into work and then spend all day chatting with friends on Facebook. You also want to know what each person was working on and how effective they are when working. The time clock software should have indicators to know when a person was working and what they were doing at each point during the day, and ways to confirm these activities.
Time clock software that works
Time Doctor solves all of these problems and is the most accurate time clock software on the market. With Time Doctor, all time is tracked in real time, meaning you know exactly when each person started and finished work and went on a break each day. It will automatically allocate breaks when the person is away from their computer. It also has numerous features to confirm that time worked was accurate, for example it records the websites visited and applications used when working.
You can try Time Doctor for 30 days and find out exactly where time is spent in your organization.
Rob Rawson is a co-founder of Time Doctor which is software to improve work productivity and help keep track of what your team is working on, even when working remotely.