Time and Attendance – not a walk in the park
According to some independent surveys almost 40% of time and attendance implementations fail to be completed to the satisfaction of the end user . So why is it that a high number of time and attendance implementations go off the rails?
The answer to this question is quite simple . Implementing time and attendance is a complex project with many technical and operational aspects to manage. It is likely that your administration and accounting staff would have little experience with implementing time and attendance so this will simply increase the degree of difficulty. In the next paragraph we discus the components of a time and attendance system
Time and attendance system usually include a data collection device such as an electronic time clock , which requires installation on your local or wide area network which of course comes with the usual technical challenges. Staff must be be trained on the use of the time clock and you may have to overcome certain employee objections when it appears to be “checking up” on them. Time and Attendance software needs to be installed on servers and workstations and payroll staff will require training in its use. Your business rules or award rules will have to clearly defined and communicated to the product providers and almost certainly, the change from a manual system to automated award interpretation software will dedicate more rigid and thoughtful definition of those rules. There will need to be a period of testing and adjusting of award rules . Eventually, you will have worked your way through these steps and you will be ready to test an export to payroll. This process in itself can be testing but eventually all the bugs will be ironed out and you will have completed your Time and Attendance implementation.
If you get through this process unscathed you will be in the minority This is because , if your staff lack skills in IT, human resources, project management or payroll award interpretation then at many stages of the project it could become unmanageable and subject to being abandoned or only partially implemented.
At this point we should ask what is it that makes for a successful implementation? The answer to that question is experience. If your staff are experienced then the chances of a successful implementation are much higher . If you think your employees may be short or experience in some areas then you may want to tap into the experience of others. You can recruit a time and attendance consultant or subscribe to some of the other industry resources available to your on the web.
Most companies who implement time and attendance underestimate the complexity of the project . Time and attendance is arguably one of the most complex systems in your company . It is much more complex from a technical and operational perspective than your accounting system or your payroll system yet it generally receives only a fraction of the consideration or resources when implemented .
If there are any conclusions to be drawn from the experience of others who have gone through the process of implementing time and attendance it is that the most successful implementation are those where the experience level is the highest. Given that it i unlikely that you will have that experience in house it makes good sense to tap into that experience somewhere else.
James Bell
Time and Attendance Consultant
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