Best-in-Class Workforce Management Software from Industry Experts
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Over the last 15 years traffic gridlock has increased throughout the GTA and outlying areas in astounding numbers. Why so many people have to drive to work remains a mystery. CBC Metro Morning anchored by Matt Galloway ran a week long expose titled “Joyless Commute”. The show interviewed everyday commuters, politicians and experts in the world of transportation in the hope of trying to find answers to cut down on gridlock. A recent article titled “Secret to Increased Productivity: Don’t Come to the Office” espouses the virtues of working from home and how more businesses could benefit if they adopted the practice.

Here at ATS, some of our employees who work from home are just as productive in getting projects done on time. The ATS employees who work from home use our cloud-based online time sheets that utilize state of the art technology. In addition, employees have cited things such as; not having to be stuck in traffic and fewer interruptions as factors that make working from home easier.

Of course, telecommuting is not for everyone and some employees find that working from home requires a certain level of discipline. At times it can be very hard to convince old fashioned, micromanaging, bosses of the benefits of working from home. Telecommuting will not solve all the traffic gridlock that we face each day in our cities. However, if businesses adopt a practice of having more employees work from home, even for one or two days a week, it could make a slight dent in the traffic gridlock and pay some small dividends to the environment.

The ATS time and attendance system is robust and helps management make faster, better informed decisions by providing up-to-the minute business analytics across all business areas. With more visibility, departmental mangers can quickly identify and take immediate corrective action. In addition these managers can focus on strategic planning and be more responsive to a changing business environment. Employees working from home or in remote locations can use employee self-service to check schedules, review hours and submit vacation requests.

Our monthly webinar provides an in-depth look at a businesses’ current environment and shows you how ATS workforce management software can grow to meet your organization’s changing needs. You will also discover how our flexible technology enables fast deployment, high interoperability, and streamlined management flows.

To learn more follow us on Twitter or join our LinkedIn Business Group.

At the recent HRPA trade show held inToronto, we were amazed at the number of attendees who confessed that their organizations are using excel to track employee hours. Paper timesheets and punch cards, are virtually unnecessary in 2013. A cloud-based time and attendance system will help reduce your company’s consumption of needless paper. But why would a company want to make this shift? Here are three compelling reasons:

Accuracy and Efficiency:
It can be time-consuming and tedious to sift through each employee time card. A cloud-based time and attendance system helps reduce errors and retrieve data faster. Adopting a paperless time and attendance makes it easier for employees to request days off and check benefit balances via the employee self-service portal. With the use of ATS cloud-based workforce management software, your organization has instant access to update, add or lookup data, from anywhere at anytime and with any web browser.

Productivity
Paper time-sheets require a lot of resources, waste valuable time and expose organizations to greater risk of not complying with Canadian labour laws. The companies, who were involved in lawsuits filed by employees in the last several years about unpaid overtime all had one thing in common; they were all using some form of manual time tracking system. Automating your time tracking process with ATS helps minimize compliance risk, and improves employee morale and productivity. In addition, it will turn company’s processes into a streamlined network, without the added costs of maintaining paper costs and inefficiencies.

Visibility
With a paper-based system, tracking of overtime hours, vacation and sick days is a tedious task of manually entering data into a payroll or HR system.  ATS workforce software calculates all data, and through the click of a mouse, the data is automatically sent to your company’s payroll, HRIS and other software applications. ATS TimeWork helps companies increase efficiencies in managing a workforce and uses accurate data to streamline payroll and provide your operational managers with a real-time analytic visibility.

As more companies evolve and understand the benefits of automating their workforce, going paperless is probably inevitable. To learn more go to our website and to request a demo or speak to a representative contact us at 1.866.294.2467.

 

New Year’s resolutions are nothing new. Each year many of us compile a list of goals we would like to achieve. Businesses also have goals, chief among them, how to increase sales while reducing operational costs. One of the most effective ways to streamline costs is to automate your operations with an effective employee time management system.

The benefit of a time and attendance solution is its ability to streamline processes, from automatic data collection to instant business analytics. The ATS software solution is fully integrated and accessible in real-time; it provides you with a picture of how your company is running at any given time.

Here are 3 Ways to Increase Your Company’s Bottom-Line in 2013:

Efficiency – ATS employee time management system enables companies to observe employee patterns and gives a historical overview of your company’s payroll costs. As your company continues to streamline its processes, you gain efficiency in production which leads to higher retention and more to the bottom-line.

 Business Analytics- ATS business analytics enables companies to become effective by monitoring performance against defined key metrics and key indicators. Our solution provides intuitive reporting through a web browser—all in real time. ATS TimeWork allows users to view trends and drill down into detailed data from multiple sources, providing the flexibility and accuracy to quickly make fact-based decisions, and to analyze and share critical information.

 Lower Operational Costs– Keeping payroll costs down is important to any business. Because it can be perfectly adapted to your organisation, ATS TimeWork lowers your costs from the very beginning. The solution includes a host of benefits that help with the elimination of paper-based time sheets or antiquated punch cards. The result is a cost-effective solution, with maximum functionality for your  business.

Our time and attendance system is built for Canadian businesses and provides tools for forecasting, budgeting, planning, scheduling, employee self-service, job costing, and a range of business intelligence tools for mid-large organizations. To find out more subscribe to our RSS feed, follow us on Twitter or connect with us on LinkedIn.

 

Sometimes it’s hard to determine who’s at fault when implementations do not go as planned. In fact, there are a host of reasons why some time and attendance implementations falls short of expectations. Some of these can include:

  • Over Budget-The requirements far exceed what was initially agreed upon and along the way, it was discovered that the original proposal does not match the amount of work it will take to complete the project
  • Resources-The vendor and/or customer did not have adequate personnel set aside to handle the project
  • Quick Implementation- Rushing through an implementation is a recipe for disaster. Important aspects of the project are missed when this happens and distrust may develop on both sides

In today’s fragile economy, it is not uncommon to come across some companies who want to save money on a project. After all, who does not want to save a buck or two? However, cutting corners to save a few dollars could leave your company with a time and attendance solution fraught with problems.  Buying the cheapest solution with a quick turn around may look good on paper, but these cuts do not save but rather add money in the long run.  

At ATS, we believe in taking a holistic approach to the implementation of our time management solution. We deploy a project manager for all multi-site and large-scale implementations to coordinate the rollout process for your organization. The project manager works with your team to develop a timeline, key milestones and other details. The Project Manager also works with other resources within ATS to fully define/design your system, including: schedule required training sessions, test components and transition to our support center upon completion of the project. Weekly project updates (conference calls and reports), as well as on-site visits help ensure a smooth implementation.

To learn more about our time and attendance solution, go to our website and to view a demo contact us at; 1.866.294.2467.

 

 

During a recent tradeshow in which ATS participated, we were approached by several companies who showed an interest in exploratory discussions about automating their operations. What became obvious is that while many of these companies automated some parts of their businesses, payroll seemed to be one that was given the least attention. In a world that has seen an economy that refuses to abate, it was surprising to see that labour, the largest expense within a company, was the last to be automated.

 ATS time and attendance system streamlines business operations to minimize payroll costs. By connecting our workforce management software to your existing; Payroll, HRIS, ERP applications efficiencies are gained by eliminating the need to rekey data. Productivity and customer service is improved by through better management throughout your organization.

ATS employee data collectors capture real-time information to maximize and improve processes flows.  The collecting and analyzing of employee hours, reducing labour costs and improving compliance are the key time and attendance strategies for today’s leading industries. Our software application integrates with various input sources that helps companies streamline business operations, manage schedules, track benefits accruals, perform job costing and administer employee self service.

To learn how, time and attendance software can become part of your overall workforce management program, join our LinkedIn Group. You can also follow us on Twitter and download white papers and brochures from our website.

“We used paper time sheets for years and mistakenly thought it was effective when we had 50 employees. As our company grew over the years, we could no longer keep up with the daily adding up of employee hours, calculating vacation and overtime. The ATS time and attendance system is one of the best investments we have done in the last 10 years. Our departmental managers are happy because they are no longer spending time verifying hours on a daily basis. ATS support team is one of the best our group has ever dealt with.”

Jespite Manfuacturing Inc.
S. Mason, CGA-Chief Financial Officer

The speed of globalization, the US Fiscal Cliff, shareholders seeking quicker return on investment and intense competition are creating challenges for many of today’s organizations. Business executives are looking to the advancements in technology to streamline business processes. To leverage their time and attendance investments, organizations need to choose solutions, that meet their core business needs today and also flexible, enough to meet their requirements tomorrow.

ATS TimeWork On-Demand is a robust application designed for mid to large enterprises that adapts to the changing needs across various industries. At the core of our solution is a built in functionality that integrates to human resources, payroll, supply chain management and enterprise resource planning applications.  ATS TimeWork empowers organizations to anticipate and embrace change thereby, enhancing productivity. One of the advantages to deploying ATS time and attendance on-demand is that software updates are free and will not disrupt your business operations.

 Why Should Your Company Choose ATS TimeWork On-Demand?
The deployment of TimeWork On-Demand gives business a distinct advantage of the next generation time and attendance software that easy to use, with enhanced security, and functionality. ATS TimeWork On-Demand provides real benefits to organization that need a solution with a quick ROI, 24/7 access, and reduced payroll costs.

TimeWork On-Demand Functional Features:

  • True cloud deployment
  • Adapts to your business as it evolves
  • Supply chain, human resources, talent management and payroll integration
  • Real-time reporting, business process workflows and labour
  • Access the solution from any web browser at anytime
  • Configurable to multiple countries and business processes
  • Multi industry compatibility

To learn more, or to download a demonstration, go to our website.  You can also join our LinkedIn group or follow the conversation on Twitter.

 

2013 is finally here and it’s the time when most businesses are optimistic about their business goals and have visions of streamlining operational costs. On the other hand, companies who put off business automation can fall prey to unforeseen payroll costs that could hamper their business growth.

In our experience, companies in every industry; wants a software solution that not only meets their stated requirements but it will last for a number of years. Disjointed and older time and attendance systems can leave a company vulnerable since they can substantially impact production and create negative ripple effects throughout the entire organization. Unfortunately, managing the risk of disruption has grown more difficult with the increasing use of an older an in some cases, in-house solutions.

ATS’s TimeWork cloud-based application can be accessed anytime and anywhere in the world—ideal for companies with multi-sites in various provinces and states, geographically distributed warehouses or employees who travel frequently.

If your company is growing with new locations, new acquisitions and breaking ground through emerging markets, chances are you need a time management solution that can meet those needs. ATS time and attendance provides world class solution that can be deployed in a matter of weeks and help you achieve the real-time global visibility and efficiency that your business demands.

To learn more connect with us through Twitter, download a brochure through SlideShare or contact one of our representatives.

Most of us know that apart from year end, the day in the week set aside by payroll practitioners, to process employee pay is one of the most hectic. Employee hours has to be counted, sick days and other applicable pay codes have to be assigned to the respective departments. Today’s payroll practitioner needs to be certified and fully understand the changing landscape of the multijurisdictional pay policies. Record of Employment (ROE) and taxable benefits are also important aspects that fall under their wide umbrella of responsibility.

Now just image having to keep up to date with federal and provincial/territorial governments pay policies and using a system to calculate of this? The CFO of plastics manufacturing plant put it succinctly, “we had all the necessary certifications that are required in our industry including ISO, yet we were collecting employee data using antiquated methods. Our payroll manager was spending an entire day and a half counting employee hours, vacation days etc. With 1700 employees across several provinces it simply became untenable.”

Is your company still using a paper based timekeeping system? Are, you getting the results you expected out of your existing solution? If so, switching to an ATS time and attendance solution enables companies to lower costs, streamline key business processes and boost productivity.

The ATS employee time management solution supports your entire company eliminating redundant data entry and the time, cost, and errors associated with using a manual system. Moreover, our solution is designed to be fully integrated with other third party applications including: Talent Management, Payroll, Human Resources Information Systems (HRIS), Inventory and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems. ATS time and attendance provides companies with a real-time, intuitive dashboard with views into key business data across processes and departments—allowing you to make more informed business decisions faster.

To learn about the benefits of switching to ATS workforce management software, go to our website.

The introduction of time tracking biometric technology to companies in 1999 was a hard sell. Some of these companies felt that the use of this technology to track employee hours would give the appearance of “big brother” watching over them, or infringe on employees rights. Of course, that is no longer an issue since many of these companies have come to understand that biometrics for employee time and attendance matches the image of the user (hand, eye, face etc) to a number keyed in by the employee. Once the match is validated, a company has access to real time labour analytics. The concern that some companies and their employees have about privacy issues with the use of biometrics is a valid one. However, the data gathered through the use of an ATS employee time tracking system through biometrics cannot be used by law enforcement agencies. Data is used for the purpose of: tracking employee hours, vacation time and benefit accruals. Once this information is assimilated it is sent electronically to the payroll software to process employee pay.

Today, various types of biometric technology can be found at airports, healthcare institutions, and many border agencies. In fact, some laptop computers come equipped with a finger or eye scanner. To access the laptop the owner is prompted to have his/her eye scanned or put a finger on the scanner. If that laptop is lost or stolen, it cannot be accessed unless the owner is verified through the use of the biometric device. Biometrics has become ubiquitious in everyday society and most private and public institutions have embraced it to streamline their manual time keeping process. In a recent article titled “It’s possible to have both facial recognition and privacyall indications points to biometrics satisfying privacy concerns, while at the same time, it has helped companies reap its many benefits.

ATS’s scalable time and attendance system is designed for today’s businesses. As companies grow beyond their antiquated, spread sheet time tracking systems, they need a solution that ensures that they receive the most accurate information. ATS workforce management software helps companies collect, analyze and take immediate control of payroll costs, all online and in real time.

To learn more about employee biometric time clocks, go to our website.

 

In a world of Smart phones, social media and an app for just about everything, it was no surprise to read an article about sports teams embracing technology. According to an article in the Toronto Star and NFL.com, NFL latest to abandon old media for iPad, apps “20 of the league’s 32 teams have implemented iPads for playbooks or video study, a trend teams and developers say saves time, paper and, most importantly, money.”

Does this mean that all sports leagues will be rushing towards this new technology? It would be great if they all did, but change is difficult for many people to accept. More importantly, the issue of security will be top of mind for most NFL executives, coaches and players.  Another quote from the article cited the following; “In the US, Stanford University’s football team recently converted to digital playbooks, citing a desire to save money and reduce the team’s carbon footprint.”

In the National Football League where the playbook is regarded with the same level of security as the CIA and FBI affords the President of the United States, teams adopting new technology want to make sure their data is secure.

Is your company still using paper-based systems when technology could save you time and money? Join the conversation on Twitter. To learn more, go to our website.