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Employee Engagement Is The New Norm

April 9th, 2014 | Posted by Apex Time Solutions in customer relationship management | Time and Attendance Blog, Workforce Management Software | Time and Attendance On-Demand - (Comments Off on Employee Engagement Is The New Norm)

For some companies, happy and engaged employees are important to them. Others, who are perhaps, cognizant of a tight employment market, do see the need or feel it’s their responsibility to ensure there is engagement within their workforce. Employee engagement can mean different things to different employees and employers. There are numerous surveys and online webinars designed to help companies understand the benefits of an engaged workforce.

Kevin Kruse, contributor to forbes.com wrote an article, titled “What Is Employee Engagement”. Here are excerpts of the article that we believe succinctly, describes employee engagement.

“Employee engagement does not mean employee happiness. Someone might be happy at work, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they are working hard, productively on behalf of the organization. While company game rooms, free massages and Friday keg parties are fun–and may be beneficial for other reasons–making employees happy is different from making them engaged.

Employee engagement doesn’t mean employee satisfaction. Many companies have “employee satisfaction” surveys and executives talk about “employee satisfaction”, but the bar is set too low. A satisfied employee might show up for her daily 9-to-5 without complaint. But that same “satisfied” employee might not go the extra effort on her own, and she’ll probably take the headhunter’s call luring her away with a 10% bump in pay. Satisfied isn’t enough.”

Another example of an unengaged employee might be; Tracy is a sales rep for ABC Company that sells billing software to the healthcare industry. She has been working for the company for 2 years and meets her target every quarter. It takes her 4 hours to drive to work both ways each day. One day, she approaches her supervisor and asks if she can work one or two days from home. Her reason, a lot of her work is done by phone and through web demonstrations. She has access to the company’s online CRM tool, punches in and out through the company’s online timesheets, and is in constant contact with her supervisor each day. The supervisor says no and his reason is simple. “We have always done it this way”. After hearing an explanation like this, it’s possible, while Tracy might be looking for a new one. While this story is fictitious, its purpose is to simply illustrate one reason why employees in a company might be disengaged.

Many of today’s companies are using software tools and other management strategies to gauge employee engagement. Does your company use any tools analyze workforce engagement?

Employee Engagement Is The New Norm

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Anatomy of an Ideal Workforce Management Solution: Just Keep It Simple

April 8th, 2014 | Posted by Apex Time Solutions in Absence Management | Scheduling | TimeWork | Web-Based Time and Attendance Software | Workforce Management Software - (Comments Off on Anatomy of an Ideal Workforce Management Solution: Just Keep It Simple)

The key to an employee attendance solution should be one borne out of simplicity and flexibility. At the heart of the product should be its ability to track attendance. To some companies, all that matters are the “bells and whistles”. However, being able to activate different modules within your system and its ability to manage your company core requirements should be top of mind.ATS Time & Attendance helps mid and large organizations automate attendance by replacing manual time sheets.

Solution Benefits to an ATS Time and Attendance includes:

Flexibilibity
ATS time and attendance is offered as both cloud-based an on-premises powered by a robust platform with a plethora of modules designed to grow with your business. ATS time and attendance is rapid to implement, adaptable to your business’ needs and simple to use. ATS time and attendance On-Premises application uses industry best practices and business intelligence process flows designed to help accelerate the deployment of the solution. ATS deployment strategies help to dramatically shorten the learning curve for both administrative and operational users.

Simplicity at its core
ATS employs a consistent implementation methodology complete, with project roadmaps all designed to stay on time and on budget.  Replacing paper timesheets with an ATS solution allows you to leverage your time and attendance data to enhance the productivity of your workforce.

Solution designed for the needs of different industries

ATS time and attendance integrates to third-party applications and, at the same time streamlines business processes to include; job costing, scheduling, overtime, holiday calculations and time-off requests—within one single software system.

ATS delivers workforce management software process efficiency across a variety of verticals, complemented by the highest levels of customer satisfaction. Our next-generation time and attendance software will help you optimize business performance across your entire enterprise.

To test drive ATS TimeWork On-Demand, go to our website. You can also follow us on Google Plus, LinkedIn or Twitter. You can also register for our live and informative webinar“Maximize Business Value with a Workforce Management Software”  on April 25th.

Anatomy of an Ideal Workforce Management Solution, Just Keep It Simple

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Exceeding Customer Expectations

April 3rd, 2014 | Posted by Apex Time Solutions in Time and Attendance Blog, Workforce Management Software | Time and Attendance Solution | Workforce Analytics - (Comments Off on Exceeding Customer Expectations)

Terry O’ Reilly is one of Canada’s biggest names in advertising and to hear his weekly broadcast of “Under the Influence” is a thing of beauty and goldmine for marketers. It has been said that the hospitality industry is far and away, the leader in guest satisfaction and other companies have copied their customer service model with great success.

“Tales of Customer Service” is another one of Terry O’ Reilly’s riveting episodes.

We have decided to list our top 3:

Macy’s Department Store, circa 1950s-Source: gjenvick.com
“There is a famous story about Macy’s Department store back in the 1950s. One day, a customer walked in to return an item she had purchased. Macy’s took it back with a smile, refunded the full purchase price, and the lady left happy.

Now, you may not think that’s a remarkable story. But it is. Because Macy’s didn’t even sell the product the lady returned. They simply wanted to do everything in their power to have that lady leave the store happy, because a happy customer is a repeat customer. They gave her a refund, even though she had bought the item at another store.”

The Ritz-Carlton Hotel in New York-Source: cntraveler.com
“It’s 1 a.m. and it’s freezing in New York   City.  A father and his kids are camped out in front of the Radio City Music Hall, hoping to get wristbands for the NFL Draft. But the ticket window won’t open for another five hours. Suddenly, a taxi pulls up, doorman jumps out, drapes the family in blankets, hands them all cups of hot chocolate, then speeds off.

As AdWeek Magazine notes, it wasn’t an act of random kindness, it was caring customer service. The family had checked into the Ritz-Carlton before heading out to Radio City, and the night manager there just wanted to make sure they were comfortable as they waited in the cold – even though they were on a sidewalk four miles from the hotel.
The Ritz-Carlton is a smart company, and they know exceeding customer expectations can’t just be a marketing campaign, it has to be an operating platform.”

Gentleman David Ogilvy-Source: Ogilvy.com
“David Ogilvy, one of the legends of the advertising business, and the founder of Ogilvy & Mather New York, had high customer service expectations for his staff. I always remember one of the things he insisted upon. He said, “We don’t walk our clients to the elevator, we walk them to the street.” In other words, after meetings, he expected his staff to walk their clients – not just out to the elevator – but all the way down to the street, and help them hail a cab. And in the skyscrapers of New York, that is no small courtesy.

I would venture to guess they were the only agency in town that did that. But Ogilvy & Mather believed in hiring people not just for their intelligence, but for their manners. Why do so few companies do that? Because the philosophy is so rare.”

After listening to this program we, at ATS fell under the influence. It is easy to see why some of these acts of customer service have propelled some companies to the heights of success that they have achieved. To listen to the program in its entirety go to the cbc.ca site.

Exceeding Customer Expectations

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Mirror, Mirror, Is There An Easier Way To Process Employees Time?

April 2nd, 2014 | Posted by Apex Time Solutions in Absence Management | Business Intelligence | Employee Scheduling | Employee Self Service | Time and Attendance Blog, Workforce Management Software - (Comments Off on Mirror, Mirror, Is There An Easier Way To Process Employees Time?)

Yes, there is and several companies who have moved away from paper timesheets are now enjoying the benefits of an automated time and attendance system. Their HR and payroll practitioners have access to a best-in-class solution that can be accessed from any smart phone, tablet or workstation-anytime, anywhere.

These forward looking companies have deployed the self-service module and now, their employees, can submit leave requests online. The Employee Scheduling and Vacation Planning Modules allow managers to view at a glance, employee preferences, availability and vacation requests.  Employee manual time sheets are now online and administrators can view attendance and absences in real-time. The tracking of jobs and departmental transfers can be analyzed through a variety of business analytic tools.

If your company still love using paper time sheets consider the following; studies conducted by Aberdeen Group and The Canadian Payroll Association have concluded that companies, using an automated time and attendance solution, has historically decreased the time it takes to prepare payroll by about 80% and has saved companies 3-5% on their net payroll costs.

To learn more join us for one our live webinars in the upcoming months and our team will help you explore the benefits of automating your manual time and attendance collection.

To speak to an account representative, call 866.294.2467.

 Mirror, Mirror, Is There An Easier Way To Process Employee Time?

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5 Key Elements for a Successful Implementation

April 1st, 2014 | Posted by Apex Time Solutions in Time and Attendance Software | TimeWork | Workforce Management Software - (Comments Off on 5 Key Elements for a Successful Implementation)

Some time and attendance projects turn out to be more costly than foreseen because, they may take longer than anticipated or a company might opt for the cheapest solution-but end up paying more for things that were missed in the first place. There is also element of a company’s business requirements not being fulfilled. With this in mind, businesses should inform themselves of the factors contributing to successful employee time and attendance implementation.

While the list below is by no means exhaustive, it can serve as a benchmark for companies thinking about deploying an ATS time and attendance solution. An ATS project lead, will perform an analysis of your organization’s current and future business requirements and compare them to existing software capabilities of ATS workforce management solution.

Solution Benefits of an ATS Deployment:

Preparation
The purpose of this phase is to provide initial planning and preparation for implementation. This includes technical issues as well as project management topics and expected commitment from your organization in terms of time and resources.

Solution Roadmap
A preliminary workshop provides the opportunity to fine-tune the original project and related objectives. The result is the solution roadmap, which documents in detail the results gathered during the data gathering requirements phase.

Project Actuality
The goal in this phase is to configure the business requirements and test against the information gathered during the preparation kick-off meeting. The ATS implementation analyst will validate and update the time and attendance configuration while the company’s project lead updates the work instructions.

Deployment and Training
The activities during this phase will focus on providing the customer with the tools for going live on preparing both the software and the customer for going live. In addition, we will ensure that the customer project leader and department managers are sufficiently trained on the use of TimeWork On-Demand. Conclusion of the system analysis will encompass time and attendance system tests, adjust pay policies as required and ensure all remaining critical open issues are resolved.

Go-Live
This phase is when your organization goes live with the software and starts analyzing employee punches that are update from the time clock. Go live, can be a stressful time if the project is not properly managed. At this point of the project cycle, a strong knowledge of the system functionality and the ability to quickly react to the unexpected is critical. Shortly thereafter, a review and optimization conference is scheduled and conducted.

ATS implementation methodology brings many benefits to customers. It provides customers with a clear understanding of the scope, structure, and duration of implementing ATS TimeWork On-Demand at the outset of the project to eliminate surprises and overruns in time or budget. In addition, ATS will provide best-practice implementation services based on our years of experience.

To learn more, join one of our webinars in the month of April, May or June, and to download a demonstration of ATS Time and Attendance solution, go to our website.

5 Key Elements for a Successful Implementation

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