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How Workforce Analytics Can Help Growing Businesses

November 14th, 2013 | Posted by Apex Time Solutions in Time and Attendance Blog, Workforce Management Software - (0 Comments)

As the world slowly emerges from the great recession of 2008, many businesses continue to grapple with thin margins and tough competition. These companies need tools to help them forecast, budget and manage costs while improving productivity. In short order, this is no small task. In a tough competitive landscape how can businesses achieve productivity gains and stay within budget when they do not have the tools to analyze the true nature of their workforce?

ATS TimeWork time and attendance workforce analytics provides companies with an intuitive and easy-to use real-time monitoring of their business data. The workforce analytics dashboards are part of ATS workforce management business intelligence capabilities that delivers up-to-the-minute key statistical data. ATS workforce analytics is fully integrated with Microsoft® Office and allows users to export data while maintaining data accuracy and consistency.

ATS time and attendance workforce analytics continually updates information to give you real-time visibility across your organization. ATS workforce analytics is a powerful, easy-to-use business intelligence tool that drives smarter decisions across your business operations.

 To experience this on-demand analytic tool download the demo. To learn more follow up on Twitter or join our LinkedIn business group.

Hoiw Workforce Analytics Can Help Growing Businesses 

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How to Choose a Time and Attendance Solution

April 9th, 2013 | Posted by Apex Time Solutions in Biometric Time Clocks | Smartphone | Time and Attendance Blog, Workforce Management Software | Time and Attendance Solution | Time and Attendance System - (0 Comments)

Choosing a time and attendance solution is at best, a strategic decision for most businesses. Questions to consider include: can this system grow with our company? Should we start with the basics and add modules as we need them? Will the implementation fit within our timeframe? How robust is this application? Should we go for all the features of the system? All of these questions are normal when deciding which software application will best suit your organizational needs.

The true value of an employee time and attendance system lies in its integration across a company and the data gathered when using it. So why not start with a modern software solution that is able to meet your functional needs? It is a natural to want every conceivable feature and module when in actuality most companies only use a small percentage of the available features. Companies adopting a time and attendance for the first time would be wise to “crawl before you can walk”. If the right vendor is chosen, adding modules should be an easy process.

Here are the 5 strategies to use for getting the right system for your organization:

Stated Objectives- Companies should conduct an internal audit of all processes and policies before choosing a time and attendance system. If your company is small, this can be done by the project manager. For larger organizations, the steering committee can draft a plan.

Project Manager-The implementation of an employee time and attendance solution is as important as choosing the right solution and vendor. The importance of having someone within your organization spearhead the project should not be overlooked. If your company’s objectives are clear and all stakeholders are in agreement, the implementation will yield positive results.

Choosing the Data Collector-The common complaint we hear from some prospective customers, is that their time clock has never worked properly since it was installed.  Some companies are so dazzled by the latest features of a software application that they fail to ask the most basic question of a vendor; will this employee time clock work for us? Today, capturing employees’ data has expanded to include: smart-phones, tablets, biometric time clocks and swipe card technology to name a few. Consider your environment and whether your employees will use the technology before choosing an employee time clock.

Informing stakeholders- Some employees view the deployment of a time management system as intrusive. This is particularly true if a company has long tenured employees who might struggle to understand why their hours are being tracked all of sudden. This can be diffused quickly by letting them know the reasons and the enhanced benefits of the system.

Choosing a Vendor-You should have a separate list that contains the criteria your company will use to select a provider. While a vendor who has been around for 100 years sounds nice, that in and of itself, should not be the only criteria by which you choose a vendor. Request the names of at least three companies who you can contact to discuss the product’s functionality and challenges. And if all that matters to you is the cheapest solution, be prepared to deal with software inefficiencies, a lack luster implementation and inadequate after sales support.

Choosing a time and attendance software should be an important decision for your company. Go about the process by “starting small” with a standard software solution the meets your organizational goals. As time progresses and your supervisors get used to the software, add modules to complement your growing needs.

To download the full 13 steps to choosing a time and attendance go to our website. Join the conversation on LinkedIn or Twitter.

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How can we Quantify the Benefits of an Employee Attendance Solution?

March 27th, 2013 | Posted by Apex Time Solutions in Benefit Accruals | Employee Scheduling | Employee Self Service | Employee Time Clock | ERP | Payroll | Time and Attendance Blog, Workforce Management Software - (0 Comments)

This is a question we hear all too often. Sometimes it’s simply a matter of having used paper timesheets for so long that a company has not felt the need to change, or their previous experience with a time and attendance system has been less than stellar. Regardless of the reason, it’s justifiable to quantify the benefits of an employee time tracking system and its impact on your company’s corporate culture.

ATS Time & Attendance system is used by North America’s leading organizations. The solution streamlines business processes and automates manual tasks to:

  • Collect the data you need to make better staffing decisions based on current customer and unforeseen absences.
  • Provide employees with tools to manage their time at work, including review of paid time off
  • Automate statutory holidays and define special overtime or premium pay rates
  • Comply with collective bargaining agreements and local, provincial, state and federal regulations
  • Reduce payroll costs and calculate overtime/double-time and daily, weekly, bi-weekly and payroll frequencies

With ATS Employee Time and Attendance System You Get:

  • Employee Self-Service—Provides employees with access to their personal information so they can trade shifts, view schedules, request time off and bid on vacation blocks.
  • Benefit Accruals—Automate, track and calculate hours earned for vacation, lieu days, vacation and sick days.
  • Employee Time clocks—Collect and calculate employee time and labour, job changes and workforce metrics.
  • Workforce Scheduling—Creates schedules to meet forecast business demand by department and job for all employees. Schedules honor complex rule sets involving variables that include: skills, shift rules, minor rules and employee preferences.
  • Talent Management, ERP, HR and Payroll Interfaces—Integrates ATS time and attendance data with various payroll, HR, and ERP applications human to produce accurate payroll records.
  • Attendance Management—With ATS Time and Attendance software, your business is transformed into “On the Spot” information that helps managers and supervisors control overtime and keep jobs on time and within budget.
  • Training and Support— ATS integrated implementation support offers reliable response to technical disruptions and for the maintenance, health and integrity of the system.

Today, more than ever businesses are looking to increase productivity and streamline business processes.  Are you interested in making your business more efficient?  Download a whitepaper on the benefits of a time and attendance software solution.

You might also like:
5 Ways to Change your Current Business Process with Workforce Management Software
Overtime Hours: To Track or Not to Track is the Great Debate
Adopting Business Automation in the Era of Austerity Measures

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Endless Possibilities: Celebrating the Containment of Labour Costs

November 9th, 2011 | Posted by Apex Time Solutions in Absence Management | Employee Self Service | Employee Time Tracking | Time and Attendance Software - (0 Comments)

We are honoured to work with some of North America’s leading companies, and have them as customers, in industries such as: retail, manufacturing, oil and gas, hospitality, distribution, health care, consumer goods and construction. A few months ago, one of our newest customers migrated from a paper-based time sheet to our On-Demand Time and Attendance Solution. Our team received a pleasant surprise when this health care customer told us they would be sending us a testimonial two weeks after the system was installed.  What did not surprise us was how fast this customer realized their return on investment.

Helping customers realize their return on investment is what we have been doing for years with our powerful business automation software. The ATS Time and Attendance Solution delivers real time activity based costing and helps to govern and automate the entire process.

The flexible pay rules library allows for 100% automation of rules without costly changes to core code. Hours and wage rule compliance are consistent and automated with alerts when a threshold for violation is approached – providing proactive reconciliation. The employee self-service capability of an ATS Time and Attendance Solution increases productivity as employees and managers spend less time managing administrative tasks and more time focusing on customers. Our business automation software tracks, performance and automatically adjust operations as business and market conditions change. And you can do all of this regardless of the size of your enterprise.

Let’s face it, manual time sheets are a thing of the past.  We also know that whenever data is keyed into a computer from paper time sheets, errors will be made.

Not sure if a Time and Attendance Solution will work for your organization? Connect with us for more information and read customer testimonials on our website. You can also reach us by phone at 1.866.294.2467.

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Who Has The Time to Track All That Stuff Manually?

November 8th, 2011 | Posted by Apex Time Solutions in Absence Management | Hosted Time and Attendance Software | Overtime Equalization | Payroll - (0 Comments)

Overtime, premium hours, statutory holidays, vacations, shift rotation and tracking employee time spent on different jobs. These are just a few of the things that payroll professionals and HR managers have to handle in an organization. In many cases, the larger the organization, the more complex these work rule policies tend to be.

Business executives are stretched for time, and cost containment heads the list of their priorities. Controlling labour costs and improving productivity is paramount to most organizations. A reliable Workforce Management Software will help companies with the following:

Accurate Record Keeping
ATS Workforce Management Software automates the calculation and reporting of hours worked and provides a full range of tools to help deploy and track employees and their performance using real-time labour analytics. The result is enhanced productivity, increased profitability and better short, and long-term decision making.

Labour Analytics
ATS Workforce Management Software helps you to accurately manage attendance and leave policies more consistently. The ATS Time and Attendance Solution provides organizations with a suite of management reports that include: Time Costing, Forecasting, Schedule versus Actual, Overtime Equalization, Payroll, Absenteeism and Summary Detail Reports to name a few. Our system contains an inherent flexibility that is configured to the needs of organizations of every size in virtually any industry.

Return on Investment
The ATS Workforce Management Software helps you lower labour expenses, anticipate workforce demands and comply with provincial, federal and state labour laws. Another huge cost saver is the elimination of paper time sheets. A growing body of evidence has shown that using a time and attendance solution has historically decreased the time it takes to prepare your time cards and payroll by about 80% and has saved companies 1-5% on their net payroll costs.

To learn more, follow us on Twitter and SlideShare for updates. You can also download brochures from our website.

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The Power of Women

October 5th, 2011 | Posted by Apex Time Solutions in Employee Time Tracking | Hosted Time and Attendance System | Time and Attendance On-Demand | Time Management Solutions | Workforce Management Software - (0 Comments)

Study after study is commissioned every year by a plethora of firms and institutions about the role women play in the world of business. These studies all arrive at the same conclusion; the executive branch of today’s workforce should be open to more women. It should be noted that today’s workplace is vastly different from that of 20 years ago. It is also important to recognize that while more women have “broken the glass ceiling” there is room for improvement on that front. 

One of the more recent studies we came across is by the Kauffman Foundation, titled “Untapped Potential for Expanding Women’s Entrepreneurship Holds Promise to Grow the U.S. Economy.” While the title references the US, it could apply to just about any country.

Here is an excerpt of that study:

“Research shows that startup companies – particularly high-growth startups – are the most fruitful source of new U.S. jobs and offer the economy’s best hope for recovery. However, despite the fact that about 46 percent of the workforce and more than 50 percent of college students are female, and that women have risen to top positions in corporate and university hierarchies, they represent only about 35 percent of startup business owners. Their firms also tend to experience less growth and prosperity than do firms started by men.

“Overcoming the Gender Gap: Women Entrepreneurs as Economic Drivers,” a new paper from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, explores the reasons behind lower business startup rates among women and proposes actions that would help to realize the promise of female entrepreneurs in escalating the economy.

“There are plenty of highly qualified women in science and technology – industries from which the majority of high-growth companies are born,” said Lesa Mitchell, Kauffman Foundation vice president, advancing innovation, and the paper’s author. “More women are entering these fields than ever before. However, while women have broken through the glass ceiling, they seem to encounter ‘glass walls’ that keep them from venturing out of big companies or structured academic settings to launch their own firms at the same rate men do.”

Studies like this one from the Kauffman Foundation and others will continue for many years. A diversified workforce with women in senior roles starts with cultural shift. Some corporations have elevated women to senior management roles and have been the beneficiary of growth and profits. In contrast, there others that “like things just the way they are”. Time has a way of catching up to those who abhor positive change.

Our blogs typically focus on the advantages of time and attendance software in an organization. However, we thought it would be a refreshing change to comment on a subject that is of great importance in today’s workforce.

To learn more about Apex Time Solutions, go to our website and to join our weekly workforce management software webinar visit us online.

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Is Your Current Time and Attendance Meeting Expectations?

September 15th, 2011 | Posted by Apex Time Solutions in Employee Time and Attendance | Employee Time Tracking | Employee Time Tracking Software | Time and Attendance Software - (0 Comments)

Not all time and attendance solutions are created equal.  When shopping for workforce management software, one should not assume that they all look alike. While there may be small similarities in the fundamentals, there are enough differences in the functionality to warrant broadening your search. To quote a line from a TV ad from ING Bank, “Look out for bad apples masquerading as oranges.” Some important factors that should not be overlooked include: project management; service level and the expertise that will be facilitated during and after deployment. If you are merely comparing prices and that’s your only focus, chances you are you will end up with a “bargain basement price” solution that is riddled with problems. We often hear of cases in which a time and attendance solution is shipped to the customer in a box with tutorials, very limited support and at a price they simply could not turn down.

Here are 7 ways to tell if the price was too good to be true:

1)       You have to navigate through several screens to add a new employee

2)       The system requires frequent maintenance and upgrades

3)       Your payroll manager spends a tremendous amount of time manually calculating time cards and responding to employee inquiries

4)       Supervisors cannot produce meaningful reports because of rigid predefined templates

5)       You cannot track your mobile workforce

6)       Response time for support queries exceeds an hour

7)       Managers are frequently entering employee hours in the system

The ATS Workforce Management Software includes the following benefits:

Labour analytics: a variety of employee time clocks to improve job costing, employee and labor tracking

No software to buy: avoid capital expenses of purchasing and maintaining a software license

Invoicing is done on a monthly basis: you only pay for what you use and nothing more

Save time: allow payroll practitioners and HR managers to run payroll and get back to other responsibilities

Reduce manual errors: automatically calculates overtime pay, premiums, absenteeism, statutory holidays and hours worked

Buddy punching: eliminate the practice of employees punching in/out for each other with the use of our biometric time clocks

Absence request: the use of our absence request module allows employees to request personal time off via any web browser. The approval process from managers to employees is instantaneous

The ATS employee time and attendance system (Software-as-a-Service) automates time tracking. Our technical support team provides uncompromising service that is simply unmatched.

To learn more, contact Apex Time Solutions follow us on Twitter and join our LinkedIn group for updates on time and attendance solutions and workforce management software.

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The Psychology of Change

September 13th, 2011 | Posted by Apex Time Solutions in Employee Time and Attendance | Employee Time Tracking | Hosted Time and Attendance Software | Time and Attendance On-Demand - (0 Comments)

We all know that time is not static and so, metaphorically speaking, sticking your head in the sand will not stop change. In today’s rapidly changing world almost every process is automated. In fact, most businesses would be hard pressed if they had to resort to paper and pen for all of their daily operations. It is still surprising to find a significant number of companies using paper based time sheets to track employee hours. Today’s technological advancements allow business executives, HR managers and financial controllers to be more productive and efficient. In a recent conversation with a business executive, he confessed that to change from the punch clock system, to an automated time and attendance solution would be a cultural shock to his entire organization. Change, in this instance, was just too painful to bear, despite the fact, the cost of tracking employees hours manually were insurmountable to their bottom line.

Managing your workforce’s labour should be the least of your worries. ATS Time and Attendance Canada offers industry-leading software solutions that provide the knowledge, tools and support needed to optimize the deployment of your workforce.

If your business is still using paper-based time sheets, chances are you have not been introduced to the advantages of an automated time management system.

Cost savings and benefits of an ATS time and attendance solution include:

Track and Manage Labour Costs
ATS web hosted time and attendance, measures labour ratios and reduces unnecessary costs.

Vacation/Personal Time Off
Personal Time Off with our TimeWork software synchronizes requests and approvals and ensures adequate coverage.

ERP, Payroll and HRIS Data Integration
ATS hosted time and attendance seamlessly integrates to any ERP, Payroll and HR system.

Data Synchronization
Employee time clock synchronizes in real time, with the ATS workforce management software. No more adding up of employee hours using a calculator.

Stop Employee Time Theft
Using paper-based time sheets or an antiquated punch clock can cost a company thousands of dollars a year in productivity and human error.

Notifications
Alert notifications trigger in real time to alert managers of issues requiring immediate attention.

Human Resources Information
TimeWork can be used to track employee information such as: certifications, uniforms, asset tracking, training and next of kin contact information.

ATS integrated workforce management software saves time, cuts costs and aligns employee performance with your operational business goals.

The ATS time management solution automates and integrates ERP, payroll, HR, scheduling, forecasting and labour analytics. Even the most cost-conscience organization can find ways to use their workforce more efficiently. Our time and attendance system helps you plan, deploy and track your employees and their performance on one single platform. The result is enhanced productivity, and better, more informed decision-making.

Here is what one of our many customers had to say:
“Once again I must commend the work and dedication of your support department. Jackie was waiting at 8:00 am today to help fix the problem in the system. She worked for a good 2 hours to get everything back on track and had me test it to make sure from my end. I do not know what I would do without her. I assume you must have other clients that feel the same. Please add my name to that list for anyone who is interested in discussing ATS commitment to servicing its clients”.
Sheila P, Director of Payroll Operations- L Building Supplies

To read more about our time and attendance and workforce management software go to our website. To join our weekly user group session register online.

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Implementing multiple software applications at the same time can lead to disaster

September 1st, 2011 | Posted by Apex Time Solutions in Employee Time and Attendance | Employee Time Tracking Software | Time and Attendance On-Demand | Time and Attendance Software | Time Management Solutions - (0 Comments)

Deploying a Time and Attendance, Human Resources Information Systems (HRIS), Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Payroll modules at the same time can be a recipe for disaster. Companies should instead take a methodical approach by implementing one module at a time. Too often projects get derailed due to lack of resources, end users were not properly trained and underestimating the amount of time it take to implement various modules of a business automation software. Whether the software resides on the same platform or involves different vendors, implementation should always be carefully planned. It has been said and has been proven true, that the best laid plans can run amuck. So, with this in mind contingencies should be laid out in the event that the project does not go as planned.

A recent article by The Toronto Star “Huge IT projects can be hazardous to your firm”, brings home the point that the size of your project requires careful planning and the allocation of appropriate resources.

Here is an excerpt from this article;

“In 2003, Levi Strauss wanted to put in place a single computer system, budgeted at less than $5 million. But it quickly encountered a slew of problems, including the failure to sync with Walmart’s computers. During the switchover, it couldn’t fill orders, and three U.S. distribution centres had to close for a week. In 2008, the company had to write off $192.5 million against earnings to compensate for the botch-up, and the chief information officer was forced to resign. Kmart filed for bankruptcy in part over an IT disaster. Hershey’s chocolates couldn’t ship $100 million worth of candy in time for Halloween for one year. In the public sector, debacles in Canada include the federal gun registry and Ontario’s eHealth agency, which was assigned to computerize patient health records. In Germany, the Toll Collect consortium was supposed to bring in new technology to collect road tolls from heavy trucks, but repeated delays cost the government more than $10 billion in lost revenue. Flyvbjerg said they were staggered by the magnitude of the overruns and the sheer number of “out-of control projects that go over budget and over schedule.” Too often, managers assume these disasters won’t happen to them, but if a project goes past 30 months, the odds increase that it will happen. He suggests breaking projects down into smaller, more manageable chunks, with firm deadlines of six to eight weeks, with constant testing of new systems.”

Of course it should be noted that not all time and attendance and other large IT projects go awry. If they do, it is important that all stakeholders meet and regroup. Sometimes the best projects are the ones that almost fell off the rails and were saved by a commitment from both sides.

To learn more, contact Apex Time Solutions about our implementation methodology and workforce management software, best-practice strategies.

Follow us on Twitter and join our LinkedIn group for updates on Time and Attendance and Workforce Management Software.

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Automation of Labour Distribution and Job Costing Revealed!

August 30th, 2011 | Posted by Apex Time Solutions in Employee Time and Attendance | Employee Time Tracking Software | Hosted Time and Attendance Software | Time and Attendance On-Demand | Time and Attendance Software | Workforce Management Software - (0 Comments)

When bidding on projects many companies seek for better control over how their labour dollars and hours are allocated to those projects.  The ATS job costing module was designed to collect and analyze labour distribution and job allocation information.

The ATS job costing module provides an integrated and seamless method to collect, process and report on job costing data in addition to the standard time and attendance information. Job costing data collection is performed in the same manner as time and attendance data collection. The employee presses the desired function key, scans their badge and then scans the job number and project being worked on.

Functionality and benefits of Apex Time Solutions job costing module include:

The real-time visibility saves money through more efficient monitoring and administration, but also allows supervisors to anticipate and eliminate production bottlenecks.

Our system calculates the hours and costs of payroll in environments with complex business rules, including incentive pay policies. It is extremely configurable and is affectivity date-driven. When policies change, the software is flexible enough accommodate these changes.

Job Tracking Terminals uses input devices such as barcode and laser scanners for on-floor data collection. The job costing report allows sorting on all grouping levels, producing thousands of possible report combinations.

Job transfers can be tracked to many different levels. This job module can be set to several different configurations, allowing for single and/or multiple jobs at any period.

Time and Attendance reports can be combined with job costing reports. Writer module available for user defined reports.

 The ATS job costing module is great for tracking specific jobs for billing purposes, or when employees are paid for working in different departments or locations within an organization.

You can go online and read more about the ATS Job costing and Labour Distribution module.

Follow us on Twitter and join our LinkedIn group for updates on Time and Attendance Solutions and Workforce Management Software.

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