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Thinking About Deploying A Time and Attendance Solution? Decision Makers Should Be Involved

November 21st, 2013 | Posted by Apex Time Solutions in Employee Time and Attendance | SmartPhones | Tablet PC | Time and Attendance System | Workforce Management Software - (Comments Off on Thinking About Deploying A Time and Attendance Solution? Decision Makers Should Be Involved)

The goal of purchasing an employee time management solution should focus on a return on investment (ROI) and its tools in streamlining manual business processes. When these projects involve multiple sites and in excess of 25 managers who will require training, key decision makers should make every effort be front and centre of the process. Why? Because these large projects require the attention of stakeholders in the early stages to augment misunderstandings that may occur as the process unfolds. The reason for decision makers to be present during the early stages, is to address the strategic objectives of the company as it relates to a workforce management solution.

Here are three questions that should be addressed:

What are the business challenges?
Some companies miss this point and instead focus on the price of the solution. Of course price is important. However, by focusing on a variety of quotes from several vendors, while choosing to ignore how the product will meet your organizational requirements is a red flag for disaster. In short, one of the most important questions an organization should ask itself is, will the product  we are considering which has the best price match our requirements? If you cannot answer this question, then go back and make sure match your requirements against the functionality of the product.

Is the solution easy to use?
While there are some similarities in the way time and attendance systems, calculate employee time  they do not operate the same. Time and attendance systems will work better at certain companies depending how the organization plans to use the solution. If producing a simple report yields endless pages of paper, chances are departmental managers will get frustrated and won’t use the system. Before purchasing any employee time management solution, make sure you get a flavour of the application through a demonstration. The focus of the demonstration should highlight the vendors’ understanding of your company’s requirements and how said system, will improve your business process and is easy for all users to master.

Will the solution grow with your business?
If the solution you are about to purchase is not scalable it’s likely not the right solution for your company. For example, can the solution work on smartphones and tablet PCs and can it be accessed from anywhere and at anytime? When choosing your solution, find out if it will support changing platforms for the next 5-7 years and beyond, otherwise you are likely throwing money out the window.

Conclusion: your time and attendance system should be viewed as a long term investment and companies, should do all they can, to ensure that the solution matches their requirements.

To download a demonstration or to learn more, go to our website.

Thinking about deploying a time and attendance solution-Decisoin makers should be involved

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How Do You Plan On Choosing Your Time and Attendance Solution?

June 11th, 2013 | Posted by Apex Time Solutions in Benefit Accruals | Business Intelligence | Employee Time Tracking | Overtime Equalization | Payroll | Time and Attendance | Web-Based Time and Attendance Software - (0 Comments)

Several months ago one of our account representatives received a request for quotation (RFQ) from a prospective customer. With the help of one of our pre-sales engineers, we pored over the requirements and discovered some inconsistencies with the list.  Upon discussing those findings with the prospect, we discovered that the list of requirements was generated from the quotation of another vendor. Of course, it’s not unusual to find requirements submitted by a prospective customer that were in fact, created by a vendor to sway the customer’s buying decision in their favour. However, what was unusual in this case, is that this particular prospect, had not taken the time to figure out their actual requirements. Without this important piece of information, they could not state what kind of time and attendance system would best fit their needs.

By carefully taking time to write down a list of requirements, customers stand a better chance of avoiding software problems. Choosing the right time and attendance requires a plan. It’s important to note, that despite what you might be told, not all time and attendance applications are created equal.  

Some companies are so caught up on the price that they end up selecting a time and attendance system that lacks the capability to address what they want out of the application. A thorough analysis, including probing questions about how an organization is currently working, can uncover areas for improvement. This is a good starting point that can help in selection of the right employee time and attendance system.

The right time and attendance software can facilitate things like: data integration, labour, employee data collection and business intelligence reports all of which can be extremely beneficial to companies that are looking to streamline business processes. One of the best ways for companies to go about choosing a time and attendance software is to define an implementation strategy.

If companies follow some of this advice in choosing an employee time tracking software, they will quickly realize a return on investment and reap the benefits of the system.

To learn more or to view a demonstration, go to our website. You can also follow us on Twitter or join our workforce management software group discussion on LinkedIn.

You might like these:

How To Choose a Time and Attendance Solution
How Can We Quantify The Benefits Of An Employee Attendance Solution?
Will Our Cloud Time Management Solution Show An ROI?

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Controlling Labour Costs Will Improve Your Bottom Line

August 29th, 2011 | Posted by Apex Time Solutions in Employee Time and Attendance | Employee Time Tracking | Hosted Time and Attendance Software | Web-Based Time and Attendance Software - (0 Comments)

Recent talk of a double dip recession is the new norm among the so called financial experts. Many of these experts were the same ones back in late 2006 and the early part of 2007 who said there were no signs of a recession.  What has become apparent since our “Great Recession” is that businesses are becoming more vigilant with their expenditures. In that same vein, controlling labour costs is one of the greatest concerns for many businesses, regardless of their size. When productivity and labour costs are aligned with a company’s objectives, rosy forecasts and profits tend to follow. And so, as your business grows beyond manual time tracking and paper time cards, you need a time tracking software designed to ensure you receive the most accurate information. ATS workforce management software enables you to collect, analyze and take immediate control of your labour data – all online and in real time.

 At times, the business case for a time and attendance system, does not become apparent until a company’s paper time cards or antiquated punch clock show their inherent flaws. The question then becomes, can you really save time and money and see a return on your investment?

 Here are some benefits to using our employee time capture system:

 Elimination of paper time card costs

The costs associated with paper time cards include: storing them, distributing them, manually collecting them, routing them for exception checking and, for organizations with multiple locations, shipping them to central locations.

 Preparation of Employee Time Cards

When using a manual system, it takes an average of three to five minutes for an employee to fill out a time card for each pay period. When the preparation of these time cards is processed very quickly, employees are more likely to have inaccuracies. In contrast, it takes mere seconds to make an edit when using an ATS time management system.

 Reduction in the Payment of Unproductive Time

When using a manual time tracking system, it is difficult to track employees who leave early, come in late or take extended breaks. The use of a time management system shows the employees who have punched in or out. Companies that automate their time keeping business process reduce data entry errors.

 We have only scratched the surface you can get by automating your time tracking methods. The evolution of a 21st century time and attendance system is a distinct advantage for many businesses. By carefully examining your company’s employee data collection, you are likely to find other areas where you can improve the efficiency of your time collection process.

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

Download your free copy of “Benefits of using an ATS Time Management System.” To learn more about our software solutions visit our website.

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Accurate Data in a World of Regulatory Compliance

August 15th, 2011 | Posted by Apex Time Solutions in Hosted Time and Attendance Software | Time and Attendance On-Demand | Time and Attendance Software | Time and Attendance System | Time Management Solutions | Web-Based Time and Attendance | Workforce Management Solutions - (0 Comments)

Many people are aware of Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 or its commonly referred to acronym, SOX. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act is an eleven-part document covering all the requirements for registrants of the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Important parts of this report include sections 302 and 404, which impose new rules and responsibilities intended to ensure that financial reports are materially and accurate present a fair and true picture of a company’s condition. 

Section 302 requires CEO’s and CFO’s to sign off on the accuracy of their financial statements, obligating them to accept personal liability for those statements; a new and frightening responsibility.

Canada, Europe and other parts of the world have their own brand of Sarbanes-Oxley. The purpose of this is to prevent the type of corporate scandals that have made shareholders of public companies, see their stock lose value, because of the lack of oversight by a few greedy tycoons.

Our Hosted Time and Attendance Software provides rudimentary SOX Compliance initiatives that include:

  • Multiple highly secure facilities with redundant fault tolerant environment
  • Crucial scheduled database backups
  • Flexible reporting from a secure database structure

Sarbanes–Oxley requires that controls are in place to ensure a secure environment for sensitive and financially related data for organizations. Our Web-Based Time and Attendance Software is hosted at a secure server facility. Apex Time Solutions will assist with SOX Compliance by ensuring secured access to mandated reporting is made available when required.

 With ATS Cloud-Based Hosted Time and Attendance you eliminate expensive hardware purchases, license renewals, and any other fees required to maintain your IT system. Avoid all the heartaches that come with manual time sheets by automating your time clocks. The ATS Hosted Time and Attendance System solves this problem by accurately recording your employee’s time punches, and automating your rules and regulations resulting in a precise payroll process.

 Our Workforce Management Solutions include activities, processes, and tools needed to manage a workforce. There is a wide variety of configurable time and attendance solutions that can meet the demand of any business segment, which include:

  • Time and Attendance – labour tracking, data collection, time tracking
  • Absence Planning – managed leaves, unmanaged leaves, productivity
  • Workforce Planning – long term forecasting, variance management
  • Scheduling – optimizing, short term forecasting, shift tracking

 You can save thousands of dollars but still run your business like a world-class infrastructure. We offer a very flexible per-user/per-month pricing structure for our hosted time and attendance software. With Apex Time Solutions, you only pay for what you need.

 To download a copy of our Hosted Time and Attendance brochure click here. To view a demo or to speak to one of our account executives contact us here.

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Which time clock would you recommend for our organization?

August 2nd, 2011 | Posted by Apex Time Solutions in Employee Time Tracking Software | Time and Attendance | Time and Attendance On-Demand | Time and Attendance Software | Time and Attendance System | Time Management Solutions | Workforce Management Software | Workforce Management Solutions - (0 Comments)

This is a hard question to answer without knowing more about a company’s culture and their environment. Some companies feel it is unnecessary to track their employee’s time since it might be misconstrued as a lack of trust by management. A few years ago, we received a call from the Director of HR of a 500 employee capacity company that was looking to replace their current system. Their current time and attendance system had been in place for a year. Naturally, we asked why. Their response “we installed several finger print readers across our plant and it has been nothing but a nightmare.” It turns out, the plant was a foundry and they had assurances from their vendor that the hardware would work quite well. In fact, the dust in this particular environment was not conducive to the sensitivity of the fingerprint readers.

Apex Time Solutions typically goes through a series of questions to understand which of our employee time clocks will best suit your company’s environment. During the site survey, our hardware technician further validates which time and attendance data collector will work best at the location in question.

Our workforce management software complements: Bar Code, Magnetic Swipe, Hand Punch, Fingerprint Readers and Facescan Time Clocks. Our time and attendance software provides detailed reports that reveal the number of hours spent on each absence type. The ATS time and attendance reporting allows administrative personnel to help resolve absenteeism by enabling companies to take a proactive stance in dealing with attendance.

Workforce Management Solutions by ATS include time and attendance, absence management, scheduling and labour analytics. To download a report on “Recommended Time Clocks” by industry type Click here. To learn more about Apex Time Solutions go to our website.

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The Price of Everything, The Value of Nothing

July 25th, 2011 | Posted by Apex Time Solutions in Employee Time Tracking Software | Time and Attendance Software | Time and Attendance System | Web-Based Time and Attendance - (0 Comments)

Oscar Wilde famously said, “The price of everything, the value of nothing” This quote has been used in many sectors of society to help us understand, that some things which are considered free, cheap or very inexpensive are not worth much in terms of their value. Now, we readily admit that you might find some things in this world that are free or very inexpensive but, there is no guarantee of value.

Raj Patel wrote a great book called “The Value of Nothing”. In this fragile economic climate, customers want to find the best value for their dollar, and so, they should. Some are lured by ads that espouse the virtue of a free time and attendance system, and in some cases, get teaser prices that eventually end up with a system that does not work in accordance their specific needs. More often than not, these inexpensive or very cheap time and attendance solutions barely last a year. We are not suggesting one should go out and break the bank in an effort to deploy their time and attendance solution. What we are merely saying is, if the system is going to meet your needs based on assurances from your potential vendor, (not withstanding due diligence was performed) you should be well on your way to deploying a robust time and attendance system.

 Our time and attendance system is used by a variety of companies, in different industries to record the working hours of employees. Some of our customers, record the number of hours spent on specific tasks by employees for the purpose of labour distribution.  Our time and attendance system enables companies to have full control of employee hours at the supervisor and payroll practitioner’s fingertips.

The ATS Workforce Management Software protects companies from payroll fraud and provides employees with confidence in the accuracy of their paycheques on pay day.

 To learn more about our time and attendance solutions go to our website and to download our time and attendance implementation methodology click here.

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What is Overtime Equalization?

July 21st, 2011 | Posted by Apex Time Solutions in Time and Attendance Software | Time Management Solutions | Web-Based Time and Attendance - (0 Comments)

In the manufacturing sector and related verticals, overtime equalization is quite prevalent. In essence, it is the allocation of overtime hours spread equally to employees in an organization. In companies whose workforce is governed by a collective bargaining agreement, the employee with the most seniority gets to pick overtime hours first. Employees with less seniority get to pick next and so on. Imagine trying to allocate overtime hours in a company with one hundred employees? Next, imagine trying to do it for a company with employees in excess of 500 or more? Attempting to do an equitable distribution of overtime hours using a manual process can be a headache for payroll practitioners, finance and HR management personnel.

The ATS Overtime Equalization module improves the equal allocation of overtime hours, by matching employee availability with overtime needs. ATS Overtime Equalization offers sophisticated business intelligence to provide a window into the areas of workforce performance that matter most to your organization. Our solution highlights overtime offered, refused, accepted, and actual hours worked. ATS Time and Attendance Overtime Equalization functionality highlights the ‘next eligible’ employee for overtime allocation. With this module, supervisors and managers have a concrete and objective way to allocate overtime hours.

ATS Overtime Equalization can also be used as a reward for employees who honour rules for attendance, punctuality, and workplace behavior. When used in conjunction with our time and attendance solution, the ATS Overtime Equalization tool takes away the burden of assigning overtime and provides a fair and equal system for all employees.

To speak to someone about our integrated overtime equalization and time and attendance system go to our website or click here to request a live demonstration.

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Using Online Time Sheets will make your Remote Workforce Happy

July 13th, 2011 | Posted by Apex Time Solutions in Time and Attendance Software | Time and Attendance System | Workforce Management Software - (0 Comments)

In surveys conducted by Aberdeen Group, Canadian Payroll Association, American Payroll Association (APA) employee time entry and the maintenance of accurate time and attendance and payroll records remain top priorities for companies of all sizes. The introduction of workforce management software streamlines the payroll process with other key functions such as payroll, business rules and customer satisfaction initiatives. These studies consistently reveal that companies using an automated time and attendance system report significant savings on their labour costs.

Some companies have a remote workforce and need to track the hours and projects that employees work on. ATS Online Time-Sheets is completely web-enabled time and attendance system and utilizes state of the art technology. This web-based solution, allows employees to punch in/out from any computer on the local network or remotely via the internet. The Web-Time system will eliminate the need for a physical time clock, allowing employees the flexibility of punching from their desktop or a remote location, rather than from a fixed time clock location. 

Our Online Time-Sheets allows for supervisors and employees to access the same system with different access privileges.  A supervisor can login to view detailed system information and configuration rules while an employee logs in only with the ability to punch in or out.  These access levels are all user defined, giving the system customizable flexibility depending on your needs. A messaging system also exists within Web-Time to allow supervisors to send messages to employees. 

To learn more about our employee time tracking online time sheets, go to our website or to speak to one of our account executives call: 1.866.294.2467

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Time and Attendance Software Support

June 23rd, 2011 | Posted by Apex Time Solutions in Employee Time Tracking Software | Time and Attendance Software | Time and Attendance System | Time Management Solutions | Workforce Management Software | Workforce Management Solutions - (0 Comments)

There are a variety of terms used to describe a support agreement after the purchase of a product or service. At Apex Time Solutions, we provide an SLA (Service Level Agreement). SLA is a term often used to describe the contracted delivery time of the service or performance. It is a contract that describes what the service provider is guarantees to deliver to the customer. Our SLA provides a guideline for services, priorities, responsibilities, guarantees, warranties and specifies the levels of availability, service, performance and operation.

Apex Time Solutions’ integrated implementation support offers reliable response to technical disruptions and maintains system health and integrity. With this offering, you benefit from insights into ATS solutions and expertise to mitigate risk, while tapping the innovations that ATS continually introduces.

We have a variety of time and attendance software plans that include corporate support—from basic to the most advanced, depending on your needs. You can also upgrade a service plan through an ATS account executive.

 It is one thing to boast about how good you are, it’s another to hear it from one of your customers. As the saying goes, “the proof is in the pudding”.  Here is one of our many testimonials:

 “Recently, we ran into problems trying to open the scheduler in our system. Since we are a retail environment, we rely on the scheduling so we can make sure we have the right amount of people when we need them. I received a call at 9:00am from an ATS support representative on Saturday morning a day when ATS offices are usually closed, and in less than an hour, they had the scheduler working for us. I would recommend ATS to any customer looking for a new time management system. Their response time to service is unsurpassed.” E. Erlichman, General Manager-IGA

To learn more about our Service Level Agreements or for a demonstration of our time and attendance software click here.

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A Flexible Time and Attendance Software Revealed!

June 21st, 2011 | Posted by Apex Time Solutions in Employee Time Tracking Software | Time and Attendance Software | Time and Attendance System | Time Management Solutions | Workforce Management Software | Workforce Management Solutions - (0 Comments)

 Saint Jean Baptiste Day is a highly celebrated statutory holiday in the Province of Quebec. It is important for companies in Quebec that a time and attendance software can capture this holiday in its time and attendance software. The same holds true for companies with multiple locations. They also want a time and attendance software that is multijurisdictional with rules flexible enough to capture statutory holidays, complex labour laws and collective bargaining agreements, to name a few. Our time and attendance software uses a transaction-based engine that allows you to automatically handle complex HR, various labour laws and payroll policies.

ATS time and attendance systems provide time tracking and leave management capabilities including setting the break times, lunches, time off and overtime. Our workforce management software also tracks late punches and show and provides a graphical pattern of absenteeism.  If your organization has multiple locations and needs the flexibility of a time and attendance software to track statutory holidays and various pay policies, go to our website. 

Apex Time Solutions business knowledge and technology expertise allows us to help our customers adapt as their industries change, and in the process, allows us to evolve with the industries in which we operate.

 To download a white paper on our “multijurisdictional time and attendance software” application click here.

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