Time and Attendance Blog, Workforce Management Software

Here Are 3 ways To Create Better Employee Scheduling

A recent article for TLNT.com by Joyce Maroney titled, Ease Retail Turnover By Making Scheduling More Flexible for online sheds light on the headaches that retail managers endure. Whether you are in retail, healthcare or hospitality, you will run into obstacles when creating schedules for employees — and if those schedules are manual, you will be plagued, with unnecessary headaches.

Here are 3 ways to create better schedules from the article:

Make taking time off easy — Establish a formal (ideally written) policy regarding time off requests and execute that policy consistently to ensure workers trust that the process is fair. Beyond that, actually provide workers with paid time off — to refresh themselves and to help avoid absence abuses — and encourage workers to take the time they want and need.

Create personalized schedules — Collaborate with workers when setting their schedules so that their shift preferences are accommodated as much as possible. Take advantage of automated scheduling and analytics tools to ensure that managers have visibility into worker availability and can plan for shift coverage. And don’t forget to provide workers with accrual information and make it easy for them to check their time, request shift changes, and swap shifts with coworkers — bonus points if they can do so from their own phones.

Use technology to staff smartly — Seek insight into how to address staffing coverage during uber-busy periods like Black Friday by looking at historical trends of labor drivers, schedule preferences, and booked vacation time. Doing this requires discipline and analysis, but once the models are in place, managers can easily re-run them with little additional effort to help make intelligent and data-backed staffing decisions in real time.

ATS Workforce Management (WFM) is a comprehensive optimization, planning, and time and attendance software application that manages employee resource demand, streamlines payroll costs, and business analytics. ATS Workforce Management mitigates the risk of potential compliance errors and reduce costs with purpose-built solution capabilities, while encouraging employees to focus on activities that generate more value.

To learn more about ATS (HCM) Workforce Management capabilities, or to download demonstration, go to our website. And, to reach an account executive, call 866.294.2467.

Analytics, Payroll, Scheduling, Workforce Management

Do Most Companies Understand That Working Remotely, Can Attract Future Talent?

It wasn’t too long ago that asking your boss to work from home would likely stunt your career aspirations. And, while some companies still frown on the idea of employees working from home, there is no stopping this shift towards working remotely, a shift that has been taking place for the last several years.

Want further proof that remote work is on the rise, despite reluctance from some companies? Here are excerpts from an article, written by Valerie Bolden-Barrette for HRDive titled, Working remotely is now the norm for developers, new study shows

Eighty-six percent of IT developers work remotely, with almost one-third working from home full time, according to a study by DigitalOcean, a cloud-based platform. Of the more than 4,500 respondents to the study, Currents: A Seasonal Report on Developer Trends in the Cloud: Remote Work Edition, 43% said that the ability to work remotely is “a must-have” when considering a job offer.
Contrary to the belief that remote workers are isolated and disengaged from the workforce, 71% of respondents who work remotely said they feel connected to their organization’s community. However, the 29% of remote workers who feel isolated said they’re disengaged from their company’s culture and excluded from offline conversations with team members when working offsite. Seventy-six percent of respondents expected remote work to offer more work-life balance, but many reported working longer hours and that their work-life balance was only slightly better than their onsite colleagues.
Although remote work is considered the norm for developers, a plurality (47%) started working offsite between one and four years ago. The study also found that on a scale of 1-5, a flexible work schedule was “very important” to many of the respondents (44%).

Despite the above-mentioned stats that shows an upward trajectory, that more companies are adopting a remote workforce mentality-you will have to build a compelling case on the benefits of remote work if your employer does not believe it in.

Here’s some additional stats from the article; “Remote work has swiftly become a norm, especially in a tight labor market with more specialized jobs. Since 2005, the number of U.S. employees who work from home at least half the time has more than doubled, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. But employers have been comparably slow in outlining how such arrangements work for their companies; a majority of employers surveyed in a 2018 Upwork study lacked any official remote work policy”.

Bottomline: There are certain jobs like payroll and HR and in some industries that require employees to be in the office or on a job site. On the other hand, other jobs like software programing or sales can be done remotely. In the end, if you have presented a strong business case on the reasons why you should work remotely, and it does not match with your employers’ corporate culture, it might be best, in the end, to start looking elsewhere.

To learn more about ATS and our Cloud-Based HCM Workforce Management application for mid-enterprise size organizations, go to our website.

You can also request a demonstration or register for one of our bi-monthly webinars. To reach an account executive by phone call: 866.294.2467.

Cloud, HCM, HR Dive, Payroll, Remote Work, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Workforce Management

Machine Learning and Analytics Applications Can Accelerate Your Business

Today, on your mobile device, you can order food, pay for movie or concert tickets and even change the temperature on your house thermostat. And, if your phone has the right application installed, you can ask business related questions, specific, to your company, and have the system understand your requests and anticipate your questions based on self-learning. When morphed together, that’s machine learning and analytics, at its core and, that in and of itself, is part of the future.

Machine Learning and Analytics Applications Can Accelerate Your Business

Modern and data-savvy business executives with their eye on achieving operational excellence want, up to the minute information and, also want to ensure that their departmental managers are not tethered to rigid applications. And, with a fully embedded cloud analytic application, like ATS TimeWork OnDemand, your business can achieve these objectives and more, including:

Increase Workforce Productivity: so users can do their job more efficiently
Streamline Labour Costs: ATS TimeWork OnDemand advanced analytics, helps you gain access to real-time information
Open Data Integration Capabilities: This powerful application optimizes and integrates to any business application, whether its; ERP, HR, Talent Management, CRM or payroll insight to inform every decision, when and where it matters, and in context.

In the world of cloud analytics and time and attendance, not all applications, while similar in nature, are designed to accomplish the same objectives.

To learn more, go to our website, where you can also download a demonstration or register for one of our bi-monthly webinars. And to reach an account executive, call; 866.294.2467

Analytics, ATS TimeWork OnDemand, ERP, HR, Machine Learning, Talent Management, Workforce Management

5 Reasons To Use Workforce Management Technology

The right workforce management technology will streamline HR and payroll processes and, as result, this will improve operational goals. Yet, despite the availability of Workforce Management Cloud solutions, many businesses have not made the move to adopt them or are unaware of the benefits to their business. For some organizations, the incentive to make changes is simply not part of their corporate policy, unless their current legacy dies- and for others, they do not feel it is worth the time and effort to implement a new system. Before deciding against a cloud-based workforce management solution, it is helpful to be aware of some of the benefits and significant return on investment (ROI) that comes with implementing such a system.

5 Reasons To Use Workforce Management Technology

Here are 5 reasons to use Workforce Management Technology:

Workforce Management technology is Cost-Effective
ATS Workforce Management in the Cloud reduces the need for IT support, Server upgrades or the purchase of software licenses, while providing access from any location, with any device 24/7. ATS Workforce Management in the Cloud allows multiple users to access the same application simultaneously.

Decreased Learning Curve for Managers and Employees
Navigating through ATS easy-to-use, Workforce Management in the Cloud dashboards consolidates numerous tasks, leaving more time to focus on vital HR and other business-related issues. With ATS Workforce Management in the cloud, employees can access personal data to review; benefits information, requests time-off, review hours worked, thereby relieving HR from time-consuming data management.

Increased Performance
The intuitiveness, performance and flexibility of ATS Workforce Management in the Cloud is a vital tool for HR and payroll managers. Accessing the ATS cloud infrastructure allows each user to have the flexibility to work from any smart-phone, tablet or workstation.

Flexible Data Integration and Compatibility
ATS Workforce Management in the Cloud offers the ability to integrate different applications seamlessly and with minimal effort, which can save both time and money. And, whether its; payroll, ERP, or HRIS this compatibility allows the two systems to integrate with small increments, so users can use the new system without being overloaded with entirely new information.

Automatic Upgrades
With ATS Workforce Management in the Cloud, upgrades happen automatically. There are no additional costs associated with the upgrades, thus there is minimal employee involvement as upgrades or updates become available. ATS cloud architecture assures you of always working with the latest version. No more down time while updates are processing.

Switching to ATS Workforce Management in the cloud immediately will transform and increase the operational efficiency of the HR department of any organization. ATS Workforce Management in the Cloud allows your organization to streamline payroll costs, while improving workforce productivity.

To learn about ATS Workforce Management in the Cloud or to view a demonstration, go to our website. You can also register for one of our bi-monthly webinars. To reach us by phone, call 866.294.2467.

Cloud Computing, ERP, HR, Payroll, Workforce Management

How Can ATS Workforce Management In The Cloud Help Our Business?

Simply put “Cloud” simply means that your software/application, or data, (as it is commonly referred to) is hosted remotely via the Internet, by ATS Team. ATS Workforce Management in the Cloud helps lowers payroll and operational costs, while remaining seamlessly scalable. In other words, your organization only pays for what it needs, and can expand or change services based on business demand—with no capital outlay.

ATS Workforce Management in the Cloud is a robust, best-of-breed time and attendance application, with a 99.9% service level that ensures best-in-class uptime— that’s readily to your business anytime and anywhere you need it.

The benefit to your organization when you deploy ATS Workforce Management in the Cloud includes; control labour costs, reduction of manual processes, and simplify compliance for all of your employees, locally, regionally and globally.

Here are some additional benefits to deploying this solution for your business:

Capture Employee’s Time
ATS Workforce Management In The cloud will capture the time in/out of employees: Flex-time, full-time, non-exempt, and part-time as well.

Easy to Use
Payroll, HR and operational managers will love the modern, intuitive user interface, accessible from any workstation or mobile device that’s connected to the Internet.

How Can ATS Workforce Management In The Cloud Help Our Business?

Always Current Cloud Application
Your company can take advantage of advanced technology—as they become available. Think about this, you never have to go through a tedious and disruptive process in order to get an upgrade to your system.

Manage Employee Time and Hours by Exception
Instead of going through each employee time card, your users can manage by exception. For example, who is approaching overtime, scheduled to receive a premium or stat holiday pay.

Easily Adhere to Payroll Compliance Rules
ATS Workforce Management In The Cloud can be easily configured to adhere to collective bargaining agreements, and will support the needs of local and global workforce rules.

ATS Workforce Management In The Cloud purpose-built for your industry to help drive business outcomes by engaging your employees, streamlining payroll costs, increasing productivity, and minimizing compliance risk. You can manage your workforce with this powerful and a proven cloud platform that is secure, scalable, and mobile — allowing you to do business when or where you choose to access its power.

To learn more, you can download the app, or demonstration. And, to connect with ATS, you can find us on Twitter, Pinterest or Google+

Collective Bargaining, Employee Time Card, Overtime, Payroll, Workforce Management

5 Tips For Selecting The Right Time And Attendance Partner

You’ve just about had it with that antiquated time and attendance solution that’s producing unreliable reports and driving everyone, from: the HR manager, CFO and CEO up the walls. So, what’s the solution? Move to something else. Using a software solution that’s not working for your company, can detrimental to its financial health. The selection of a new system also comes with its own set of challenge which will include: the Internet search, selecting an internal project lead, the demos… and the list goes on.

So how should you go about selecting a new time and attendance solution? Here are 5 tips:

1) Document your business requirements
Before scouring the Internet and evaluating prospective vendors, you should identify your requirements and underline potential “showstoppers”. It’s very easy to get enamored with fancy software features and lose sight of your requirements. For example, how easy is the product going to be for users? Can the solution interface to your current ERP, HR and Payroll software? Is the solution robust and flexible enough to grow with your business? Make a comprehensive list and divided them into categories to include; functionality, vendor experience, deployment timelines, age of product, yearly updates etc. And, don’t forget to choose a time and attendance solution, that has employee self-service capabilities. After all, who wants to manage employee vacation and other personal time off (PTO) requests with spreadsheets?

5 Tips For Selecting The Right Time And Attendance Partner

2) Adaptability to regulatory rules in your jurisdiction
Workforce compliance and regulations differs depending on the jurisdiction in which your company operates, and so, your time and attendance solution should readily adapt. If you are in manufacturing, healthcare or transportation industry, you may have compliance requirements that are specific to your industry. And, since your company has to adhere to those requirements, so should your time and attendance.

3) Embrace the world of analytics
Analytics and Big Data should be included in your list of requirements. Translation, your time and attendance system has to be in lockstep with the realities of the way in which today’s businesses operate and should-encompass, The Internet of Things (IoT), cloud computing and real-time analytic reporting. These types of capabilities have become critical business components that 21st century time and attendance solutions must possess.

4) Forget what the ‘Jones’ are using
It is very easy to assume that what your competitors are using will work for your organization because you want to keep up with them. Your focus should be on your company’s business requirements, instead of installing the same features as your competitors. How do you know they are happy with the flashy “bells and whistles” they paid for? When deciding to make a change, do it for the benefit of your organization.

5) Don’t rush the implementation and invest in training
When implemented properly and, if updates are maintained on a yearly basis the shelf life of a good time and attendance should exceed 7 years. So, why not take time to make sure it is implemented properly. Unrealistic expectations can leave everyone frustrated. For example, if your project is conservatively slated to be completed in seven weeks, add an additional 2-3 weeks to it. Some companies will overlook the importance of training in enabling the success of implementation. Training should be delivered in stages. At first, project leaders (HR, Payroll and Finance) should be trained during different stages of the implementation. It should follow a methodical approach which maps the company’s way of doing business, using your data. The second and third phase (if applicable) of training should be rolled out and populated to the rest of the users ahead of the system “going live.”

Finally, when it comes to comparing time and attendance options, make sure you are comparing apples to apples. If you only focus on the price and not the actual functionality, you will likely get what you pay for. Also keep in mind the cost of doing nothing can also be detrimental to your business operations as well.

In conclusion, growing companies like yours need a robust time and attendance solution that works, well. Your workforce management solution needs to be user-friendly, flexible, and powerful. As you grow, your business demands a wider range of capabilities—without adding unnecessary maintenance, deployment time, and cost.

ATS provides a variety of implementation and business process improvement services. Our business and consulting arm employs highly skilled and tenured employees, with unmatched experience in the world of workforce management that spans every vertical industry.

To learn more, go to our website, where you can download pre-recorded demonstrations or register for one of our monthly webinars.

Analytics, Big Data, HR, Internet of Things (IoT), Payroll, Time and Attendance, Workforce Management

The Immeasurable Importance Of HR

If prodded a smart business executive might admit the importance of their HR managers. Let’s face it, no company can succeed without its employees but who does the hiring, training, employee satisfaction surveys, retaining of said employees and exit interviews? That’s right, it’s HR.

In Dr. John Sullivan’s article titled ‘Here’s What HR Must Do to Have the Business Impact CEOs Want’ he states, in part; “You shouldn’t need a survey to realize the importance of talent to a business. We have a high impact for a variety of reasons. The first is cost, because employee and HR costs are often the largest single corporate variable cost item (as much as 60% of all corporate variable costs). Second, the talent function has a further major impact because all ideas and innovations come from well-managed employees. And obviously you can’t have great customer service and smooth operations and production without an excellent workforce. He concludes this statement by quoting Jack Welsh who said “HR should be “the most important department of a company.”

In the digital era of big data and analytics smart HR departments are turning to those tools to help them; indentify recruits, predict attrition rates, measure performance, and track employee data with a robust application to improve workforce productivity.

In the end, there is no denying the important role that HR plays within an organization- but they also need the tools to propel their decision making. And, if HR is going to become a more data-driven department, (as they should) senior executives should do everything in their power to ensure, this important department has the necessary automated tools at their disposal.

About ATS:
ATS offers a broad portfolio of time and attendance solutions that streamlines the collection, calculation, and reporting of employee hours for workforce management. ATS time and attendance solution eliminates the manual tasks of payroll preparation, thus- increasing efficiency and reducing errors in corporate HR and payroll departments.

To learn more, call 866.294.2467. And to view a demonstration or attend a weekly webinar go to our website.

The Immeasurable Importance Of HR

HR, Jack Welsh, Payroll, Time and Attendance, Workforce Management

Ye Shall Practice And Embrace Lean Manufacturing

The term “Lean” is well known in manufacturing circles and has been adopted across various disciplines including; Lean Healthcare and Lean Accounting to name a couple. A brief description of lean principles in Wikipedia states in part;

“Lean manufacturing or lean production, often simply “lean”, is a systematic method for the elimination of waste (“Muda”) within a manufacturing system. Lean also takes into account waste created through overburden (“Muri”) and waste created through unevenness in work loads (“Mura”). Working from the perspective of the client who consumes a product or service, “value” is any action or process that a customer would be willing to pay for.

Essentially, lean is centered on making obvious what adds value by reducing everything else. Lean manufacturing is a management philosophy derived mostly from the Toyota Production System (TPS) (hence the term Toyotism is also prevalent) and identified as “lean” only in the 1990s. TPS is renowned for its focus on reduction of the original Toyota seven wastes to improve overall customer value, but there are varying perspectives on how this is best achieved. The steady growth of Toyota, from a small company to the world’s largest automaker, has focused attention on how it has achieved this success.”

Ye Shall Practice Lean Manufacturing

Today, several organizations have formal Continuous Improvement methods that leverage the “lean” process –but may leave others to chance or perhaps feel it’s not as important. ATS Cloud Workforce Management for Manufacturing was developed with lean thinking from its original inception and as such has many built-in capabilities to support your lean initiatives. “You can’t improve what you don’t track or measure.” This in and of itself is one of the tenets that have shaped the ATS Workforce Management for Manufacturing with a robust database, embedded with sophisticated user dashboards, and business analytics.

For example, users can extrapolate reports in real-time to measure payroll costs, through a set of forecasting tool and workflows–and compare key performance indicators (KPIs) against goals to clearly measure on-going improvements. Now, that’s taking the holistic approach to “Lean Manufacturing.”

To learn more about ATS Cloud Workforce Management for Lean Manufacturing go to our website and download a demonstration. And to reach us by phone, call: 866.294.2467.

Ye Shall Practice Lean Manufacturing

Analytics, Forecasting, Key Performance Indicators, Lean Manufacturing, Payroll, Toyota, Workforce Management

Are HR Leaders Readily Embracing The Cloud?

That is an excellent question, when you consider that traditional software used by HR, some of which includes; Human Resources Information Systems (HRIS), Payroll and Time and Attendance have all gone the way of the cloud. HR leaders no longer have to be burden (unless, they want to) with swaths of paper or excel spreadsheets to track employee time and/or track time-off requests.

In a recent article by Curtis Franklin Jr. of Information Week, titled “Why Cloud Computing Is Crucial For HR” he interviewed Erica Volini of Deloitte Consulting. An excerpt of this article reads in part;

“The cloud is the ultimate long-range destination for everyone,” the HR transformation practice leader and principal at Deloitte told InformationWeek in a phone interview. In this case, IT is going to help HR get to the cloud, because doing so will help HR fulfill the new mission business has for a department that has been the poster child of “support” as long as it has existed.

Are HR Leaders Readily Embracing The Cloud?

The possibilities of the cloud for modern HR managers are endless. Gone (although they likely existing with some companies) are the days, when an attendance report would take several hours or a day to obtain. Cloud computing has made it a reality for you to get reports in real-time thus propelling business growth, that’s based on informed decision-making.

And on how HR leaders can leverage the cloud through mobile “One of the things that technology does is improve access to data, but you need HR professionals who have the skill set and be able to use the technology,” Volini said. Part of that ability, she said, is having the time to analyze data and turn the analysis into action.

“You need to free up capacity so the HR business partner has the time and isn’t always in fire-fighting mode. The cloud can help with this through the self-service capability,” she said. “The way that the self-service capabilities are being presented to the business is through mobile technology.”

If your HR leader is still using spreadsheets, there is a better way and it’s faster, flexible, and easy-to- use. Welcome to the world of cloud computing.

To learn about cloud computing time and attendance solutions go to our website. You can also download demonstration, or call; (866) 294-2467.

Cloud Computing, HR, Human Resources Information Systems (HRIS), Information Week, Payroll, Spreadsheets, Time and Attendance, Workforce Management

Webinar: How Cloud-Based Time and Attendance Have Disrupted the Status Quo

It was not too long ago that in order to install time and attendance software, mid and large organizations, needed an expensive Server on which, in turn, was managed by the IT department. In addition, that Server would require updates, patches and licenses every year to remain operational, at proper processing speed and power. Fast-forward to present day and the need to purchase a Server unless, absolutely necessary, on which to host a software application is a thing of yesteryear.

On Friday, October 23rd a couple of our software experts will discuss the transition of an on-premise application to the present-day cloud-based time and attendance. ATS Time and Attendance has helped numerous mid and large organizations (including fortune 500 companies) increase worker productivity, streamline payroll costs, and minimize compliance risks across various industries throughout North America.

In the one hour session, ATS software engineers provide you with answers to:
 The benefits of a unified and integrated; Time and Attendance, Talent management, Human Resources Information System (HRIS), Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), and payroll solution in the cloud?
 How ATS Workforce Management Software drives adoption and engagement and our value proposition
 The difference between ATS Time and Attendance and “run of the mill” time tracking systems
 How ATS TimeWork will improve productivity, reduce costs, and minimize compliance risks
 How you can optimize your business with ATS Time and Attendance from punch to paycheque.

Webinar Details:

Date: Friday, October 23, 2015
Time: 1:00 p.m.-2:00 p.m. Eastern (10:00a.m.-11:00 a.m. Pacific)

To register for this webinar go to our website. You can also join the conversation on LinkedIn, Twitter or Pinterest.

Webinar: How Cloud-Based Time and Attendance Have Disrupted the Status Quo

Cloud Based Time and Attendance, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Human Resources Information System (HRIS), North America, Payroll, Talent Management, Workforce Management

Here Are 3 ways To Create Better Employee Scheduling

Machine Learning and Analytics Applications Can Accelerate Your Business

How Can ATS Workforce Management In The Cloud Help Our Business?

5 Tips For Selecting The Right Time And Attendance Partner

The Immeasurable Importance Of HR

Ye Shall Practice And Embrace Lean Manufacturing

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