The expenses of the modern workplace are under the microscope. This is because in order to stay viable, you will need to make sure that you are highly profitable. There are quite a few ways in which people are making this happen. Many are cutting back on employees while others are transferring offices to other parts of the world. Some ways to save on costs are more drastic than others, but they are all viable ways to save money. They are also all very important in being able to stay in control of your companys ability to grow.
One of the costs which tend to get overlooked is the ability to reduce costs by eliminating things like time theft. This is a problem which befalls many different kinds of companies in which hourly employees are used. The most common ways in which an employee will steal time is to have a friend clock them in when they are late, have a friend clock them out later when they leave early or to not clock in at all when they are late because the manager will not know that they were late in the first place.
The last scenario is more common in the modern workplace because managers have more responsibilities than ever. They not only have their entire division to watch after, they have to multitask between other divisions as well. In many cases, they simply do not have enough time to catch employees when they are stealing time.
The problem with time theft is it is a very huge expense. You can end up paying overtime which was never earned. You can also find yourself having to pay for benefits which employees never should have been able to have because they were not working full time hours. So, what do you do? It is not exactly like you can ask your manager to stand by the door and watch every employee come in. They have a job to do and you need them to do it. Wasting time babysitting employees can cost your company a lot of money.
A good solution to the problem is found in the right phone systems. You can buy
VoIP phone systems which can be linked up with your time clock software. This way whenever an employee is late or approaching overtime, the problem can be addressed right away. The system will call the manager if an employee is late clocking in so that the manager can then verify whether the employee is at work or not. This will eliminate the possibility of two employees developing a punch buddy system.
Eliminating the overtime situation is just as easy to handle as the buddy punch problem. You only need to use the software which comes with your telephone systems to alert you when an employee is about to hit overtime. This will alert the manager so that they can send the employee home. It will also alert them to an ongoing problem if there is one. Better schedules can be devised in order to make sure overtime is not in jeopardy in the future. You will also be able to decide if an employee needs to go back through training.
Yet another way in which the VoIP
business telephone systems can assist in eliminating time theft is through video imaging technology. By having the employees sign in using the VoIP phone at the desk, it can capture the image of the person who is clocking in. The visual verification will help managers to know whether the right employee actually clocked in. If there is a problem with buddy punching, they will be able to take care of it right away.
The more information you have to go on, the more accurate your schedule will be and the less time you will have to worry about going down the drain to decreased productivity or simply not showing up for work. You might have to pay a little more for the software and hardware which will allow you to put these kinds of systems in place, but in the end it will be worth it. The amount of money you will be able to save will save will depend on how large your company is and the size of your time theft problem. Do not be lulled into a false sense of security because you have a small business. In many cases, the small businesses stand to take the biggest overall hit because every expense is important to the profitability of the company.
