Time off tracking software is essential if you want to keep an accurate log of the time your employees are absent. This can increase productivity, improve health and well-being in the workplace, while also saving time and money.
The US economy loses an estimated 50 million hours of productivity per day due to unrecorded working activities. While this will immediately impact your business, it has even bigger consequences by decreasing the country’s GDP. Thus, tracking your employees’ time off correctly works at both the macro and micro economic levels. As a digital marketing company, you will likely have workers operating at different times and locations, making robust time off tracking software a must.
Why Does Your Marketing Company Need Time Off Tracking Software?
Time-off tracking software is essential for effective deadline management. This ensures the stability of marketing project continuity. Time off tracking software will provide you with an overview of the marketing company and its staff. You can then check times when multiple key players, who need to work together, may be absent simultaneously in times of need and reallocate their time off. It also allows you to see where bottlenecks may be created due to these absences. Have a key player out like a graphic designer just on the approach to a deadline? Time off tracking software can let you see the issue before it occurs.
Having an accurate record of hours worked and absences can also help with budgeting. This may be helpful when you are planning a project or a pitch. You will know when you need to have people working, how much it will cost, any overtime expenses, and even see if you need to bring in freelancers. With automated invoicing, you can also do this by reducing the burden on your administrative staff.
Marketing companies also need scalability. There are times when projects come thick and fast, and you need to grow quickly. There will also be other times when workloads decrease, causing you to scale back. This is natural, and having time off tracking software in place can deal with this. You can then concentrate on more important tasks, such as communicating ideas and increasing customer satisfaction.
In the frantic moments, you also need to protect yourself and your staff from burnout. Your workers need their vacation, for the purpose of health and well-being. Yet around 4 in 10 U.S. workers don’t take all their allocated time off, according to a Study by the Pew Research Centre. Having paid time off tracking software lets you see who in the marketing company is not taking breaks, eliminating burnout and improving staff retention.
The All-Round Choice – Factorial
An all-in-one business software solution, Factorial has really been making waves in this crowded market. The list of brands using it is vast: vFAIRS, Oliant and Globalfy, to name a few. While it does provide services for finance, payroll and other areas, you have the chance to customize your options so you don’t pay for features you don’t plan on using. This can be essential when scaling up a growing marketing business.
When it comes to tracking time worked and spent off, few packages can be tailored to suit your needs like Factorial can. With their time off tracking software, onboarding is also easy, and simply requires you to set up your company policies for time tracking in its attendance management section.
There are a selection of ways your marketing team can clock in, and you get to choose the one that best suits your needs. Due to the handy app, the team can clock in remotely from anywhere, so you can see the actual hours or location they clock in at. In a busy marketing firm that employs permanent staff, freelancers and works remotely, possibly in different time zones, this is crucial. This can even be done with the use of handy QR codes. Once this happens, you have access to the hours worked and are able to make reports and analyze time usage.
It also has extremely safe record storage. This can help you comply with any regulations given by your state or country on how employee information should be stored. Compliance is also made easier with the addition of geofencing. This allows you to limit work hours based on location.
Factorial states that their system can save you up to $3,420 on time tracking each year. This is based on an hourly wage conversion, which is cross-referenced with hours saved by their customers. This is then deducted from the final price of the software. This is a large amount of money, vital when getting a marketing business off the ground in its first few years. With 13,000 companies spread across varied sectors using their products, it is a great place to start and even has the capacity to scale up as you expand.
Recommended for Customisation Options – Oracle
Oracle has several features under its workforce management solutions umbrella. The first is its absence planning tool, which can automate accrual and entitlement policies from across the globe. This is ideal when managing remote teams or workforces in different locations.
You should find it easy to configure. It is flexible, and you don’t need to know how to code to bring it to life. You also have the choice to integrate it with wider Oracle HR solutions.
What is most useful is that it actually has functions to ensure the health and well-being of your employees is paramount. This includes wellness policies such as time off plans and the ability to cash out absence balances. There are also burnout controls, which plot any time off patterns and correlate them to high turnover and overtime hours.
The downside to Oracle is that with so many customization options, it can be confusing. You can get lost in the limitless options, which is not great when you just want simple functions that are easy to integrate and onboard. It can also be glitchy, and the navigation controls can get frustrating at times, as there are no options for opening links in new tabs.
Microsoft Integration – Microsoft Teams (Shifts)
Shifts integrates with Microsoft Teams, so it has to be your communication tool of choice already. This is also its greatest asset. When people log on, they have a range of self-service tools, meaning they can log days off and input their own availability. This frees you and the HR department up for other tasks, and Shifts is very useful when managing a remote team working in different time zones.
As the name suggests, it also goes beyond tracking time off and allows you to create rotas. As long as the data you input is correct, it can bring up schedules for all your employees, which can be instantly amended should any clashes occur.
There are other options when it comes to Microsoft Teams through the integration of third-party apps. Timeneye is one of the most popular. It is used by companies like Asics and Total Energies, so it proves it is in use by several large, global companies. You can use it to automate timesheets and track time off, while diving into its analytics for reports. Being designed exclusively for Microsoft 365, you can use it in conjunction with plenty of other products without a hitch. Other highly rated products include Vacation Tracker.
For Those Using SuccessFactors – SAP
SAP is known for its comprehensive HR tool Successfactors, of which the time tracking software is just one facet. It can help you control all levels of employees, but crucially, it helps you manage the costs of staffing and improve productivity alongside it.
Like many of these software packages, it has introduced elements that let staff take on the responsibility of their own HR. This includes providing your workers with a handy app that has a personalized user experience across varied devices. It also integrates with a digital clock, allowing them to punch in and out wherever they are. There are also plenty of options to allow you to input data related to local compliance regulations.
The time off feature allows managers to approve or decline requests through the use of a web browser or easily on a mobile device, perfect for managing your remote team. Over time, the duration of leave and type are easy to see in the overview. This allows for much easier decision-making when approving or declining the request.
For Global Brands – Workday HCM
Workday HCM has some of the most positive reviews on the web, though it isn’t as well-known as many of the other choices on the list. This is despite their estimations that 60% of the Fortune 500 employ it. You can use it for finances, payroll and crucially, shift management with time off tracking. Integrations include everything from learning to talent optimization.
All its functions for time off are in a centralized location, making it extremely easy to use. For your employees, logging time off and making requests is also easy to do through the interface. Tracking for different types of leave is also possible, including options for long-term absence like maternity.
The downside is that the setup is complex. It is quite likely you will need to hire an expert to get it integrated for you, so for those wanting to get started right away, it may not be the most suitable option.
Thus, our pick for all-around time off tracking software is Factorial. It is easy to get started with, but it has plenty of options for upgrading and scaling. Everything you need is included, and it provides your staff with ways to keep you informed of changes and increases transparent communication. With excellent pricing for a range of needs, it can suit everything from small businesses to larger organizations.
