The hospitality industry has the need to extract as much value from every operation as possible. Having employees on the clock when there is little for them to do is wasteful, but having a large amount of work to do with almost no one around can result in your facility not looking its best or delivering a poor customer experience. Because of this, using the right attendance tracking software can take a lot of stress off of you and let you direct your attention to more productive pursuits.
Why to Use Attendance Tracking Software
Attendance tracking software allows you to free up your higher mental functions and focus on the most important tasks, such as keeping your guests happy and determining strategies you can use to build a better overall experience. It is very hard to do these things when you are spending valuable time and mental energy tracking down what days people are on, and what hours they have worked. Using software, you do not have to use your mind or much of your time to keep all of this in order. Software makes the process one that you can track at a glance, and that will automatically catch unwanted overtime or scheduling conflicts.
Identify the Laws in Your Area
It is beyond the scope of any one article to try and so much as outline the laws in every area. However, it is your responsibility to be certain that you are not accidentally violating any laws as far as required time off, or leave for specific purposes such as medical problems. Once you have determined what the laws in your area require, you can enter settings into your software that will allow it to automatically provide enough time off to ensure compliance.
Determine Preferred Times Off
Everyone has a set of times and days each week that they would prefer to have off, and this is where a lot of managers run into a challenge. For example, getting children to school on time or working another job can take away part of an employee's ability to work on a given day each week or during a particular time. Asking your employees what their preferred times and days of the week are is great for morale, and giving the best times and days one week can justify occasionally switching up who is on and off. Most people are open to a reasonable level of give and take, when they feel they are being listened to. Listening is the one ability that still requires a human touch.
Enter Everyone's Information
Putting in the information is a vital step in the attendance tracking process, as you will be able to notice patterns quickly. The system will tell you who has been working the most, who is most in danger of getting an unnecessary level of overtime, and who has not been working much comparatively. By being able to track everything, you will notice trends that you can adjust before they become damaging, and reverse any damaging trends you may identify.
Strategize Ebb and Peak Needs
Your location has particular times of the year that require either more or less staffing. As well, different times of the day or night are going to require more staffing than other times. Once everyone's availability, preferences and existing work trends are known, you can begin to place people where they can be their most useful. This minimizes the likelihood of having a large number of employees standing around idle, and also minimizes the likelihood that you will wear out workers with too