As companies look to better manage labour costs and improve operational efficiencies, automating time and attendance management is a key area for direct savings. Although more and more companies have began moving in the direction of automating some of their payroll functions, they are still faced with the challenge of eliminating the risk of buddy punching. In fact, three out of four companies experience losses from buddy punching.
If employees believe that the system they are using is reliable and accurate, they will be far less likely to attempt buddy punching or other fraud. Deploying biometrics virtually eliminates payroll errors associated with buddy punching since it requires the employee to physically be there to clock in and out of work. By doing so, companies can realize significant returns by reducing the cost of payroll. Biometrics can also eliminate the need for paper-based or badge-based systems and its associated maintenance costs, and overall improve efficiency.
Depending on the number of employees, facilities, and work schedules involved, the scale of potential returns from implementing biometrics can vary. On average when implemented successfully, companies using biometrics can deliver a payback in fewer than 9 months. That is return on investment (ROI) within the first year of purchase.
The ROI will also depend on the adoption process, and ease (and cost) of development. With biometric terminals, ROI can be realized by both the employees and company as a whole. At the enterprise/end-user level, improved accuracy of data collection, elimination of manual entries and printed cards, and the added integrity of biometric records dramatically increase the confidence that the correct employees are on site. ROI can be realized in reduced supervisory and monitoring time and improve the employee-supervisor relationship. This allows managers to focus their efforts on achieving an effective workforce instead of constantly worrying about their employees and time consuming administrative tasks. With biometric time and attendance terminals, it is estimated that 2 to 5% of payroll can be cut, which can save companies thousands of dollars.
For a quick estimation on how much your company can be saving by automating your workforce, click on our ROI calculator at www.askjimmy.ca. Learn more about biometrics at our website.
