The Best Time Tracking Solution for HR Teams - Part 3
As the third and final installment of the Henry Ford Teams series, it seems fitting that the topic would be time; or more importantly, what time tracking solutions HR managers should consider.
“Time waste differs from material waste in that there can be no salvage.”
-Henry Ford
The driving force behind Ford’s methodology was based on time: how could he make his workers produce the most quality product in the least amount of time, what was the path of least resistance to get from point A to point B, who was the most capable for each task that needed to be performed.
Not only was Ford focused on ways to save time, he knew exactly how to utilize time using the tools that he had at his disposal: his employees. He had 7,882 jobs available in his factory and had each job divided up based on the capabilities of his employees:
- 3,595 jobs required no physical effort
- 2,637 jobs by one-legged men
- 949 jobs required “physically perfect” men
- 670 jobs could be performed by legless men
- 715 jobs by one-armed men
- 10 jobs by blind men
- 2 jobs by armless men
Back to the Future
Knowledge of the jobs he had available in his factory, and the time it took for each job, allowed for Ford to track exactly how long it took to produce a Tin Lizzie along with the cost of production per car. He understood that by having efficient time tracking in his factory, he could maximize profits while minimizing costs — a concept that businesses can still appreciate today.
Time is Money
Time tracking has evolved into so much more than logging how many hours an employee has worked. Now, time and attendance can encompass everything from scheduling to paid time off. That’s not including all of the laws involving what employees are qualified as exempt or nonexempt, minimum wage, etc.
Naturally, every employee’s go-to when they have questions about their time-cards or concerns with payroll is the HR department. A seemingly simple problem can very quickly transform into a giant monster of an issue, causing frustration for both the employee and your team. How much is this wasted time costing your organization?
According to Gretchen Gavett of the Harvard Business Review, the U.S. is losing $7.4 billion per day (50 million hours) due to unproductivity in the workplace. However, with a cloud-based time tracking solution, the amount of money lost in the workforce can be enormously diminished.
Benefits of an Automated Time Tracking Solution
Just think of all the productivity that your team can gain by not having to worry about the little details of time management! All the employees of the company would clock-in through online time capture methods, and their managers could schedule their employee’s shifts through the same system, allowing for minimal scheduling confusion. Your HR team could also assign employees to their managers, and give managers the access to change shifts, approve requested time off through the automated system, and view the analytics of employee records.
How APS Can Help Keep You On Track:
Interested in keeping your company operating like, well, clockwork? Feel free to contact us today at 855.945.7921 to learn about our award-winning software, or schedule a demo to see for yourself what APS is all about. Still on the fence about considering other Payroll and Core HR solutions? Read our customer success stories to see why changing to a unified workforce management solution is the best thing you can do for your HR team.
Thanks for reading our Henry Ford “Teams” series! If you missed Part 1 and Part 2, click on the links here to check them out: The Best Payroll Solutions for HR Teams & The Best Core HR Solutions for HR Teams. For more content like these, be sure to subscribe to our blog to get the latest updates and tips on everything Payroll and Core HR related.
Sources:
http://www.yourworkplace.ca/henry-fords-management-tips
https://www.history.com/topics/inventions/henry-ford
https://hbr.org/2015/01/workers-are-bad-at-filling-out-timesheets-and-it-costs-billions-a-day