4 Hilarious (Yet Effective) Strategies to Punch Buddy Punching in the Face
Time and labor: it’s not just about clocking in and out; it’s the art of managing how long your employees pretend to work versus how much actual work they get done. These are facts; we just might not want to openly admit to them. It’s a vital part of doing business regardless of your industry. But it’s particularly challenging for staffing agencies that work with clients in healthcare, education, light industrial, government, professional services, and 3PLs, among others – industries that commonly employ legions of hourly, shift-based workers.
Staff time tracking is typically one of the most complicated aspects of managing employees. Given the sheer number of employees staffing agencies manage, there’s intense pressure to dazzle clients with top-notch results and ensure the time and labor costs don’t affect margins. Finding the magic formula for leveraging time and labor is like pulling a rabbit out of a hat – do it right, and you’re the star of the show; mess it up, and you’re the clown.
Enter the superhero of our story: time and labor management software.
Time and labor software can dramatically streamline staffing operations, turning a tangled web of spreadsheets into a smooth-running assembly line of efficiency. Management can derive valuable data and deeper insights from revealing the possible cause of low employee performance and turnover, whether it’s work overload or some other personal factor.
Labor tracking can help staffing agencies assess and prioritize modifications to how they do business in general, or specific business practices, to reduce attrition and maintain employee retention in the long run. Turnover is already high in staffing, and poor time tracking exacerbates this challenge, inevitably resulting in the depletion of agency and client resources, increased training time and expenses, and a plot twist in the agency’s financial narrative.
Tracking Time and Labor: Not Just a Walk in the Park
Tracking time and labor might seem as straightforward as a children’s storybook, but throw in variables like multiple locations, assorted assignments, various pay rates, labor regulations, and unique operational quirks, and suddenly you’re in a suspense novel.
The following are the three biggest challenges to accurately tracking employees’ time and labor:
- Paper/manual tracking
- Buddy Punching/location
- Compliance
Just because “we’ve always done it this way” doesn’t make it the gold standard. Manually tracking time is incredibly time-consuming, and brings with it a whole host of issues, including human error, time theft, labor law and other violations, overtime costs, and more.
With manual time tracking, you’re more than likely facing common hurdles such as longer reconciliation time, forced timecard adjustments, re-issuance of checks, and more.
And lurking in the sequel to the first suspense novel? Buddy punching.
Buddy Punching: The Comedy Show
Buddy punching: the workplace sitcom where one employee clocks in for another, a seemingly innocent act of camaraderie that can end up costing more laughs (and money) than anticipated.
Buddy punching is one of the most common methods of time theft. It’s been reported that 75% of U.S. businesses are affected by this costly error. It often starts out as one teammate punching in for another. An innocent favor between workmates. But the impact of this over time may cost more than you realize.
To combat buddy punching, there are a number of technologies available to ensure your employees are where they say they are, when they say they are there.
- Remove the drama. Skip the time clock line with mobile clock in/out: long lines are inefficient and a common reason for buddy punching. Let employees clock in/out on a mobile device to speed the process along.
- Pinpoint location with geofencing: Ensure your employees aren’t clocking in from the couch with a timestamped GPS record of where the punch happened, based on a predefined time punch location perimeters.
- Just one more selfie please. We want to see who is clocking in with selfie verification: Eliminate the risk of buddy punching with facial recognition by taking a photo of the employee when they clock in and out.
- Confirm identity with biometric authentication: Use your employees’ unique fingerprints to confirm their identity and eliminate buddy punching.
Labor Law and Regulatory Compliance: The Plot Thickens
The recent trend towards remote work and hiring beyond state lines has added more layers to the compliance narrative. This change has enabled businesses to access a broader talent pool and for employees to enjoy greater flexibility. While this trend offers several advantages, it also comes with its own unique challenges.
A centralized, cloud-based time and labor solution is the script that ensures everyone’s on the same page, avoiding legal drama and keeping the peace. When establishing policies and procedures that align with out-of-state requirements, a centralized time and labor solution with cloud-based accessibility ensures that compliance measures are efficiently communicated across the staffing agency and to its clients. This not only reinforces a compliance-oriented culture, but also avoids costly mistakes or lawsuits.
Time and Labor Management Software is the Answer
So, while the act of tracking time and labor is as essential to staffing agencies as popcorn is to moviegoers, it doesn’t mean you have to accept losing money as part of the plot. With the right technological sidekicks, most challenges can turn into a standing ovation-worthy performance.
