One thing to point out from the start is that employee attendance tracking doesn't need to be done in every organization. A number of our clients over the years have not used any attendance systems at all and have not wanted to use them either. These companies had a culture where attendance tracking was just not needed. Employee attendance tracking is important but these clients showed me that it does not have to be done in order to run an organization successfully. There are some instances in which employee attendance tracking becomes an extra expense rather than a source of revenue.

The companies that were my clients and did not track attendance did not do so for the following reasons:

Firstly, they had a great positive culture and punctuality was already being greatly observed and the workers were rarely found coming late. Absenteeism was actually very rare. There were of course times where employees took days off but they were always for genuine reasons. Employee attendance tracking is therefore not necessary in companies like this where employee absenteeism is rare or non-existent. The management and managers in these organizations know that their employees are not the type who just take a day off without any reason. They highly appreciate their employees for doing so, which makes the employee motivated and highly dedicated towards work because they know that they are trusted and valued. It has been truly impressive to observe this type of culture in a few of my clients over the years.

Secondly, it is also not necessary to have employee attendance tracking employee where the employees are aware that the business needs to run properly and to be run for profit and they worked towards that every day. The employees know that they have to complete their tasks on time and they strive to meet their deadlines. For this reason the employees would only take time off when it was possible, and when it worked, according to the company schedule as much as their own.

If you are not lucky enough to work in one of these companies then you do need to have attendance tracking software. These systems can have a positive effect on the employees and the company but, at the same time, they can also still be the bain of the working existence for the person in charge of balancing them. In a lot of cases the employees and managers need to be managed to use the attendance system properly and completely, no matter what system it is. Some business cultures are the opposite of those mentioned above and the employees feel like entering their time into an attendance tracking system as the lowest of their priorities.

One very recent customer of mine had this exact situation. It was only when the employees were told that they would not be given their pay unless their time sheets were complete and on time did they change their ways and start using the system properly. It was interesting to see the change that this rule affected in the organization. The person in charge of the attendance system was overjoyed with not having the chase the employees any more and the employees really didn't seem to mind doing the work on time. Of course there were a few that raised a fuss but then there always is with any change, isn't there?