Be honest: How often have you walked out of a meeting thinking, “That could have been an email”? There’s a simple solution to determine — and eliminate — those time-wasters in your daily work routine, and it begins with online employee timesheets and time tracking.
But did you know that less than one in five workers has a time management system? Moreover, only 20% of people reported looking at their monthly time tracking to determine where they’ve spent most of their working hours. Using a free time card calculator to estimate your employees’ gross pay based on hours is a good start, but that alone won’t provide some of the insights you need to make better business decisions.
Here’s a brief history of time tracking and online employee timesheets’ many benefits for small business owners.
What is time tracking?
Throughout your career, you’ve likely come across a punch time clock or manual time cards at some point. Interestingly, the first time clock came into existence in 1888 in a jewelry store as a way to keep track of employee hours. Over the decades, as technology evolved, so too did time tracking, often shifting from punch cards to online employee timesheets that allow workers to easily submit their hours at the end of a pay period.
Punching in and punching out daily gives you, the employer, the data you need to pay your employees correctly. But how do you gain insights into your company’s productivity, satisfaction, and overall efficiency? Time-tracking management software lets you take a granular look at where you and your employees spend time.
Benefits of implementing online time tracking
Here’s how online employee timesheets can work to your advantage in your small business:
Get a better handle on project costs
Let’s say you run a small business like an interior design firm that carries a load of 10 clients a month. That commercial project you’ve taken on may look like it has a big return on investment, but how do you know without doing a time audit?
Using a time-tracking platform can give you deep insights into how you spend time on that new commercial project. For instance, are those meetings a productive use of your time, or would you be better off using the hours you and your employees spend on meetings, working on renderings, and being on the job site?
Online time tracking gives you the tools to understand your use of time, but when integrated with your accounting software, you’ll see which projects put you in the red and which are profitable. Downloading real-time reports of hours spent also enables you to give more precise estimates on projects of a similar caliber going forward — or doing away with clients where you consistently lose money.
Manage workers remotely
LinkedIn reports that in 2022, 50% of all job applications were for remote positions, even though those jobs only make up less than 20% of all openings posted on the site. The takeaway: While essential workers may be required for on-site jobs and companies may want employees in the office, job applicants are increasingly interested in careers that allow at least partial remote work.
Using online time-tracking capabilities gives you an idea of how and where your remote workers spend their time. You might even be surprised. While statistics are all over the place, 41% of respondents on a late-2020 Mckinsey consumer survey said they were more productive working remotely.
Boost employee morale
The COVID-19 pandemic shifted how Americans think about their workspace, disrupting on-site operations for some and creating hybrid environments for others. A “Future of Work” study conducted by McKinsey found that however employees work, businesses will benefit from scaling up practices that perform, transforming those things that don’t work, and making sure employees feel heard in the process.
To put it more simply: Employees want to know that their time at work is used effectively and efficiently. Studies show that happy employees are less likely to leave their job, and they tend to be more productive. Giving employees online time tracking capabilities allow you to understand how best to use an employee and give them the recognition they deserve for a well-done job.
Track time from anywhere
Having yourself or your employees track time on a sheet of paper seems simple … until you realize you use a fleet of truck drivers to make deliveries or have workers moving in multiple directions. Using a digital time-tracking system means you and your employees — and various contractors — can log time from anywhere, anytime. A cloud-based time-tracking system allows anyone to access timesheets via a smartphone, tablet, laptop, or desktop computer, reducing the pain points and the inefficiencies of paper-based tracking.
Run your team more efficiently
Another way to keep employee morale up is by ensuring you dole out work to your employees equitably. That means regularly conducting a time-tracking audit to see where employees spend their time and how much work they have on their plates.
Online time tracking also allows you to prioritize better and allocate resources. You may give Employee A extra responsibilities, for example, because, although Employee B is a faster worker, they have a much higher workload at the moment. Or, it might be a better use of Employee A’s time to take on the higher-paying work because, given their salary, it makes more financial sense.
Communicating your thoughts surrounding time tracking and management also gives your workers a sense of transparency. Better communication may also lead to improved productivity or better outcomes if they know the company’s decision-making process based on time tracking.
So if you’re looking for a way to tighten up your company ship, consider integrating a time-tracking app, online employee timesheets, or a free time card calculator to help you identify who is working on what and for how long. This invaluable process can help streamline your strategies and free time to complete other beneficial, paying tasks.
