How to Digitally Track Employee Attendance
With all the technology today, digitally tracking your employees‘ attendance has become even easier than before. But what can you use and how can you do it?
You can do this in a many of ways, including the following:
- Use a tracking application.
- Have a meeting at the start of the work day.
- Check in with them.
- See who is logged in.
- Check their productivity.
You don’t have to worry about your employees not showing up when you have so many things readily available for you to use. Here is everything that can help you with this task.
How to Digitally Track Employee Attendance
Tracking your employee can be a daunting task when you aren’t experienced in the world of remote working, but you can do it. There are many programs out there and other means to figure out if your employees are arriving on their “work day.” Here are just a few:
- Use a tracking application.
- Have a digital meeting at the start of the day.
- Check in with them.
- See who is logged into their work account/email.
- Check their productivity and activity.
You don’t have to take too much from your day to learn who is attending the work day and who isn’t. Attendance can be super easy and a task that shouldn’t add more time to your work day.
Use A Tracking Application
You can download or install a tracking application into their computer. There are so many programs out there that will provide you attendance as well as an activity report.
It all depends on what you need from the program and some programs have different options. These programs can check some of the following or provide these features:
- keystrokes per a minute
- take screenshots of their screen
- provide live screen recordings
- Location
- Clock in and clock out
- Time sheets
There are so many different types of programs that you can choose from out there. Many of the more complex ones you will need to pay for and will provide so many more features that you can use.
There are even just a few simpler programs that provide attendance. If you just want attendance, there are even some free ways to do it. You can even do it with G Suite, if your company has an account with Google.
Have A Meeting To Start The Work Day
This one can be a little more time consuming, but it is a great way to keep that personal touch by checking in with your employees. You can have a short meeting at the beginning of the day.
These meetings can just be check-ins to see how everyone is doing, some updates, or even the expectations of the day or week. It is a great way to stay personally in touch with your employees while getting attendance.
You can do a meeting by department and have the department head take attendance, or if you are a small company, you can take a quick count. Most video conferencing applications can show you who was logged in, but you can always have employees check in via chat.
There are even free add-ons that will take attendance for you if that’s all you want for your company. You don’t have to pay for an in depth tracking application if you don’t want to.
Check In With Them
If a meeting is too much, you can always send out a department wide email to check in with your employees. This is great if you have more employees and a meeting may be too long.
This is also a great way to check in and ensure that everyone is paying attention to their email. You can even download applications that will tell you if the email has been opened or not, or you can check their account.
You can also use a live chat like Slack so you can be in communication with your employees. This is a great way to keep that communication open and you can often tell who is logged in by who responds.
See Who Is Logged In
This depends on a variety of things, but if you use a program for any work projects like Asana, G Suite, Ringer, or other applications, you can check to see if your employees are logged in for the day.
This is a little daunting because you may not be able to check on every employee, but there are so many ways to track to see if your employee has logged in and begun doing their work. You just need to figure out what features your programs have to offer.
Check Their Productivity And Activity
You don’t always need to download a tracking application to see an employee’s activity or productivity. You can just see it by the work they provide and the progress on projects.
If you see that they only made three calls in the sales department, you may need to figure out if they are coming to work or not, especially if they are remote. But if they are making all the calls or completing the projects on time and well, then they are doing the work.
If you use quite a few programs or even use G Suite, you can see your employee’s activity and productivity. You don’t need to download a tracking app because all the information can be found in those programs.
It is always good to check the programs that you already have to see if they provide activity reports. Some even have a simple dashboard you can look at to compare employees and other activities.
Tracking Applications For Attendance
With remote work becoming more and more popular, there have been many tracking applications that you can have your employees install on their computer or you can install on their computer.
Some tracking applications may be a little more and better for larger companies, while there are other attendance applications that are cheaper and provide the minimal feature of seeing who is working. Here are a few of those applications:
- Wolfeye
- Clockify
- Veriato
- BambooHR
- Homebase
- Rippling
These aren’t all the applications out there but are more of the popular ones when you are searching for attendance recording. If none of these sound perfect for you, there is definitely one out there that can fit your needs.
Wolfeye
Wolfeye is a great option for tracking especially if you want to have live feed. Here are some of the features you can look forward too with this program:
Pros | Cons |
● Live screen recording ● Screen shots ● Browser history monitoring ● 3 day free trial ● 97 euros or $107 a year per user. ● 60 days money back guaranteed ● Amazing for small businesses | ● Works only with Windows ● Only for select countries. |
You can get reports on your employee’s activity so you can see what they are doing during their work day and take their attendance.
It provides a lot of perks and so if you are looking for something that not only provides attendance but also other features, then this is perfect for your company.
Clockify
If you are a smaller company, Clockify may be a better option for you. It is a free service that provides attendance for your employees. Here is everything you need to know about this program:
Pros | Cons |
● Free service ● Timesheet fill ● Clock in and clock out function ● Payroll and budget tracking ● Billable hours ● Great for individuals or small companies | ● Sometimes stalls out ● Need to pay for certain features. ● If you have a weak signal, you may need to continually log in. |
This option is great especially if you are an independent contractor or you are a smaller business. You will have to pay for some of the features, but for the basic features, you have access to it for free.
Veriato
Veriato is one of the most popular tracking applications. It is great for bigger businesses because of it’s features. Here are some things it has to offer and some things it lacks:
Pros | Cons |
● Employee monitoring report. ● Insider threat tracking ● Keystroke logging ● Alerts for violations ● Screen recordings ● Screen shots ● Discounts for larger companies | ● No free trial ● Better for larger companies |
If you are a smaller business, this one may not be for you. It is a pretty straightforward application and is easy to install but it is a little more expensive if all you need is attendance.
BambooHR
BambooHR is a great service for attendance and has a lot of perks when it comes to tasks meant for HR. You can use it on desktops and mobile devices! Here are some other features it provides:
Pros | Cons |
● All around HR software ● Time tracking ● Paid time off ● Employee records ● Mobile App | ● Not really a monitoring software ● More for HR ● You may not need all the features it provides. |
If you need something along those lines and help with onboarding and other HR tasks, it is the one for you.
Homebase
Homebase is great for smaller companies looking to keep track of attendance. It has a free option, but if you are expanding or want more features, you can always upgrade to the paid options. Here are some of the pros and cons for this program:
Pros | Cons |
● Free basic option ● 14 day free trial ● Cancel at anytime ● Time clocks ● Payroll ● Offline employee time sheet ● HR perks and features ● Mobile app ● Works with iOS | ● More for HR rather than a tracking application. ● Reports that it takes a while to load when going to a new screen. ● Sometimes, customers don’t get messages. ● Terrible restrictions on cash out feature. |
If you are looking for a basic attendance tracker for a small business, you can get this application for free, at least until you have over 20 employees. You can upgrade or even cancel at any time.
There have been a few complaints about the communication issues, especially with higher volume companies, but there have been many who rave about its features.
Rippling
Rippling is a great option for small businesses because of its pricing. When larger companies use it, the pricing becomes a little expensive. Here are some of the other features you can get with this application:
Pros | Cons |
● Tracks time and attendance ● Review and approve hours ● Employee clock in ● Run payroll ● Different options depending on what you need. ● Better for smaller businesses. | ● Not the best option for larger businesses. ● Features are not as extensive as some of the other applications. ● Issues with filing tax returns. |
This application is great for smaller businesses. It provides all types of features depending on what you need i.e. IT, HR, Finance, and more. Or you can go with a more basic option. It all just depends on what you are looking for.
Why You Should Take Attendance For Remote Work
With remote work, it may be a little more difficult to see if someone is present. You can’t just physically walk out of your office and take note of who clocked in and who didn’t.
As an employer, it is important to take attendance. Here are the many reasons why you should see who is “clocked in” and who isn’t:
- Ensures employees are starting off their work day off right.
- Ensures the employer is getting what they paid for.
- Provides that work environment type of feel.
- Gets employees in the work mindset.
- Keeps track of time used or hours worked.
- Helps track productivity and activity.
You don’t always have to use an attendance application, especially if you already use a tracking application, but it is good to see how many hours your employees are working and keep that work flow that you get when working in an office.
Conclusion
With everything being digital, it has become easier to figure out who is doing their work and who isn’t. It is easy to see who has logged in for the work day, and who hasn’t.
You can download an application to keep attendance or you can double check to see if there is a way with a program that you are already using. You never know what features they may have.
