Time tracking has always been relevant for construction companies. Due to the nature of the business, it's hard to determine when your workers arrive at the site and when they leave. This caused a lot of headaches for supervisors who gave employees paychecks based on their performance and participation.
To address this issue, foremen started using manual, paper tracking systems. Workers would punch in whenever they came to work and punch out when they left. They also had to leave other information on the time sheets, giving supervisors more control over day-to-day processes.
Unfortunately, this system was deeply flawed, which is why most companies nowadays use a time tracking app. Specifically, manual tracking exposed construction companies to various misuse and time theft.
To help you out, we’ve decided to explain the nuances of manual time tracking in construction. After that, we’ll list all the issues with this system and how its hidden costs can negatively affect your business.
What is Manual Timekeeping?
As mentioned, manual timekeeping relies on papers to track employee participations on the construction site. When a person starts and ends their shift, they use these tickets to punch in and out. It is a simple system that monitors each employee’s work hours, which is vital for assigning bonuses and penalizing slackers.
Depending on a company’s policy, employees have to give these papers to their supervisors at the end of the day or week. When a manager receives staff’s tickets, they will enter the data into the sheet and send it to the accounting department. Based on the work hours, the financial experts will assign payrolls.
Despite its flaws, this system worked for a very long time. It was far from perfect, but it kept the industry going. Still, with the development of technology, we have much better solutions at our disposal.
Trouble with Manual Timekeeping
There are lots of problems with this system, including:
- Time theft
- Unintelligible writing and writing errors
- Late inputs and transfer of data
- Wrong categorization
- Double entries
- Other unintentional errors
Given that each employee was responsible for inputting data, the system was all over the place. Perhaps the biggest issue was workers who had poor handwriting or were illiterate. Supervisors also had to deal with sloppiness and general disregard for time-tracking policies. To make matters worse, time theft was something that was always a potential problem on the construction site.
Unintentional Errors
Most of the issues with manual tracking are related to types of and other unintentional errors. Many construction workers have unintelligible writing, which makes it harder to decipher data. Even if workers are doing their best to truthfully represent information, they might still make errors along the way.
The problem cascades down the hierarchy. Managers will have trouble reading the writing, and so will the accountants. Sometimes, supervisors will transfer wrong data to the accounting department due to typos. There are also situations when workers don't understand certain categories or entries and put the wrong information in the box.
Time Theft
Many construction workers use a buddy system to steal work hours. They cut their shift short and gave their ticket to one of their colleagues. The colleague will then punch out the absent friend, making it seem as if the person has finished the shift. Alternatively, an employee might be slacking half of the shift, and he will receive a full paycheck for their work.
Whether we're talking about manual or automatic systems, it's really hard to address this issue. Even with the best tools on the market, you're still dependent on the human factor for maximum efficiency.
Late Inputs
Another common issue with manual input relates to timeliness. There is always some bottleneck while transferring papers from one person to another, leading to late inputs. Keep in mind that most of these tickets aren’t submitted the same day, often taking managers a whole week to add data to the system.
Unfortunately, many things might change within a span of a week. For example, your supervisors might decide to switch their usual routine. Or, staff might be doing a certain task inefficiently and it will take managers a week to figure it out.
The problem of late inputs is especially troublesome if the project is time sensitive. Making slow decisions has cumulative effect on the project, leading to additional delays and significant breaches to the deadlines. As such, manual tracking can even affect your company’s profitability.
How to Address Manual Timekeeping?
The good news is there are different ways to address errors and inefficiencies related to manual timekeeping:
Automated Software
Automated programs are the best way of tracking workers' input. With these apps, you can monitor employees' locations at all times to check if they're on the site. This reduces the odds of time theft. Among others, time-tracking apps store data about each worker, including their contact information and working status.
Perhaps the best feature of this software is automatic work counters. You can easily determine if a person is active and the stage of the project they’re at. Data is transferred directly to your accounting team, cutting out managers as an intermediary.
Timekeeping Policies
The second method for improving your time tracking is by introducing company-wide policies. While these policies might not be infallible, they provide a set of rules workers should abide by.
Most important thing about these requirements is that they should work both ways. Company should provide full transparency to its staff, but also require transparency in return. The supervisors should teach the workers what is considered productive work hours. They should also instruct them how to implement time tracking software into their routine.
Conclusion
Most companies have now switched from manual to automatic data entry. With advanced software, they can track workers location at all times and determine if the staff is productive. By relying on tools, construction companies can circumvent fallacies of the manual system and improve their payroll management.
