A quick flashback!!
It is March 2020, and businesses across India are forced to shut down workplaces following an announcement of a country-wide lockdown.
One of the biggest problems you, as an employer or HR manager, is worried about is employee attendance management. The process was never easy for you; now, it will become even more painful with a scattered workforce.
So, how will you track the attendance of employees working from different locations in real time?
The answer is- Geofencing Attendance System
Specifically Geofencing and Geotagging Attendance System.
You can now come back to 2022.
From transitioning to a remote work model to increased HR problems due to sudden changes, employers have faced a lot of struggles in the past two years.
However, a good thing that happened amid this chaos has to be Geofencing Attendance Software making its way into the business world.
In this blog, we will understand:
What Is Geofencing Attendance?
New-age HR technology-based applications come introduced with a geofencing feature to allow businesses fence the location in terms of latitude and longitude to track employees’ attendance accurately and effortlessly.
With GPS-based geofencing attendance systems, HR professionals can sit back and relax while the time tracking software notifies them if an employee within the geofenced place or not.
What Is Geofencing Used For?
Geofencing is most popularly used to record attendance of employees for a particular event to avoid any discrepancy in attendance of employees.
E.g- If employees have attended the annual celebration party, office cricket match in the stadium or visited on-field during working hours can be administered with geofencing attendance software.
It it also a great replacement for biometric system. You can geofence the office area so that employee can only mark attendance using their mobile app when they enter the office premise.
Curious to know how geofencing actually works? Let’s discuss it in the next section.
How Does Geofencing Attendance Work?
To enjoy geofencing benefits like increased transparency, 24*7 accessibility and less attendance errors, employers should first invest in an effective geofencing attendance system.
Such systems allow employers to geofence/geomark the particular area for their attendance when they are on-field or in office premesis which can further approved by managers in real time.
Quick Steps to Enable Geofencing Attendance
- Step 1: Get your own hands on a top-notch geofencing attendance system
- Step 2: Let your employees install the app for same system in their smartphones;
- Step 3: Geofence location by mentioning latitude and longitude of the place;
- Step 4: Ask employees to turn on their GPS whenever they check in and check out;
- Step 5: Approve attendance requests of employees via software/mobile app to mark them present.
What is Geofencing Attendance System?
It is an automated software tool particularly designed for tracking employee attendance.
Based on the GPS technology, the geofencing attendance systems administer the attendance of employees and record if the employee is present in the geo-fenced or designated geographic area at the designated time, then the attendance is marked.
Geofencing is a great advantage while working, on-site or in a hybrid model.
If invested in top-notch software, employers can not just allocate geo-fences to every employee but also get attendance data every time employees clock in/clock out within the geofenced location.
An Example of Geofencing Attendance
For instance, an employee is expected to go to XYZ location for a client meeting. The HR manager will designate the place and the time of the meeting and enable a geofencing attendance system. To mark attendance, employees must clock in and out at the exact assigned location and time.
(P.S.- For accurate time tracking, the GPS location of the employee must be enabled either on mobile or desktop.)
Top 7 Benefits of Geofencing Attendance System
Here are the top ten benefits you can acquire by implementing a geofencing attendance system:
Eliminates Errors
Most people hesitate to switch to geofencing attendance system, presuming it’s not accurate or wont record attendance as per designated location. However, the truth is that such systems leave no room for attendance errors. IP Validation and live photo capturing with geo fencing can additionally offer 100% accuracy in tracking attendance.
At the same time, you should also note that not every software system in the market ensures 100% accuracy. For that, you will have to pick the best geofencing attendance and time management system.
Boosts HR Efficiency
With geofencing software in place, HR professionals will never have to worry about the attendance of people working onfield or in any other remote locations.
Such systems aid HRs in easily tracking the employees who are/aren’t working at the designated time. This way, there won’t be any confusion regarding attendance and payroll processing for HRs.
Improves Employee Productivity
The biggest problem with manual attendance systems is that employees can easily get away without working. This is when geofencing attendance systems come into the picture!
Such systems help employees be mindful that they are being timely monitored. This, in turn, will encourage them to be proactive and productive. Employee will become more accountable, reach locations on-time and promote healthy workplace environment
Prevents Buddy Punching
For the uninitiated, buddy punching is when one employee asks their colleagues or ‘buddies’ to clock in r punch in on their behalf in manual attendance system. In other words, employees falsely claim that they were present at office premises when they were not.
A study by the American Payroll Association (APA) estimates that more than 75 per cent of organizations lose money from buddy punching.
Geofencing attendance software eliminates the possibility of buddy punching and time theft as only those employees can clock in who are actually present at the designated geographic area.
Enhances Transparency
Unlike traditional/manual systems, geofencing attendance systems allow both employees and HR managers to view attendance data anytime, anywhere, even using their mobiles.
Since both employees and HRs have autonomy, there won’t be any scope for attendance-related mistakes or discrepancies in the long run.
Enables On-Site Working
Several industries like infrastructure, health care, require their employees to work onsite for better collaboration and communication. In this case, tracking attendance of on-site employees can be a challenge.
However, with geofencing attendance management software, employers can keep track of their on-site employees in real-time. Hence, efficiency of both employees and employers can be ensured.
Improves Data Management
When we talk about the attendance process, how can we forget the struggle involved in data management?
Traditionally, HR managers spend most of their time juggling papers or scrolling through spreadsheets to manage attendance-related data. This wastes precious time for HRs and leads to various data theft.
Geofencing attendance systems store every data in a centralized platform, thereby cutting down paperwork. This way, HR managers can find necessary attendance records in just a matter of seconds.
Should You Consider Geofencing For Your Company?
Be it a startup, small or large, the attendance management process is necessary and critical for every business.
Poor attendance management not just results in ineffectiveness but also loss of productivity and loss of customers, all of which affect the revenues of organizations.
Given that things are rapidly changing in the business world, automation is the key to staying ahead of the curve today and in the time ahead.
If you as an employer want to free up your HR managers from mundane tasks that usually keep them away from revenue-generating activities, geofencing attendance is highly recommended.
Additionally, if you want to engage your employees with increased transparency and flexible work models, implementing a geofencing attendance system is the next thing you must do.
Fortunately, geofencing attendance systems support every industry. HRs and employees just require an internet connection, customised workflows and attendance management become super easy.
Here’s why HROne leave and attendance software can be a great choice.