In many organisations, the reluctance of employees regarding time tracking is one of the main deterrents preventing them from enjoying the benefits of this amazing technology.
Employees may feel that with the implementation of time tracking, they will be constantly watched and evaluated. Some may also feel that access to time tracking data will lead to their managers micromanaging them. There may still be others that simply think they will not be able to deal with the pressure of knowing that they’re being watched.
I can feel that because I am also an employee but you know what, Time tracking is just not about spying on you but this feature includes lot more than that. How?
Suppose, you are an employee and doing a work that is taking your 3 hours per day on a daily basis but when you re-view your work, you will feel that it was a matter of 1 or 2 hours.
Now, there is something that costs your time and if you bring up more productivity for your company in a given time, chances are “Your Own Benefits – Your own Pay-scale & Achievements “
Mark my points: If you have done any sort or research into employee time tracking, you will know that it isn’t about spying on employees.
So how do you make your reluctant employees believe the same?
How to Prepare Employee for Time Tracking Software?
Here are a few tips that work wonderfully to motivate employees to track time:
Communicate The Benefits of Time Tracking
Communication is the key to success in any endeavour and this one is not an exception.
The easiest way to get employees to buy in for time tracking is to help them understand how the technology would benefit the organisation. You can do this by telling them how the technology will be used.
Some good points in the support of this argument are:
- A time tracking software will give you the ability to accurately predict the amount of time taken to complete tasks. This will in turn, enable you to make more accurate commitments and assign tasks with more efficiency and fairness.
- A time tracking software will enable your organisation to accurately and automatically track billable hours. In fact, the best time tracking features even enable the automation of invoice generation and payroll processing.
Don’t just stop there, those are just the benefits that your organisation will enjoy. You must also communicate the employee benefits of time tracking like improved work life balance and reduced micromanagement.
Communicate What It Will Not Be Used For
Besides communicating the benefits of employee time tracking, you must also communicate to clear out any misconceptions that your employees may have about the technology.
Let them know that you don’t plan to spy on them with the technology, that the technology is actually meant to reduce the time you and your managers spend in managing teams and employees.
Also let it be known that you the implementation of time tracking will not result in a sudden influx of overwhelming amounts of work and neither would your employees be ‘punished’ for not working enough hours.
Talk To Your Managers
One of the common apprehensions that employees have regarding time tracking is that it would like to frequent incidents of micromanagement, and they are not entirely wrong.
Many organisations witness at least one ambitious manager misusing the time tracking data to “tighten the leash” around their team members. They may not be doing it deliberately, but even if they have the organisation’s best interests in mind, their actions are deteriorating to the overall productivity.
That’s why, it is important for the top management to clearly communicate the purpose of time tracking to the managers. In fact, it would even be wise to restrict the access of team managers to the time tracking data. Moreover, whatever data you make available to them, make sure they know exactly what to do with it.
Conclusion
As you may have realized, having a conversation about employee time tracking is the best way to overcome the resistance that employees may show against the implementation of the technology.
Have you tried using a time tracking software at your organisation before? How was your experience? Share with us in the comment section below.
