End doubts about whereabouts

Keeping track of employees’ hours, even if your workforce is small, is never easy, but in the electrical installation sector, where workers spend their time working fragmented hours, it can result in thousands of pounds of lost revenue.

The working conditions and temporary nature of an installer’s typical working day makes the use of standard industrial time and attendance monitoring systems impractical. Swipe card systems are just not suitable as they can be easily damaged or lost, while biometric hand-scan terminals are not a viable option as the terminals require a permanent location and PC link in order to work.

Subsequently, many contractors use written timesheets to track time and attendance, but manual recordings are unreliable, time-consuming to produce week in, week out, and are often ridden with errors.

To make matters worse, some contractors have experienced the situation where they call a customer in the morning or at the end of the day, only to find that there is nobody there.

That’s not to say that all field staff are dishonest in their time management, but the monitoring of staff that work unsociable hours is extremely difficult, and this can have a serious impact on the bottom line of any business.

As a result, more and more contractors have become aware of the potential of adopting GPRS or GSM wireless solutions to improve the monitoring of attendance and productivity.

This new technology allows managers to track the precise movements of individuals in real time and is ideal for an industry, such as electrical installation, which has very few desk-bound employees.

With this technology employees can simply clock on using their mobile phones, from which both the site and employee location are verified using the triangulation of mobile phone masts.

The moment the data is typed into the keypad it is uploaded via GPRS, which allows managers to monitor activity instantaneously, and afterwards get full, customised management reports in a range of formats that show the shifts that have been worked, any overtime accrued, bonuses earned and any deductions that have been made.

GPRS systems can also deliver instant-alert notifications by SMS if a member is unexpectedly absent, which allows managers to take action immediately and visit the site if required.

With this technology employees can clock on using their mobile phones, from which both the site and employee location are verified using the triangulation of mobile phone masts.

The benefits of automated time and attendance go far beyond automating the payroll process. There are also security and health and safety issues to consider.

Over the past few years, new employment laws and tighter control on health and safety regulations have prompted many companies to monitor the working practices of their employees, especially lone workers.

As with the introduction of most new information technology, the critical factor is human. But giving your workforce this extra technology to deal with need not be seen in a negative way by staff.

If the system is used correctly, your employees will feel trusted and will soon understand how the technology can improve their productivity from a business perspective.

In practice, many mobile workers grumble that work dispatchers in the call centre send them on paths that criss-cross the county or city, wasting time and petrol. They claim that they wished the call centre knew where they were, and arranged work that minimised wasteful travel.

GPRS could provide a solution to this problem as staff at the centre will be able to pinpoint the exact whereabouts of engineers and arrange the next call in accordance with their location.

Moreover, the savings made by using new technology in an effective manner can be channelled into increased commissions, higher basic salaries and extra incentives, which give the employee better working conditions. This in the long run will help to improve staff retention.

Keeping abreast of industry trends can often be the best way to stay one step ahead of the competition, and the construction industry is no exception.

Larger firms can cope with that pressure by trimming costs in a number of ways, but margins are at their tightest with the smaller operators. They are the companies that can benefit most from embracing new developments in GPRS technology.

Although GPRS technology can be perceived as a problematic service to manage, the other perception of losing control over field workers is now outdated, and GPRS technology can give you peace of mind by accurately monitoring your most valuable asset – your employees.