Tips for selecting the best app for employee time clocking

Employee time clocking has been around for a long time. But, as organisations across the world seek to find ways to become more efficient, environmentally-friendly and embrace new ways of working, it’s no surprise that the traditional paper-based timesheets have become outdated due to the introduction of time clocking apps.

Clocking in and out is no longer just for hourly employees and there’s a lot of reasons why time-clocking apps for employees have become so popular, including improving accuracy, efficiency and productivity. Apps may also be able to help you to identify areas for improvement such as lateness or concerns for employee wellbeing.

Selecting the best app for employee time clocking can be a different process for everyone; we all have different wants and requirements. Let’s say you’re the Head of Payroll in an organisation - you might be investigating the market because you want to improve your own personal productivity in your job role. Or, your role may be Head of People or Operations Manager - you could be looking to streamline multiple business processes.

With so many different employee time clock apps in the market nowadays, how can you know which to choose? That’s where we’ve got you covered. Below are some of our tips for selecting the best solution for your organisation.

Why do you need a time clocking app?

Step 1 for selecting the best app for employee time clocking is to think about why you need one. What do you need it to do? Are you simply just wanting to check that your employees are working their contractual hours? Do you need to track hours worked for payroll purposes; if so, do you need to be able to export data? Have you got a mix of employees working on-site and remotely/on-the-road but want to be able to monitor both?

Knowing exactly why you need a solution will make the rest of the process a whole lot easier.

What’s your budget?

Realistically, how much budget do you want to put towards an employee time clock app? Once you’ve set a budget and found a solution, look into whether there’s any hidden costs or if there’s extra costs for additional features, new features or for any ongoing maintenance.

Are you also able to try before you buy? The best apps will offer a free trial with no obligations, so you can see if it’s right for you before investing.

Is it easy to set up?

You’ve found a solution that does what you need it to do, but how easy is it to get set up? Will you require a new system to be installed at your organisation; will you need someone to come out and install it for you? Can you easily upload your employee list or integrate with existing software you’re using such as Azure AD or Google Workspace? Will you need extra training to set it up? Is there ongoing maintenance involved with the solution?

That may seem like a lot of questions to be asking yourself, but you’ll be thankful for it when setting up your new time clocking app is a breeze.

How easy is it for employees to use?

Leading on from ease of set up, think about how easy it’s going to be for your employees to use. Will your employees, new and existing, pick it up easily or will they require training?

This one is important. No solution is going to improve efficiency if the end user doesn’t find it easy to use or enjoy using it.

Is it flexible?

How flexible is the solution you’re looking at? By this, we mean is it only going to work if your employees clock in and out on-site? As we mentioned earlier, you may be looking for an app because you want to monitor your on-site and remote employees; if the app only works on-site, it’s not going to be the best solution for employee time clocking in your organisation.

Some apps will have a solution that’s available on smartphones to give your employees the option to clock in and out from their personal device whether they’re working on-site or remotely.

Look beyond the standard clock in and clock out features

Sure, you might just need an app for this purpose, but what if it could also add more value to your organisation? Certain apps in the market will also offer additional features to improve the overall sign in experience for employees and help you to meet your responsibilities around safety in the workplace. Some of these features may include real-time evacuation lists to have an accurate representation of everyone on-site in the event of an emergency, health checks and questionnaires, presenting important policies, asking wellbeing questions, and more.

During your research, you may find that an employee time clock app also offers solutions for visitor management and/or desk and meeting room booking - workplace management all in one solution is a no brainer.

That wraps up just a few of our top tips to help you in the process of selecting the best employee time clocking app for your organisation. If you’d like to discuss further or learn more about Sign In App’s employee sign in features, our customer experience team is always happy to help. Reach us 24 hours a day, 5 days a week via live chat, email and telephone; you find all of our contact information here.