The world is a very different place than it was this time last year. The COVID-19 pandemic has reshaped virtually every aspect of our daily lives, exposed vulnerabilities in many businesses, and accelerated the long-term shift toward a more agile, mobile, and remote workforce. As businesses strive to adapt to the changing landscape, tracking and optimizing workforce productivity, both onsite and for remote work, has never been more important.
Remote Working is Here to Stay
Even before the pandemic made traveling on public transportation and coming into the office a risky proposition, workers across industries were increasingly expecting greater flexibility with regard to working remotely. As public safety concerns grew and stay-at-home orders were rolled out, many organizations were finally forced to find ways to fully facilitate flexible work arrangements.
One of the biggest concerns leaders often cited with telecommuting was how it would impact productivity. However, a recent study found that 94% of employers say productivity has either remained the same or even increased since the start of the pandemic, despite so many employees working from home. The survey also revealed that 73% of employers anticipate a quarter or more of their employees to continue working from home, even post-pandemic, including 67% who expect at least half of their workers to do so.
With that many employers open to offering flexible schedules, often a strong incentive for job seekers, even businesses that may not yet have implemented remote work arrangements will feel the pressure to follow suit in order to compete for talent. Competitive organizations will want to accommodate the trend, but adapting a workplace to support an increasing mix of onsite and remote workers requires more than just VPNs and video conferencing systems.
A Time Clock for Remote and Onsite Employees
While productivity may not have plummeted as some feared it would, businesses shouldn’t get complacent. A 2012 study found that “dull” tasks were often completed more efficiently in a cubicle environment free of distractions that may be common in a worker’s home. And in the current economic atmosphere, productivity and resource management are especially important to business success.
The possibility of future mandates and guidelines keeping employees from coming into the office makes having a centralized time tracking system capable of servicing not only onsite hours, but also remote or work-from-home hours, is essential.
Exela’s Contactless Entry and Exit Solution
To help businesses quickly adapt to these changes, Exela launched Contactless Entry & Exit (CEE), a flexible time and location reporting system designed to make logging hours fast and convenient for employees, regardless of where they’re working from on a given day. The system combines a sensor module, an employee badge system, contactless card readers, and online time tracking software to quickly and accurately log employee location and time information.
Onsite workers just need to wave their badge near a sensor to clock in and out. For remote workers, the system is compatible with desktop and mobile devices, allowing them to clock-in or clock-out with the tap of a button. Team leads and HR professionals can then access this data, along with data analytics tools, through CEE’s reporting dashboard. The data can also be seamlessly fed into an existing payroll infrastructure for streamlined payroll administration.
The Future of Time and Attendance
Smart technology is developing new conveniences many never thought possible. Future updates to Contactless Entry & Exit will eliminate the need to even stop and scan a badge in much the same way Amazon Go stores are eliminating the need to wait in a checkout line to buy groceries. Longer range badges could also provide valuable location data instantly in the event of an emergency evacuation, and may even be applied to enhance social distancing protocols and assist in accurate contact tracing.
Safely reopening offices and other workplaces will be a tricky and often slow process. Businesses will have to continually monitor the situation and be prepared to adapt social distancing guidelines and similar safety procedures in their locations to maintain the safety of their employees and customers. Contactless Entry & Exit was created to help businesses do just that, and make it easier for them to support flexible work arrangements for their employees - keeping them safe and productive, no matter where they are.
Learn more about how Exela’s Contactless Entry & Exit system, part of our Smart Office solutions, can help your business.
