Archive for the ‘Management’ Category

Employee Time Clocks

Wednesday, January 23rd, 2008

An employee time clock is a device that monitors the starting and quitting time of employees. In the olden days, punch cards were normally used for this purpose. The worker had to punch his arrival and departure time on his card using a punch device. Slowly this system became obsolete and it was replaced by computer based tracking systems. On these systems, the employee had to enter his employee number and swipe a magnetic card for identification purposes. He then had to enter other details such as the reason for leaving early or any other such information as might be required of him by the employer.

Nowadays the entire picture has changed and magnetic swipe cards are no longer in vogue. They have been replaced by biometric time systems. A biometric device analyzes the biological observations. The employee needs to just place his hand on the device and the system takes care of the rest. The biometric device stores about 96 discreet images of the hand and generates a corresponding numerical template using an algorithm. Each time the employee scans his hand, a number is generated and is compared to the one in the records. The device then exactly identifies the individual. Face recognition technology and iris recognition technology are also used to identify individuals.

Major players in the manufacture of biometric systems include ATRx, Lanthem Time Cooperation, Acroprint and Time Clock Plus.

The advantage of the biometric system is that they reduce errors and eliminate ?buddy punching? where one employee punches the time card for another. It saves time and there are no cards to create or administer. The instance of an employee failing to carry the card is also eliminated.

A computerized time clock provides various information for the employer like the employee time card report, summary of hours worked, holidays reports, shifts reports, employee profiles report and overtime reports which cannot be provided by the traditional employee time clocks.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Marcus_Peterson

Employees’ interests

Tuesday, January 22nd, 2008

Today’s employees are not only interested in security or in pay and fringe benefits. They are often placing increased value on being recognized and involved in reaching personal growth goals. As a supervisor you must be aware of these new values. Keeping your employees’ interests and priorities will help you better motivate them to work well.

Employees’ interests and values are changing. More than ever they expect to participate. They also believe that their skills should be used and that they should be provided with on-the-job training. Employees want a challenging job which will provide them with satisfaction and a sense of worth. They respond to broader responsibility and don’t enjoy fragmented or highly specialized jobs. They want to have some sense of independence.

Whenever possible, ask employees for their ideas and opinions. If some of the task includes their ideas they are more likely to go along with it. If there are no choices, don’t kid employees by asking their opinion about what should be done. Also, show your employees that what they say is worthwhile. Keep eye contact. Avoid thinking about what you want to say next or judging what you hear until your employee has finished talking. These methods will increase your employees’ sense of worth and involvedment in the work place.

What motivates employees. It differs for everyone depending on numerous factors. So, what is the best ways to know what truly motivates them? Simply, ask them, listen to what excites or interests them and lastly, observe what they spend their time on professionally and personally.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Andrew_E._Schwartz