How to do Attendance Monitoring Right

Each and every day most of us check in and out of work in one way or another. For some it’s very informal, and for others, stricter rules must be followed. Regardless, why are many organisations turning to biometric solutions for attendance monitoring?

Using a biometric approach for sign-in?

BioStore offers a fingerprint biometric identity management system that can be used for attendance monitoring. In practice, to access office premises, employees authenticate their identity through a fingerprint. They can simply sign their attendance in and out during the course of the day with a quick scan.

It makes the sign-in process a complete breeze. This saves both time and money as the need to replace lost cards, and forgotten passwords is eliminated. A biometric element such as fingerprints guarantees the person logging in is who they say they are. No one can steal your fingerprint.

Too good?

Biometrics are powerful tool for organisations to record and monitor employee attendance. Persistent lateness can be monitored and reported to the line manager. In this situation, biometrics leave no room for doubt. You can see exactly when employees are signing in and out.

In a rather amusing story in Bangalore, India, one local government organisation employed a biometric system to combat lateness. The problem seems to be particularly severe there because one worker took it upon themselves to hack into the biometric system and move its clock 20 minutes back. Employees strolling in at 10.20am were being registered as arriving promptly at 10am. The biometric clock has since been rectified, and persistent late comers have had to get themselves in gear.

Does biometrics work in everyone’s favour?

This combative culture of attendance monitoring in this one example in India is hopefully not something organisations should have to deal with. But when there is an attendance dispute, biometrics work in everyone’s favour.

There is no arguing with the hard evidence of biometrics. Attendance is reliably and securely recorded and when an employee starts and finishes work is in no doubt. For employees, that means they can prove exactly how many hours they have worked. Reliable attendance monitoring is important for pay, especially if overtime hours are a factor. And equally, the system would help employers be compliant with employee agreements relating to working time, pay and holiday.

Biometrics mean less errors, less inaccuracies and greater cost-efficiency. There are no smartcards to manage and no passwords to reset. That means no destroying of old cards, printing of new ones or replacing lost cards.

Flexibility & convenience

Biometrics are growing in appeal for organisations and it’s because of the flexibility they provide. Biometrics make it easier for companies to provide remote working to their employees for example.

Flexible working hours and remote working is becoming more and more appealing to employees. Using a biometric to sign-in remotely provides the employers with piece of mind when implementing such policies. There is greater accountability when remote workers are still signing in and out of their workday with a biometric scan.

In the coming years, such solutions that allow remote and flexible working are only going to grow. Our case study into the demands of the millennial worker explores these ideas in greater detail, check it out here.

Biometric attendance monitoring could be the solution that helps more organisations adopt flexible and forward-thinking work cultures with confidence in the coming years.

Overall, biometrics for attendance monitoring are a chance for employers and employees to use a system that is fair, accountable, reliable and simple. That’s why biometrics are growing in popularity, find out more.

Related links:

BioStore Attendance & Registration

BioStore Identity Management