HOW TO MOTIVATE MANAGERS TO IMPLEMENT A TIME AND ATTENDANCE SOLUTION
FROM A LEADER IN WORKFORCE MANAGEMENT SOLUTIONS
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HOW TO MOTIVATE MANAGERS TO IMPLEMENT A TIME AND ATTENDANCE SOLUTION
INTRODUCTION Managers are important to your organization. The success of the organization depends on their ability to manage the dayto-day decisions for their area of responsibility. Consequently, whether they are hired from outside or promoted from within, managers are selected based on a variety of criteria, including education, experience, past successes, and performance in similar situations. However, one thing managers are rarely selected for is their ability to manage time and attendance. Even in organizations that have managers who are knowledgeable about time and attendance, they often have little experience managing the system and may receive limited training or guidance to help them do so effectively. Consider a missing punch, an overlapping shift or unauthorized attendance. The manager needs to know what to do to resolve these issues. They will need to consider the policies and procedures that are reasonable to most employees, protect the organization from payroll fraud, and are in compliance with
“Managers are important to your organization. The success of the organization depends on their ability to manage the day-to-day decisions for their area of responsibility.”
government regulations. They may be only too aware of the level of payroll fraud in the
“One thing managers are rarely selected for is their ability to manage a time and attendance system.”
organization and are hoping they don’t have to deal with it.
WHY DO MANAGERS MAKE BAD TIME AND ATTENDANCE DECISIONS? Why do managers make bad decisions? While there are many creative ways for managers to ruin a time and attendance
ARE MANAGERS PART OF THE PROBLEM OR PART OF THE SOLUTION? Managers have several opportunities throughout this process to ruin a time and attendance implementation. They may not identify with the organization’s goals of controlling payroll costs, increasing productivity and ensuring compliance. They may resent the extra work caused by the transition, or fear there
deployment, there are only a few root causes. 1. Managers are reluctant to enforce the organization’s policies. 2. The policies are unclear or impractical. 3. Managers don’t trust or know how to use the time and attendance solution. 4. Managers are not really aware of the organization’s priorities such as reducing overtime or do not consider this to be their responsibility.
may be conflicts with employees who might resist change.
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HOW TO MOTIVATE MANAGERS TO IMPLEMENT A TIME AND ATTENDANCE SOLUTION
HELPING SMART MANAGERS USE TIME AND ATTENDANCE SOLUTIONS As you can see, the underlying reasons why smart managers may ruin time and attendance usually have little to do with the time and attendance system itself, assuming the solution is generally effective. (Where the system lacks functionality, a replacement system or upgrade will be required.) Instead, it has to do with the manager’s perception and knowledge of the system, or the way the system was configured. The good news is that a manager’s perception and knowledge of the system, the way it is configured, and even the functionality provided, can be managed through an effective change management program. Change management involves a structured approach to transitioning your organization from the old way of creating and managing time and attendance to a new, more effective, way. Change management should be started early in the project life cycle. However, it is never too late for change management,
“Change management involves a structured approach to transitioning your organization from the old way of creating and managing time and attendance to a new, more effective, way.”
even if the new time and attendance system has already been deployed and you are struggling with it. A fresh approach to change management can help improve the adoption and use
STAKEHOLDER ANALYSIS
of the new time and attendance solution. It can help to achieve
The first and crucial step to change management is
the return on investment the organization is seeking.
a stakeholder analysis. It is during this step that the
An effective change management program consists of 5
stakeholders are identified and you gain an understanding of
parts: stakeholder analysis, requirements and validation,
what will motivate (or de-motivate) them to use the time and
communications, training and support, and measurement.
attendance solution successfully. The stakeholder analysis forms the foundation of the change management program. Once it is completed, the work done here is used to design the programs that engage the stakeholders in subsequent steps of the change management program.
IDENTIFYING STAKEHOLDERS When we think about stakeholders, too often we think about executives and other senior managers who need to buy into a new project to get it off the ground. They get attention because they hold the purse strings or can stand in the way of a new initiative. However, there are many more stakeholders in an organization that is trying to implement an effective
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time and attendance solution. It includes everyone who will use the system, including the frontline managers.
UNDERSTANDING THE STAKEHOLDER’S MOTIVATIONS At the root of a stakeholder analysis is being able to define “What’s in it for me?” for each of your stakeholders.
“Understanding their “hot button” issues and what motivates them will be important in making the time and attendance project successful.”
Understanding their “hot button” issues and what motivates them will be important in making the time and attendance project successful. Identify any stakeholder’s challenge that could be solved with an effective time and attendance solution, any predisposition for or against it, and the key messages that
to get buy-in than to make managers part of the solution. If they feel part of the solution, they are more likely to champion the solution to others. Engage your leading managers in the
will help the stakeholder understand the benefits.
requirements assessment and configuration of the system.
What motivates managers? What might cause managers to
that accurate requirements and data are collected so that the
view the system negatively? What might cause managers to
time and attendance solution will be truly effective.
embrace an effective time and attendance solution? How can an effective time and attendance solution help managers accomplish their goals? Understanding the answers to these questions will provide the information needed to effectively engage managers through all the steps in the change
Involving these managers not only gets buy-in, it also ensures
It is impractical to have a large number of managers involved. Instead, it is important to select a handful of managers who are opinion leaders in your organization. These managers will need to be experienced, as they will be required to help
management program, leading to a more successful project.
describe what an effective time and attendance solution
REQUIREMENTS AND VALIDATION
have a positive predisposition to using an effective time and
The key to a successful change management program is to obtain the buy-in of all the stakeholders. There is no better way
needs to do to be able to help them. Select managers who attendance solution. Perhaps these managers had asked for a more effective time and attendance solution in the past, or came from another organization that used an effective time and attendance solution. These managers should be involved in the pilot program, where there is an opportunity to rectify any deployment issues.
COMMUNICATION Every change management program should include a communication plan. The communication plan should document how and when stakeholders will be informed about the project and its status and impact. For each stakeholder, it will include key messages that relate to their motivations and the “hot buttons” that were identified as part of the stakeholder
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HOW TO MOTIVATE MANAGERS TO IMPLEMENT A TIME AND ATTENDANCE SOLUTION analysis. A comprehensive communication plan will include multiple touchpoints with each stakeholder, using a variety of mediums. For the vast majority of managers, their first exposure to an effective time and attendance solution will be through communications about the new plan. Part of your message must include a clear and credible explanation of why the
Time & Attendance: Why We Are Switching to a More Effective Solution
organization is rolling out an effective time and attendance solution. It should set expectations for the new system, including what it can do for managers in their area of responsibility. Messages that do not resonate with managers make the job more difficult. Therefore, messages should be tested before they are sent to the larger community. The managers involved in requirements and validation may provide a good test source for the messages. Other managers with whom there is a good working relationship will also be good sounding boards for the trial messages.
“Every change management program should include a communication plan.”
“Messages that do not resonate with managers make the job more difficult. Therefore, messages should be tested before they are sent to the larger community.” The time allotted for managers to receive training is important to the overall success of the implementation plan. Too often training is provided before the system is available to managers, who may wait days, or even weeks, to use the time and
TRAINING AND SUPPORT Very few effective time and attendance solutions are rolled out without training. Ensure that training provided is adequate and that there is an effective support system in place, especially during the transition. The pilot program, transition plan, and implementation plan determine when managers will be trained and what they will be taught. Training plans need to be designed not only to support the initial rollout, but also to train new managers hired after the system has been implemented.
attendance system. The managers sometimes forget what they have learned. Training should be given only when managers have access to the system. Immediately after training, managers should be required to use the new system. To minimize disruption, the system might be rolled out to groups of managers over several weeks. As important as training is, support is equally important. Training provides managers with the knowledge to use the system. All managers will experience a learning curve. Support and help need to be available to help address procedural questions as well as to provide answers to technical issues.
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MEASUREMENT The last part of a successful change management program is measuring progress. While measurement is listed last, do not wait until the end of the implementation rollout to measure how effective it was. Instead, it should be an ongoing activity that helps quantify progress, identify what is working, and change what is not working. It also provides material to answer questions relating to overall fundamental goals.
Measure the impact of the new system on your organization. The questions will relate to your original goals. Is the new system being used effectively? What is the compliance percentage? Successful deployments are usually in the high 90 percentile. Has overtime been reduced? Is payroll lower? Are managers approving and reviewing payroll effectively? Has service improved? Are the time and attendance records
“Support and help need to be available to help address procedural questions as well as to provide answers to technical issues.�
more compliant now than with the previous system? Is greater visibility helping you identify issues such as unauthorized
Change is an integral part of organizational life. Motivating
attendance and overlapping shifts? Have all pre-payroll manual
mangers to accept a new time and attendance system will
calculations been eliminated? Is the integration with payroll as
be crucial to the success of its implementation. If you have
seamless as possible?
followed the advice and practices described above, your managers should see the benefits from implementing a time and attendance solution.
ABOUT MITC MITC provides modular workforce management solutions and services to support all the needs of service organizations — time and attendance, advanced employee scheduling, service documentation, payroll rules and reporting engine, workforce analytics, payroll and billing integration, and more. For 25 years, MITC has grown to serve over 1,500 organizations (with anywhere form 5 to 10,000 employees) in the USA, the UK , Africa, Australia, Canada, Ireland and New Zealand. They have selected MITC to help control costs, save time, improve productivity and ensure compliance.
Visit www.mitcsoftware.com to learn more.
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