3 Big Reasons Why Systems Fail Part 1
2. Lack of drive of the process
Let's face it: time and attendance is not sexy. It is one of those aspects of a business that sounds great around the boardroom table, as there are some genuine benefits on offer, but is a different story at implementation level. From our experience, what is lacking is drive or motivation. So what do we mean by that?
Here is a simple diagram of the structure of a business.
Drive flows down the structure. What sometimes happens with projects that are viewed as less important, or simple or uninteresting is, once the deal is signed, there isn't much drive from the top.
The remedy here is for management to requests a simple report to monitor ongoing progress. Management don't want to get involved in the minutia, so the report must be simple. What one or two metrics do you want to monitor on a weekly or monthly basis? Maybe you want to see total NT and total OT for the past two week or month to see if overall things are going in the right direction. That's only 8 data points for the month.
Doing this forces the admins to use the system, as they need to report to management. They in turn put pressure on the supervisors to makes sure that staff are clocking. The supervisors are then motivated to make sure that the reader is on every day and staff are using it. There is a clear chain of drive and, what we haven't yet said, accountability.
If management are expecting to see their simple report, and it doesn't come, they will follow up with the admins, who will follow up with the supervisors, who will check in with the labour staff. If somebody above needs something from you and you don't deliver, you will be held accountable. This drive and accountability hold the process and project together.
