Even the best employees can’t work every day. From vacations to sick days to traveling for work and conferences to maternity leave, being out of the office, either physically or digitally, happens. Even with most people able to access their work email and calendars from their phones, it’s still necessary to take time off from time to time, and people often end up in places without the cell phone or wi-fi service. Whatever the reason for being out of the office, your business needs to track it and, in a lot of cases, schedule and prepare for it.
Most organizations have some form of timeclock or time tracking system that enables HR and leadership to have an idea of who’ll be out of the office. Not only does this help the company schedule labor and coverage, but it also helps track time worked and PTO spent so that paychecks are accurate.
Leave management systems can help HR teams get more organized and allow better communication between departments. Cloud-based leave tracking software might be the best option for your business when it comes to choosing a leave management system. Here are some of the benefits of using a cloud-based program.
-
Access from any place or any device: With an online leave management system, your employees can clock in and out or apply for leave from anywhere. This is especially important for teams who have remote workers and also need to track billable hours, like agency employees who are on site for a client meeting. Plus managers have instant access to information and the ability to approve requests faster and doesn’t have to track everything through disparate emails, calendar invites, IMs, texts, and phone calls.
-
More cost-effective: Non-cloud-based leave management systems often have an upfront cost of installation, plus additional costs for upgrades. Plus you might end up paying for more program than you need based on your business – or need to add on extra features at an extra cost down the line. Cloud-based programs often offer pay-as-you-go or pay for what you use models that are flexible and scale better as your business changes. This is particularly useful for businesses that are experiencing a lot of growth or have a lot of seasonal workers.
-
Better reporting and analytics: The data entered into, tracked, and stored in cloud-based leave management systems can be analyzed by HR teams to predict employee patterns and even performance, giving businesses the information they need to make decisions that can help support employee work-life balance, improve employee performance, or just schedule and plan labor and hiring.
-
Enhanced expense reporting and reimbursement: Cloud-based programs are an organizational asset because they can more easily integrate with other systems, including accounts and finance. This means that leave that’s scheduled for travel can include travel information automatically, such as travel costs and travel time, allowing accounting to reimburse employees for any out of pocket expenses.
-
Greater freedom, flexible upgrades: Leave management in the cloud gives users more autonomy and gives them more flexibility and balance between their home and work life. It leads to better employee communication with managers and HR and gives employees the freedom to check their leave requests from anywhere and make plans throughout the day or week. Additionally, it helps free up employer resources, as upgrades for cloud-based programs can usually be initiated automatically, without internal IT having to supervise or install anything.
Cloud-based leave management systems are helping businesses better manage their most important asset – people. With online time tracking and leave management programs, you can give your employees greater freedom and give your business more information, which can help your business run better.
