The paper looks at addressing critical workforce management issues, it looks at the trends influencing time and attendance today, and how time and attendance interacts with other critical workforce management systems, including payroll, rostering, and absence management.

1. Total Workforce Management 2013:
In association with:
The State of Time and Attendance

2. 2 | Total Workforce Management 2013: The State of Time and Attendance
Introduction
Tracking time and attendance is at the core of workforce management.
From Fred Flintstone marking his timecard with the beak of a Pterodactyl to
GPS-enabled apps and biometric data-collection devices, organisations always
have a need to know who is in attendance and be able to track when and where
they are working. Based on the latest data collected between May and June
2013, this Research Brief is the first in a series addressing critical workforce
management issues, looks at the trends influencing time and attendance
today, and how time and attendance interacts with other critical workforce
management systems, including payroll, rostering, and absence management.

4. Total Workforce Management 2013: The State of Time and Attendance | 4
The Case for Workforce Management
The theme that emerges as organisations think about their workforce
management initiatives is that of keeping up with change. Organisations are
struggling to develop an agile and flexible workforce and use data to help them
make better decisions about both their labour and their spend (Figure I).
Figure 1: Pressures Driving Workforce
Management Initiatives
Source: Aberdeen Group, July 2013
PercentageofRespondents,n=149
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
Marketplace demands require a more agile
and flexible workforce (ability to scale up
and down, change staffing ratios, etc.)
Rapidly changing business conditions require
better access to workforce data to drive decision making
Economic conditions require better control over labour spend
44%45% 33%

5. 5 | Total Workforce Management 2013: The State of Time and Attendance
To truly respond to these challenges, organisations must consider the full
scope of total workforce management. Aberdeen defines total workforce
management as core HR (HR and employee data management and system of
record), payroll, time and attendance, rostering, and absence management,
and we’ll go into detail on many of these topics in this research series.
Time and Attendance Strategies
Managing time and attendance is a critical element to an organisation’s ability
to understand who is working for them on any given day, and on any given task,
and is often the first link that organisations establish between HR and financial
systems such as payroll. This data collection and integration is critical to
organisational decision-making around talent. As organisations look to tools
and technologies that help them solve these critical workforce management
challenges, time and attendance strategies should focus on an organisation’s
ability to standardise, automate, communicate, and integrate.
Standardisation
In order to tackle the kinds of challenges outlined above, the first phase
organisations look to is standardisation (Figure 2). This is important because
automating poor processes only gets you to the wrong result more quickly. And
it is clear that today’s organisations are working towards this standardisation
before moving to automation.

6. Total Workforce Management 2013: The State of Time and Attendance | 6
Organisations need to start by standardising workforce management
processes, not only to ensure that they are the most efficient and effective
possible but also to support transparency. Organisations need to have
consistency and transparency in how they track and calculate hours worked,
pay, and overtime and time-off policies for two important reasons. One, it
helps managers and employees understand their workforce management
process and how it impacts them, and it builds their trust with the organisation
by ensuring that everyone is treated the same way. And two, organisations
must be transparent to external parties, to local, state, and federal
governments as required by law, to any unions representing their employees,
to shareholders, or in the case of public sector organisations, to the taxpayers
who fund the organisation. The ability to track and report, and prove that
policies are executed consistently, is of critical importance for compliance as
well as for manager and employee engagement.
Figure 2: Workforce Management Strategies
Source: Aberdeen Group, July 2013
PercentageofRespondents,n=149
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
54% 45% 39%
Standardised workforce management processes across the organisation
Integrated workforce management data with business /
financial data for more accurate reporting and forecasting
Automate workforce management processes to improve accuracy

7. 7 | Total Workforce Management 2013: The State of Time and Attendance
Organisations need to integrate their workforce data with other business
intelligence to perform analytics. This also requires standardisation to ensure
that data has been collected in a uniform way. All organisations want to have
better control over every aspect of their business, including labour spend and
return on talent investment. Integration allows organisations to understand the
impact of various workforce decisions on the overall health and profitability of
the organisation. This line of sight also helps business leaders truly connect
their business plans with their workforce strategies.
Automation
Once organisations have established standards and processes, automation
is the next logical step to improve efficiency and effectiveness. As illustrated
in Figure 3, while nearly a third of organisations still have manual time and
attendance processes in place, they are more likely to automate time and
attendance than they are to automate rostering.
It is also interesting to note that 41% of organisations with automated time
Figure 3: Source of Functionality
Source: Aberdeen Group, July 2013
PercentageofRespondents,n=149
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
32% 42%
Functionality
within an ERP
solution
Time and Attendance
Rostering
Mostly
manual /
spreadsheet-
based
Best of
breed
automated
solution
Part of
integrated
workforce
management
suite
24% 24%28% 20% 17% 14%
Fast Fact:
While nearly
a third of
organisations
still have
manual time
and attendance
processes in
place, they are
more likely to
automate time
and attendance
than they are
to automate
rostering.

8. Total Workforce Management 2013: The State of Time and Attendance | 8
Figure 4: Benefits of Workforce
Management Automation
and attendance utilise tools that are part of either an integrated workforce
management suite or part of their ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) solution.
Using these kinds of tools for automation may help organisations tackle issues
with one solution, both automating and integrating their time and attendance
data in one step. Presumably, functionality within an integrated workforce suite
will allow for easy integration of time data with critical areas like rostering and
payroll. When time and attendance is part of the ERP solution, it can help feed
this data directly into dashboards and analytics tools that combine business
data with workforce management.
There are many potential benefits to workforce management automation, but
Figures 4 and 5 identify some of the most significant. Figure 4 looks at the
overall benefits that organisations that have implemented automated workforce
management solutions have experienced.
Freeing up the time of both HR and business personnel is a critical benefit,
Fast Fact:
41% of
organisations
with automated
time and
attendance utilise
tools that are
part of either
an integrated
workforce
management
suite or their ERP
solution
Source: Aberdeen Group, July 2013
PercentageofRespondents,n=149
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
Improve accuracy of data
Reduce time spent on WFM by the business
Reduce labour costs
Reduce time spent on WFM by HR
39% 36%36% 31%

9. 9 | Total Workforce Management 2013: The State of Time and Attendance
ensuring that the organisation’s time is spent on strategic activities and not
just administration. This is particularly important in organisations like retail
or manufacturing, where you want managers on the sales floor of the shop
getting work done instead of managing timesheets. Organisations also see
improved data accuracy as they reduce the number of manual touches and
reduced overall labour costs as a result of increased visibility.
These same kinds of benefits are quantified in Figure 5, which looks
specifically at the results achieved by organisations automating their time
and attendance solutions. These organisations see a significant reduction in
manual workforce management transactions, as well as increased accuracy
of their workforce management data. Accurately tracking time off can result
in significant cost savings, ensuring that paid time-off (PTO) is paid out as it is
actually taken so that at the end of a year, or even upon an individual leaving
the organisation, employees are not owed for untaken leave.
Figure 5: Impact of Automation
Source: Aberdeen Group, July 2013
PercentageofRespondents,n=149
-5%
-4%
-3%
-2%
-1%
0%
1%
2%
3%
4%
5%
6%
7%
8%
Automated time and attendance
Non-automated time and attendance
Benefit
qualification
error rate
Change in manual
transactions
per month
PTO accrual
calculation
error rate
-4.2%
6.8%
1.3%
3.0%
1.4%
2.8%
Fast Fact:
Organisations
using automated
time and
attendance
saw 57% fewer
errors in paid
time off accrual
calculations.

10. Total Workforce Management 2013: The State of Time and Attendance | 10
Communication
Also essential to transparency and engagement is the ability for individuals
and managers to access their data. Self-service access to workforce
management data and processes has been a growing trend for a number of
years for several reasons. First, it is much more efficient as it allows both
employees and managers to access information on demand as opposed to
having to call someone in HR. This also frees up HR resources to focus on
more value-added activities. In addition, it can help improve accuracy as
individuals can maintain data such as contact information and changes in
status versus filling out a form that must go through manual entry. The fewer
times data has to be entered or subjected to human error the better. Currently,
62% of organisations surveyed provide employee self-service, and 61% of
organisations provide manager self-service to workforce management data.
As illustrated in Figure 6, nearly all organisations with self-service provide
manager access to critical timekeeping activities via browser-based portals.
Mobile access via smartphone apps and tablets is also beginning to take place,
but its availability is much less common. This trend holds consistent across
employee self-service as well, with the majority of access provided through
the browser.

11. 11 | Total Workforce Management 2013: The State of Time and Attendance
Figure 6: Manager Access to Self Service
Source: Aberdeen Group, July 2013
PercentageofRespondents,n=149
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Smartphone
Tablet
Timeclock
Browser
96%11%
Approve
employee
timesheets
View
employee
timesheets
Modify / correct
employee
timesheets
12% 6% 98% 9% 11% 5% 96%13%13% 5%
Automated time and attendance tools that allow for self-service also affect
engagement. Organisations with automated self-service reported 72% of
employees rated themselves highly engaged, as compared to 64% of employees
in organisations that do not have automated time and attendance in place.
Integration
Integration of time and attendance data with other aspects of workforce
management helps organisations not only improve accuracy but also provide
the foundation for analytics. 70% of organisations currently integrate time
and attendance data with their rostering solution, and 66% integrate time and
attendance with payroll. Integration with rostering is important, as it helps
Fast Fact:
72% of
employees in
organisations
with automated
time and
attendance
solutions rated
themselves as
highly engaged
compared to 64%
of employees in
organisations
without
automated time
and attendance.

12. Total Workforce Management 2013: The State of Time and Attendance | 12
organisations look at historical performance data, combined with historical
attendance data, and understand who their high-performing individuals and
teams are. This data can then be fed into the rostering process to improve
business results.
Payroll is another facet of workforce management that benefits from
integration with time and attendance data as it keeps overhead costs down,
decreases the amount of manual workforce management transactions, and
leads to fewer errors in tracking time worked and handling payroll processing.
As demonstrated in Figure 7 below, organisations that integrated time and
attendance with payroll had an almost 30% lower rate of payroll processing
errors, saw a 32% lower error rate in the tracking of actual time worked, and
avoided the 6% year-over-year increase in manual workforce transactions
Figure 7: Payroll Integration Means
Greater Accuracy
Source: Aberdeen Group, July 2013
PercentageofRespondents,n=149
0%
5%
10%
1.5%
Increase in
manual WFM
transactions
Payroll processing
error rate
Tracking actual
time worked
error rate
1.9% 2.2% 2.9% 0.1% 5.9%
Time and attendance is integrated with payroll
Time and attendance is not integrated with payroll

13. 13 | Total Workforce Management 2013: The State of Time and Attendance
experienced by organisations without integration.
Organisations that integrate time and attendance with payroll end up spending
less money and use fewer resources to execute critical HCM processes. With
savings like this, organisations can allocate these freed-up resources to
reinvest in their business, focus on strategic priorities, and improve overall
business performance.

14. Total Workforce Management 2013: The State of Time and Attendance | 14
Case Study —
Sabre Holdings
A global travel technology company that
provides services to both consumers
and large travel companies worldwide,
Sabre Holdings employs about 10,000
employees in 60 countries. Founded
in 1960, Sabre Holdings has four
major business units — Sabre Travel
Network, Sabre Airline Solutions,
Sabre Hospitality Solutions, and
Travelocity — operating across the
globe with customer care centres in
the United States, Argentina, India,
Poland, and Uruguay. With such a large
network of employees situated across
the globe, it could be very easy for an
enterprise of this size to lose sight of
unique individuals and cultures that
make up their company. But when
rolling out their automated time and
attendance solution, Sabre managed
to implement a global system that took
into account the unique needs of each of
its locations. Prior to implementation,
each location had their own manual
processes for tracking their employees’
time and attendance and leave, which
meant management had to sort
through an extensive amount of varied
information to understand simple
data points. Some locations used
home-grown tools, others used Excel
spreadsheets, and some managers
even scrawled notes on loose-leaf
paper to record who had taken time off,
all of which were time consuming and
ultimately an unproductive use of time
for Sabre’s management. The time and
attendance tools were originally sought
out as a way in which to appropriately
monitor and report on employees’
activities worldwide.
With leadership buy-in from the onset,
Sabre focused on identifying local
stakeholders and decision-makers
and ensuring they were on board with
each implementation. They took the
time to understand the unique needs
and culture of each location and map
out an appropriate implementation
training plan to fit that location. Before
implementation, Sabre handpicked
local experts, (or “timekeepers”
as Sabre called them), who were
employees around the globe who
trained extensively so they could be
resources for their colleagues when
issues arose. From the very beginning,
Sabre used face-to-face training,
webinars, and WebEx’s for all branches
far and wide. So no matter the location,
Sabre sent representatives well versed
with the technology to train with each
branch for weeks at a time to ensure
all employees had an idea of how to
use the technology. Sabre made sure
to cover all avenues for implementing
the tool, so even when language
barriers cropped up between training
management and local employees,
trainers had clear, example-driven
instructions to provide their employees.
Sabre focused on wins for both
employees and managers. Employees
now have self-service access to request
time off, and managers no longer have
to manually update rosters, reduce
vacation balances in the system, or
perform manual tracking when an
employee requests time off. Sabre
corporate management experienced a
multitude of benefits from rolling out
time and attendance, most notably the
accessibility of centralised information
for management worldwide. This
automated tool has eliminated the
need for manual processes and has
made it even easier for managers
with employees spread out across the
globe to manage leave. What’s more,
Sabre created a uniform platform for
across the globe so a manager in the
US, who may have team members
in multiple locations, now sees
employees’ leave data in a uniform way.
With such processes in place, Sabre
effectively centralised their workforce
management resources, which allowed
them to use previously allocated
resources such as money, time, and
energy on other business challenges.

15. 15 | Total Workforce Management 2013: The State of Time and Attendance
Key Insights
Time and attendance is just one aspect of total
workforce management, but it is often a critical
foundation for further process improvement,
automation, and data integration. As organisations
look to improve and automate their time and
attendance solutions they need to keep in mind
the importance of standardising processes,
automating to improve efficiency, communicating
to ensure transparency and compliance, and
integrating to allow for better decision-making.

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