Managing Mobile Employees: How Do You Keep Track of Their Time and Leaves?

Hi All,

I am working in a small IT company where 70% of the employees are at the client side, either they are located permanently or they are moving according to the need that arises, or sometimes 2 to 3 days in a week. It is very difficult to track the timings and the leaves of the employees for the HR department. Management has asked me for some great ideas for this so we can track this. Please, if anyone can advise me?

Hello Rashmi,

I am also experiencing the same issue. When searching the forum to post about the issue, I came across your post. It's good to know that someone else is also facing the same problem.

Here is the corrected text with proper spelling, grammar, and formatting:

Provide some attendance and timesheet formats to all your clients, which are to be signed (with time) by your employees whenever they visit the place. Prepare with entire information such as date, time-in, time-out, purpose, reported to, work allotted by, etc., whatever information you require and should make it mandatory with the clients, requesting a daily report update.

This might work... All the best.

CRK

Hi,

It's a great solution, and it will work for it. But what about sales guys? Both in IT and non-IT, it's very difficult to track their attendance. Any ideas?

Regards,
Dhannya

Dear Dhannyawilson,

For salespeople, you can also track their call time. An employee should arrive in the field at the designated time and report to the respective person. If they fail to report, mark them as absent. If they are late, consider it as half-day leave.

This approach may prove beneficial.

All the best.
Thank you.

At the same time, ask the report manager to approve our candidate's timesheet. It will be an added advantage to track the employees.

Hi,

You can issue each employee an ID card with GSM facility, which will allow us to track their location at a specific date and time.

Regards,

R. Vivek

Hey, first decide whether you want the sales guys to come on time or if you want business. Be clear before you make a policy.

Dear all,

Please check on Nokia Tej. I hope it will solve your problem. I'm on a dry run with them in our organization, but they specifically require Nokia handsets. We are using it for different purposes to suit our domain. Please do look into Nokia Tej.

Hello,

Please provide me with some information on GSM SIM card suppliers. If possible, could you also explain how it works?

Best Regards

In the IT field, whenever an employee enters the client area to rectify their complaint, you can ask them to call you and pass the phone to the client. You can then inquire about the service provided by the employee, ask if the client is satisfied with the service, and request them to sign the manual sheet, providing feedback on the service and any suggestions.

Well, since your IT company has a modern approach, a solution to your problem will be best suited to your needs. You can try out ID cards with GPS built into them. Such devices are available in Mumbai. You will just need to expend costs on GPRS-enabled SIM cards and a monthly cost of around Rs. 150 per card. If you need more information about this, do let me know. I am using the same technique and devices for tracking my fleet of vehicles.

Hello All,

RFID TAG is well known in developed countries and is also gaining popularity in India. This tag can be used to locate people or track movement via GPS. There is a company in Gujarat that is currently working on a commercial project involving RFID technology. I do not remember the name; if I do, I will surely mention it.

RFID will likely play a significant role in the future of logistics, taxi tracking, and even in people tracking (Big Brother is coming soon) :-)

Regards,
ART

Implementation of a well-organized Attendance Management System can obviously help you to get rid of this kind of problems. I adopted such a system (developed on the basis of organizational effectiveness) 3 years ago in my organization and still getting some very good results. I would like to share a few bullet points of that system:

1. We use a Biometric Time Attendance device which is accompanied by a user-friendly attendance management software.

2. The employees who have to work mostly outside the office and hence fail to record attendance in the biometric device have to fill up a form (format attached for your convenience). In this case, manual input of IN/OUT time is required.

3. Each team leader maintains a logbook for the individuals working under him. Though it has some other implications, it also contains the allocation of time consumed by an individual in various projects in a working day.

4. There is a confidential tracking system to handle some special cases. As a corporate client, we availed this service from our cell phone operator.

5. Provision of financial Award and Penalty for outstanding and problematic attendance respectively.

6. We have some flexibility at the managerial level and above. We call it 'FREEDOM THROUGH RESPONSIBILITY.' Their job has been designed in such a way that they are inspired (or compelled) to give their best. They might not face instant penalty but will obviously get some negative marking in the Performance Evaluation System at the end of the year.

There are a few more things. But the most important thing is that you have to find out:

Which are the most effective for your organization and at the same time acceptable to the employees as well.

Please feel free to contact me for further clarification.

Kind regards,

R.K. Rada

Hi,

I would suggest introducing a timesheet system in your organization for everyone. This timesheet can be sent on a weekly, fortnightly, or monthly basis, depending on your needs. This system would help you to track their work hours as well as leaves taken. In general, most IT companies follow this system. The timesheet of each employee should be authorized by their respective supervisor or manager so you do not need to cross-check any more details.

Thanks,
Anil

Hi Dear,

You should maintain an outdoor duty register in your office, duly signed by the H.O.D and authorized personnel. The entry should include the time of departure and return, confirmed by the respective timings and signatures. Before leaving for duty, the employee should inform both the H.O.D and the HR Department.

Regards,
Ajay

I am working in a small IT company where 70% of the employees are at the client's site. They are either permanently located there or move as required, sometimes for 2 to 3 days a week. Tracking their timings and leaves poses a challenge for the HR department. The management has asked me for innovative ideas to address this issue. I would greatly appreciate any advice.

Thank you.

I have been using the timesheets for all onsite employees, i.e., the weekly timesheet report. However, it is not feasible to track all of them on a daily basis since they all resist submitting daily. Due to frequent client visits, they claim their whole day is consumed in traveling. Most of them arrive late in the morning, attributing it to late evening meetings with clients the day before. Unfortunately, I have no choice but to believe them.

It would be more manageable if their manager could track them effectively as he is aware of their schedules and should send all duty schedules in advance to HR.

Regards,
Rashee

Hi,

We have a fairly small team of Sales and Support members, with about 8 employees in each team. Since there is no fixed time frame for those directly working with clients (Sales/Support team), we do not consider their in/out time unless they take leave (half/full).

The system we are following is:
1. A common log register (similar to an attendance/visitor's register) called "Movement Register" is maintained and available at the reception. Employees going out on field calls (to clients/vendors/suppliers, etc.) must enter details such as the date, client's name, time out from the office, time in, time out at the client's place, purpose of the visit, employee's signature, and reporting manager's remarks.
2. The details of the time entered (time out from the office) should be checked by the front office executive/receptionist after each entry.
3. The log register will be reviewed by the respective team lead/manager every weekend, and remarks will be noted in the column.
4. If an employee is going on a direct call (in the mornings, from home) to the client's place, the entry can be made once the employee reaches the office.

This way, the employees' whereabouts are monitored, making the calculation of leaves, especially half-days, easier at the end of the month.

Regards,

Priyadarshini R

Hi,

Performance should be the only yardstick for salespeople! What will you do if the guy fails in your tracking but gives good productivity?

Regards,
Mathi

Dear Rashmi,

You can have the following system:

1) Before proceeding on tour, please instruct the concerned employee to furnish the details such as the place he intends to visit, purpose of the visit, nature of work, duration of stay, etc., before they avail travel advance.

2) You can also request the client's HR department to inform immediately the concerned employee to report to their work and request them to send their attendance (time in/time out) on a daily basis. The reporting authority on the client's side should certify the quantum of work done by the employee on a daily basis. For raising your claim bill, the employee's duration of stay and percentage of work completed details need to be certified by the client. This can also be used as a tool to know the whereabouts of the employee.

3) Insist the employee to send their progress report daily, preferably with a joint report (with the client's signature).

4) You can seek the help of the concerned DH for their whereabouts if no such details are furnished by the employee for a long time.

Regards,

LK

1. Why should a mobile employee be treated as a conventional office staff?
2. The criteria have to be changed.
3. A mobile employee or a sales staff should be given targets to complete based on parameters applicable to your industry.
4. Rather than a timesheet, it would be better to have a job card associated with targets given for a particular period (a week, fortnight, or maybe a month).
5. At any point in time, a mobile employee should not be allowed to be in the field without a job sheet or sales call.
6. For instance, I have seen many companies that do not allow their sales staff or technical staff to be in the office or waiting.
7. They are only advised to report at the beginning and end of the week with proper reports and call details, of course, with the targets met or with necessary backings.
8. Customer service representatives, who have a full-time office sitting job, serve as the support desk or link between the customer and the mobile employees.

This is a good idea. Are there ID cards with GSM facility? Do you know of any providers of such IDs?

Regards,
Balaji

Hi Rashmi,

You need to provide them a slip signed by the client on a daily visit basis and also confirm sample checking with your clients to evaluate the performance of the slip.

Regards,

Sunil Sharma

Use a web-based project management software. It's a bit costly, though, but on-time reporting and work progress can be calculated.

Hi Rashmi,

We had the same issue earlier. Lately, 'Timetrex' has helped us to some extent.

Communication is the primary requirement. This needs to be clearly outlined to the employees through the HR Manual.

Timetrex is a free software available online. It is used for employees to punch in and out from wherever they are, provided they have a laptop, data card, or a PC at the client's place. Employees cannot enter punch in/out times according to their convenience; the server time is considered by default. Our internal policy is as follows:

1. An employee who fails to punch or is unable to do so due to technical reasons must communicate through mobile for someone else to punch on their behalf (the administrator can punch, but this should not happen regularly). If the employee fails to communicate, it will be considered as leave due to lack of information.

2. If an employee has punched in but does not punch out and no communication is received, it will be considered as half-day leave.

I can provide more details on this if you call me.

Cheers!

Sharath Narayan

9341906204

It's the best thing to ask for a screenshot at the end of the day from the client regarding the employees' sign-in and sign-off timings instead of going for the printouts. I hope it's gonna work out.

Why not just trust them to do their job.

It's not always necessary to micromanage people. Alternatively, get them microchipped :-)

Good idea, friends. Maybe the suggested solution solves tracking, but there is a need to think about the impression that we are giving to our employees before our client. We can seek quality assurance about our service from our customers; however, we cannot ask the client about our employees' sincerity in terms of our organization's rules.

To elaborate further:

1. The importance of genuine reporting.
2. Adverse effects due to misalignment of framed codes of practice.
3. Costs involved when an employee plays a bluff game with the organization.

Our organization has 210+ employees as service engineers deployed all over India. Therefore, we have a proposal to provide mobiles with GPS tracking facility to our service and sales personnel.

Hi,

That's a good question on how to track mobile employees. I would suggest implementing innovative ideas in the reporting system, as sales professionals are smart. Using GSM facilities to track them may not be fair, as we should trust our employees rather than spy on them. Such monitoring could lower their morale and lead them to find other ways to deceive HR personnel.

Ultimately, this could result in a loss for the company, as we may lose talented salespeople.

Best regards,
Rajesh Tandon

It is very difficult to trace such employees. If anyone has a good suggestion, please tell Vijay.

Hello Rashmi,

For those who are in the client's place, ask them to follow the punching or whatever method those people are following. It is simple. Once in a while, you can check on them.

For those who are not in the client's place, ask them to submit a diary detailing where they are going and how much time they have spent in that place, etc. Once in a while, contact the person they have visited. This will give a fairly good control.

Thanks,
Nagaraj

Hi all,

Thanks for the suggestions. It's true that for sales, the target is more important than attendance. But we need to keep a tab on them as well; otherwise, we will be unfair to other employees. I am sure all the others will have strict punch in and punch out and are always accounted for the time that they spent working.

We need not cross-check with the client. A work log maintained by the HOD may be online along with a tracking system on the mobile phone, which will be a good way to maintain the decorum. This will help us solve a lot of issues. Sometimes sales fall because the employee didn't meet the client at the appointment time or failed to meet them at all. Once the issue is recognized, we can help the employee improve his skills to achieve more.

Dhannya

Dear Rashmi,

Good Morning,

Even the same problem persists for me as well. I have instructed everyone to text me their daily schedules in the morning on the dedicated mobile number of our HR department. Since we have the clients' contact details, we sometimes do mystery checks on their schedules.

Morning and evening reporting with daily sales reports through email is a must.

I hope you can overcome this situation and find a balance between work and fun.

Regards,
Deepak Gehlot

Give some attendance sheets to your employees and ask them to submit the same at the end of every month, duly signed and stamped by your client with the employees' reporting head.

The problem is, why would the client do this work for you? You are working for them; they are not working for you. My suggestion is to make the employee who heads the department of the person working at the client responsible. It is their duty to ensure work is completed, control the employees, and provide daily feedback. Why would the client perform these tasks for you?

In my company, over 100 marketing employees are not attending the office daily, yet their head is providing me with their attendance on a weekly basis.

PANKAJ
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We can take help of new technology gadgets to track them. It will cost more, but it will work in real-time.

Hi Vivek,

How are you? Could you please explain if you use any special software? Are there any potential issues regarding privacy?

Regards,
Anoop

Tracking executive employees:

1. Get a report from the supervisory executive who should visit the client office by surprise and track the performance of the so-called mobile employees.

2. Instruct all the executive employees to call the head office from the client office landline phone and report their presence.

3. You should believe the executives' reports when they indicate their presence or absence, which is beneficial for the health of any company and its owner.

I think you should implement a module or system software. This module should be uploaded on your company site. Each employee must plan his daily movement beforehand and submit the same in the module, so that you can view it. On the day of his movement, you can check with your employee where he is so that you can track whether he is moving as per plan. At the end of the day, the employee has to submit the work done by him for the entire day, i.e., the places he visited with time, travelling time involved, matters discussed with the client, and tasks accomplished. If there is any deviation between the plan and the actual work done, he has to report the same in the module along with the reasons for the deviation. At the same time, he has to submit his plan for the next day. This should become a cycle, and he cannot ignore it.

It must be made abundantly clear to all your employees that in case of taking leave, they have to report in the module, so that you can track their leave as well. After availing leave, they have to fill in a leave card, which must also be available in the module. The module must also, with the click of a button, display the leave available to the employee and the leave balance.

You or your corporation must engage with the software consultant to develop this module, especially if your corporation is serious about tracking the movement of your employees.

Dear Rashmi Madam or Cool Thunderbird,

How can we track mobile employees? Have you considered implementing an SMS-based attendance system for reporting? I assume all your employees have cell phones. When an organization decides to purchase HRMS software, it should consider these aspects.

One option is to have a dedicated modem embedded with a SIM card. Each employee can send an SMS to a specific number. For example, at 10 AM, Employee A is at Client Z. After completing the work, they move to Client Y, or as needed, they can send another SMS. This process can be followed for other employees as well. With this system, you can easily track all of them on a single screen.

Thanks & Regards,
Mahesh
hrmslok@gmail.com

Hello Rashmi,

You can also use the outstation duty forms. These should be filled out and signed by HR and HOD before the person goes anywhere outside. The form should be submitted after coming back. This can help you. It should be mandatory that anyone going outside must carry an OD form and submit it so that their attendance can be marked.

Chitranjan Singh

Dear Rana sir,

Many companies use OD forms; of course, our company also utilizes this OD intimation procedure. The OD form helps us identify when a specific individual is going on official duty. However, the challenge here lies in determining whether our employees are engaging in customer-related or official duties or if they are simply misusing their OD privileges. To enhance our systems, our Cite Members are suggesting the utilization of IT products to address this issue.

Regards,
Venkatesh.N

Dear Sir,

One year back, SMS charges in India were very costly compared to abroad (UK, USA, etc.). Today, bulk SMS charges are only 15 Paise per SMS. This INR 3 per SMS can be reduced by using a modem with a dedicated SIM and SIM cards from the same service provider. The software is also very economical.

Mahesh.b