Time and attendance software system procurement in seven easy steps

Purchasing a new enterprise-wide absence management software product is probably the most dangerous thing a company can do. Think of it – productivity, training, and maintenance are so bound up in the systems that employees use that any usability or functionality issues could spell hundreds of human resources hours to overcome (if you ever do). If you follow these steps, however, you should find a great product that helps to streamline your business processes.

1) First, record your current processes around time & attendance, and do an audit of your computer systems and capabilities. Document the software and hardware that you have or plan on purchasing in the near future. Record your current scheduling and absence tracking procedures – don’t neglect the most basic unit: the on-the-ground employees – and document your policy and procedures around pay, hours of work, and workflow. Thoroughly document your day-to-day administration of time and attendance tracking procedures and systems.

2) Draft a requirements document for vendors. Before you start, know your technical needs and system limitations. Ask yourself: what do you really need the system to do? Although this sounds like it should be pretty basic, it’s typically the most misunderstood step in this process.

3) Request proposals. Send the request to at least five software vendors who specialize in absence management software. Be sure to specify that vendors need not be an exact fit – if they can’t meet all of your “must-haves,” they can still address the time and cost of creating something just for you. Ask about the latest industry developments, and if you can, hire a consultant – one who who can’t bid but understands the technology – to go over the technical details with you before you shortlist the applications.

4) Ask your shortlist to present high-level overviews, along with a broad budget proposal. Make sure the company’s mission fits with your own mission and values. Also see if they can bring an engineer or two to the presentation along with their sales team, and see how the group gets along. This is an often-overlooked indicator of how well their pitch matches their product – if they don’t work as a team now, chances are good they’ll have trouble meeting your needs later!

5) Select vendors like you’d select an employee, by looking for for a good personality and great references. Send a letter of intent subject to reference checking, and make sure their references can speak to the attendance tracking areas and products that are most important to your company’s time and attendance needs specifically.

6) If none of the vendors are an exact match, see if your top choice will agree to a trial period for a nominal fee. This will let you assess the system and analyze the results. If the attendance tracking software does most things, ask for quotes on just the specific functions or additions that you still require.

7) Enjoy your new system! Remember that users of new technology always start out with huge expectations (it’s so much better than our old system!), but this is quickly followed by despair as staff expectations are brought down to earth (it doesn’t do this thing that our old system did…). But it then levels out – at a higher level than the old system – within a few months, as the software is adopted, learnt, and begins to shows its unique and useful strengths.

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