How Achieving Accurate Time and Attendance Management Can Help Fund Your HCM Digital Transformation

For large enterprises with sizable workforce populations, “Time is money” isn’t just an old saying, it’s a reality. Maintaining accurate labour time tracking can be a highly complex challenge made even more difficult when operating with legacy systems and manual processes.   

A modern, cloud-based time and attendance solution isn’t a nice-to-have—it’s essential. It serves as the core of good workforce management and a key part of a strong HCM digital strategy. In our webinar, Time is Money: Fund HCM Transformation with Global Workforce Management Savings, we discussed the importance of an accurate workforce time and attendance solution. This discussion was led by industry experts Nicole Neumarker, Chief Operating Officer of WorkForce Software, and Todd Asevedo, Global VP of Payroll and Time at SAP SuccessFactors and HXM Move.

The Foundation of a Human Capital Management Transformation Strategy

Time and Attendance is not just a functional necessity, it’s a strategic cornerstone in your HCM digital transformation. While these systems are pivotal in aligning employee efforts with business outcomes, Nicole says that this key aspect is often overlooked.  

One of the most significant controllable expenses for large companies is their workforce. Managing employee time and attendance efficiently allows organisations to optimise labour costs. By ensuring that employees are working effectively and productively, companies can control and reduce unnecessary labour expenses. 

Effective time management also has a direct impact on employee experience. Todd states that errors in pay signify a fundamental break in trust between an organisation and its employees. He warns, “The quickest way to disengage an employee is to mess this process up.”  

In the broader landscape of modern workforce management, understanding how time and attendance integrate into HR processes is crucial, which is something that is not possible without the data provided by a time and attendance system. These benefits help paint a clear picture of the relative return on investment (ROI) time and attendance solutions can bring. With better time tracking, organisations use the funds and future transformations. 

​

The Role of Cloud-Based Solutions in Digital Transformation

Maintaining accurate labour time tracking can be a highly complex challenge made even more difficult when operating with legacy systems and manual processes. For this reason, cloud-based time and attendance solutions are more than just a trend. They are a strategic lynchpin in digital transformation strategies.  

Cloud technology offers scalability and flexibility—but not without a cost. While cloud solutions offer a multitude of capabilities, it is often spoken of as an automatic benefit. Nicole cautions, “You have to do the work of deciding where your core system will be, and where your source of record will be.” 

To this end, adopting a best-of-breed time and attendance solution is helpful for ensuring a robust master data management strategy, providing a single source of truth for Business Intelligence (BI) or analytics. This approach enhances transparency and accuracy in data management, which is vital for making informed business decisions. 

Likewise, Cloud-based time and attendance solutions accelerate digital transformation because people interact with it every day. Business leadership should make sure that their selected solution effectively meets their workers’ needs. The focus should be on selecting a solution that streamlines the employee’s day-to-day experience and enables business imperatives.  

Nicole also stresses the importance of a future-ready solution, saying, “You need some level of ability to say, when my business changes, when the market changes, I’m confident we can adapt.” 

Benefits of Adopting a Best-of-Breed Time and Attendance Solution

Best-of-Breed, modern workforce management technology delivers scalable, secure, and consumer-grade time and attendance solution. It allows for configuration to support diverse business needs, such as specific pay policies, which are often unique to every organisation. These systems are expected to have the flexibility to either function independently or allow for easy integration with HCM suites for better cost management and foster a satisfied, high-performing workforce.  

Not only does Best-of-Breed workforce management deliver a higher return-on-investment than HCM suites, but that ROI is delivered through hard dollar savings in key areas, and returns are achieved more quickly than you might expect. The ROI achieved by optimising labour spending, boosting productivity, reducing payroll leakage and keeping employees engaged and in their roles exceeds the cost savings of other HCM approaches.