Tanda Blog

J. Barbor, Guest Writer

27 August 2019    |   

Technology as a business necessity In 2017, nearly half of all Australian innovation-active businesses spent on new equipment or technology, making tech the most common innovation expenditure — and rightly so. Technology has become a necessity for businesses everywhere, and the most competitive companies are always looking to upgrade theirs to improve productivity. However, it’s important to keep in mind that investing in innovative technology means more than just purchasing it. Often, the most crucial steps to maximise its benefits are what comes afterwards, when it is integrated into everyday business operations. Businesses must consider how new technologies will affect their employees, and although it might sound obvious, it’s a little more complicated than simply deploying them. Indeed, there are a lot of factors to think about, particularly with regard to how the technology will affect your frontline employees. They play a huge role in customer satisfaction, and the alienation or intimidation they may feel towards new tools will most likely affect their interactions with clients. Rosie Ramirez wrote that the smallest interactions with frontline employees can shape people’s opinions of your brand, meaning that even the small instances of bad customer service can make or break your company in the long run. That’s why getting frontline workers to engage with and accept new technology is essential in keeping them and your customers happy. That said, we’ve listed down some tips to make this adoption of new tech possible with your invaluable frontline workers. Choose user-friendly tech Frontline employees already face a lot of pressure at work — customer service workers know this more than most, and understand how stressful it can be to handle customers well. Adding new and complicated-looking technology can be frustrating (and terrifying) to those who already have a lot on their plate. Remember that there is a myriad of options for functional and user-friendly tech these days, so simply lining them up to compare your options will make a world of difference for your busy frontline workers. Think about day-to-day operations Considering how new technology will affect day-to-day operations is not a one-man job, and at this stage, it’s important to actually talk to your frontline employees who are likely affected by any changes made in the back office. For instance, if you change tracking systems for stock that will benefit your operations managers, how would this affect sales teams on the ground who rely on this information on a daily basis? Don’t assume that you know how everything works, and ask different departments how new tools might change operations from the ground up. That way, you and your workers know exactly what to expect and how to prepare for it. Be transparent about new tools Change can be intimidating, especially when employees don’t know exactly what is changing. It’s important to spell it out for frontline employees who are most likely going to be affected by the new tech. Verizon Connect’s guide on how to get employees to use new technology points out that it’s crucial to constantly repeat the benefits of new tools to employees until they’re integrated into the existing company culture. Resistance can be expected at first, but by being transparent about the new technology, you’re making frontline workers feel confident and included in the change. Guarantee effective training When you invest in new technology, it’s best to invest in effective trainers as well. This can make the adoption of new tools easier for both you and your workers. Staff won’t have to juggle trying to learn the new tech on their own while meeting with clients, since you will give them the one- or two-day training they need to understand it. Of course, follow-ups are key to knowing if additional training is necessary for certain employees, particularly the less tech-savvy ones. Data from the Australian Institute of Family Studies confirms that older generations are less likely to interact with new technology and often require extra training courses to improve basic skills for online activities. Listening to what individual workers need will help everyone gain the skills needed to operate new technology. It goes without saying that more changes should be expected in an increasingly digital world, and it’s critical to think about the individuals working on the frontlines when implementing these changes, given that they are the faces that drive brands forward. After all, what use is shiny new machinery to improve operations if your staff don’t know what to make of them? Ready to adopt a frontline-friendly technology platform? See how Tanda can make rostering and payroll more efficient when you start your free trial today.

Rosie Ramirez

10 June 2019    |   

Superannuation underpayment is a significant problem in Australia. An estimated 2.85 million Australians are being short-changed. On average, they have 50% less in their super balances than those who are being paid correctly. Further, analysis of ATO data has shown that the average underpayment is $2,070 — that’s $80 per fortnightly pay. Young, blue-collar workers are especially vulnerable to underpayment. So how do you make sure that superannuation contributions are accurate for your employees? Trade in your pen and paper for a super calculator Superannuation is important because it applies to almost every type of worker in Australia. Thus, employers must pay super for any work casual, part-time, and full-time temporary resident employee who falls under the following: Employees over 18 years of age, who earn $450 or more every month (before taxes); and Employees under 18 years of age, who earn $450 or more every month (before taxes), and work at least 30 hours a week. Employers must pay a minimum of 9.5% of the employee’s ordinary time earnings into super. But this is set to gradually rise over the coming years. However, you won’t need to worry about any of this when you use our free superannuation calculator. See correct superannuation contributions for multiple employees Figuring out the correct superannuation for your employees is effortless with our free super calculator. This free super calculator shows you the correct contributions for multiple employees at once. Follow the steps below to see the correct superannuation contributions. Don’t forget to check all the data before June 30! Step 1: Input. Input the first employee’s details in each field using our switch system. Step 2: Add. Click the “add employee button” to input another set of details. Repeat as necessary. Step 3: Calculate. Click the “calculate” button to see results. Avoid being charged fees and interest for unpaid superannuation contributions Employers who do not pay the correct superannuation may face fines, penalties, or charges. Additionally, you may lose your tax deduction for super contributions. If you are a small business that pays employees in cash, you may be more vulnerable to making mistakes in filing superannuation contributions. Don’t take the risk. Use a superannuation calculator that eliminates human error from your administrative work. Switch to complete workforce management system effortlessly Calculating correct super contributions is just one small part of our full range of services. Upgrade your free superannuation calculator to our full range of services and you will also be able to: Search and consolidate all employees’ superannuation contributions Accurately track time and attendance Manage leaves, shifts, and unavailability See real-time staff count and wage spending Connect to your existing payroll system Produce reports for strategic planning Ready to take advantage of technology to make sure your superannuation contributions are spot on?  Start your free trial now and get one step closer to workforce success! Disclaimers: You should only use the results generated from this website as a guide. They may not be completely accurate for your business. If you have other eligibility criteria not covered by this calculator, please refer to the ATO’s superannuation guarantee eligibility decision tool.

Jess Golding

13 January 2020    |   

Creating a roster that maximises student visa hours while remaining below the 20-hour-a-week limit is a big challenge for businesses. With our customers employing anything from 15 to 2,000 student visa workers, this was a major pain point.  The maximum fine for breaching this condition is AU$63,000. For each breach. So giving as many hours as possible to student visa workers without breaching is in both the employee and the employer’s interests. It maximises productivity for businesses and provides suitable wages for staff. Introducing a suite of features that makes this important process — and managing staff qualifications in general — easier. To figure out the best approach to solve this problem, we conducted extensive research with a number of our customers across a range of industries.  Above: Tanda clients rated managing student visa workers as a major pain point In a nutshell, expiry dates and term dates are the hardest parts to keep track. Overall, Tanda users indicated that the overall student visa hours and qualification tracking process is very difficult. How to manage your student visa workers in Tanda This multi-faceted issue requires a multi-faceted solution. When set-up correctly, this combination of features and alerts work together to ensure visa worker hours get close to 20/week, but not over. It’s a foolproof way to avoid the long list of possible sanctions resulting from non-compliance. Key Alert for maximum hours. If an employee is at risk of going over their maximum hours, the manager will receive a Key Alert. Set effective dates. Identify a date range (i.e. term time) in which the hours restriction applies. Give student visa workers more hours during term breaks. Learn more Prevent publishing roster if hours exceeded. The roster cannot be published if at least one staff member would be working over the maximum hours, or a visa has expired. Employee self-service. Staff can update their qualifications and submit term dates, with managers being notified for approval. Staff need to have access to the desktop version of Tanda (my.tanda.co).  Notifications to the right people. Select which permission level receives notifications on qualification updates and upcoming expiry dates. Learn more Permissions for the right people. Change who can edit and approve all qualifications. Audit trail of qualifications. See a detailed audit trail of creation, updating, and approval of qualifications. Read the help article to learn how to set it up. How it helps with general qualifications While these features were created with managing student visas in mind, these can also make managing other qualifications easier. For example, it can work for fatigue management for drivers. Find out more.

Andrew Stirling

13 January 2020    |   

The Fair Work Commission has announced amendments to 22 modern awards that affect the employment of salaried staff members. The major changes introduced by these amendments include: a new requirement for employers to keep time and attendance records for salaried employees;  a new entitlement that employees be paid overtime and penalty rates in addition to their annualised salary in some circumstances; and a new requirement that employers conduct a 12 monthly reconciliation of the salary against what the employee would have been paid under the award.  This means that salaried staff who traditionally haven’t recorded their hours of work will now need to keep a record of their start and finish times, including breaks. Employers will now need to use those records to ensure the employee is paid more under the salary than they would have been paid under the award.  Tanda is working on creating a feature release that will help with compliance and eliminate possible additional admin that comes with the change. Subscribe here and we’ll keep you updated. Tanda has developed the below process as a guide for complying with these new requirements.  Step 1 – Determine which award conditions will be covered by the annualised wage An annualised wage is typically paid in satisfaction of as many pay conditions as the award allows (e.g. minimum weekly wages, allowance, overtime penalty rates, weekend and other penalty rates, and annual leave loading). You should check your award to determine which pay conditions can be satisfied by the annualised wage. At this stage, the new clauses will allow annualised salaries only for full-time employees. Step 2 – Calculate the annualised wage The new award clauses require you to determine “the method by which the annualised wage has been calculated, including specification of each separate component of the annualised wage and any overtime or penalty assumptions used in the calculation”. This type of modelling is easy in Tanda. Just create a test roster for a month (or even a full year). It is better to slightly overestimate the overtime hours and penalty rate hours that might be worked. Don’t forget about allowances, or about penalty rates that might apply at irregular intervals (e.g. for work on public holidays). Some awards also require the annualised salary paid to non-managerial staff to be greater than a certain percentage of the minimum weekly award wage that would have been paid to the employee. If your award includes that requirement, you should also check your employee’s annual salary against that percentage. Step 3 – Set the “outer limits” for penalty and overtime hours The new award clauses will require you to set a limit on how many overtime and penalty rate hours that the annual salary covers in each pay or roster cycle. Any hours worked beyond the outer limit within the same cycle will need to be paid in addition to the annualised wage. The same awards that require the annualised wage be a set percentage greater than the minimum award wage will also have a maximum number of outer limit hours that may be covered by the annualised wage. However, most awards do not specify the maximum number of outer limit hours. We suggest employers regard the following guidance from the Fair Work Commission about how to set the outer limit hours:  The outer limit hours per pay cycle can be greater than the average number of overtime and penalty rate hours that the annualised wage is calculated to cover under Step 2. Example: if the annualised wage assumes the employee will work an average of 5 overtime hours per week over the year, the specified outer limit of overtime hours may be 10 per week. Although not expressly stated in the new clause, the FWC anticipates that the outer limits will allow only “reasonable” fluctuations in the amount of overtime or penalty hours per week. That is, you should be prepared to justify why the outer limit hours that you set are a reasonable “flex up” for the employee for that pay cycle. As above, the outer limits can be set so that the employee is paid less in that pay or roster cycle than they would have been paid under the award. The FWC has provisionally set the following maximum number of outer limit hours that may be worked for the awards mentioned above: where the annualised wage must be at least 25% greater than the minimum award wage, the maximum outer limit of ordinary-time penalty rate hours is an average of 16 per week, and the outer limit of overtime hours under is an average of 10 per week. where the required pay uplift is 40%, the respective maximum outer limits were provisionally set at 20 and 15 per week. Step 4 – Document the terms of the annualised salary You must keep a written record of: the amount of the annualised salary (see Step 2); which award conditions will be covered by the annualised wage (see Step 1); the method by which the annualised wage has been calculated, including specification of each separate component of the annualised wage and any overtime or penalty assumptions used in the calculation (see Step 2); the outer limit overtime and penalty rate hours (see Step 3). This record must be given to the employee. Some awards also require that the employee agree to being paid the annualised wage. Remember that you can store this record against the employee using files on the Tanda Platform™. Step 5 – Employee confirmation of their time and attendance The new award rules require you to keep a record of the employee’s starting and finishing times of work, and any unpaid breaks taken. This record must be signed by the employee, or acknowledged as correct in writing (including by electronic means) by the employee, each pay period or roster cycle. Tanda has a workflow to electronically manage this requirement, whether or not you require the employee to clock in and out using Tanda’s Time Clock. Workplaces who traditionally don’t use an attendance device can manage this by exception.  Step 6 – Checking the outer limits and other amounts not included in the annualised wage Each pay or roster cycle, you will need to check whether the employee has worked in excess of the outer limit overtime or penalty rate hours. You will also need to check whether the employee should be paid any other amount that is not covered by the annualised wage, e.g. if the annual salary does not cover all award pay rules.  You can easily check this in Tanda by comparing the Salaried amount against the equivalent Full-Time Classification. Tanda is also leading the charge in building automation into this process to allow businesses to manage by exception. You will need to pay an employee for the overtime and penalty rate hours that they work in excess of the outer limits. The additional payment will be due in the same pay or roster cycle that the hours were worked. Step 7 – Wage review  The new clause requires you to calculate the amount that the employee would have been paid under the award and compare this to the annualised wage actually paid to the employee. This comparison must be undertaken: each 12 months from the commencement of the annualised wage arrangement; or  upon the termination of employment of the employee.  You can easily do this in Tanda by comparing it to the equivalent full-time classification for the annual period. Ensure that the employee’s award entitlements are properly configured, including classification and allowances. Tanda can also provide an exportable report that details the breakdown of the gross wages by pay condition.  If the employee would have been paid more under the award than under the annualised wage, you must pay the employee the amount of the shortfall within 14 days of the review. Current developments At the time of writing, the Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO) has not issued any guidance about how the new annual salary requirements should be applied. Tanda has assembled a project team who are actively liaising with stakeholders, including employers and industry bodies, to create a staged feature release that is consistent with the requirements of the annualised salary changes taking effect in March 2020. The backbone of this release is a powerful reporting tool that aims to eliminate the additional admin burden brought by the changes. For updates on the project, enter your details below: Project Updates: Register your interest List of awards affected by this decision Banking, Finance and Insurance Award 2010 Broadcasting, Recorded Entertainment and Cinemas Award 2010 Clerks – Private Sector Award 2010 Contract Call Centres Award 2010 Health Professionals and Support Services Award 2010 Horticulture Award 2010 Hospitality Industry (General) Award 2010 Hydrocarbons Industry (Upstream) Award 2010 Legal Services Award 2010 Local Government Industry Award 2010 Manufacturing and Associated Industries and Occupations Award 2010 Marine Towage Award 2010 Mining Industry Award 2010 Oil Refining and Manufacturing Award 2010 Pastoral Award 2010 Pharmacy Industry Award 2010 Rail Industry Award 2010 Restaurant Industry Award 2010  Salt Industry Award 2010 Telecommunications Services Award 2010 Water Industry Award 2010 Wool Storage, Sampling and Testing Award 2010 If you have questions about how Tanda can assist you with these new requirements, register on the link above. If you’re unsure about the legal effects of these changes to your business, call the Fair Work Infoline on 13 13 94.

Emerson Domingo

4 December 2019    |   

There is a pattern consistent in most industries. Companies that succeed are ones where frontline managers have influence in improving the execution of business strategy. Former Schering-Plough (now Merck & Co.) CEO Fred Hassan says frontline managers ‘represent an all-important feedback loop that allows the CEO to stay abreast of the latest developments in the business.’ At Tanda, we believe frontline managers need to be in the frontline — enabling their team to be their best selves. In the past 6 months, our product team has been working on making each task you do on Tanda quicker and easier. So you can use our software less and grow your business more. Here are 50+ features that do exactly that. 1. Tailor Tanda to your business needs with The Platform The Platform lets you customise your Tanda workflow. Using custom objects and custom fields, you can create new ways of storing and communicating information. No matter how big or small your team is, they are always informed. Learn more about The Platform > 2. Demystify part-time compliance by rostering from Regular Hours of Work Having a permanent part-time (PPT) staff is more cost-effective than a casual team. However, the administrative requirements of having PPT staff may be a discouraging factor for employing them. One of the most labour intensive requirements for managing PPT staff is rostering. Keeping track and manually implementing regular hours of work (or contract hours) in rosters can be exhausting — especially if it’s for an entire team. Rostering from Regular Hours of Work removes these administrative hurdles. Learn how to roster from Regular Hours of Work > 3. Brand-new, more powerful, more customisable rosters Our new, more powerful rosters have the same features you’re used to, but with more functionality on top. See what’s new > 4. Approve and edit timesheets from anywhere No need to stay behind a computer to go through your team’s timesheet. With the Tanda app (version 0.34.3 or newer), you can edit and approve timesheets from anywhere. See what else you can do on the mobile app >   5. Onboarding: Multiple contract uploads and welcome messages In the first days of your newest hire, a smooth onboarding is one of the best ways to ensure early success. One of the core parts of this process is signing a contract. The easiest way to do that is with Tanda’s onboarding offering. Learn more > 6. Customise leave by hiding leave balances and leave types This is helpful for leave staff cannot apply for (e.g. public holiday paid/not worked); less common leave types, such as long service leave; and types that are not commonly taken by your team, such as maternity leave for a majority-male staff. Learn more > 7. Pay overtime for work outside contract hours Learn more > 8. Key Alert: Maximum qualification hours reached A key alert can now notify managers if an employee will go over their qualification max hours. Learn more > 9. Roster edit history filters Filter roster edit history by staff and action. Learn more > 10. New Employee Navigation: See unavailability, leave, clock-ins, and other employee information in one place Everything about your employees is now all in the employee profile. Learn more >

Joel Jensen

15 November 2019    |   

Introducing Tanda’s New Employee Onboarding feature! Tanda’s Employee Onboarding Feature is the paperless way to collect all those necessary staff details such as Tax file Numbers and Super Choice forms, without the hassle of scanning and signing forms, or chasing new staff for paperwork. Through Tanda, managers will now be able to onboard new staff and their details directly into Tanda. How does it work? Talk to the Tanda Onboarding team to have the onboarding tool enabled in your account. From here, managers can send out an email with the onboarding link to new staff, prompting them to complete the necessary forms. Using this link, the onus is put on staff to fill in all their details, which are then submitted securely to Tanda. Once all the details have been submitted, Tanda will then automatically create a staff profile for the new team member in Tanda. If your payroll software has an onboarding integration, Tanda will export the newly created staff profile to your payroll software where it will create a new staff profile in payroll as well. What forms can my new team member fill out? Through Tanda’s Employee Onboarding feature your team member will be able to fill out all the core paperwork, that is required for them to be paid, and rostered. Personal Details Emergency Contact Details Bank Account Details Tax File Declaration Form Super Choice Form What are the benefits of Employee Onboarding for Employers? Cuts out paperwork by replacing the forms new staff have to sign, with digital versions. No chasing up paperwork, as staff can enter their details themselves. Reduces errors by validating BSBs, Addresses, Tax File Numbers, and Super details. No problems trying to decipher staff members’ messy handwriting. Cuts out double entries for payroll by automatically syncing with certain cloud based software. Improves engagement with your new staff.  What are the benefits for Employees? Simple easy to follow process for staff – they no longer have to enter their name, date of birth or address multiple times. Can be easily completed from home or from your mobile phone, wherever you are. No need to print, scan, email or post hard copy forms. Get started with Tanda’s Employee Onboarding today! Tanda’s Employee Onboarding feature is already live! For more information contact one of our friendly Tanda Consultants today, on 1300 859 117 or via email at support@tanda.co to get started with Tanda Employee Onboarding.

Rosie Ramirez

4 June 2019    |   

“Staff members have good and bad days. We need to adjust. There will be times when there is a short deadline. We need to drive and lead because we are the team leader. There will be times when you’ve got the flexibility to take staff on a journey,” says leadership expert William Gooderson of PwC. Once a British Royal Engineers Major, William is a class unto himself. After leaving university in 2003, he spent the next 9 years leading troops in Europe and Afghanistan. What was first a job with 30 soldiers soon grew into missions with over 2,000 people involved. But his journey into challenging work had just begun. Throughout the next few years, he would continue working with people in various fields. Becoming a master of work in the service of others William Gooderson left the army and moved to Australia to work in construction and government. Soon after, he joined consultancy firms and began to specialise in leadership and coaching. Today, he brings all of these different experiences to the table. “We’re very fortunate within the military to spend a year learning leadership before you actually run any teams. So you learn a lot of experiences before you get a hands on,” he shares. “That’s where I’ve realised the lessons that I was getting or taking for granted through my military career would actually be very relevant to industry and the corporate mindset.” 1. Strive for a flexible coaching style “Industries spend less money on training its leaders than it does on any other area of development,” William lamented during his talk at the Workforce Success Conference last year on the Gold Coast. Indeed, there is little hope for an organisation if it doesn’t coach the next level of staffing. He encourages leaders to first determine how much time they can invest. “Do you have the time capacity and energy to take your staff on the journey? Or do you need to be more direct? [Are] there staff members struggling because you keep giving them direction and they’re not listening?” he asks. “Maybe they need actually to be given a bit more of a pointed approach to how they need to undertake things.” The key is staying flexible and adapting to how people are feeling. Read more: From Battlefields to Boardrooms: Finding Good Managers with William Gooderson 2. Track performance, give and take feedback Two-way communication is important for every organisation, regardless of the industry. Tracking performance without communicating is a clear waste of time and resources. And above all, there must be a way for employees to give feedback. “There is a real importance around […] the opportunity for staff to be able to give that feedback to their team leaders. If they can’t, the team leader can never learn where the staff is being challenged,” he says. “Without [the feedback loop] you aren’t really going to struggle to be an effective team leader an effective team member.” He adds that it’s impossible to get it right every time, but each mistake is a learning point that can be developed for next time. Read more: Actionable feedback from the front line 3. Use tech to bridge communication gaps “We now live in a very much a data-driven world where you can live and work in the global workspace,” he muses. Managers can take advantage of this and use it to do more face-to-face interactions. A telephone call or an email doesn’t have the ability to convey emotions. But he also reminds managers to balance it out with other aspects of the job. “It doesn’t have to be daily. We’re all busy. Your staff members are busy, the [operation] teams are busy, but there is nothing to stop you walking the floor on a Friday, or actually getting out and about. Drop by saying hi and make them feel like you’re actually listening,” he advises. Managers need to communicate well and often to achieve success. Read more: Four Ways to Keep your Managers on the Frontline Leadership is communication “You can’t just have communication on its own and expect it to work. You need to have an environment where people feel like they can communicate. You need to make the time to communicate. You need to provide opportunities and transparency. [You can’t just be] a one trick pony every now and again where you release a statement and expect everything to come back to it,” he advises. For William, communicating means listening as much as talking. It also means building a strong rapport that will make communication easier. Finally, he stresses taking care of the core leadership team that you work directly with. “They will know what’s going on the level below and the level below,” he notes. Regardless of how many people are in the team, the principles are the same. It’s the core leadership that bridges you to them. “Talk to them, work with them, understand them, and then it’s your job to trust them to do the same to their team,” he advises. “If you have good communication and good leadership then you will hear the problems. It will be communicated all the way through the chain.” Want to communicate with your staff better? Eager to train the next generation of leaders? Learn from William Gooderson and other topnotch speakers at the Workforce Success Conference on 26 July 2019. Get your tickets now!

Rosie Ramirez

23 May 2019    |   

John is 5 minutes late for work every day while his colleague Martha is late for 30 minutes once a week. Do these late clock ins really matter? For many businesses, they do. In shift work industries and frontline roles, frequent tardiness can mean disruption and loss of profit. Even just 10 minutes of being late accumulates over time and eats away at the bottom line.  But in a 2017 CareerBuilder survey, 29% of respondents said they came in late at least once a month. 49% blame the traffic for their tardiness, 32% blame it on oversleeping, while the rest blame bad weather, procrastination, and “too tired to get out of bed.” How can managers discourage lateness among employees? How to increase employee attendance Many traditional managers believe that harsh sanctions are the best way to eliminate lateness at work. However, sanctions lower employee morale. They can drive productivity down and result in a high turnover rate. That’s why at this year’s Workforce Success Conference, we are inviting students to propose ways to increase employee attendance in Australia. Read on to know more about the tried-and-tested ways to increase employee attendance. Get the chance to improve on these methods by signing up for the case competition today! An internship and cash prize awaits the winner. 1. Track time and attendance accurately The first step to making sure that proper clock ins and outs are observed is by tracking them accurately. Otherwise, your company will be exposed to a risk of time theft, or employees being paid for the hours they did not work. Lax monitoring systems make companies vulnerable. Manual time clocks are no longer reliable, as they are susceptible to time theft. Investing in cloud-based time and attendance software saves you time and energy on processing employee timesheets. Download a clocking system app for free and give it a try. Read more: Time Theft: Top 3 ways employees steal time and how to stop it 2. Address frequent lateness ASAP Feedback and coaching are important parts changing behaviour. Those who fail to meet time and attendance targets could be doing so for any number of reasons, such as single parenthood, chronic illness, or even financial instability. Understanding what they are going through is instrumental to helping them perform better. Managers should be able to empower employees to comply with their work hours. Schedule consultations with them to identify the issues and address them accordingly. Download and customise: Written warning – Late Attendance 3. Reward good employee attendance Deducting pay for frequent lateness is one solution and is a common one. But employee incentives for punctuality serve to underscore the importance of time and attendance in a more positive way. There are many ways managers have incentivised coming in on time. They require some work for managers, but the effect on morale and productivity cannot be understated. Here are some of the most frequently used strategies to increase employee attendance. Provide free breakfast once a month One popular way to reward punctuality is to provide free breakfast. This can be done once a month on a set day, or even more frequently, but on random days. Those who have good attendance will feel the benefits of coming in early, while those who don’t will start thinking about it. Give out tokens to multiple employees Gift cards, lunch vouchers, and company apparel cost little but are always appreciated. Keeping the rewards budget-friendly will allow you to give them out to more people and more often. It’s also a great way to keep attention on the program. Create a “Hall of Fame” for time and attendance Publicly recognise employees who consistently come in on time and do not have unexcused absences. It will boost their morale, and hopefully inspire others to follow suit. Give consistent performers time off Don’t think of this as an additional expense, because a consistent performer will have more than made up for it. This can be the high value reward given out during your end-of-year party. Include a plane ticket and hotel accommodations if you can afford it! Read more: Only a Matter of Time: Punctuality and attendance in multicultural workplaces Forge the workforce of the future Modern managers are people-centric. Many of them want to create a work culture built on trust, respect, and balance. When employees are constantly late to work, there are usually reasons that lie below the surface. Empowering them through attendance programs are more likely to increase morale and productivity. Sanctions and punishments for lateness are sometimes necessary, but there is plenty of room for creativity in this area of management. In the end, increasing employee attendance will benefit not just them, but also their team and the company as a whole.   Ready to forge the workforce of the future by increasing employee attendance? Form a team of 3-5 students and sign up today. A cash prize and internship awaits! We’ll email you more details and provide consultation once you sign up.

Jana Dee Reserva

9 January 2020    |   

Jas Sidhu is a firm believer in franchise businesses. When he was looking to purchase one, Schnitz caught his attention. “I look at many franchise businesses, and I always keep coming back to Schnitz because I love the product. It’s all freshly made. It’s cooked to order. The chips are fantastic.” Today, Jas owns Schnitz in Balaclava.  Having a great product is one thing, but another equally important element of running a food business are the employees. “It’s about having the right people and hiring the right calibre of staff, and making sure that they are passionate and love what they do. They should have a passion for serving the customers with the same quality of food that they would want to be served themselves.” The right mix in managing shift changes, rostering, and payroll Schnitz Balaclava’s operations highly depend on people. Jas needed a way to schedule staff effectively and deal with last-minute shift changes when unplanned absences happen.  “That’s where Tanda makes it very easy. My staff can select ‘you can’t work this shift’ on the app, and I can then offer it to selected employees, or I can offer it to all staff as an open shift,” shared Jas.  Schnitz also streamlined scheduling, ensured each station is covered, and wage costs are always in check. “I log in to Tanda, and I can do a roster in about 5-10 minutes. Before, it would take me at least an hour or two to work the cost,” shared Jas. “[It] is convenient. It doesn’t cause me stress to do the rosters, trying to figure out who’s available, and working out wage costs.” Accuracy in pay and labour compliance are also benefits that Schnitz Balaclava gets from Tanda. “It takes me about 5 minutes to pay staff. I export all timesheets to Xero, and it’s done immediately. The calculation of timesheets and wages are all done for me. It safeguards my business because I can never have an issue with the Fair Work,” remarked Jas.  The secret to training staff and improving customer service Because rosters and payroll don’t take a long time to do, Jas now has more time to train his team and work on improving the business.  “We want to build this business and probably look at a second store. But basically, right now, we want to focus on this and make sure that Schnitz Balaclava is a success,” Jas said.  Just like Schnitz Balaclava, you can manage your workforce better. Give Tanda a try for free and see how it can help you take your business further. 

Jana Dee Reserva

13 December 2019    |   

From top-notch accommodations, proximity to different attractions, and commitment to providing the best holiday, BIG4 Caloundra Holiday Park is a recommended destination in the Sunshine Coast. They have just been voted as the Big4’s People’s Choice Park.  What has made them  successful? CEO Angus Booker shared three essential things that helped them thrive.  Discipline – “We run a very tight consistent set of operating procedures,” Angus shared. They’re committed to doing the fundamentals right, from employee onboarding, payroll, to managing customer payments. Since a lot of the business administration side is mostly operational tasks in nature, Angus and his team ensure that these steps are consistently done well. Data-driven business decisions – The team looks at data as an indicator of what their next move should be. “We’re absolutely obsessed by data. We analyse and plan everything. We don’t start a financial year without understanding exactly how we’re going to execute it,” Angus shared.  Focus on the customer – For Angus and his entire team, it’s all about the customer experience. In everything that they do, they all have the customer in mind and are working to provide the best holiday for them. “In our business, it doesn’t matter where you sit. So whether you’re in housekeeping, operations, the laundry, front desk,  management, or marketing, we’re all focused on creating great customer experiences,” Angus added. More time for customer experience, less time on admin tasks It’s easy to say that a business is customer-centric. It’s another story when it comes to putting it to practice. BIG4 Caloundra knows this very well. They understand that customer experience is made up of different touchpoints that can make (or break) guests’ stay, and that working on these things require time.  “We try to keep the admin that may distract the staff from doing [that]. Systems like Tanda are an important part of getting the admin away from the staff, and letting them focus on creating great customer experiences.”  BIG4 Caloundra wanted to improve how they manage timesheets. Before Tanda, it was a very time-consuming ordeal, especially since they have a distributed workforce. It used to involve collecting timesheets, scanning them, sending them via email, forwarding it to the financial controller to run payroll, who then had to re-enter all the information into their payroll system.  “For us, Tanda is really the opportunity to create controls around timesheet collection and on the back of that is really the rostering,” Angus shared. For them, what worked is having all of this information in one platform. Since using Tanda, the team has more time for marketing, better data analysis, and improving customer service.  Easier workforce management, better employee experience If you want better customer service, you need to empower the people who will help carry that out for you. For BIG4 Caloundra, using Tanda is not just efficient; it can also be fun for their employees.  What staff loved most about using Tanda is the platform’s simplicity, particularly that of the time clock app, which is very crucial in generating timesheets. It also helped address the challenges of having a workforce in different locations. Also, it provided a fun way to engage their employees. “I think the staff really enjoyed it. We sort of have a little competition early on to see who could do the best selfies,” Angus shared. Creating more memorable holidays BIG4 Caloundra is currently making upgrades and building new facilities to  enrich the holidays of their customers further. “We’re just undertaking a massive expansion of one of our businesses to create entirely new customer experiences for our guests,” Angus shared. Ready to deploy time clock app and streamline timesheets and rostering? Try Tanda for 14 days for free, no credit card required.