The manual management of employee leaves is a daunting and challenging job for HR managers due to the sheer quantity of employees and the greater chance of mistakes. Monitoring and managing employee leaves manually can result in accidental mistakes, delays in processing leaves, updating status, and the subsequent mistakes in pay slips or payroll processing. The errors keep getting worse, resulting in an unforgiving scenario within HR management.
Although many businesses have transitioned to automated systems, a few remain using outdated paper-based systems to manage the employee’s time and attendance. If the situation is not managed correctly, employees have to wait for managers to approve their leave while managers rush through spreadsheets to monitor leave balance. When using an efficient automated Time and Attendance system, the whole procedure for managing leaves is seamless and smooth without stressing managers, employees, and HR administration. Employing inefficient tools can affect the efficiency and productivity of employees.
A few of the issues companies may encounter when implementing the manual method of managing leaves are:
- In the meantime, delays in approval
- Unmanaged balance of leave
- Inadequate surveillance or monitoring of employees’ absences ● Inaccurate management of leaves affects the payroll
- It is difficult for employees to plan and request leaves
- The managers aren’t always able to agree.
- No central system for tracking the employee’s leave
To avoid administration-related pitfalls, companies need to establish a system for managing leave. Overworked employees are inefficient and unfocused in the workplace. The time off allows employees to rest, keep an appropriate work-life balance, and be refreshed for return at work. Leave management is tracking and managing employees’ leaves in a precise and equitable method. An excellent leave management software provides features and functions that benefit both employers and employees.
The solution needs to be robust enough to manage each step of approving leave and aid the manager inefficiently controlling the process.
Let’s examine the top features that your system for managing leave should include:
- A simple dashboard of employee self service allows them and other stakeholders to view the balance of their leave, history of leave, and the official holiday list and approval status, among others. This lets employees apply for leave before departure, and managers prepare accordingly.
- Managers can look at staff holidays and assign work to staff according to the holidays.
- The system must have customizable leave fields that could be adjusted to suit the specific requirements of your business. One-size-fits-all solutions should be avoided.
- A cloud-based database system and an on-premise one allow management or employees to access crucial data from any place and any device they want. This freedom is vital to the overall success of your organization.
- It simplifies the management of leaves by removing manual calculations when changing your leave balance. It effectively tracks the history of leaves and provides it to employees and managers alike.
- An adjustable workflow to set the department-wise hierarchy and ensure a well-organized process. If an employee can apply for the leave they want,
an automatic process ensures that the manager gets an alert, and following approval, the balance of leave is adjusted.
- In-built reporting module for creating simple reports without manual effort.
- Easy integration with third-party applications, such as attendance management, payroll, etc., to reduce silos and allow cross-functional reporting.
There are many benefits to using a leave management system for small and medium-sized businesses. It removes manual labor, enhances the process, minimizes mistakes, provides real-time information, and ensures legal compliance.
HRMatrix HRMS modules allow employees to apply for leaves hassle-free and keep track of their leave history and leave balance quickly. For HR managers, it is a huge burden off their shoulders as they no longer have to calculate and delegate leaves to each employee manually and can use the system to track and manage different employee leaves and policies. It saves time and eliminates all errors in managing employee leaves manually. It further allows the HR staff to develop other essential business activities instead of being engaged in routine administrative tasks.
