Top Tip - Record Keeping

One of the biggest issues without fail that I encounter when working with small / medium businesses is a lack of record keeping for employees.

Generally the basics of personal information, holidays and absence are kept in some format but things like those ‘informal chats’ or warnings, disciplinary letters or notes, signed contracts or correspondence are often ‘misplaced’, lost or not ever recorded which then causes problems when issues arise.

I often get calls with business owners frustrated with poor performance, for example, where numerous informal chats have been held and there is no record of these and so the starting position may as well be as if they had never occurred. I may get a call where an employer is frustrated with someone calling in sick all the time but they have not accurately recorded the absences to note the reasons, accurate dates or sometimes have allowed holiday to be taken which masks the problem.

The list is endless where I can say without a shadow of a doubt if we could have helped with better record keeping we would be able to handle more issues effectively for our clients.

As a result of this we have introduced a HR Software product ideally priced for the SME market which is an online system (meaning no on site software or installation) and is priced based on the number of employees so can be scaled up and down AND is only a monthly licence agreement so gives you the flexibility for change.

Image if…….

1)     All personal information on employees could be updated by your employees so this is always up to date?

2)     Holidays are booked online by employees and authorised by Managers online so no more paper forms flying round the office and cluttering desks – or arguments about who put holidays in first?

3)     Sickness absence is accurately recorded in one place and you can easily see any trends where repeat offenders may be taking excessive time off or where you may have a longer term problem on the horizon.

4)     All important documents like handbook policies or safety memos can be sent online and you can see exactly who has opened them, read them and acknowledged them on what date and at what time? No more excuses of ‘I never got that’

5)     All contracts or important correspondence can be held electronically instead of having paper personnel records cluttering the office?

6)     Training records are all updated centrally to make appraisals or reviews easier.

The clients we have that already use this service comment that:

‘It has saved literally hours of admin time processing and updating holiday charts and calendars...’

‘I expected this to cost a fortunate when I looked at the demo and was shocked how little it costed when it does so much…’

‘We use the software in conjunction with a service contract for support with Quest and this has allowed more accurate records to be accessed immediately by our Consultant which means we get more specific advice without having to dig out paper records, saving us time and money…’

From £15 per month you really can’t afford not to take a look. Why not call us to arrange a demo to see how we can make your life simpler.

For guidance on this subject or any other employee related matter call us on 0844 8797286.