When accountability is a top priority for your company, there are many tools available to you in order to reach that goal. One of the most recent entries in the world of new technology that can assist with employee accountability is facial recognition. In corporate applications, facial recognition capabilities are part of a time clock system. Essentially, when an employee ‘punches’ in for work, a camera in the system snaps a photo and verifies who that employee is.
Ximble has a facial recognition software program. It is becoming more commonplace in work settings where many employees work and spend their days on the job. When used in concert with a time clock, your business experiences many different benefits that were not previously possible. Here are 5 reasons why you should consider using it in your workplace.
1 – You Can’t Spend All Day Reviewing Photos
It’s true. You could have a camera set up with your time clock to snap a photo each time someone steps in front of it. In fact, that’s kind of the easy part. The downside to this is that you could end up with thousands of photos to go through by the end of the day in order to properly identify each and every employee who works at your place of business.
The benefit of facial recognition software here is that a time clock will send an alert to notify you when it does not recognize someone who is trying to clock in. This saves everyone time from having to manually sort through all photos. The software can also alert you to someone wearing a disguise such as a fake moustache or sunglasses or some other facial block.
2 – To Help With Sorting Out Seasonal/Temporary Employees
There are times when we draw blanks when trying to match a name with a face. It’s common when that face is one that does not appear around us on a regular basis. This is pretty much the way it is if your business has seasonal staff that you only see for a short period of time during an average year. Facial recognition software can save you time with this particular task.
The software program will actually ‘learn’ who works at your business through their regular clocking in. It begins with that employee’s very first clock in. The software will ‘remember’ that person the next time they appear so that you don’t have to try to figure out who they are. The time clock program will know everyone who works for you before you will.
3 – To Eliminate Buddy Clocking In Practices
It is going to happen. Sometimes an employee may get slightly delayed on the way into work and instead of dealing with being just a few minutes late, that employee has an arrangement in place for someone else to clock in for them. It’s sort of nice to see employees working together like this, but it isn’t very honest. Facial recognition will identify this instantly.
The problem with buddy punching, as it is known, it costs small businesses over 300-million dollars per year. If you are trying to keep your employees accountable for the hours they actually work on site, then a time clock with facial recognition will eliminate that. The software will alert you to a face that does not match the time card being punched and will record the infraction.
4 – To Track The Punctuality of Employees
Let’s face it, you don’t want to be viewed as a spy or a cop always watching what your employees are up to. However, you do have the responsibility of being able to speak authoritatively on the time your employees are at work and when they leave. For a large corporation with hundreds or thousands of employees, this is anything but a simple task to do.
Facial recognition software at a time clock will change all of that for you. It will not only record each employee’s arrival and departure time, but you will also be able to track any trends that appear over time. Being late the odd time or cutting out early every so often is not always a problem but when it becomes habitual, it costs your company. This type of software keeps an eye on things.
5 – Cuts Down On Paperwork
Hey, there was a time when someone had to run down to the time clock and collect all the punch cards each day. That person would then spend hours going through each and every card to record the in and out times with each employees work file. That was usually followed with running all the entered cards back down to the time clock for further use by all employees on site that day.
When you use a facial recognition time clock, all punch ins and punch outs are recorded. The data is downloadable to your compatible spreadsheet program so that you can access the information for payroll purposes. Not having to enter in data manually saves on both the time and money spent on that very paperwork that was essential to employees getting paid.
In Conclusion
Facial recognition software has come a long way. When applied to the corporate world, it can enable employees to check in and check out of work freely without having to record additional information. Their hours can be calculated from the time clock records. Plus, facial recognition can alert you to various kinds of abuses to the system including imposters and potential thieves.
Where facial recognition software is most effective in time clock settings is that it will recognize seasonal and temporary workers and eliminate errors in access to them. Paperwork is greatly reduced and accountability is now something that has a tangible means of tracking. For a more efficient workplace, facial recognition software can help keep track of your employees.
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