Construction and field services businesses do their work on the go so they need workforce management solutions that are as mobile as they are. Cue GPS time tracking apps. These apps were made for businesses that don’t work between the four same walls every day. GPS time tracking apps allow employees to clock in and out on their mobile devices. There are many variations of mobile time clock apps but not all have GPS. Here’s why every mobile business needs a GPS time tracking app.
What is a Mobile Time Clock App?
A mobile time clock with GPS location tracking uses a mobile phone’s native functionality to track employees. GPS or Global Positioning System is a US-owned utility that provides users with positioning, navigation and timing services. For example, ExakTime Mobile’s GPS feature utilizes 30 global positions satellites to provide exact locations of employees when they clock in or out.
Some GPS time tracking apps use geofences as well. A geofence is a virtual “barrier” that’s set up to enforce certain restrictions or create certain opportunities. A geofence works like a regular fence by marking off areas. An employer might want to put a geofence around a worksite. Employees must clock in inside the fence, not from their vehicles or a coffee shop across the street. When employees clock in or out, their timestamp will be flagged as either on-site or off-site.
So why is remote time tracking using GPS so important for mobile businesses? There are a handful of key reasons.
GPS Keeps an Eye on Employee Time Tracking
Time theft is a real issue for construction and field services companies. Construction is by nature vulnerable to time theft, where workers claim more minutes and hours than were actually worked. Construction and field services workers can do this as they are often spread out and unsupervised or difficult to monitor. And if a company is using paper time cards, it’s almost like you’re serving up time theft to your employees on a platter.
Time theft comes in a variety of forms:
- Buddy punching– When one employee punches a time clock for or otherwise poses for an absent employee.
- Hour-rounding – When employees round up their time worked for the day or week as they fill out their time cards or time sheets
- Late starts or early stops – When employees start a few minutes late and leave a few minutes early every day. This may seem like nothing, but with many workers doing this daily, it adds up.
- Misremembering – When workers honestly forget that they left early one day to pick up their kid or for a medical appointment or took an unpaid day off the week prior.
Time theft can cost construction and field services workers a lot of money. According to Second Wind Consultants, service-based industries can spend as much as 50% of their budget on payroll. Manufacturers are closer to 30%. So small discrepancies add up to having a big impact on your bottom line. Using mobile employee GPS time tracking eliminates time theft by making time tracking digital. Employees can’t fudge numbers because once the app records the time, it can only be adjusted by an administrator. And, built-in biometrics, like photo ID capture, ensure only the employee can log his or her hours, not a buddy.
Dispatches Crews to Sites
Construction and field services work doesn’t occur in a vacuum, meaning one job is different from the next and unexpected issues often arise. When that happens, crews may need an extra hand for even an expert or specialist. When a company uses mobile employee time tracking with GPS, it just takes seconds to figure out exactly where crews are working.
If location A needs an extra worker or two, you can quickly check nearby job sites to see how many employees are at each one. If location B is close and has a surplus of workers, you can dispatch a few of them to the new job site. What normally might have taken a few phone calls and some mapping now takes just a minute.
Take the efficiency of a GPS time clock app a step further by adding a scheduling component. Crews can get updates on which locations they’re working at before they ever leave their homes. Scheduling also allows managers to send alerts, monitor schedules as well as track hours. Apply cost codes to the shifts so the planned task for the shift is clear. You can also set recurring shifts for the same employee or crew or drag and drop to quickly add an employee to an existing shift.
Helps Quickly Deliver Supplies
A perfect day would mean every job site would have the right supplies at the exact time they’re needed. But anyone in construction knows, that rarely happens. As the unexpected happens, sites need items that they usually must send someone to grab, reducing their productivity. A GPS time tracking app can help deliver supplies more efficiently because you’ll know exactly where to go. Crews are often on the go, and when they message for more lumber or equipment, you’ll know where to head.
GPS time tracking apps will increase the efficiency of your business, saving you time and money. ExakTime is the leader in time clock apps for a reason. Our reliable, easy-to-use app can be used company-wide.
