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Biometrics is everywhere today. Think about it: unlocking your phone with a quick face scan or using your fingerprint to breeze through security. But did you know, biometrics aren’t just for personal gadgets anymore? They are making big waves in the business world too especially in workforce management (WFM). Biometric workforce management solutions have simplified and streamlined the entire process tracking time and attendance.
It is estimated that the market size of biometrics in workforce management will reach USD 30.5 billion by 2030!
These solutions allow your workforce to efficiently punch in and out while maintaining absolute accuracy. To help you understand better, in this blog, we bring you the top 6 ways in which biometrics is revolutionizing WFM.
Key Advantages of Using a Biometric Workforce Management
Did you know that Biometrics are beyond fingerprints? It also uses iris, voice, or even the way you walk to verify identity. Imagine paying for groceries with a smile or a frown. These are the potential of Biometrics and here are our favourite benefits it brings to the table.
1. Enabling Security
For WFM, biometric time and attendance systems offer several advantages. Among them, the most important and key one is security. By storing biometric data centrally and cross-referencing it with clocking terminals, employers ensure accurate time tracking.
This lowers down the risk of fraudulent activities and improves overall accuracy in workforce management. Moreover, biometric data is a crucial asset in emergency scenarios. This is because it enables swift employee tracking.
Here’s how: The system operates by storing fingerprints in a centralized repository linked to clocking terminals. Upon downloading clocking data to the database, it compares with predefined parameters. Instances falling outside these parameters trigger anomaly alerts which prompts necessary actions.
Through biometric time and attendance in WFM, employers get accuracy while streamlining clocking processes for their workforce. Security remains uncompromised, as the system refrains from storing fingerprint copies.
2. Enhancing Time Management
Time accuracy is crucial in workforce management. It is especially important for tasks like payroll, tracking employee hours and workforce optimization.
As per a report by the Data Bridge Market Research, the US economy loses productivity to the tune of 50 million hours per day!
Biometric workforce management solutions guarantee precise clock-ins and outs in real-time. This leaves no room for errors and even saves employers’ money.
More importantly, it helps make sure that employees are compensated according to their work. With biometrics, employers can also confidently provide strong proof of services rendered to customers. They can detail who did the task, when and where with precision.
Additionally, biometrics in WFM even reduces errors in flexible working arrangements allowing employers to compensate the gig workforce correctly. This dual benefit enhances employee satisfaction and saves employers from overpayment. HRs can also implement other methods to improve workforce management.
3. Authentication for Remote Work
In the era of remote work, ensuring secure authentication of remote employees could be a concern for organizations. Employees access company systems and sensitive data from various remote locations. Traditional methods of authentication such as passwords or PINs are no longer enough to guarantee security.
This is where biometric helps in addressing challenges of remote workforce management. Biometric technologies such as fingerprint or facial recognition offer a more secure method of identity verification. By integrating biometric authentication into remote access tools or Virtual Private Networks (VPNs), organizations can ensure that only authorized personnel are granted access to corporate resources.
One of the key advantages of biometric authentication for remote work is its reliability and accuracy. PINs or passwords can be easily forgotten, and there is always a chance of being stolen. But biometric identifiers are unique to everyone. This is how companies can significantly bring down the risk of unauthorized access.
4. Improved Shift Scheduling
When it comes to workforce management, employee shift schedules play a huge role. Every organization has unique requirements for creating shift schedules that align with their operational needs. Biometric workforce management system offers seamless flexibility in this regard. With such a system, you can easily establish weekend policies, configure overtime and on-duty rules and accommodate various shift configurations.
Moreover, integrating attendance data with the payroll system enables real-time processing, ensuring accurate and efficient payroll management.
5. Achieving Better Access Control
Using biometric access control offers several benefits to businesses in terms of WFM. Not only does it streamline security management, but it also restricts access to specific areas within premises.
This feature becomes invaluable for safeguarding sensitive data and preventing unauthorized individuals from entering restricted zones. Biometric time and attendance systems are also far better than traditional methods. They eliminate the need for manual sign-ins and sign-outs on paper. It is going to be the future of access control.
What’s more, managing site security becomes much easier. Biometrics facilitates controlling who enters your company premises and when, simplifying security oversight. It is a reliable and powerful solution against unauthorized access attempts. It also empowers you to regulate employees’ access to designated areas.
In fact, with biometrics time and attendance systems in WFM, you can prevent employees from sharing access cards and eliminate time fraud, such as ‘buddy punching’.
6. Task Authentication
Biometric systems can be used in WFM to authenticate employees for specific tasks or activities within the workplace. For example, think about industries where employees need to perform high-risk tasks or handle sensitive information.
Biometric authentication can ensure that only trained and authorized personnel are allowed to carry out such activities. This works like an extra layer of security, thereby bringing in more accountability and transparency to the workforce management process.
Besides, the same data can also be leveraged to track employee performance and analyze productivity levels. For example, biometric sensors embedded in workstations or devices can measure factors such as keystroke dynamics, mouse movements or even facial expressions to assess employee engagement and efficiency. This data can provide valuable insights for workforce optimization, identifying areas for improvement.
Parting Thoughts
Biometric workforce management systems are indispensable tools for effective workforce management. Their accuracy and reliability make them a cornerstone of modern business operations.
By adopting a robust biometric time and attendance system, organizations can eliminate some very common WFM issues like time theft and buddy punching. They can then enhance employee accountability and payroll accuracy.
Leveraging advanced biometric authentication technology ensures secure and precise attendance tracking. For seamless attendance and biometric system, consider exploring Akrivia HCM.
