A well-structured business would have a planned schedule for all its employees to ensure smooth operations. If an employee skips work or shows up late, some man-hours would be lost, and overall productivity would be affected without call-out systems.
Tardiness is detrimental to businesses, especially those in the supply chain, logistics, and manufacturing industry. This is because products need to be made and delivered on time. Lost man-hours would cause setbacks which can have severe financial consequences for the client expecting a delivery.
Employees can be unavailable for valid reasons like illness, traffic jams, or personal issues. Businesses need to manage employee absenteeism and plan ahead to avoid losing valuable man-hours. Fortunately, employee call-out systems are suitable to assist with this.
What Are Employee Call-Out Systems?
They are services that allow employees to contact trained personnel to notify them about their absence from work or lateness in advance. Without them, supply chain managers can be blindsided by absences and be unable to deal with them proactively. Even the most reliable employees can show up late to work, which is why supply chain companies must have call-out systems.
Ordinarily, an employee can notify another staff member about their planned absence or lateness. However, that person might not deliver the message to the right personnel in time to avoid business disruption. Having an employee call-out system reduces such reporting errors due to the way they are structured. The call-out systems from reputable companies like CMS are staffed by reliable personnel who maintain accurate call logs for audit purposes.
How Employee Call-Out Systems Work
Call-out systems are easy to set up, and they simplify the process of notifying workplaces about lateness or possible absence. Here are the essential components that make them work;
1. Phone Number
Employees would be given a phone number to call if there is an emergency they think will delay them. This phone line will be available round-the-clock every day of the week so foreseen lateness can be reported in real-time.
Employee call-out lines save workers the stress of going through a chain of command to get approval to come in late for work. The personnel handling the system will record the missed days and pass them to the human resources department.
2. Exchange of Information
When an employee calls the dedicated hotline, they will be required to share vital information about the circumstances behind their lateness or absence. They will also indicate how long they will be late or absent for. The personnel collecting this information will immediately notify the employee’s supervisor, so they can work around the absence.
3. Information Recording
The system has a portal where every employee’s information is saved and updated. This portal ensures no information is lost during transmission between departments or managers. All information shared with the call-out hotline will be recorded and time-stamped.
Advantages of Using an Employee Call-Out System
With the numerous benefits an employee call-out system provides, it would be wise to consider it when starting a business. It saves time and fosters efficient communication between managers and employees.
Managers would be better equipped with information to help them properly deal with planned absences instead of scampering to find last-minute solutions. The time saved by avoiding this mishap will be used on more critical administrative duties. Here are other ways in which call-out systems can be beneficial;
1. Simplifies lateness and absence reporting
Not all employees of every business understand the chain of command or reporting line they are supposed to follow when they notify the company about their absence or lateness. Call-out systems make the process easy as employees just need to call a single hotline to ensure their message gets to the right person in time.
2. Ensures consistency in the reporting process
Employee call-out systems prevent preferential treatment and negligence of duty. If different employees notify different staff members about their planned absence or lateness, there could be an unequal outcome. Channeling all requests or notifications to the same hotline will ensure all employees are subject to the same line of questioning and are treated the same way when they call in.
3. Facilitates accurate documentation
A business should choose the best call-out system available to them so that all the information their employees provide during lateness or absence notification will be carefully documented. Ideally, the call-out line should automatically note the name of the employee, the time when they called, and their reason for lateness or absence.
4. Helps resolve conflicts
The accurate records and time-stamps of call-out systems provide clarity in case of a misunderstanding. The documentation and audio recording from the call the employee in question made can be relied on to settle an issue resulting from their absence or lateness to work.
Call-out systems can be useful during appraisals, where the human resource department evaluates the overall performance of every employee. The records would prove that some employees were not negligent of their duties but had genuine emergencies that kept them away from work.
5. Provides legal support
If an employee is fired because of tardiness or absence from work and they file a lawsuit, the records from the call-out system can be used as evidence in court. The records would show whether the employee’s contract was wrongfully terminated.
6. Approved by every employee
A call-out system in a business improves employee engagement and satisfaction as it eases pressure on staff. Low-level workers will find it easy to report lateness, and supervisors will not have to handle the related documentation themselves.
The human resources department will also regularly update employee attendance at work. Additionally, the efficient documentation done by the personnel running the call-out system will ensure high-level employees have access to information on their employees’ attendance at any time.
Endnote
Business operations need to be sustainable for a company to last long. Unforeseen employee tardiness or absence threatens this sustainability, especially in supply chain companies.
Companies must deal with them effectively before they have detrimental effects. A viable solution is the adoption of employee call-out systems. This will create a direct line for workers to report their lateness or absence from duty ahead of time.