Startup Idea: Automated, User-friendly Time-Card Management Software
I work with a secretary at a small machine shop with approximately 30 employees. One of the most time consuming aspects of her job is to go through employee time cards each week and calculate the number of hours for each employee.
She was doing this manually with ink stamped time cards each employee would punch with a time clock, but the company decided to implement a networked solution where multiple time clocks could be placed around the facility. When employee ID cards were scanned at the time clock terminals, the times would populate a database from which the secretary could more easily determine the number of hours each employee worked each week.
While this seemed to be a good idea prior to implementation, the main drawback was the software used to manage the data and use the software. The software was not user friendly at all, and even after the secretary learned how to use the software she said she would prefer to use the older system where she was manually calculating each employees hours from an ink time card and a calculator.
Discussions about similar systems with other companies and IT personnel who have dealt with several similar automated systems had led me to believe there may not be a user friendly software solution to manage time-card data. The current systems are adequate at collecting time information and allowing manual changes later, if necessary. But a more user friendly solution would greatly reduce the amount of time it takes for a secretary at a small business to manage such a system.