Biometric System : A Solution for Attendance Issue

At last, thumb print biometric project has been successfully implemented to all branches. It has been awhile since the issue of attendance monitoring being raised by the internal audit team. Even though the process on attendance monitoring is there, but still non compliance happened. I hope with the implementation of new approach i.e. thumb print will enable the Branch Manager to be more systematic in monitoring staff attendance.

What is the issue?

Previously, attendance is being monitored manually via punch card. For branch which do not have the punch card machine, they are required to manually record their attendance in a attendance log book. The recent audit findings has revealed that there were manipulations of the current monitoring system by the staff.

There was a case where the staff was not in the office but yet the punch card has been punched. It was unfortunate to the staff since the audit team was there on the day at 8.45am to audit the attendance monitoring procedure while the time recorded on the punch card was 8.30am. So who punched his punch card?

The manual attendance record also much similar with punch card system issue. The Branch Manager that supposedly monitor the process has not executing the responsibility well.

The impact

The case has been reported to Human Capital for further investigation and action. After due inquiry, the are loophole of monitoring process that cause the Company to lose the case. By right, a stern action such as termination of employment could be imposed to the staff for the misconduct. Nevertheless, it can't be proceed since the loophole of process will impact the Company if the case being forwarded to the next level. This will expose the Company with unnecessary cost and could tarnish the reputation of the Company. At the end of the day, those who committed the misconduct cannot be dismissed and yet just being served with stern warning letter. Personally, it is not worth to keep this type of employee which could lead to unhealthy working environment. 

What to do?

After due consideration, the Company has decided to extend the Biometric system that currently used by HQ to all branches. Even though the cost is reasonably high, but it should be invested to mitigate future risk to the Company.  With the new approach, it will avoid the staff from manipulating the system thus the integrity of data will not be questioned.

 

With the attendance system in place, it assist the Company in monitoring the staff attendance effectively. All data could be retrieved on real time basis and  could be customize based on required format. 

So what is next? We will leverage on the system to monitor the over time by exploring the integration of the system with the current e-HR system.