Have you ever received a call or text message from your client asking “Where is your crew?”. This is never a good way to start the day. Your client expected your worker(s) to be on site and they are not there. There may be a good reason but it may be that they overslept or went to the wrong job. Either way, now you have to find out what happened.
What about workers routinely showing up late or leaving early? Do you worry about these things? If you are not at the job site, how do you know? Do you have a supervisor keeping an eye on every worker? Most small and medium construction companies don’t.
In this blog post, we’ll explore some easy ways to gain visibility into what is really going on with worker attendance and how you can visually see where the crews are at any given time.
Smartphone apps combined with GPS open the door to a whole new level of visibility and time tracking allowing companies to increase productivity and accountability.
What is GPS?
Most everyone has used GPS at some point. GPS stands for Global Positioning System which gives you the exact location of where you are on the planet. It uses an array of satellites to provide very accurate positioning of the GPS device. Today, almost every phone has GPS built in to it. It can be used in mapping apps and many others including construction time tracking apps like BuildCenter.
How to gain visibility
Knowing where workers are at a moment’s notice can be a game changer for busy construction owners and managers. Let’s face it, construction can be chaotic and it changes all the time. You have to be ready to move workers around if an emergency occurs or work is delayed at the site.
Using a digital time tracking app like buildcenter allows workers to clock in and out to jobs and it captures the GPS location. This information is valuable to the manager who is in charge of keeping workers productive. Some common questions are:
- Who didn’t show up to work today?
- Did the workers go to the correct location?
- Which worker is closest in proximity to another job so they can respond quickly?
- Where are all the workers at today?
- Is the crew taking a lunch break because nobody is here?
These questions are quick and easy to answer if you have GPS time tracking like BuildCenter. From any phone or desktop, a manager can pull up a “Crew Status” screen and see everyone’s status and location. This tool has become indispensable to those that use it.
Holding workers accountable
Beyond knowing where the crew is, what about knowing if workers are leaving early or showing up late as a common practice. As an owner myself, I understand that workers can get stuck in traffic or have some commitment that requires them to leave early. That’s called life and it happens. I’m talking about the workers that push the limits and skim time on a regular basis. This is called Time Theft and it costs construction companies millions of dollars every year.
As an owner, I want to know which employees are stealing time and which ones have great punctuality. This can impact my decisions when work gets slow and during a year end bonus review.
GPS time tracking allows you to see exactly how far from the job site the worker is when they clock in and out. This visibility gives you the information to make critical decisions and provides you a chance to correct behavior that doesn’t align with the company policy. Here is a screen shot from BuildCenter showing a worker that clocked in “on time” but they were 4.6 miles from the job site. I know this worker and he is an all star and he probably deserves some slack. Someone else, however that is possibly not performing well might get a warning or be closely monitored for this behavior. The point is, now you have the information at your fingertips.
Summary
Knowing where your most valuable resources are located during work hours is critical to every construction business. Today, it’s not hard to do with GPS time tracking apps like BuildCenter. The benefits of having clear visibility allows for better productivity and worker accountability.
Elevate your time tracking with BuildCenter today.
Resources
- Try BuildCenter with a free trial to see how GPS time tracking can elevate your visibility.
- Check out our blog on Time Theft and how it impacts construction companies.
- Review the A4 Timesheet Framework: A Free Guide. Click here to get the free guide
