Manual time-off decision-making causes employees to wait, puts pressure on managers, requires irregular HR intervention, and can even erode trust in the C-suite.
At all levels of an organization, taking time away from the office should be simple. However, during the holidays, frequent time-off requests can cause significant stress for managers and employees. When supervisors are responsible for manually calculating each employee’s time-off balance and comparing it against workplace staffing needs, this can lead to cognitive overload for leadership, leaving room for human error. Double-booking employees or leaving an empty schedule during the busiest time of year can be detrimental to operations and morale.
A 2023 Pollfish study commissioned by Paycom found that nearly half of Americans take at least three days off during the holiday season, which can add up when managing a workforce of any size. When several time-off requests come in at a time, managers traditionally have had to sift through each request individually and make decisions based on multiple nuanced factors like current staff availability, each employee’s leave balance, frequency of time out of the office, time-off policies, and more. This can leave employees waiting several days for approval and takes HR teams and managers away from furthering operations and bettering their organization.
Leaders in the C-suite are affected, too, as it’s their responsibility to cultivate a culture of trust with all levels of employees and set clear expectations for time-off policies and staffing management. Manual time-off requests can be a hassle for everyone, impacting the entire company if workers don’t have the tools to ensure policies and procedures are handled timely, fairly, and without human error every time.
What can organizations do to help streamline time-off decisions?
To help employees at all levels navigate the challenges that come with increased time-off requests and decisions, companies must implement technology to standardize policies and streamline the entire process. Automated time-off solutions transform the decision-making process so it’s more transparent, equitable, and efficient.
For example, the Paycom software’s Time-Off Requests tool features GONE™, an enhancement to standardize time-off management with fairness and timeliness in mind. With GONE’s highly customizable rules, managers can set time-off approvals and denials to include factors like staffing needs, individual employee hours worked, seniority, days requested, and more.
According to a 2023 Ernst & Young study, each manual time-off decision can cost a company an average of $11.22 in labor per task. GONE works using enhanced automation with policy-compliant and customizable auto-approvals to avoid the extra cost of manual review. When a time-off request is approved, GONE’s auto-decisioning feature allows time-off requests to flow seamlessly into payroll through Paycom’s Beti®. Looking at the big picture, this allows businesses to significantly reduce expenses for time-consuming administrative tasks that frequently fall on managers, HR, and payroll teams.
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Fair, consistent, and accurate decision-making for time-off approvals and denials is critical for maintaining a happy and productive workforce. With automated technology, companies can ensure compliant and seamless decision-making across the board. Explore Paycom’s Time-Off Requests tool to see how GONE simplifies decision-making and empowers management to lead with confidence.
Chris Thomas, Chief Operating Officer at Paycom
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