With time-machine technology still confined to the realm of science fiction, we’re well aware that if you’re reading this today you can’t enhance your leave-of-absence tracking yesterday since yesterday already happened. That said, technology does exist that makes leave of absence tracking and administration so easy you’ll think you’ve been teleported to the future.
While spreadsheets, Google calendars and email reminders are a step up from a pen-and-paper approach to leave management, manually tracking your employee leaves puts People Ops leaders and their organizations at a disadvantage when it comes to effectively supporting employees and meeting business objectives.
Manual Leave Tracking is Bad for Business
A suboptimal leave of absence process has a ripple effect that extends beyond the People Ops teams trying to administer the leaves and the employees looking for support in their time of need away from work.
A lack of insight into workforce planning: When an employee takes a leave of absence (whether planned like a pregnancy or unplanned like a bereavement) a gap in productivity presents itself. With manual spreadsheets or siloed systems, managers don’t have the real-time information needed to appropriately shift talent around where needed to fill the gaps.
Operational inefficiencies: When leave dates change or employees don’t return due to a poor experience your organizational output takes a hit. Additionally, if the employee’s teammates aren’t sufficiently supported in their absence, or aren’t properly trained to cover the responsibilities of the employee on leave, operational output suffers. Not to mention the operational inefficiencies manual leave tracking has on your own operations.
Compliance concerns: Manual leave tracking is also rife with compliance pitfalls. From inevitable human error entering leave data to sensitive information falling into the wrong hands, manual processes for your leave tracking are more than inefficient, they can be the source of costly compliance concerns.
Reputational damage: Reputational damage is also at stake. A poorly handled leave of absence can be the reason your organization is in the headlines for all the wrong reasons, and if you aren’t able to effectively workforce plan when a leave (or multiple leaves) request pops up, your customers’ satisfaction could suffer.
Modern leave tracking is a boost to business: Tilt’s modern leave management software takes the manual processes typically associated with leave management and automates them under one secure digital roof. Tilt’s platform gives real-time insights into an organization’s workforce so People Ops and managers alike have a single source of truth for effective workforce planning.
Our team of in-house leave law experts informs our tech and keeps you in compliance, while our personalized leave plans ensure your employees are supported effectively and efficiently throughout the leave journey.
From the HR dashboard you get a window into all things leave for your organization:
LOA Tracking With Spreadsheets is an Administrative Nightmare
If the original reason the phrase “ain’t nobody got time for that” was spoken was because a People Ops leader was frustrated with manually administering leaves of absence, we wouldn’t be surprised. Manual leave tracking is a burden many People Ops pros bear, but shouldn’t have to.
Time wasted: Tilt’s leave management software can save you anywhere from 10-20 hours a leave, meaning your manual processes aren’t just putting you at compliance and reputational risk, they’re also hindering your productivity and the productivity of your team. It’s time that could be spent driving other team objectives forward and helping your organization meet its goals.
No version control: We touched on it above, but Tilt provides a secure, single source of truth for all of your leave data. If you’re using Excel or Google Sheets to manage leaves you aren’t alone, but you are at risk of version control concerns and inaccurate data should an audit be required.
Lack of transparency: Manual leave tracking siloes your information by nature. Tilt gets data directly from your HRIS so the information in your system is the information in our system. Further, we provide payroll and the employee’s manager with access to Tilt so all appropriate parties are given the information they need to be successful.
Modern leave tracking automates and simplifies leave tracking: This customer who was formerly tracking leaves manually has this to say:
Employee Experience Suffers With Old Leave Management Process
At the end of the day, a leave of absence is all about the employee needing to take time away from work to address something significant in their life. Sometimes those events are positive, sometimes they’re planned, and sometimes they’re neither.
Confusing processes: When an employee needs a leave of absence there’s a good chance a significant life moment has happened, or is about to happen to them. This is why having a clear and simple leave plan for employees to follow is a must. Every leave is slightly different, Every state is slightly different. Every employee is slightly different. Manual processes can’t accommodate all scenarios effectively and the result is a frustrating and confusing experience for employees.
A lack of trust: A lack of clarity, transparency and compliance confidence can breed a lack of trust within your workforce that they’re going to get the support they need when they take a leave. If you’ve been in the game long enough, you likely know of employees who go on leave and are never to be seen again because of how they felt their leave was handled by their employer.
Pay accuracy uncertainty: A major blindspot caused by manual leave tracking is payroll. Overpayments and underpayments may be a nightmare for People Ops and payroll to navigate, but they can be a living nightmare for employees if they aren’t certain how much they’re getting paid, by when, and where the money is coming from.
Tilt Makes Leave Easy for People Ops; More Human for Employees
It’s not uncommon for professionals in any discipline to hold tightly to the systems and processes they’re familiar with, but the ineffectiveness of relying on manual processes to manage leaves has got to go.
From personalized leave plans for employees, to HRIS data syncing for accurate information, to freedom from time spent updating spreadsheets, Tilt’s leave management software means no more manual tracking for you, nothing but positive experiences for your people, and there’s no time machine necessary.
About Tilt
Tilt is leading the charge in all things leave of absence management through easy-to-use tech and human touch. Since 2017, our proprietary platform and Empathy Warriors have been helping customers make leave not suck by eliminating administrative burdens, keeping companies compliant, and providing a truly positive and supportive leave of absence experience for their people.
