{"id":4389,"date":"2019-05-09T13:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-05-09T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/beebole.com\/blog\/?p=4389"},"modified":"2025-12-05T16:04:56","modified_gmt":"2025-12-05T15:04:56","slug":"motivate-employees-track-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/beebole.com\/blog\/motivate-employees-track-time","title":{"rendered":"7 steps to motivate employees to track their time"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Inaccurate time tracking costs companies money and chasing after late timesheets costs managers time. However, it is also easy to understand why employees forget or choose not to track their time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Without thoughtful onboarding and open communication, your employees are unlikely to track their time correctly or at all. Often, when this happens, companies end up abandoning time tracking altogether and blaming the software, or even the practice in general.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is a lot to be discussed here, and it fits into a bigger conversation of workplace ethics<\/a>. For today, however, we’ll be focusing on time tracking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While we can’t make your team love<\/em> time tracking, in our experience the following 7 tips will help motivate them to submit their timesheets and lead to more positive and productive time tracking<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Certainly when we first implemented Beebole, I remember quite a few instances where our previous method to track workload was proven to be completely way off what we thought it was. <\/div>\n
\n M\u00e1ty\u00e1s P , \n Country operations manager at HungaroTrial <\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n\n\n

1. Communicate the purpose of time tracking<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

As with any new change, communication is key. In fact, this may be the most critical step in introducing time tracking. It is essential to explain the value of time tracking to your team rather than allowing them to jump to the worst possible conclusions about the company’s motives. Employees will not be motivated to track their time if they do not understand the purpose or benefits of doing so<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let them know it isn’t about surveillance<\/a>. Your company may use time tracking to more accurately invoice clients, pay contractors<\/a>, identify costly projects and money sucks, calculate the cost of employees<\/a>, understand which employees are overworked or underutilized, redistribute resources, or budget more accurately. Whatever your company’s motives, share them with your team and implicate them in achieving the company’s goals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Ensuring that employees understand why they’re tracking their time<\/svg><\/span><\/a> is a key piece of the puzzle.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

2. Set clear policies and guidelines<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

At the same time, be clear from the get-go about employees’ obligation to submit their timesheets on time and the consequences if they do not. For example, will they be expected to submit hours on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis? How many reminders or “strikes” will a repeat offender get before the issue is escalated to a manager?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Time tracking should be viewed as a job responsibility<\/strong>, and you may want to distribute a written agreement or include the policy in employment contracts. This can be a touchy subject, but as long as your organization is following the applicable laws on employee monitoring<\/a>, you have every right to stand your ground. Clear guidelines will make problems with enforcement easier to solve down the road. Being vague or nonchalant about time tracking expectations and obligations will lead to employees not taking the responsibility seriously.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n \n \n <\/svg>\n\n \n \n <\/svg>\n\n

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\ud83d\udca1See how Dashe & Thomson motivated consultants to actually track their time.<\/strong>
Convincing employees and contractors to log hours isn\u2019t easy\u2014but Dashe & Thomson cracked it with Beebole. Follow their lead if you want to:<\/p>\n