The implementation of a time and attendance system at Stellenbosch Municipality : a change management perspective

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Human beings are constantly confronted with change because their current situation is continually being questioned. In order to change the way humans behave, it is necessary to change the mindset of those who will be influenced by new ideas.Stellenbosch Municipality faces a dilemma because the current management of its employee attendance is having a negative impact on its daily operations – service delivery is becoming an increasingly serious concern because the inability to manage employees' daily attendance results in inefficient and ineffective rendering of services to citizens. This research addresses the question of whether the change from a manual attendance register to a biometric time and attendance system would more effectively ensure the availability of Municipal employees to improve basic service delivery. Moreover, the dilemma Stellenbosch Municipality faces concerns the monitoring of employees on a daily basis, including the availability of an attendance register for audit purposes. A questionnaire was used to examine the situation and obtain responses from employees who make use of both the manual attendance register and the biometric time and attendance device. It was established that the use of the manual attendance register caused certain problems, although it has served a monitoring purpose for more than 30 years. At the time of answering the questionnaire, some respondents requested the implementation of an electronic system with real-time capability to remove any doubt concerning the confirmation of employee attendance. The feedback from the questionnaire confirms:- the unreliability of a human-dependent employee attendance register;- that delivery of basic services can only be done on condition of the availability of employees who report for duty; and- that the use of the manual attendance system creates unrecoverable losses.The inability of employees to maintain their manual attendance registers led to the recommendation that:- a mechanised system needs to be implemented to reduce administration procedures and tosecure compliance and an unqualified audit.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University