Challenge

While it is usually HR or IT managers that have a big say in time and attendance management systems in companies, at Smartis, this role is played by lawyers. Ana Ličer, a lawyer at Smartis, says that the main reason for introducing SPICA All Hours was to comply with the legislative requirements related to keeping working time records.

"Before, we kept records of completed work, but not of the time and attendance as we do now with SPICA All Hours." says Ana Ličer.

The solution that the company introduced just before the epidemic helped precisely in that period: "We launched SPICA All Hours in March 2020, almost at the same time as the pandemic started. This gave us the additional push, as it also provided a better overview of the contacts among employees during the epidemic," say Zdravka Zalar, CEO, and Ana Ličer, lawyer.

Zdravka Zalar explains, "If an employee is infected, it is essential to know who was in the office on the day of the infection. With this solution, we have that information. If we collected data by hand, this would be impossible."

About Smartis and employee mentality

They stress that employees at Smartis are "special" and demanding. Zdravka Zalar: "We are an IT company. We wanted the solution to be very easy to use and not to put additional burden on the employees. Ideally, the system should detect that we are at work when we grab the front door handle. Or it could register us when we pass the door."

That is why the company had special requests. Among them was integration with the Jira software, as it was already used to keep very accurate records of the work done. Most of all, the company did not want to have a double record-keeping.
They have succeeded in coming up with a solution that greatly simplifies recording time and attendance, regardless of whether the work is done at the office or from home.

Compared to other IT companies, Smartis, founded in 2009, covers a very broad field, ranging from information security, business services with strategic asset management and technology services to in-house development, with four products of its own.

The company is a partner of several international companies, as well as one of the main partners of IBM in Slovenia (in 2021, Smartis received an award for outstanding achievements).

Solution

For an IT company such as Smartis, it is important that the time and attendance is recorded according to legal requirements. It is less important whether employees have been at work for exactly eight hours.

Zdravka Zalar: "We are not a factory where you work from 8am to 4pm. What is important is that the work is done. Some people prefer to work in the evening. Others like to go for a walk during the business hours. Once they've cleared their heads, they go on with their work. Strictly sticking to traditional working hours would be ineffective."

The company does not have terminals. The employees use a mobile or a computer app. All the companies at the Crystal Palace, where the company is based, now use the access control system by SPICA.

Above all, the aim of the company was to make things as easy as possible for their employees. When designing the system, it was crucial they addressed the challenge of recording all types of absences.

They are also pleased with the support they received. "I would like to compliment SPICA's remote support service. They are really responsive. We receive the first reply within 15 minutes to half an hour, sometimes even sooner. And we get all the answers in one day," says Ana Ličer.

Results

1. The best thing is that a mobile application is also available. Once again, it has proven that this is simply the best option.
2. Because the data processing is automatic, the payroll is easier, unless someone forgets to register in the app. In that case, manual entry is required.
3. It is more transparent and recording keeping of absences is easy.

Anecdote: How do IT professionals react to new developments?

Of course, things were far from boring when the new system was launched in 2020. This is how Zdravka Zalar and Ana Ličer recall those days:

"When you introduce an innovation that changes the daily routine of IT employees, they are obviously never excited about it. There are always a thousand questions as to why this is necessary. When the employees found out about the SPICA All Hours solution, they naturally had some comments and ideas on how some things could be implemented differently, programmed differently... But in the end, they got used to it and have been using the app more or less without any issues.”