Factors facilitating the successful implementation of a time and attendance system at Transnet Freight Rail in South Africa

Abstract

Time and Attendance system implementation happens in most organisations at one point or another; these bring about changes that are necessary to propel the organisation forward and consequently, when implementing this type of change, an organisation will certainly face challenges. It is therefore critical that in implementation of these systems, organisations deal with these encounters accordingly, to ensure that these changes are not only successful but also sustainable, particularly a system implementation, such as a time and attendance system. This research report identified factors that facilitated the successful implementation of a time and attendance system from a line manager’s and general employee’s perspective. The researcher conducted themed content analysis with responses and observations collected from 15 semi-structured interviews conducted on eight line managers and seven employees of a Transnet Freight Rail depot in Ermelo. The researcher established and explored common factors that respondents believe facilitated the successful implementation of time and attendance system, having interpreted and understood these factors, the researcher then categorised and prioritised the factors according to respondents’ perceptions of what contributed most to the success of the system implementation. The findings from the research indicated that amongst other factors, reduction in absenteeism as a desired outcome was influenced by consistent communication, and leadership commitment and these were deemed factors that contributed to the successful implementation of the time and attendance system. The second cluster of important factors identified were benefits to organisation, training provided, support processes and procedures. The other five factors are also discussed in the study. The key message from this research study is that organisations need to focus on driving these key factors identified to enable successful change when implementing systems.