The use of cell phones on the field and geolocation technology are two issues that have become important in terms of adapting the obligations of businesses, unions of the construction industry, and governments to current working conditions.
Let’s start with the basics. Technology is used to aid businesses and individuals alike (for instance, the idea is to make life easier and more enjoyable). Few people enjoy completing repetitive, clerical tasks that have a high risk of error. That’s why new construction tools have emerged: digital ones that can be used at the office or on the go.
Therefore, in this blog post, we’ll cover how Cactusoft Construction meets the needs of employers and employees; the use of geolocation technology in our software is an optional functionality but one that can greatly improve working conditions for all the employees of construction companies.
How Cactusoft Construction Values Construction Workers
It’s well known that the success of a new software rollout depends on employee satisfaction. There’s just no two ways around it: the vast majority of employees in the construction industry are construction site workers. When innovating, Cactusoft’s team is hard at work, keeping in mind the interests of all construction employees and developing the next generation of digital construction tools. That’s how Cactusoft Construction delivers 5 major benefits to construction companies, along these lines:
1. We eliminate the frustrations of paperwork
Handwritten timesheets often end up lost, torn, half-completed, and/or illegible. Completing and submitting forms to the office quickly becomes a tedious, repetitive task. It’s also an efficiency and productivity nightmare: from the workers who fill out timesheets by hand to forepersons who are stuck approving minute details, without forgetting the paymasters who have to compile and analyze all the data from each site, each project, and each employee.
2. We increase your workers’ autonomy
Instead of constantly having to find their foreperson throughout the day, workers can fill out digital forms on their own and therefore spend more time doing the work that they love. The majority of employees who use Cactusoft Construction appreciate how our digital toolbox saves them from wastes of time and frustrating situations.
3. You can quickly manage last-minute changes to worksites
Unforeseen and unforeseeable events can easily lead to logistical nightmares! There are many reasons why a dispatcher may have to rectify a schedule (i.e. due to bad weather, late materials, client cancellations, or employee absences). Cactusoft Construction allows you to change, postpone, or cancel a job in just a few clicks and instantly share this information with all affected parties.
Forepersons also benefit in these situations: they can easily know who has been assigned to each worksite and relay information between the office and workers. This reduces the costly risk of workers showing up late or to the wrong worksite.
4. We simplify the payroll preparation process and reduce the risks of errors
For the province of Quebec (Canada), the payroll preparation module of Cactusoft Construction takes into consideration the CCQ collective agreement. For instance, mileage, straight time, double time, and pensions are all automatically calculated for the paymaster, by the software. All that’s left to do is add receipts and make a few changes as needed then verify that all is in order. The software allows the paymaster to save time on repetitive clerical tasks and use their valuable skills elsewhere: for instance, they now have more time to conduct analyses and propose recommendations that will further optimize business operations.
5. We increase the effeciency of communications between the worksite, the office, and the client
With large, spread out teams, it becomes crucial to communicate in real time, through a single channel. That’s where Cactusoft Construction shines much like a maestro, orchestrating smooth communications between the worksites and the office. Everything is centralized per worksite and per project. Schedules are sent to the right employees, by email and through the app. All the details of a project (including its engineering plans and photos) are accessible to the right employees, in real time. Through daily worksite sheets, employees, clients, and other crucial contacts can be contacted with a click or a tap, by phone, text message, or email.
The Proper Usage of Geolocation Technology
Cactusoft strictly adheres to the regulations currently in effect in Quebec, Canada. As such, the software calculates the mileage of an employee per day, by comparing their home address to the worksite addresses. However, Cactusoft Construction does not constantly track the employee’s movements or locations, as would a GPS fleet-tracking system. Through the interface of the app, an employee can easily get directions to a worksite with Google Maps and get directions.
When employees punch in and out of Cactusoft’s smart timesheet, the software saves the location of the employee as a data point (if the employee permits it). The philosophy behind the app is not to “police” employees but rather to record the number of hours worked without penalizing the worker, providing the foreperson and paymaster the right location data. It’s also worth mentioning that some companies use the app to ensure that all workers have left the worksite safely.
In general, companies decide whether or not their version of Cactusoft Construction asks or requires the location of the employee. Even if the geolocation function is not activated, that doesn’t stop Cactusoft Construction from delivering the goods!
Therefore, Cactusoft Construction allows for better coordination and collaboration throughout your team. Our app is customizable, to your industry’s requirements and your business needs. If you are interested, we are actually offering a 30-day free trial of our software at this time. Let us know if you would like to start saving time and money for your business now.
In the above blog post, the masculine form is used to simplify the text and is used to include all genders.
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