Time, attendance and rostering is a high-stakes decision with business-wide implications. The right choice effects safety, pay, compliance and employee experience.
By Etienne van der Walt, Practice Director–Time, HR Crowd
One of the most complex, but often underestimated, system decisions facing organisations today is what to do about their time, attendance and rostering solutions.
It’s not that businesses don’t take time seriously. In fact, they know how critical it is. The complexity lies in the decision-making process—a crowded vendor landscape, cloud transitions, and evolving regulation are all converging at once.
Even for seasoned teams, it’s a tough call. The challenge isn’t a lack of good tools, it’s figuring out which one fits your organisation’s unique workforce mix, compliance environment, and technology ecosystem.
Unlike other HCM or ERP modules, time and rostering systems intersect deeply with business operations. They affect not just payroll, but workforce scheduling, safety. What’s more, they must align with a growing range of obligations, from enterprise agreements and union rules to sector-specific legislation.
At the same time, time platforms are evolving and maturing fast. Mobile-first design, embedded AI and tighter integration into tools like Outlook and Teams are changing what users expect and what organisations need to plan for.
That’s why choosing a solution can’t be based on a demo, a feature checklist, or even prior experience with a particular product. Without a holistic view of current needs, employment obligations and future integration, even capable systems can underdeliver.
Time, attendance and rostering systems have long been viewed as operational necessities, important for keeping shifts covered and payroll accurate, but often treated as back-office infrastructure.
Increasingly, these systems are recognised as strategic enablers, influencing everything from workforce wellbeing and risk management to cost control, service quality, and business resilience. When well-aligned, they remove friction from meeting legal requirements, enable organisations to respond to regulatory change, optimise labour spend, and boost workforce agility.
In aged care, for example, efficient and compliant rostering has become a strategic priority, driven by mandated care minutes, sector reform, workforce shortages and sector consolidation. Time and rostering decisions aren’t just operational, they’re tied to funding, workforce wellbeing, and service quality. Getting them right is essential for meeting regulatory demands and ensuring sustainable, high-quality care delivery.
Regardless of sector, the lesson is the same: time systems must be designed with business outcomes in mind. That means understanding how workforce models, pay structures, and regulation intersect, and choosing technology that supports, not constrains, your broader goals.
Most guidance in the market still comes from software vendors, each understandably advocating for their own product. But that means organisations are often missing access to truly independent, business-aligned advice.
This is why we built a dedicated Time Practice at HR Crowd. We provide expert, solution-agnostic recommendations based on fit, not features—guiding your future-state roadmap whether you’re using SAP SuccessFactors, UKG, Workforce Software, H4S4 or another platform. Our team brings decades of experience and deep implementation expertise across high-compliance environments including aged care, government, health, energy, infrastructure and retail.
“Our role isn’t to push a product, it’s to understand the full context: how time connects to payroll, compliance, and long-term business goals. Because we work across industries and platforms, we bring broader insight than any single vendor.”
When time systems fail, it’s rarely because the product wasn’t capable—it’s because the solution design and roadmap didn’t reflect the business. Organisations often underestimate internal readiness, change management, or downstream integration needs.
Time systems can’t be implemented in isolation. They need buy-in, user adoption, and change leadership. That’s just as important as getting the technical design right.
If your organisation is reviewing its time, attendance or rostering landscape—whether due to platform end-of-life or broader transformation goals—we strongly recommend an advisory-first approach. Independent guidance doesn’t just reduce rework risk, it builds decision confidence and helps ensure your solution grows and adapts with your business.
📩 Want to learn more about how HR Crowd’s Time Practice supports confident, fit-for-purpose solution decisions? Contact Etienne to start the conversation.
About Etienne van der Walt
Etienne van der Walt is Practice Director–Time at HR Crowd where he leads one of the most experienced specialist teams in the ANZ region advising on time, attendance and rostering strategy and solutions. With two decades’ experience in HCM technology and a background spanning SAP, UKG, Workforce Software and more, Etienne has delivered time and payroll transformations for complex, high-compliance environments across government, energy, health and infrastructure. He is known for his practical, vendor-agnostic approach and deep understanding of the intersection between business process, compliance and workforce technology.
Contact Etienne: Etienne.van.der.Walt@hrcrowd.com
