Imagine you’re a foremen or supervisor in the heavy-asset industry. Your daily focus should be in the field during routine maintenance, turnaround, outage, or capital projects. If you’re working for a large chemical plant during a turnaround with thousands of extra workers with various levels of experience on site, your job is to put safety first.
Meanwhile, you have paperwork, such as authorizing hours and costs. Lots of paperwork. Few people enjoy paperwork, whether for work or personal necessity. The dislike is even greater when companies don’t use modern technology. An Adobe report found that 83% of people “feel their success and ability to be productive at work are slowed down by outdated ways of working with documents.”
Additionally, miscommunication is more likely when a supervisor/foreman is away from a worksite. A 2023 survey found miscommunication on construction sites cause 52% of rework, costing $31.3 billion.
The presence of a supervisor/foreman, who is often an expert in the craft, typically leads to improved productivity. They can manage, motivate, and teach their team as needed. Because they have the big picture in mind, a supervisor/foreman can logically move the work along.
When a good boss is on site, productivity improves. According to a Forbes article, having a good boss as opposed to a bad one is like “adding another whole worker to a nine-person team.”
There is also an increase in safety incidents without a supervisor/foreman present. A key element of their job is to ensure their team follows safety protocols. Doing so lowers the risk of injury and accidents.
Why Mobile Authorization is a Game-Changer
The time is right for enabling authorization via mobile app. Consider these statistics:
- The average American checks their cell phone 262 times a day.
- 88% of mobile time is spent on apps.
People are comfortable with apps and use them regularly. Therefore, it's a no-brainer to have a supervisor/foreman authorize hours and costs while in the field.
For supervisors/foremen who have used Track, the transition to the mobile authorization feature (available exclusively on myTrack), should be easy. The mobile app process is the same as on the myTrack website.
Because the same security is used (the same APIs and framework), employees sign in the same way as when using the website. Employees don’t need an additional account or to reset their profile.
Once the app is installed and permission is granted to complete authorizations, supervisors/foremen can log in and proceed. Employees log in with the same information they used in the past.
Previously, supervisors/foremen would have had to go to their office computer or may have had a laptop on site where they could enter data. However, the concern was ensuring follow-through on getting it charged. And unlike a phone, that can be stored in a pocket, supervisors/foremen must step aside from a site to use a laptop. Once pulled aside. they’re more likely to be distracted by other responsibilities.
Staying Focused with Mobile Authorization
The mobile authorization feature of myTrack empowers supervisors/foremen to stay in the field throughout the workday and still authorize in a timely manner.
Because supervisors/foremen can input authorization in an app on-site, they’re not distracted. They’re not worried about making sure they have the information correct or frustrated that they must find time to authorize after the workday ends. Instead, they can focus on their primary duties. This leads to a safer, more productive, and better-managed worksite.
With authorizations done right in the field and in the moment, accuracy, process efficiency, and timeliness will likely increase. This helps management make essential and potentially costly decisions. It also helps to ensure contracts are adhered to by all parties, which leads to better working relationships.
Keep your supervisors/foremen in the field where they can focus on the team, and don’t sacrifice authorization, timeliness, and accuracy. The myTrack mobile authorization feature helps the heavy asset industry manage contract labor and optimize the workforce. Learn more about myTrack and its features.
