(Ooredoo, 2019). The organization handles not only wireless services but also mobile services and content. Furthermore, at present, it aims to satisfy countless consumer who are depending on it to communicate with others. Ooredoo has quite a significant influence on both a domestic and international level. Actually, there are several reasons behind this efficiency from having reliable and good workers to managing the competition in a well-organized way. The vision of the company is all about enriching the daily and normal lives of its customers while assisting them in fulfilling their dreams and aspirations(Ooredoo, 2019)..

At present, the organization is planning and taking steps to optimize its Supernet service for offering clearer voice calls, better virtual experience, and fast speed of the data. As the world is being digitalized, the organization is attempting to take the advantage of it and produce more revenues. With a wide spectrum of the company, it has become very significant for the organization to be aware of the issues that it is facing at present. One of the most important issues is ensuring that the payroll and attendance of the workers are not creating issues for them. In order to keep up with the rapid pace of digitalization, the firm has to make sure that its workers are working with satisfaction. It can be said that the company also recognizes that it has a broad base of consumers and for keeping them happy, it needs hard-working employees that must be attending the company every single day while working with dedication. Therefore, company has to resolve the issue regarding the fact that there is no error in the payroll or attendance system when it comes to its workers (Ooredoo, 2019).

Problem of Automated Payroll and Attendance System

Ooredoo Organization is considered one of the most reliable and competent telecommunication and mobile service providers in the whole world, especially Middle East Nations. They seem to operate with the aim of bringing the company as the leader with high speed rate of data and best connectivity technologies in Oman. In addition, they also provide networking products and data services as their consumers are more likely

prefer the providers that are able to deliver high quality internet with simple and easy services. It can also be said that the company has a very reliable and good infrastructure in the country and is earning revenues efficiently (Mark N. K. Saunders, 2010). But with the constant advancement in the technology, the company is facing issues in various areas.

One of the most prominent issues that it is facing is all about the inefficient system of payroll and attendance recording system that is prevalent in the organization. Although, this might not seem as a big problem but it is causing problems for the worker in the firm because it has become difficult to analyze just when a specific worker was present in the company. There is another issue in the organization which is concerned with the department of human resource management as workers with insufficient knowledge about English language are being hired. Most of the natives of Oman are not well-versed with the language. Most of the businesses seem to communicate in English and it has become a problem for the organization. However, this issue is not as big as the one in the management and recording of payroll and attendance of the workers.

The company is striving almost every single day for making an upgrade or enhancement in the lives of customers by making their interconnection and communication easier, more versatile, and rewarding. It is the goal of the company to provide better communication and network to the Omanis. However, there are significant issues which are being faced by the company and the most prominent one of them is concerned with the inefficient tracking of attendance and payroll.

Payroll System of Automated Payroll and Attendance System

Considering the fact that payroll is a complex process, it can take almost hours from the business of the company while leading to errors which can prove to be quite costly for Ooredoo. Other than this organization, many small businesses and organizations seem to depend on their accounts, third-party contractors, and mostly automated systems for taking care of it. Regardless of the services that they are providing, the features of the system can be easily customized according to the requirements of the business. It can be said that some of the most efficient and effective payroll systems seem to provide benefits in terms accuracy, cost, time, and even organization. It is the accuracy that allows a company to be efficient in every aspect of its functions and be more transparent with its worker.

The payroll and attendance system of Ooredoo must be capable of accommodating its workers along with their hours that they spend working. With a good system ready and set up, the organization will be able to have a precise record of the working hours of the worker and one of the major benefits of an automated payroll and attendance system is that it minimizes the likelihood of any type of error since the old factor changing the whole scenario is just when the workers are clocking and clocking out. Some businesses conscious about the clocking-out, hire an in-house accountant for recording the working hours just when the employees are forgetting to clock-out for a specific task like having lunch(Disselkamp, 2013).

It is actually a misconception about the automated systems of payroll and attendance that they simply record pay and work. They can be set up for other complicated operations as well like benefit purposes and deductions for tax. Between the federal and state taxes, Social Security and Medicare along with other specialized purposes require a good or substantial amount of calculations. Most of the systems of payroll can be changed for accommodating the benefits and tax needs of an organization and can be adjusted further for specific conditions.

Another feature of the system of payroll is that it can be utilized for keeping accurate and detailed records which can also be used by Ooredoo. These records can be easily stored in the main database of the organization, can be monitored online, or in a completely outside facility used for keeping records. Organizations other than Ooredoo can be also be helped by an automated payroll and attendance system for monitoring trends like how much overtime must be paid by the company and how many workers are participating in the retirement plans of the company. The organization can be helped a lot by record-keeping because it facilitates the monitoring of trends like just how much overtime is being paid while ensuring that the company is complying with every relevant law and preparing for an audit or any other type of investigation of the business. A system of payroll that is precisely storing hours will make preparation of tax smoother.

Ooredoo can also be helped by an automated system of payroll and attendance in eliminating the busywork by completely streamlining the process of payment, record-keeping, and scheduling. Workers can be allowed to access their records and put in requests for getting some time off through automated system. An effective system can be streamlined and standardized with directions beforehand

Human Resource Management of Automated Payroll and Attendance System

Ooredoo along with almost every other company has different types and of departments and they have different types of operations that they have to carry out. One of the primarily and most commonly found department in companies is the department of HRM or human resource management. This department is accountable for recruiting the employees that are not only capable but also able to fulfill the requirements of the company. Other than finding the workers, it also deals with managing, joining, and even training the workers present in the firm. Basically, this department of the firm is responsible for the issue that it is facing about not being able to recruit the workers who are well-versed with the English language. This issue is also prevalent in the company but it hasn’t been chosen for this study because it is not sufficiently significant in comparison with the current problem of inefficient payroll and attendance recording that Ooredoo is facing at present(Jones & Bartlett Publishers, 2010).

Features of Automated Payroll and Attendance System

The automated system of payroll and attendance that will be discussed in this paper includes various features and benefits. It will help Ooredoo in establishing an effective process of workflow for authorization of attendance, integrating leave and time data with human resource, ERP systems, and payroll or to the APIs for electronically processing, ensuring consistent and accurate application of leave and pay policies, simply and quickly requesting leave or other type of schedules absences, receiving automatic notification of the balances, and notification for leave benefits, sick days, and personal time. Considering the fact that this paper will be presenting an integrated system of automatic payroll and attendance tracking system, the method of face recognition has been chosen for ensuring the attendance of every worker. This method is actually able to recognize partial faces user some of the following conditions: • Self-occlusion: Blocking the face because of some restricted movement or pose. • Facial accessories: Facial accessories blocking the face of the person. • Limited view: Faces lying outside the view of the camera. • Extreme illumination: Images in which the area of face is high-lightened or gloomy. • Sensor saturation: Overexposure or underexposure of the face because of some objects in the picture. In addition, the partial face recognition alignment-free algorithm has some advantages over other types of algorithms: There is no prealignment of pictures that is needed, no presence of a facial component, and no prior information about the input face is required to the company (Lengnick-Hall, Beck, & Lengnick-Hall., 2011).

Alternatives of Automated Payroll and Attendance System

RFID

At present, there are various organizations over the globe and some of them seem to employ workers up to ten thousand or even more. Handling such a large number of employees might be an issue, especially getting the attendance and keeping a record of payroll. The manual process actually means that whenever a worker gets to the work, he goes to sign at the table of the officer and every other detail regarding overtime has to be asked by the manager. This whole process that has to be carried out manually has some drawbacks because in a case where a worker seems to bribe the officer or manager, the officer might disrupt the whole flow or tamper with the records of the attendance and disturb the record of payroll. It is actually sufficient for affecting the productivity of the organization. Another suitable option for dealing with this problem is designing a system that is capable of recording the attendance and keeping the track of payroll (Renwick, WS, Redman, & Maguire, 2013). In this specific project, the system of RFID is utilized for recording the attendance of employees and making sure to keep the records of overtime of workers along with other important aspects like taxes. Following diagram is the basic representation of a system for tracking attendance and payroll using RFID:

The identity cards of the workers have an RFID tag embedded in them and they can be ready by the reader. This system of RFID is actually interfaced to a database using a computer. This method is considered more effective to the prevalent issue encountered when getting the attendance manually. Tags of RFID can be either active, passive, or passive assisted by the battery. A battery is not used by the passive RFID while an active one seems to depend on battery that is always beaconing or broadcasting its signals. A passive RFID assisted by a battery which is small on board and is activated in the presence of a reader of RFID. Most of the tags of RFID include at least 2 parts: one is actually an integrated circuit for processing and storing information, demodulating and modulating an RF or radio-frequency signal, along with other specialized operations or functions: the other is simply an antenna transmitting and receiving the signal.

Depending on the mobility, readers of RFID are actually categorized in 2 different types: mobile RFID and fixed RFID. If in a stationary position, the tag is read, it is referred to as a fixed RFID. Such types of readers are actually set up for specific zones of integration while creating a bubble of the energy of RG that can be controlled tightly if the structure is engineered in a proper way. It permits an area of definitive reading for when tags go in and out of the zone of integration. This actually allows the organization to record the overtime of workers as well because once entered in the interrogation zone, it will keep the record of whether the worker has moved out or now. Considering the fact that it notes time along with the attendance, it allows the organization to manage the overtime very well(Nitin Afzalpulkar, 2016).

Barcode Attendance Systemof Automated Payroll and Attendance System

There is another alternative for recording the attendance and managing the payroll effectively. This method actually helps a lot in increasing the efficiency of the whole process of managing the overtime and payroll of workers. Automating through the technology of barcode, the errors which are previous made are eliminated. Due to it, high levels of accuracy and precision are provided by the system in keeping the track of attendance of employees. Additionally, the costs which are related to the system installation are not too much relative to the costs associated with attendance and payroll errors. The application of this system of barcode is quite simple and easy.

Every worker in the organization is issued a card or badge in which a barcode is present. For checking out or into the firm, the card or badg is swapped on the clock and the data is attained by that clock. This data can easily be downloaded by the administrator or manager and utilized for maintaining or updating the records of attendance, time, and payroll. The UPC or Universal Product Code is actually a rare code number of 12-digits assigned to the barcode, the representation of the UPC which is readable by the machine appear adjacent to the barcode. For a specific product, the UPC is almost always the same. Every product that is sold by the vendor will have similar first 6 digits in the Universal Product Code. The next five digits seem to determine the product and the last one is referred as check digit which is utilized for verifying that the UPC is correct.

Automated Payroll and Attendance System using MIS
MIS

For resolving the issue of inefficient management of payroll and tracking of attendance, MIS or Management Information System is used.

MIS or Management Information System is actually a collection of software, procedures, tools, and men for performing some specific tasks of the business at various levels in Ooredoo. Many companies actually have individual departments of MIS which are included in the consolidation, report generations, perform transactions, and manage records about significant information which will be delivered to various standards or levels of management. There are three basic levels in an MIS: top management, middle management, and operational management where the information is actually passed to the top from the bottom. This paper is actually an attempt to create an information system for Ooredoo Company which seems to involve automated management of payroll and keeping the track of attendance. Information obtained from this will be helpful to the company is various operations and even in the process of decision making(Tripathi, 2011).

It can be said that MIS is defined as a system for converting the data from external and internal sources into useful information and communicating that information is actually an eligible way to managers at almost every level in all the functions for enabling them in making effective and timely decisions for controlling, directing, and planning activities for which they are accountable and responsible. MIS can also be simplified as a set of capital and human resources in a company which is accountable for the processing and collection of data for producing the information which is quite useful to almost every level of management in controlling and planning activities in a company.

This system has actually evolved as a significant technique and tool in the area of business management in the present business threats and opportunities. It can be said that right information in right format and in right time will play an important role in deciding the decisions of human resource management and both simple management. MIS is actually one of the most important operations of the management. Organizations like Ooredoo require the information which is not only accurate but also reliable and timely. A significant role is played by MIS in delivering the information which is needed for crucial and integral decision making which impacts the organization’s performance directly.

It can be said that the initial concept of the MIS was all about processing the data form the company and presenting it in report formats at regular intervals. The system was actually capable of dealing with the data and using it for the requirements of the company. It was simply more impersonal and required each and every person to choose the process the data while utilizing it for his or her requirements. The MIS is different since individuals in the company are involved in the same business. This system is for individuals in two companies but involved in the same business and the MIS is available for every person.

Automated Payroll and Attendance System and Development of MIS

MIS’s development process is associated with the long-term plans of business of Ooredoo. Resources are required by the system like capacity, time, and capital. The end result is actually information in the formats of reports. Most of the companies don’t recognize the information as resources. They actually see information as a necessity of the routine. As the business expands, the information also rises in a manifold way. The plans of MIS are developed concurrent to the plans of the business. Numerous pieces of information are dealt by a company of almost every size.

An MIS or management information system might be developed using either a Life Cycle approach or Prototype method. In the method of prototype, the primary methods are developed first. With their implementation, the system is actually modified and refined as per the new requirements or specifications. The iterative process is followed till the system is simply accepted by the user. In the approach of life cycle, the development of MIS takes place through different phases. These phases are: Review and Implementation, Design, Analysis, and Feasibility Analysis.The choice of the design of MIS is actually decided on the basis of system nature and its applications. Therefore, the MIS is created over time as the business of an organization increases. Following chart seems to show just how an MIS can be created in Ooredoo.

Decision making at Top Level of Automated Payroll and Attendance System

It can be said that a decision is just a process of resource allocations which is irreversible except that a new decision might seemingly reverse it or might overcome or overrule the earlier one. A decision is simply a reasoned choice among various alternatives. It is the decision maker who is responsible for making decisions and the decision can be of several types like a simple decision and might be oriented towards a goal. The MIS which is designed in the study of Automated Payroll and Attendance System for Ooredoo reports according to the requirements of the manager or officer.

Monthly Attendance Processing Form

Worker’s Missing Punch Correction Form

Reporting of Automated Payroll and Attendance System

The reports which the top management uses are created from the above MIS. The report is actually submitted to the officer or an HR management and he is the one to take actions regarding recording, capturing attendance.

Daily Attendance Report

Combining Face Recognition of Automated Payroll and Attendance System

It can be said that every company or institution adopts a specific system of attendance recording. Some seem to prefer the old method for recording the attendance in a manual way while others used biometric techniques or method. The manual labor which is involved in computing the percentage of attendance becomes an important risk. In addition, the old method makes it quite tough to validate every worker in the organizational environment. The RFID or radio frequency identification helps a lot in the identification of large crowds using the radio waves. It has a hands-free control along with very high efficiency. However, it is observed that it can be used improperly. In the attendance systems that relies on RFID, it also used RFID terminals, transponders, and RFID tags. It is the server that processes the captured data and the database is updated

A database that is created with the personal data of workers along with their faces helps in storing the information and recording the attendance. Pictures are actually captured by a camera and it can even capture video in real-time. This task is accomplished using optical devices like a video recorder. The block of image processing feeds the images of faces which preprocessing performed along with the tasks of face recognition, and face detection. Tasks are included in preprocessing like procedures of enhancement and image cropping. The images which are processed are fed to the algorithm of face. These images which are processed are fed to the algorithm of face recognition. These images of database are then simply compared with the recognized faces of real-time for identifying the student(Surekha, et al., 2017).

Block Diagram of the additional ARS feature

Face Recognition Using MKD-SRC Representation

The MKD-SRC method is used by the presented system regardless of whether the face detected is partial or holistic. Real-time images and database images are represented by this approach as a MKD or multi-key point descriptor and applies SRC or classification on the basis of sparse representation. This kind of representation seems to perform well in cases where the data of training available is small. In the below diagram, its block diagram is shown. A group osdescriptors represent each and every face where the size of these descriptors rely on the information that is available about the face. That is why, the size of descriptor is large for the frontal images in comparison with the partial faces. After the normalization of the detected points to a limited or fixed size, GTP or Gabor ternary pattern descriptor is created for each of the region of key point.

The features of GTP are actually robust to changes of illumination along noise. Four Gabor filters are actually applied and the outcomes of the four filters are fixed for creating a ternary pattern referred as GTP or Gabor ternary pattern which has almost the same size as the original region. This region is simply segregated into sub-regions and a histogram is developed for every sub-region. PCA or Principal Component Analysis is implemented for reducing the dimensionality of the feature vector to M. The vector of resultant feature is MKD or multi-keypoint descriptor. The MKD is obtained from each and every picture in the class for forming a sub-dictionary. Here, a class is defined as a group of pictures with different or various poses collected for a same employee. A dictionary is composed for almost all the sub-dictionaries and portrays features from every picture in company.

Block diagram of FR algorithm

Conclusion Recommendations on Automated Payroll and Attendance System

Ooredoo Organization can refer as one of the most reliable and competent mobile service and communication providers present internationally and in Oman. The company excels in providing high-quality telecommunication and is renowned for the fact that it deals with a diversity of communication and networking services. With a wide spectrum of the company, it has become very significant for the organization to be aware of the issues that it is facing at present. One of the most important issues is ensuring that the payroll and attendance of the workers are not creating issues for them. Ooredoo can be helped by an automated system of payroll and attendance in eliminating the busywork by completely streamlining the process of payment, record-keeping, and scheduling. Workers can be allowed to access their records and put in requests for getting some time off through automated system. An effective system can be streamlined and standardized with directions beforehand. The above discussed MIS system together with face recognition is effective for Ooredoo in managing not only the payroll but also tracking the attendance.

Even though the effectiveness of MIS has been increased for the management of payroll and keeping the track of attendance of workers by combining it with the face recognition system. It still cannot be said that this is the optimal solution for Ooredoo because it requires a lot of time as it is combining two different interfaces for resolving the issue. The very first thing recommendation is that the organization should try to prefer a single interface so that the complexity doesn’t increase and it is easy to use. Additionally, the graphical interface of the MIS is not as interactive as it should be. This interaction can be improved further.

References of Automated Payroll and Attendance System

Disselkamp, L. (2013). Workforce Asset Management Book of Knowledge. John Wiley & Sons, .

Jiang, K., Lepak, D. P., Hu, J., & Baer, J. C. (2012). How does human resource management influence organizational outcomes? A meta-analytic investigation of mediating mechanisms. Academy of management Journal, 55(6), 1264-1294.

Jones & Bartlett Publishers, 2. (2010). Cultural Competency for Health Administration and Public Health. Jones & Bartlett Publishers, .

Lengnick-Hall, C., Beck, A. T., & Lengnick-Hall., a. M. (2011). Developing a capacity for organizational resilience through strategic human resource management. Human Resource Management Review, 3 (21, ), 243-255.

Mark N. K. Saunders, D. S. (2010). Organizational Trust: A Cultural Perspective. Cambridge University Press, .

Nitin Afzalpulkar, V. S. (2016). Proceedings of the International Conference on Recent Cognizance in Wireless Communication & Image Processing: ICRCWIP-2014. Springer, .

Ooredoo. (2019). Financial information. Retrieved from https://ooredoo.com/en/investors/financial_information/

Ooredoo. (2019). Who we are. Retrieved from https://ooredoo.com/en/who_we_are/

Renwick, D., WS, Redman, T., & Maguire, a. S. (2013). Green human resource management: A review and research agenda. International Journal of Management Reviews, 1 (15), 1-14.

Surekha, B., Nazare, K. J., Raju, S. V., & Dey, N. (2017). Attendance recording system using partial face recognition algorithm. Intelligent techniques in signal processing for multimedia security, 293-319.

Tripathi, K. P. (2011). A Study of Information Systems in Human Resource Management (HRM). International Journal of Computer Applications , 22(8), 9-13.