Improving Employee Engagement and Productivity at Federal Polytechnic Kabo: Design and Implementation of Digital Attendance Systems for Staff and Students

Employee engagement and productivity are widely recognized as critical indicators of institutional effectiveness in higher education. Traditional methods of recording attendance such as manual roll calls and paper based sign in sheets, remain common in many institutions. However, these approaches are inefficient, time consuming, manipulation and susceptible to human error. To overcome these limitations, digital attendance management systems have been developed, particularly those utilizing Quick Response (QR-code) authentication. While these systems offer improvements in attendance automation and data management, many solutions still face challenges related to security vulnerabilities, implementation costs and overall usability.

This study presents design and implementation of a secure QR code based digital attendance management system for staff and students at Federal Polytechnic Kabo. The system used Laravel framework, utilizing the Model View Controller architecture. The backend is powered by PHP, while the user interface was designed using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Data management is deployed on a dedicated Apache web server to enhance security and operational performance.

The results indicate the system performance and highlight the effectiveness of cost efficient database management, representing a significant improvement over conventional QR based attendance systems. The integration of additional security mechanisms, including QR code expiration and screenshot prevention, addresses critical weaknesses in existing systems.

Furthermore, the system enables management to access a reporting dashboard to monitor staff absenteeism and lecture attendance trends, thereby supporting improved institutional governance and decision making. Overall, the proposed QR code based system offers a modern and reliable solution for attendance management in newly established and rapidly growing tertiary institutions, enhancing student participation while significantly improving administrative efficiency and accuracy in attendance monitoring