That's interesting, in my office we badge in, but not out. I would have thought that the need to evacuate the building would prevent locking the exits? What happens if you leave your badge at your desk while visiting the bathroom or kitchen and the fire alarm goes off?
You badge in to give the illusion of security and so they can track that you are in the building, in part for their own liability in case of an emergency ("Yes we accounted for Jim's whereabouts during the fire, he entered the building at 9:05."). You don't need to badge out because the magnetic strip likely automatically tells them when you left the building by virtue of walking through the door.
I imagine the doors aren't locked from the inside out, and that keying-out is a voluntary process? Otherwise, your workplace is a disaster waiting to happen. All it's going to take is the fire detection system to fail, the unlocking system to break, or the front-desk person to fall asleep on the job. Or, worse yet, there's an active shooter and no time for someone else or some thing to unlock the doors.
I think it backfired because the amount of people coming in late/leaving early hasnt gotten better. Tbh, fridays seem worse.
Now that we know we are tracked, people dont even hide it. Sub 40 hour weeks are becoming norm.(assuming you dont have a major issue)