The shift to remote work was full of both expected and surprising challenges. Employees had to learn that staying productive at home was not easy and had to figure out tricks to help them stay focused. Meanwhile, employers and managers were quickly faced with a new problem: how to make sure their employees were actually working when they said they were. Fortunately, the solution already exists and it’s called employee monitoring software.
Employee monitoring software can ensure that your employees are working during work hours. There are many options available so you can choose the best option for your team. However, employee monitoring should be approached carefully and done properly. If not, you may end up with workers feeling like they are being spied on, which causes many issues within a company.
In this article I’ll cover the top tips for proper implementation of employee monitoring software for your business. Follow these tips and you will be able to get the benefits of employee monitoring without issues.
1. Know your reasons
There are many reasons to implement employee monitoring in your company. Along with increasing productivity, it also protects against insider malicious activity. You can also gain insight into productivity within your company and use the data to develop new methods for improving performance.
Before introducing employee monitoring into your company, think of the reasons it would be beneficial. You can even write them down. Having clearly formulated these ideas will make it easier to introduce this to employees and get them on board with monitoring software.
2. Be aware of possible downsides and know how to prevent them
The main potential issue with any kind of employee monitoring is that it may create a feeling of distrust between management and other employees. If workers feel that they are being spied on, they will feel stressed and unable to voice their concerns, which can lead to burnout and a severe loss in productivity. Having a toxic workplace must be avoided, as it is one of the main reasons workers leave their jobs.
This is why before implementing an employee monitoring software, you should be proactive and prevent these issues. To do this, transparency is key. Also, employees should feel trusted and not like they are being watched constantly. Explain to them how employee monitoring is beneficial for everyone, as it helps ensure there is proof of work. It can also be used to prevent burnout, as supervisors can check for red flags such as overworking and slow progress to see if anyone is overburdened.
3. Focus on ethics
The concept of tracking employee activity may make some people uncomfortable. It can feel invasive. Employees have the right to have privacy, even during work hours and it is important that you respect this. To make sure you are being ethical about monitoring, you will need to follow a few rules.
- Get consent: During the onboarding process, employees should be notified that working in your company involves being monitored and agree to it.
- Be transparent: Workers should not only know that they will be monitored but also how and what data will be collected, as well as how it will be used.
- Give some privacy: Just like there are rest areas in traditional offices where employees can take a break and relax, it should be similar for remote work. You don’t need to be aware of what each employee is doing every minute of the day. That’s why some time tracking apps blur screenshots to give users privacy.
4. Do research before choosing a time tracking app
There are now many options for employee monitoring software to choose from. You will need to do some research and even test some apps out before implementing one officially. Think about the features you need for your business. Do you want to simply track time or also see what apps and websites were accessed during work hours? Do you need the software to also generate timesheets or integrate with other apps and tools? Choose an option that meets your needs and is also affordable for your company.
Back on the subject of ethics, make sure to avoid any software that mentions “spying” anywhere in the description. The app should make it clear when it is tracking rather than secretly record activity. You can also get feedback from your employees during the testing out phase to see how they feel about the app. This will make them feel more involved and less likely to reject the idea of time tracking.
5. Create a formal document on monitoring procedures
Employees prefer that there are rules and protocols for usage of employee monitoring software. Write everything out and create a formal document that workers can read during the onboarding process and can also access later on to review if they would like.
6. Only monitor during work hours.
What employees do on their days off and breaks is none of your business so there is no reason to monitor devices during these times. Many time tracking programs allow the employee to determine when they are being monitored and they can switch the tracker on and off when they need to.
Conclusion
Employee monitoring does not have to be something that workers dread to learn about. With remote work becoming more widespread, it is now standard procedure for many companies to implement employee monitoring software. As long as you make sure you are doing it for the right reasons and stay transparent with employees, you can enjoy the benefits without causing issues such as distrust.
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