When your boss walks by your desk and looks down at your computer, it’s always unsettling. After all, no one enjoys being watched. Employee monitoring software, a digital method of monitoring employees, is becoming more popular among remote and hybrid businesses — and employees aren’t happy about it.
Global demand for employee productivity tracking software has increased by 59% since the pandemic began. According to Top10VPN’s research, demand has been 75% higher on average since the beginning of 2022 than it was in 2019. This growing surveillance trend is not going to go down with remote and hybrid employees. According to a survey conducted by the workplace research firm Gartner, employees are twice as likely to pretend to be working when their employers use employee monitoring software.
Employee Monitoring and Manager
Employee monitoring software is likely unpopular among your workforce, but research shows that it may have the opposite intended effect on productivity. Indeed, it was found that employees are more productive when monitoring software is installed on their computers. They will likely stop visiting unnecessary websites and applications, take fewer breaks, and focus on working hours.
However, managers must determine how to use the employee monitoring software so that employees don’t feel mistrusted. It can also decrease employee motivation to work and encourage them to leave the company. Many monitoring software are available in the market and offer different kinds of surveillance. Managers must decide which features they need and which ones they don’t. CloudDesk is a complete employee monitoring software that offers time-tracking, activity monitoring, web & app usage, detailed reporting, and screenshot monitoring. It notifies employers about how employees spend their time and provides valuable insights into opportunities for productivity improvements.
Employee Monitoring Policy
While employees should not expect privacy on company technology in general, some U.S. states now require private companies to communicate a policy so employees are aware of what companies log and monitor.
Implementing employee monitoring software will bring outstanding results to the company. With valuable insight and data, managers can run their teams more efficiently. When managing a team, the manager must discuss openly with team members the reason for monitoring them. As the software employees use on their computers will collect a vast amount of data based on their
digital activities, managers must let them know how the software works and what kind of data it collects. Create a monitoring policy mentioning every step of the monitoring process, and give your employees a copy of it.
The laws regarding employee monitoring are different in every country and state. Before you start using such software, make sure you are completely aware of your country’s laws and do not do anything that breaks the law. For safety, you can also consult with a lawyer to ensure your policy does not violate any state laws.
The Best Employee Productivity Software
Don’t let employee productivity suffer simply because you have a distributed team. Keep monitoring remote employees with CloudDesk, the best employee productivity solution for managing a team of remote workers. You will never have to worry about what your employees do during working hours when they work out of your sight.
