Many businesses have shifted to remote work for the safety of their employees during the Covid-19 outbreak. It was the first time a large number of organizations implemented remote work. Managing remote teams is challenging, especially for those who have never handled it. When employees work from home, it is difficult for managers to detect and prevent theft of remote work time and other challenges. This article explains what time theft is and how to prevent remote employees from abusing their time or schedule.
Time Theft and Ways to Prevent It
As a result of their absence from the office and lack of monitoring, time theft has become a prevalent issue among remote workers. The act of boosting attendance inaccurately and accepting payment for hours not performed constitutes time theft. This action leads firms to lose valuable time and resources. Time theft can cause lower productivity, leading any business to face massive losses and even shut down the business. Luckily there are solutions for preventing time theft. Let’s look into possible ways a company can easily prevent remote employees’ time theft.
Keep Remote Employees Engaged
Managers need to keep remote employees engaged with different tasks. When employees face any challenges, managers should support them so that they can successfully overcome those challenges. Openly recognizing an employee who has completed a task effectively and performed well helps motivate the individual and the team to continue working hard. Employees with a strong sense of gratitude are more committed to the company.
Set Common Rules
Some rules can help managers understand what the remote employee did during office hours since they work from different locations. Managers can explain to the employees how they measure performance. In general, managers need to ensure that employees know what the firm requires of them, how the policy operates, what might happen if the rules and guidelines are broken, and what rewards the company provides to its successful workers.
Increase Accountability
Employees require guidance from their managers to make them feel like a part of the company. This ties into performance management. It can be demotivating for employees to perform poorly and more likely to engage in time theft if they don’t love working for the organization, feel underappreciated, or believe they won’t meet their goals. Sharing firm success stories with the teams and holding everyone responsible for their work product is essential if the managers want to create a productive work environment.
Use Remote Team Management Software
Utilizing remote team management software to monitor employees is a great and efficient way to reduce the possibility of time theft in the remote workforce. The majority of remote team management software, also known as monitoring software, includes a wide range of capabilities that assist employers in closely observing the work activities of remote workers. Employees cannot alter timesheets thanks to features like time monitoring, web/app usage, and productivity indicators. The software tracks total working hours and consolidates all of these statistics onto a single dashboard, giving management a clear understanding of how long and productively each individual worked. To prevent employees from committing time theft if they have other obligations during regular working hours, such as personal activities or emergency work, you can also permit them to work flexible hours and take frequent breaks.
Take Away
Time theft is usually a kind of fraud and can happen to any company. Employers must take the required safety measures to reduce the danger. Companies can reduce their risk of time theft and productivity by combining friendliness, assistance, transparent instructions, tools, and employee feedback. Trusting employees will encourage them to act morally and keep them motivated to work for the organization’s benefit.
With CloudDesk team management software, which can track time and digital activity from their distant location, Managers can end time-theft and boost their team’s productivity. Start your 14-day free trial today!
