Trying to strike the appropriate balance between looking out for the company’s best interests and respecting your employees right to privacy can be tricky. Employee monitoring is a necessary business practice, but it needs the right approach to work effectively and in a way that all employees are comfortable with. Whilst some employees may feel uncomfortable being monitored; the practice is perfectly fair as long as the rights of the employees aren’t infringed upon.
Read on for more information on how you can implement a successful strategy to monitor your employees.
What and Why?
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Employee monitoring or tracking is a technique used by an employer to monitor their staff during business hours. The main intent behind this practice is to boost productivity and weed out and eradicate unacceptable behaviour and business practices.
The Benefits
Firstly, having a more stringent employee monitoring process can reduce wasted time. Many employees can be distracted by co-workers or social media during their workday, and that is to be expected; however, if it impacts their work, it needs to be addressed. By monitoring their activity, they are less likely to waste time improving the productivity of your business.
Using employee monitoring software, you can find out when they started work, how much time they spent on each task, and other websites or resources they have accessed. This can help employees too as they don’t have to justify their actions or why a task took so long as you can see what they’ve done.
It can also be an invaluable tool when it comes to performance reviews as you have a record of what they’ve achieved and an understanding of their behaviour in the workplace. Rewarding employees who are doing well will help others fall in line.
Finally, it negates the need for micromanaging and constant supervision. This helps employee morale as well as giving you more time to focus on other things. There are other cost and performance benefits of employee monitoring.
Employee Monitoring Solutions
The most widely used method is employee monitoring software; it is minimally invasive for employees and works both in-office and remotely. The installation of this software on work computers allows you to see what your employees are doing and when they are doing it.
There is also the option to install CCTV or video surveillance, although this is only effective for location-based staff. CCTV is a common practice, and it can show where your employees are, although it isn’t always effective in showing what they are doing.
Lastly, if your business employs the use of drivers, it may be worth investing in a vehicle tracking system. A tracking system such as the one provided by FleetGo can show you where your employees are in the field and how much time they spend there. If deliveries are an essential part of your business, then tracking vehicles is an excellent way to measure the productivity of employees that you may not be able to otherwise.
When it comes to employee monitoring and managing PTO, it’s essential to have reliable tools like PTO tracking software to streamline the process.
In Conclusion
Employee tracking is a vital business practice; however, if approached incorrectly, it can lead to resentment from the employees; they may feel that they aren’t trusted or that their privacy isn’t respected. Again, transparency is the key, be honest with your employees about what practices you will implement and why.
