Every employer wants to have their finger on the pulse of their workforce.
How do they spend their days? How long does it take for them to complete tasks? What are they really doing on their computers?
In the past, employers didn’t have many options to answer these questions other than peering over their shoulders in the office or bombarding them with probing questions. Today, employee monitoring software allows employers to see exactly what their employees do during their workday, often with unprecedented detail.
But what exactly is employee monitoring, and how does it work?
What is employee monitoring?
Simply put, employee monitoring is supervising and tracking what employees do during a workday.
Businesses can choose to monitor their employees to track performance, protect confidential information, avoid legal liability, or better understand business processes. They can do this through many different methods, often with the help of technology or software.
Employee monitoring isn’t a new practice. It’s been around in one form or another since bosses and managers paced the first factory floors. For instance, Henry Ford clocked factory workers with a stopwatch and hired private investigators to go undercover to spy on the workforce before reporting to him.
In the modern world, employee monitoring technology has made the processes of monitoring and tracking employee performance more efficient and effective than ever. While managers can still “walk the floor,” they can install sophisticated performance management software on any computer to track and analyze employee behavior. This is particularly effective for companies with a remote workforce.
There are different reasons why a company decides to use employee monitoring across all industries. Companies with sensitive data or valuable intellectual property might use it to ensure that employees don’t pass on important information.
Retailers and restaurants can use it to track theft at the point of sale. For example, UPS famously uses employee monitoring software to save millions of dollars by monitoring the efficiency of its drivers. Whether employed or self-employed, anyone can track individual productivity throughout the workday.
Whatever the reason, employee monitoring works. It boosts productivity, reduces theft and security breaches, and increases revenue.
Types of employee monitoring
Before we dive into the use cases, we need to understand the different types and ways of employee monitoring. Here are some of the common types.
Visible vs. invisible
Depending on the organizational goals, employee monitoring can take place with or without the employees’ knowledge. Visible employee monitoring is transparent, while invisible happens silently in the background.
Website tracking
Employee monitoring software helps track the websites employees visit on their work computers and how long they spend on each site. This is a great tool to ensure that employees don’t spend too much of their workday browsing the internet for personal reasons.
Application monitoring
Application monitoring tracks which apps employees use and for how long. This method gives a better measure of productivity as it focuses more on the native applications that employees use. For example, employers can see how much time their employees spend in their email inboxes versus CRM to gauge productivity and coach for efficiency.
Time tracking
Time tracking focuses on how time is spent and encompasses all of an employee’s workday activities. It’s often task-oriented and can effectively provide data on how long individuals or groups of employees complete specific tasks. This more detailed approach allows employees to better understand their work habits and can give managers a way to learn which habits are most effective.
Keystroke and mouse movement logging
This is when employee monitoring software tracks and records the keystrokes and mouse movements at a specific workstation. It can track the number of keystrokes and mouse movements to provide data like “mouse movements per minute” or exactly which keys are pressed to effectively monitor exactly what an employee types. This is useful for protecting against security and data breaches since employers can determine if employees share sensitive information or trade secrets.
Screenshotting
Screenshotting and screen recording use software to track what’s on an employee’s computer screen at any given moment. This is done by recording everything on the screen or taking a screenshot at a designated interval. Screenshotting provides an added layer of assurance that employees perform the work they log.
Social media tracking
This involves applying employee monitoring specifically to social media usage. Social media tracking shows who uses social media, how long, and what they do when on social sites.
Email tracking
Email tracking monitors employees’ activity within email applications or websites. Tracking email is another helpful method for protecting against information and data leaks. It can also be a way to uncover any email practices deemed inappropriate by HR or company policy.
GPS tracking
GPS tracking mainly applies to roles outside the office that require employees to travel to meet with clients or prospects. By tracking a device’s location like a work phone or laptop, employers can be confident that their employees are where they say they are.
Video surveillance
Video surveillance is a common employee monitoring method that uses cameras to record employees in an office space. Workplace surveillance through CCTV ensures employees are at their workstations, identifies unusual employee behavior, and ascertains workplace security.
Advantages of employee monitoring
Employee monitoring software has many applications and benefits when it comes to managing your workforce. Below are some of the major advantages.
Increased productivity
Employee monitoring with website, application, and time tracking provides valuable workday insights that help employers understand how and when employees do their best work.
It gives performance benchmarks and data points that make coaching easier for increased productivity. For example, if a manager sees that their top salespeople use SalesForce 30% more than the rest of the sales team, they can use this information to invoke better habits.
With visible employee monitoring, the employees can also use this data for self-improvement. It gives them a tool to discover when they do their best and most focused work or how long it takes for them to complete certain tasks to schedule their days and weeks to be more effective.
Culture of accountability
Visible employee monitoring fosters a culture of accountability. Not only does it give employers confidence that their employees are getting the job done, but it also demonstrates a record of their work. Both sides of the table can be assured that the work is completed and recognized.
Accountability is increased when visible employee monitoring data can be accessed through a dashboard. When employees demonstrate that everyone contributes equally, it reinforces their desire to remain accountable for their own work.
Standardizing work-life balance
Burnout due to an unhealthy work-life balance can create a toxic environment, lead to absenteeism, or accelerate employee churn, all of which can devastate a workforce. Employee monitoring through time tracking can help avoid overworking and burnout. This especially applies in remote work environments where employees can find it difficult to unplug.
Time-tracking software lets managers and employees stay on top of daily workloads. In some cases, it can even notify managers of “red flags” or employees at risk of burnout due to consistently long hours or working on the weekends. This is a vital asset for protecting against high turnover and productivity loss.
Increased security
Security improves with any form of employee monitoring. Whether through software or surveillance, it gives employers a way to monitor potentially risky behaviors. The right employee monitoring strategy can accomplish everything from protecting the workforce and phishing emails to safeguarding intellectual property.
Opportunities for savings
The workday insights that some employee monitoring software delivers benefit from uncovering opportunities for organizations to save money.
Website, application, and time tracking give leaders a better understanding of which software and applications employees use or not. This presents an opportunity to audit subscriptions and eliminate wasted licenses, potentially saving thousands of dollars on unused tools.
Possible disadvantages of employee monitoring
Employee monitoring software offers many advantages, but it isn’t immune to challenges and has some disadvantages. Some of these are discussed below.
Surveillance stress
One potential downside to implementing employee monitoring is that it could create additional stress for certain employees who prefer not to be monitored.
Whether they dislike employee monitoring because it makes them nervous that their work habits are under constant scrutiny or because they know they’re far from productive, employee monitoring inevitably stresses out some employees.
For those who just don’t like it, employee monitoring takes a bit of getting used to. Those who oppose it because they don’t live up to expectations must improve or face the consequences.
Miscommunication
Employee monitoring can also be a disadvantage if not properly communicated.
As with implementing any new initiative, communicating employee monitoring can make or break the difference. When done right, employees understand that it’s a way to make everyone better, safer, and more effective. When miscommunicated, it can be perceived as punishment and make employees feel untrustworthy.
Legal considerations when monitoring employees
Beyond the advantages and disadvantages of employee monitoring, it’s essential to understand its legal implications. For the most part, employee monitoring is permitted in the United States.
Internationally, however, laws vary from country to country and are typically more strict. In Europe, for example, any employee monitoring policy must follow the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
This piece of legislation mandates that employers inform employees about all data collection methods, get employee consent for personal data collection, and protect any data they collect. It applies to all organizations operating with the European Union (EU), including those outside it with employees working in the EU.
Regardless of where you are in the world, it’s wise to consult with professional legal counsel before building, implementing, and managing an employee monitoring policy.
State laws vs. national laws
Monitoring employees is an employer’s right in the U.S. While some methods of employee monitoring require consent or disclosure, many of them don’t. The federal stance is that the practice is an employer’s right. There are some minor variances between state-specific laws, but most states allow employee monitoring virtually every form.
Company computers vs. personal computers
Monitoring employees on company computers is legal, but there are often precise requirements for monitoring personal computers.
The Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) permits an employer to monitor all activities on a computer that is company property, but personal computers can be a different story. Since the use of personal devices comes with a “reasonable expectation of privacy,” employers are generally not legally allowed to monitor personal computers without notifying employees first. However, it’s allowed with consent and an appropriate policy management framework in place.
Workday vs. non-work hours
Again, rules and regulations surrounding employee monitoring during work and non-work hours vary widely by location.
In most cases, no law is specifically tailored to the hours in which employee monitoring can occur, but this can change in the near future. In Portugal, for example, lawmakers recently made it illegal for employers to call, text, or email their employees after hours. As remote work continues to expand and new regulations emerge, the odds are that they’ll impact the new employee monitoring laws.
How to use employee monitoring software
Employee monitoring isn’t one size fits all. You need to decide the methods, tools, and processes right for you, your company, and your employees.
If your goal is simply to monitor what’s going on for peace of mind or safety purposes, that’s fine. If you want to implement employee monitoring software to increase productivity and elevate your team’s performance, you need to take a strategic approach to get the most out of it.
Define productivity
The first step to using employee monitoring software effectively is to define what productivity means in your organization. Without a clear, foundational understanding of the habits that your employee monitoring software enforces, you can only hope to reap the positive rewards of tracking behaviors.
Defining productivity puts you in a better position to set realistic expectations and communicate them to your employees.
Tip: 100% work is NOT realistic. Working every second of the workday isn’t sustainable, even for your most productive employees. Setting an unrealistic expectation of productivity will lead to burnout, low employee satisfaction, and high turnover.
Use insights to evaluate individuals and teams
Once you’ve set the appropriate expectations and implemented your employee monitoring strategy, use the software’s insights to get a sense of how both teams and individuals work.
Use the data captured by your employee monitoring software as a tool to measure performance relative to your definition of productivity. This is essential to set benchmarks, understand who’s performing well, and identify areas where employees can improve. In some cases, the insights you gather completely reshape how your company approaches work.
Coach to improve
Next, take these insights and evaluations and turn them into coaching points. Now that you have a complete view of employee work habits and productivity levels, help your team elevate.
Use your new understanding of how your top performers work as a guide to coach for better habits in underperformers. Leveraging data-backed productivity insights makes for a powerful coaching tool that helps everyone understand where they are and where they can go by changing a few specific behaviors.
Empower employees
Most importantly, acknowledge the evidence of high or improved productivity that the software brings by empowering your employees.
If the reason you’ve implemented employee monitoring software is to increase productivity, and it’s successful, then celebrate it. Show your employees that you appreciate their hard work and growth by offering them flexibility and awarding autonomy. Productivity, especially when proved with data, is evidence of trustworthiness. Give your employees the trust they’ve earned.
Employee monitoring checklist
What should you ideally know before using employee monitoring software? Here’s a handy checklist to help you through.
Find your fit
Do your research. Take the time to investigate your options and find suitable employee monitoring methods and techniques for you and your organization.
Communicate
Inform your team. You don’t always have to, but it’s recommended. Notifying your team can mitigate most, if not all, of the potential drawbacks or disadvantages of employee monitoring.
Implement with policy
Develop a company policy that covers employee monitoring. This is another critical step in ensuring everyone understands the reasons and expectations associated with employee monitoring at your company.
Establish benchmarks
Use data to establish a baseline. After the system has been implemented and the team has had some time to get used to it, set clear benchmarks for productivity and performance that you can coach and improve against.
Manage for good
Look for examples of employees doing good rather than bad. Of course, you want to keep an eye out for things like security breaches or the complete abuse of work time, but don’t get sucked into constantly looking for someone to punish for not being productive enough.
Instead, look for examples of productive employees doing the right things and go out of your way to praise them. You can also use data insights to evaluate what makes them top performers and pass that information along to others via coaching.
Remember that a positive attitude serves those struggling with productivity better than any punishment.
Evolution never stops
Employee monitoring might not be a new concept, but it has evolved dramatically over time. What was once as simple as looking around the factory floor now involves a complex system of technologies capable of monitoring employees in an office or around the world.
From CCTV and GPS to keystroke tracking and screenshotting, employers keeping track of employee work habits has changed how the working world views employee monitoring.
More than anything, these changes have brought new and valuable tools that improve the way we work. They can help increase productivity, drive a culture of accountability, make room for better work-life balance, improve security, and uncover opportunities for cost savings.
Expect the evolution of employee monitoring to continue well into the future. The remote work revolution we’re seeing today is only just getting started. As workers continue to push for the flexibility that remote work provides, more and more employers will adopt remote working environments to attract and retain top talent. In a world where the workforce becomes increasingly global, employee monitoring will be an essential part of nearly every business.
Data security demands a business’ undivided attention, especially when monitoring day-to-day operations. Find out more about what data security means and how to protect yourself from potential threat actors.
