Need to Keep Tabs? 5 Do’s and Don’ts of Remote Employee Monitoring
Most employers now use some form of monitoring. But whether or not they’re doing it right is a different story.
With a team of a remote workers, you simply can’t peek over their shoulders every five minutes to keep an eye on productivity. And let’s face it, even if you could, would you want to?
With technology for employee monitoring and tracking so widely available, it’s easier than ever to keep tabs on employees working from anywhere.
Of course, there are many obvious benefits, including more transparency, increased productivity, and better benchmarking. However, there are also many potential pitfalls and monitoring can easily make employees feel untrusted and more stressed out.
In this post, we’ll reveal the top five do’s and don’ts of remote employee monitoring to keep you on the right track. Let’s go!
Do: Think about how much you need to monitor
When it comes to monitoring, employers have the right to track far more than you might expect. Depending on the laws in place in your region, you might be allowed to track everything from email content to employee location, and lots more in between.
Although employers have lots of rights, especially when workers are using company property, there usually isn’t a good business case for excess monitoring. What’s more, having their every move tracked is going to be seriously off-putting to workers. It may even end up costing you some top talent.
To make sure you get the information you need without going overboard, think carefully about what you need to track and the best way to go about it.
Do you want to stick to just time tracking or would keystrokes and mouse clicks help too? Do you need screen captures as proof of work? Once you know what you want to monitor, decide on the best software to help.
Don’t: Try to go covert
While privacy laws vary, most rules surrounding employee monitoring are based on the worker being informed about what’s happening.
While the software is out there for you to spy on employees, it’s generally not legal to use it secretly unless a crime is suspected. So before you install that nifty app on company devices, make sure you tell users all about it.
In general, always be explicit about your policies regarding monitoring. Also, if you can, keep an open dialogue with employees surrounding the monitoring process so you can keep improving.
Don’t: Monitor select employees
If Joe’s chatting with co-worker Bill about the time-tracking software they’re all supposedly using and Bill has no clue what he’s talking about, Joe probably won’t feel too great.
Your reasons for singling out certain employees might be perfectly logical, for example you have a new hire or someone who seems to be less productive than the others. But only monitoring select employees is bound to make them feel isolated.
The best option is to monitor across the board. If you do feel you need to single someone out, be upfront with them about why. If possible, say for a new hire, make it temporary. It might be just the productivity boost they need!
Do: Integrate it into the culture
Of course, even if you’re not singling people out, many workers may feel perturbed by the idea of being monitored.
This is especially true is you have workers who haven't experienced monitoring before.
The best way to make employees feel more at ease with the concept is to integrate it into the culture of the company. You can even start by mentioning it in job postings so there are no surprises upon hire.
Build time-tracking into workflows and discuss it openly at meetings. You can share stats with the whole team and perhaps run competitions and offer rewards. This can even be done somewhat anonymously to avoid shaming less productive workers.
Don’t: Make it a huge deal
But we just said build it into the culture! Yes, but it doesn’t have to be the focus of the culture. If the main thing on people’s mind is time-tracking and productivity, it could end up being a huge detriment.
While some workers thrive on trying to achieve goals and win competitions, others simply get stressed out. You could even end up with a bunch of burned out unproductive workers on your hands.
Yes, build it into the culture, but make it a minor part. Productivity goals are great, but no doubt there are other major objectives you can put emphasis on.
Make sure you temper goals related to monitoring with those in other areas. Don’t make time-tracking the only thing on a meeting agenda. If you having productivity competitions, have others forms of competition too.
Employee monitoring can be an excellent way to jumpstart workers and to see where resources might be being wasted. But it needs to be done right! Use the key do’s and don’ts we’ve provided above to make sure you have a team of happy and productive workers!
Do you have any tips for remote employee monitoring? Let us know in the comments box below!
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