Employee monitoring started even before the onset of COVID-19. However, after the pandemic hit, employers had to rethink their employee monitoring strategies as most companies adjusted to remote teams. Thankfully, monitoring was made slightly easier due to modern technology that helped companies track employees’ productivity remotely.
However, there are still some concerns that employers need to be wary of. For example, how do you implement a proper employee monitoring system without losing the trust of your employees? Secondly, how can employers monitor their workers effectively without hurting the employee’s privacy?
Below is a guide on how to monitor employee screen time to boost productivity without compromising privacy or losing the employee’s trust:
1. Pick your monitoring metrics
It’s very important to know what exactly it is you’re monitoring and how it affects productivity. Remember, the goal is to monitor and boost the productivity of employees, not check if employees are active or not. Data could show that a worker was at their keyboard for the desired number of hours. However, if they weren’t doing anything meaningful, then their productivity was more or less poor.
Consult all the relevant players and determine which performance metrics matter the most. You can talk to the managers and supervisors, for example. You can even speak to the workers themselves.
Once you have a crystal clear understanding of what metrics are vital, everything else becomes easier. Even choosing the appropriate employee monitoring tool will be a bit straightforward.
2. Discuss the program with your workforce
Do not run an employee monitoring program behind the backs of your employees. That’s unethical and it’s likely to introduce more problems than it solves.
If you want a shot at getting the best results from your monitoring program, involve your employees in the process. First, as mentioned above, consult the workers to find out what kind of data demonstrates their output best.
Secondly, tell them what data you want to monitor and why. This creates transparency and increases the chances that your workforce will embrace the system. It also boosts trust between both parties. You wouldn’t want your employees to find out they’re being monitored behind their backs, would you?
Lastly, discuss a way for resolving any complaints arising from the system. For example, if an employee’s metrics fail to hit the expected standards, they should know how to defend themselves. Don’t just make critical decisions based on the data alone without giving your workers a chance to explain themselves.
3. Find the right monitoring tool
Another vital step that will determine the success or failure of your system is choosing the monitoring software. There are various employee monitoring tools on the market. That’s good since it gives you the luxury of choosing the best pick for your business. You also get to choose something within your budget.
However, monitoring tools are not all equal. Some tools do very little to help you achieve your company’s productivity goals. Meanwhile, a few tools can be quite invasive, which may cause some pushback from your employees.
Therefore, you need to be very careful when picking a monitoring tool.
First, ask yourself whether the tool is helping you achieve your monitoring goals. It doesn’t matter how many features or how cheap the software is. If it doesn’t align with your goals, then it’s useless to you.
So, make sure the tool captures all the data and metrics you need. Whether it’s time tracking, automatically captured screenshots, or attendance., get the data you need. That data must be accurate too.
Next, look at data safety. A monitoring tool will access tons of data on your employees and the company at large. You need the peace of mind of knowing all this data is in safe hands.
Third, make sure the software works well with your systems. It would be ironic if your employees’ productivity suffered because their systems were overloaded with your monitoring software.
Fourth, ensure the tool is monitored, not spying.
Lastly, choose a monitoring tool that produces comprehensive and actionable reports.
4. Reward top performers
You would boost the productivity of your employees significantly if you created a system where top-performers are rewarded. That doesn’t necessarily mean giving all top performers a raise or fat bonuses. Sure, that helps, but rewards don’t have to be monetary.
Actions like recognizing an employee in front of their peers can leave a significant impact. So can creating a trophy for the top-performing employee of the quarter or year. You can also use incentives like paid-off days or a fully paid vacation.
Ultimately, you’re monitoring your employees because you want to boost productivity. Rewarding the top-performers helps you with that. It also shows the employees that the system can actually help them get rewards, not just punishments.
Monitoring employees is totally understandable, but you have to proceed carefully. Follow the above tips to ensure your system doesn’t drive a wedge between you and your workforce. Also, remember to analyze your monitoring tool every once in a while. Ensure it is consistent in monitoring and that no groups of people are unfairly affected.
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