What can you do as an HR to improve employees’ performance? The answer lies in observing how they work and spotting areas for improvement. But isn’t that borderline invasive and can interfere with the regular functions of an employee? The answer is “yes” and also “no”. It’s a “yes,” because it could lead to potential lawsuits and mistrust among the employees if not done well. The answer can be a “no,” because the data will help you enhance the office’s productivity if done well.
Earlier, managers mostly just used to track the number of working hours of an employee. Thankfully, it’s not the only factor anymore.
What Exactly is Employee Monitoring?
To put it simply, employee monitoring means keeping track of everything an employee does during their work hours. You can use this data to come up with ways that help improve employee efficiency and productivity. By inspecting how employees manage their time, managers can spot issues and opportunities to ensure resources are being used efficiently. It’s important to ensure that all the employees, regardless of working from the office or otherwise, are on the same page about metrics of success.
As technology improves, it’s much more than simple surveillance. You can monitor everything from internet usage and call records to even the physical location of travelling employees. When you think about it, this also helps in safeguarding company data and avoiding inappropriate or unsafe behavior. According to research, a company shows an increase in profits and increase in productivity by 7% when their employees are aware that they are being monitored.
How Can HR Monitor Employees?
Monitoring has a bad connotation attached to it since it can easily be an invasion of an employee’s data. But, if done well, monitoring can help the company in crucial ways. Managers and HRs will get to know exactly where the employee is lacking and figure out some way accordingly. Time management is an important skill that employees struggle with, but monitoring can nudge them to be more aware.
So, below are a few methods that could be used to monitor the employees. We’ve rated them based on their level of invasiveness. We call it the Invaso Meter!
Monitoring Computer Activities
Keep a record of the duration the employees spend on a particular device, application, or program. This will help you know if the employees are utilizing working hours as they should or if are they spending them on personal tasks. It can let you figure out where you need to improve and where the company resources are being wasted.
Many companies do this; take Tech Mahindra for example: It uses employee monitoring and machine tracking software, and that too, without putting their privacy at stake. The tools used for these purposes provide real-time reports and insights to the management team to help them make better and more informed decisions.
Invaso Meter: 2.5/5
While it goes through everything you do throughout the day, this technique is still not overly invasive of privacy. If well-intentioned managers use this method to monitor their employees, it could be useful in improving the company’s overall productivity.
Observing the Apps and Websites Used by the Employees
Blocking time-wasting websites like YouTube, Netflix, and Instagram can help the company save its resources. This will also help you protect your valuable company data, as there are fewer chances of employees visiting suspicious sites.
Think about a team in an organization that constantly misses deadlines and ends up disappointing the client. Once the entire situation is analyzed and the team is thoroughly monitored, the management finds out that a few of the team members waste time watching series and scrolling reels. The leadership can take a call and implement policies that could restrict access to such sites.
Invaso Meter: 2.5/5
This technique hangs on the fine line between being overly invasive and not being invasive. It only restricts the employees from using their devices for entertainment. They are still free to view other productive sites.
Email Tracking
As an HR, you can track what kind of emails are being sent from the company’s ID. It’ll help you ensure that the company’s operational security stays intact and that the conversations are limited to work purposes only. This reduces the chances of any data leaks and ensures that company resources are used efficiently.
Invaso Meter: 1.5/5
Email tracking is not as invasive or infringing as only the things that are sent via official email are being monitored.
Keystroke Logging
Keystroke logging means creating records of everything that’s typed on a computer keyboard. With the help of this method, the management can distinguish between active and inactive employees, and measure the accuracy of data entry tasks. It can also help you know where the employees are lacking in terms of skills.
As you may have guessed, there are many privacy issues here. You are keeping track of literally every key they press during work hours. Find that sweet spot between security and respecting employees’ privacy. The employees need to be aware of its implementation and you need to take care of how the entire process is being handled responsibly.
Invaso Meter: 4/5
It can help find out many things about the employees in terms of skills and areas of improvement, but it’s highly invasive at the same time.
Maintaining Call Recordings
“This call is being recorded for quality assurance purposes.” Does this ring any bells or should we say, cells? This is one monitoring method that you must’ve come across while calling or getting calls from customer service reps. Right from call length and frequency to the content of the call, everything is recorded to ensure that the customer service is of top quality.
This method helps you to analyze the way your employees communicate and work on improving it. Inform your employees beforehand that all the calls made using company devices will be recorded.
Invaso Meter: 1.5/5
Usually, tracking of calls is only done on devices that are provided by the company. So, it’s likely that employees’ personal calls aren’t being recorded.
Use HRMS
Many companies have been using HRMS for a long time to automate mundane HR tasks. But, did you know that these same tools can be used to monitor the performance of the employees as well? The best part about it? It skips most of the issues the above methods have, is not overly invasive, follows every law, and enhances productivity.
One of the best HR software in India, greytHR, has effective performance monitoring and tracking features. It can track activities with status updates like On Track, At Risk, Closed, and more. There are check-in logs for every progress update and gamified flag alerts for achieving daily targets. It also ensures that monitoring is done while adhering to all the relevant laws and company policies, and keeps the employee data secure.
Invaso Meter: 1/5
HRMS tools adhere to every law related to employee privacy and automate many time-consuming processes for you. It’s basically the best of all the worlds.
What Could Go Wrong While Monitoring Employees?
Your employees should be completing their duties diligently while adhering to company policies and standards. That’s why keeping an eye on them is necessary.
At the same time, it’s necessary to be careful while monitoring employees, as some can feel being monitored too much and can consider quitting or develop trust issues with the company. Sometimes employees can feel that their privacy is being compromised under the disguise of “monitoring”.
It also creates a feeling of resentment towards the authority figure and causes friction between them. They’ll look for ways to subvert the rules the employer has put in place. For example, a lorry driver who was being tracked by their company via GPS used tin foil to cover the antenna to block the signal being transmitted.
As an HR, you need to ensure that the entire process of monitoring is transparent and doesn’t fall for excessive surveillance.
Summing Up
It could be overly invasive for some, but for others, it can be a productivity enhancer. If not done well, the attempt to enhance productivity could very well turn into a lawsuit. Now, it’s on you to be careful about how it’s done and the impact it has on the company. Be careful and transparent about the entire process, gain the trust of your employees, and the rest of the things will eventually fall into place.
FAQs
Is Employee Monitoring Good or Bad?
If done well, employee monitoring can be a wonderful way to improve employee productivity. Many companies use it to improve the skills of their employees and look for ways to improve the working environment.
What Is the Problem with Employee Monitoring?
Employees can feel uncomfortable if they’re being monitored more than required or by the way they are being monitored. Similarly, if employees aren’t aware of being monitored, why are they being monitored, or how is it happening, it might not be received that well. It might make them anxious and unsure about their HR’s or bosses’ intentions.
What Are the Benefits of Employee Performance Monitoring?
By keeping track of employee performance, managers and HRs can make better decisions about handling an employee. This data can help them manage resources and set clear expectations.
