The incredible rise of the employee monitoring industry has had its ups and downs. The ups are, obviously, all the benefits the software brought, and the downs are mostly related to employees’ reactions to this type of software.
In the past year, we’ve seen a plethora of articles in which employees have expressed their genuine concern about employee tracking software and the way it’s used in their companies.
So, let’s talk about it. Let’s see why are employees worried about it, and what can you as the employer do to make them feel better about employee tracking.
Employees Are Worried About Privacy
The key concern most employees have when it comes to monitoring is that their privacy is endangered. They are, rightfully so, worried that you’re watching their emails, social media, private chats, etc.
This thinking usually emerges from previous bad experiences, or simply because employees don’t know how the software works.
Here’s what you can do:
Use employee tracking software that lets you protect employees’ privacy. A software should give you an option to turn screenshots and tracking of some apps on and off as you please. This way, you can turn off screenshots for everything, especially for communication apps, social media, or other tools that might contain private information.
Another thing you should do is show employees what you’re seeing on your monitoring dashboard. Some employee tracking software have a feature called Employee Login, so your team members can access their data at any time.
If your software can’t do this, make sure you do a Dashboard walkthrough for your entire team. This way they can see what you’re seeing, and they won’t be stressed about the software.
Nobody Wants to Be Micromanaged
There’s probably nothing more irritating for an employee than a manager who keeps checking in to see when they’ll be done with the task, who keeps interfering with their work and adding their suggestions (which feel more like orders) to everything they do.
Unfortunately, employee tracking software has the potential to amplify the behavior of micromanagers. It allows managers to see who spent a few minutes on social media, who overstepped their break time, and who decided to leave work a little bit earlier than usual.
Everything we listed is a minor thing, and if such behavior doesn’t occur constantly, it won’t affect your company’s success. So, why bother your team about it?
What can you do to help your employees feel better? Well, if you’re already a micromanager, maybe you should start working on changing that. If you aren’t, then just keep doing what you’re doing and don’t fall into the monitoring trap.
Don’t nitpick on time spent on some of the unproductive activities – your employees need a break from time to time, and everyone has good and bad days at work. So, don’t pay too much attention to these activities, unless they get out of hand.
Once you notice that your employee is going down that road, have an honest conversation with them. Talk about what’s causing them to lose focus and turn to distracting activities so that you can work together to figure out how to help this worker improve their habits.
Wrapping Up
Integrating employee tracking software into your company’s culture won’t be a walk in the park if you don’t pay attention to your team’s concerns and comments. So, before you jump the gun and purchase the software, talk to your team and see how they feel about it. Try to address any concerns they might have with the use of such software, and make them understand why it’s good for both of you.
