What Are Pros and Cons of Employee Monitoring?

2024-10-17

Employee monitoring raises the question of what are pros and cons of this practice. Major companies like IBM and Amazon, integrate monitoring software. According to ZipDo research, 72% of employers use monitoring software to track employee productivity. This article delves deeper in pros and cons of employee monitoring software.

What is Employee Monitoring Software?

Employee monitoring software is an instrument designed to track the activity of the target employee or a group of them in your office. The mission of this software is to integrate as many tools as possible to make the performance as productive as possible. This software helps employers gather data about employee productivity, behavior, and compliance with company policies. It can track various metrics such as keystrokes, screen activity, application usage, time spent on tasks, emails, website visits, and in some cases, a physical location.

When monitoring employees, it is recommended to notify the personnel about this practice. Each executive should take responsibility for the ethical side of implementing tracking activities.

The reasons why business leaders implement this instrument are diverse but one of the many is to reach a work-life balance where employers pay attention to work-related activities and do not interfere in the personal lives of the staff. Such balance helps both separate business from private aspects of life, thus fostering the productivity of the personnel.

What are Definite Features of Employee Monitoring Software?

As speaking about employee monitoring features, we should specify the following:

• Activity + time tracking which monitors the programs and applications employees use during work hours. Besides, it assesses how much time they are using. Additionally, it estimates active vs. idle time of each employee at the workplace. It records the time spent on specific projects, websites, or tasks, providing insight into how employees manage their workday.
• Keystroke logging is applied to log each keystroke made on the keyboard. It records login/passwords, part of the documents, thus preventing unauthorized access.
• Screen capture allows a businessman periodic screenshots capture and recording of employees’ screens to observe what they are doing at a certain moment. This feature helps in reviewing how work is being conducted and can detect any improper use of company resources.
• Website and chat monitoring tracks the web history, what web resources, and how long they spend on each, and which applications are being used. Employers can block access to distracting or non-work-related websites.
• Email and chat monitoring scans employee emails, instant messages, and chats for compliance with company policies and security. This is especially important for industries where sensitive information prevails.
• Productivity analytics allow each business leader to assess how effective his personnel works. Having analyzed this data, an executive obtains solutions on how to optimize processes, offering training sessions.
• Geolocation and GPS tracking for remote, hybrid, and field workers is applied to track their physical location through GPS to ensure they are where they should be.

Pros and Cons of Employee Monitoring Software

We cannot claim that employee monitoring software brings only benefits; there are also cons to mention. This block will show what the businesses win or what obstacles will probably be faced.

What Are Pros of Employee Monitoring Software?

Obviously employee monitoring software has many pros among other benefits. Considering using this technique, keep in mind the following:

1. Enhanced productivity. Each leader uses employee monitoring to ensure staff complete their tasks and meet deadlines. It guarantees the employers are confident that your personnel are doing well at the workplace.
2. Better time management. By integrating software, businesses may optimize workflows and ensure employees are concentrated on their assignments. The statistics by Zoomshift confirmed that 35% of employees define ineffective time management as the most significant obstacle to their productivity.
3. Improved accountability. Employee monitoring contributes to a greater accountability of each employee in the office. When employees are aware that their performance is being tracked, they are more likely to stay focused and meet deadlines.
4. Enhanced security and data protection. Since setting the software up, the confidential information is carefully protected, preventing suspicious and unauthorized access to the company’s sensitive data. It helps enforce compliance with data protection regulations, ensuring that employees follow company policies for handling confidential information.
5. Remote workers monitoring. It is now allowable to track the activities they do, how much time it takes, whether they meet deadlines. Besides, there is a face recognition feature which helps define what the employee is using the computer at the moment.
6. Better resources allocation. By tracking software, the employers get access to the records on what resources are under-or-overutilized. This data can result in better decision-making around budget allocations, project assignments, and staffing needs.
7. Real-time feedback. Employee monitoring systems allow managers to give real-time feedback. It helps estimate what drawbacks may be fixed and in what ways it is possible to improve the knowledge of the target employee or a group of them.
8. Remote accessibility. This pro attracts the employers the most, as they get records remotely. Besides, the reports are well-structured and visual statistics.

What Are Cons of Employee Monitoring?

Employee monitoring has certaincons like ethical considerations, privacy concerns, trust issues. We give you more details about the weak sides of employee monitoring software.

One of the biggest problems with employee tracking is the potential violations of privacy of employees. They may feel uncomfortable with the knowledge that their every step is being tracked, including personal communications, browsing history, or even location. Some monitoring tools include features like keystroke logging or screen recording, which can be considered as highly compulsive and result in tension between both parties of these business relations. Legal requirements around employee monitoring vary by country or region, and monitoring software must comply with privacy laws. Failure to properly notify employees or comply with regulations can result in legal repercussions.

One more aspect to pay attention to is legal requirements to monitor work-related activities. There are certain documents confirming that before starting any tracking practice, an employer should notify employees about what indicators will be monitored and how it affects their work lives at the working place. Ethically, companies may face criticism if they don’t make monitoring policies transparent or if they overstep by collecting too much personal data.

If employers do not follow transparent relations, there may arise trust issues. A lack of trust can contribute to a toxic work environment where employees feel disengaged and less committed to the company’s goals.

One more con relates to stressful situations caused by employee monitoring systems. Constant monitoring can lead to an increased stress level, as employees may feel the need to work at an unsustainable pace or fear making minor mistakes. The monitoring may, unfortunately, create undue pressure, decreasing creativity and productivity, as employees focus more on meeting surveillance expectations than delivering quality work.

Each organization and employees can find more cons, but, in general, it contributes to enhanced productivity and better time management.

FAQs

Are There Any Laws On Employee Monitoring In The United States?

Yes, there are laws monitoring employees in the United States such as the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) of 1986. This act highlights the whole state law guaranteeing privacy for each employee being monitored at the workplace. Besides, there are state laws that regulate employee monitoring on a definite state level like in states like California and Connecticut, employers must inform employees about monitoring in advance.

What Are The Risks Of Employee Monitoring?

There are the risks of employee monitoring such as:

• privacy issues: Workers may get uneasy or mistrustful if they believe their personal privacy is being violated.
• reduced morale: Persistent observation can lead to a feeling of micromanagement and a decline in staff morale.
• legal issues: If employees are not adequately informed, improper or excessive surveillance may give rise to legal problems.
• erosion of trust: An unfavorable work environment can result from excessive surveillance, which erodes the trust between employers and employees.
• data misuse: Inaccurate assessments or even security threats may result from improper handling or interpretation of collected data.

Is It Legal To Monitor Employees?

It is legal to monitor employees if the employer follows all legal requirements like prior notice and what aspects will be tracked. The first question answers what laws should be followed.

What Are Best Practices for Implementing Employee Monitoring?

There are many practices for better implementing employee monitoring. Read the details in our previous research.

Why Should I Monitor My Employees?

Each business leader will find his own reasons why to use this practice. Some of them prefer such features as time tracking, face recognition, screenshot monitoring, keyloggers, etc. It brings more benefits than disadvantages.