Employee monitoring software is a system which is used to track employees’ activities on their work computer, including the programs and websites they use and for how long. There are a number of solutions out there and they differ in their scale and the kinds of features they offer. But before you go ahead and install it, there are certain things you should be aware of in order to implement the employee software the right way. Carefully thinking about and answering the following questions will eliminate the possibility of later regret, while at the same time giving you full benefits that such a software can offer.
Which Platform Should I Use?
The first question is a really obvious one. Before you install the software, you have to know which software to install. There are a lot of solutions and the diversity of choice can easily overwhelm you. Luckily, just considering several basic things can help narrow down the choice pretty quickly.
First of all, think about the technicalities – how large is your team/company? Smaller teams may not need huge fancy solutions that boast about the amount of data they can store and that cost a lot of money, but this could be a dealbreaker for a large multinational corporation.
What is the budget that you have at your disposal? Different solutions charge different fees for using their software, most of them charge per month per employee, but there are softwares you can pay for in full upon implementation. Check with your financial team how much money you are willing to put into employee monitoring and make a shortlist based on this, but don’t forget to weigh in the perks you might get for a few extra bucks.
Which brings us to features. It is crucial to do a thorough research on what features are out there and which of those your company needs. Do you need just a basic time tracker? Is email monitoring important to you? How badly do you really need screenshots? Ideally, make a list of all the functionalities you want out of your employee monitoring software and cross-reference that with your shortlist to make an even shorter list until you get to just one.
Where Should I Store the Data?
Most of the employee tracking systems are going to offer you a choice to store your data on their cloud or on your own servers. So, which solution is right for you? Well, for most teams and small to medium companies, cloud solution will do the job just fine. Installation is easy and quick, and your data will be secure. However, if you want more space and a bit more autonomy and you don’t mind additional technical effort, then on-premise solution might be what you need.
Should I Tell My Employees?
The short answer is yes! Well, you might feel like the fact that the employees are aware of being watched might affect their motivation and work satisfaction and, besides, the conversation will very likely be at least slightly awkward. Understandably, this will tempt you not to tell them at all (provided, of course, that you are legally not obliged to). However, we strongly advise you to take the time and explain to them what is going to happen. Tell them exactly what you will be monitoring and why, and reassure them that their private online conversations during their break time will not be monitored. Also make sure to tell them about all the benefits that will come from analyzing their performance in such an objective way. This honest and straightforward approach helps foster the trusting and open atmosphere in the office.
I Have Successfully Implemented the Software. Now What?
Now that you have an employee monitoring software up and running, what are the next steps? How do you collect the data? How do you analyze it? What do you do with it? There are almost as many answers to these questions as there are teams and companies. Determine what your goals are and what you want to improve by using the employee tracking platform. If you want your workers to get to work on time, track their attendance and reproach those who are frequently late. If you would like your projects to be finished faster, monitor how much time each team member spends on the project and reward the top performers. The list goes on and on. Just make sure you’re not doing the monitoring for the sake of monitoring, but as a means to improve performance and efficiency.
Conclusion
Employee monitoring software can be a powerful tool that can bring positive change for your employees and the entire team. It is, therefore, extremely important to get it right. Know which software to use and how to implement it and you’ll be well on your way to making your teams more productive and more motivated.
