The reputation of employee monitoring is only getting worse and that too, due to some funny reasons. People tarnish their reputation without knowing about its concept. Previously, it was considered as a spy tool, but it is now easily possible to monitor the workers legally and respectfully. The main factors are collaboration and transparency.
With proper collaboration with the workers, companies these days can use an employee monitoring system to improve overall productivity. If it is used legally and professionally, by no means employee monitoring is a method of spying the employees or violating their privacy.
Instead, it is a wonderful method of improving the overall business productivity by creating a disciplined, more result-oriented working environment. Sometimes, even workers don’t know what mistakes they are making or how they can do a certain thing differently and more productively. Business owners can positively influence that with the help of an employee monitoring program.
And why would you not want to give an insight to your workers in between a task rather than asking them to erase everything and do it again!
If applied properly and correctly, the employee monitoring system can certainly boost-up the overall productivity and that too, in comparatively shorter duration.
Here are a few misconceptions related to employee monitoring, and why they are absolutely illogical:
Myth Number One: “Employee Monitoring is Illegal”
It is one of the biggest misconceptions about employee monitoring. Moreover, the reason is, a lot of people relate it with spying. There is nothing wrong with this tool until it is misused to violate the basic rights of privacy.
In the United States, companies are permitted to use employee monitoring tools even without informing their workers if they are using company-owned computers or any other gadget for that matter. Companies are legally allowed to track the workers’ activities on company-owned devices. They can even check the emails if they are sent through company-funded internet.
However, for the proper implication of employee monitoring, it is business owners’ responsibility to ensure complete transparency with keeping the right of privacy in mind. They need to be aware of their workers about the basic concept of employee monitoring, how it works, what are the intentions of using this tool, what are the borders beyond which even business owners can’t go etc. etc.
Contradiction number one: Employee monitoring is not illegal if it is used only for business purposes with complete transparency.
Myth Number Two: “Employing Monitoring Violates Privacy”:
No one loves the idea of someone having a watch on him or her! There are some instances when workers use the company’s computer for “personal use.” To be honest, there is no need to be too strict on internet usage, it should be allowed to workers to use the internet for both professional and personal reasons.
If you, as a business owner are worried about the overuse of the internet for personal reasons, you should inform your workers that you are not interested in every move of them, but they have to keep an eye to ensure maximum productivity without killing a lot of time.
You can achieve business success even without being too harsh on your employees!
Contradiction number two: Employee monitoring does not violate privacy until it is overused beyond business purposes.
Myth Number Three: “Employee Monitoring is Only Beneficial for Bosses”
If you think the same, you are not completely aware of the employee monitoring concept. There are numerous advantages to this tool even for the employees. It is perhaps the best way of collaboration between employers and employees. They can remain in touch even without necessarily “talking with each other.” They can easily work together to achieve the common goal of enterprise success.
Employees can work in a disciplined, friendly environment where time-saving is the ultimate reason for using employee monitoring.
If it is understood and applied correctly, employee monitoring is beneficial for both employers and employees, unless it is misused or used without transparency.
Contradiction Number Three: “Employee monitoring is only beneficial for management” is nothing more than a misconception.
Myth Number Four: “Timesheets can be used. So, whey employers need to monitor their employees?”
If you are one of those “very outdated people” and think timesheets are enough to maintain good progress of work with proper collaboration, you need to update yourself with the concept and difference of timesheets and employee monitoring.
Humans manage Timesheets and they are always at risk of errors and bias. It is almost impossible to understand how employees spent their working hours by using timesheets.
Also, timesheets do not give any data that can be used to improve the efficiency or productivity. In addition, security is, of course, a big concern.
These days, you simply can’t depend on outdated timesheets to achieve your business goals. Replace those outdated timesheets with a reliable, secure, time-saving, automated employee monitoring system to get the results you are aiming for.
Contradiction Number Four: Timesheets are not for today’s modern business. There are more than enough reasons that make an employee monitoring system superior to the timesheets.
Myth Number Five: “Employee Monitoring System Can Demotivate the Employees”
Why are the employees going to feel insecure or demotivated if the employee monitoring system is applied properly with complete transparency?
There are various beneficial features of employee monitoring software including “reports about top users and risk levels”. These features can only motivate employers to utilize the time properly and increase overall productivity.
With proper usage of the employee monitoring system, a business can go beyond “monitoring.” Employers can involve in a healthy competition especially if bosses can fix some sort of perks for best performers!
Employee monitoring demotivates the employers is a mere misconception and is perhaps spread by those who don’t have the right concept about it.
Contradiction Number Five: The system does not motivate employers. In fact, it can positively increase business productivity by creating healthy competition between employees.
These are some major misconceptions about employee monitoring. If you want to apply employee monitoring to your business, you should certainly move ahead with your idea. It is nothing short of awesome, until and unless, you use it solely for business purposes, keeping your employees’ privacy in mind.