An Introduction to Employee Monitoring Systems

Employee monitoring involves all the methods and processes that are being used by companies to help prevent and detect data breaches in the workplace, enhance employee productivity and employee engagement, and improve inefficient workflows.

By using employee monitoring tools, companies can mitigate risk and become more productive and profitable in the long run. The data collected by employee monitoring systems, companies can find trends, employees’ behavior, patterns, and correlations to gain information on the business process and ways to improve it.

When employee monitoring solutions are set in the workplace, employers can obtain an overall picture of how their employees are doing the work in the office. They can find out which sites they are opening, which apps they are using, how much time they are spending on office work and leisure activities, and how many hours they have been most productive.

Types of Employee Monitoring Systems

Because of advanced technology, businesses have got more opportunities to monitor their employees in the workplace. A few years ago, when there were no monitoring apps and software, employers had to manually do all the monitoring work to keep an eye on their employees.

With the advent of employee monitoring software and apps, employers can now save their time and get accurate data on their employees' performances. By obtaining this information, they can evaluate their performance and decide if they are worthy of an increment or bonus.

Employee monitoring tools also help companies that work with remote staff. If your remote employee is working from home using a company-owned device, you can install the monitoring software on their device and track their activity from anywhere and anytime.

Monitoring tools help companies track their employees' activities remotely, monitor their phone calls, emails, text messages, internet, and social media usage as well as track their location by attaching GPS location devices on the company-owned vehicles.

Here are the different types of employee monitoring tools that companies can use to monitor their employees:

Internet, Email, and Social Media

No office can operate without the internet. It is essential to the company's productivity as long as it is being used efficiently and appropriately. Companies can use monitoring apps to track what URLs have been visited by their employees on their computers.

They can track all the sites that have been opened by the staff members and also know how much time was spent on them. The same goes for social media sites. Companies can also monitor their employees' social media accounts and find out what they have been doing on those sites. The idea is to find out how the internet and social media are being used and if it is being used inappropriately or for leisure activities only.

Work emails can also be monitored. By tracking the emails, the employers can find out the name of the sender, the content of the email, the date and time of the emails sent/received, as well as the title of the email. Monitoring emails can help employers find out if any employee is trying to share the company's confidential data with a third-party or competitor. This can prevent a data breach in the company.

Computer Activities

Just like the internet, social media, and email monitoring, companies can use employee monitoring solutions to monitor the desktop or computer activities of their employees. By monitoring computer activities, employers can know when the computer was most active, and when it was mostly passive.

Employers can also know how much time employees have spent on the computer doing productive work and how much time has been spent on unproductive activities.

Phone Calls and Text Messages

Employers also track their employees' phone calls and text messages to see what they have been doing. All of their texts and calls are recorded during office hours to prevent data breaches in the company.

Keylogging

Employees also carry out keylogging. Keylogger is a program that allows companies to record every stroke the employee types on the keyboard. Such programs can be useful in detecting harassment or bullying in the workplace.

Employers can also find out what their employees have searched for on the web browser. They can keep a check on their web searches and collect data on their internet activity.

Location Tracking

Often employers give company-owned vehicles to their employees so they can use them. They can install GPS tracking apps and location tracking apps on these vehicles and track their employees' whereabouts.

If an employee leaves for a business meeting, all his location will be tracked by the employer. The employer will know if or when the employee tries to change his route or goes somewhere else other than the required location.

Employee monitoring systems can help companies prevent data breaches in the company. If or when an employee tries to exchange the company's important data with a third-party or outsider, the employer will eventually find out by tracking their phone calls, emails, and text messages.

That way employees will be more alert and will avoid engaging in any inappropriate and unethical activity. As a result, they will be more focused on their job and pay attention to their work in the office. This will lead to increased employee productivity and employee engagement.