The usage of employee monitoring software tools hit a spike in early 2020 when the covid-19 pandemic hit the world. The world was in lockdown, but the work did not stop. Those who could do their job remotely began doing it with or without supervision.
But the need for a constructive system for monitoring employees was alarming. Everyone knows why we all needed the assistance of remote employee monitoring tools. The fundamental goal was to restore employee productivity loss and increase security against data breach threats.
Well, pandemic or not, the story is still the same. The monitoring technology has indeed helped companies to manage their employees effectively. Many firms in the IT sector are even planning to do full-time remote work. Reports have shown that many employees want to continue remote work after the pandemic. Also, remote work culture is proving a profitable aspect for companies because the productivity is at peak, and they don’t even have to spend extra expenses for setting up an office.
Post pandemic era is full of possibilities. But before we go any further, let us have a dig into the meaning of Employee monitoring and its usage in remote work scenarios.
What Is Employee Monitoring Software, AKA ‘EmpMonitor’?
Employee monitoring is the technology that claims to keep tabs on the employee’s online and offline behavior through their computer devices. Such a platform provides multiple tools for measuring employee productivity matrix, and side by side plays a role in data breach security systems.
A monitoring software gets you detailed insights on all the activities performed by your employee on their user screen.
For example, EmpMonitor is a cloud-based employee monitoring software that generates robust reports based on the information of screen recorder, keyloggers, and screenshot tools. Moreover, EmpMonitor equips you with these convenient features. Let us have a look.
- Manual or network provided Clock-In/ Out time tracking
- Productivity Tracking.
- Attendance and leave management.
- Stealth mode.
- Application and site data history recording.
- Location-based tracking.
- Alert on suspicious activity.
- Screenshot, Screen Record, and Keylogger data monitoring.
- Timesheet with robust tools for dynamic data classification on activity user screen monitoring.
- Monitoring tailored to privacy.
- IP Whitelisting and blacklisting with ultimate tracking convenience.
Opportunities And Obstacles In Remote Employee Monitoring
Every technology has its advantages and drawbacks, for example, remote employee monitoring software technology.
Employee Monitoring software technology has the advantage of knowing what employees are doing at work. But it also has drawbacks like low adoption rates and an increased likelihood of IT security risks.
This article discusses the pros and cons of monitoring technology if you are considering using this.
The Opportunity:
- Easy to set up
- Low cost
- Solidified analytics for updates when pressed on specific points in time from when data was collected from a device by a manager.
- Can tell who is using which computer, and monitor who does what computers for a specific period.
- Can examine productivity rates per employee.
- Employee monitoring software data can be used as proof for legal endeavors.
- Using employee monitoring tools minimizes data breach threats.
The Obstacles:
- No denying access to a device, even if the employee is not in the system.
- Employees could refuse to use a monitoring solution because of trust issues and privacy concerns.
- It does not have any possibility for scheduling a specific time that an employee should be working from their desk. For many companies, this is preferable as it helps them focus on their business rather than worrying about where you are all day at the office.
- Legal boundaries of country or location can hamper the growth of employee monitoring technology in your area.
- The productivity rate of every employee is debatable. Introducing remote employee monitoring software can initially boost productivity, but it can also drain the employee and make them lose interest in work.
- You cannot use the official system for personal use as they record everything. And it can lead to privacy violation concerns.
- Internet connection availability is one of the biggest factors of concern.
A manager of any company knows the importance of monitoring employees’ computer usage and work hours. However, this task is quite difficult if you’re working remotely. This way, you can prove that your employees are doing what they’re supposed to do and that they’re not wasting their time on social media, messengers, and other distracting apps.
The most common problem is disconnection, as most software needs an internet connection to function properly. In this case, you can use web-based software where all the data is stored online. And backup data is stored on the company’s server. Also, your employees won’t delete or edit any activities, as all activities will get recorded.
A Word For Remote Employee Monitoring Software
Remote Employee Monitoring is the practice of monitoring the activities of employees working outside of the company’s office. Remote monitoring is more than just making sure an employee is spending their time well. It allows companies to ensure that employees are following company policy, that productivity is up, and that overall, the employee is happy working for the company and/or with their manager.
Given the importance of human capital, businesses remain highly dependent on their employees to deliver quality outputs and achieve optimum efficiency. Every company needs to ensure that its workforce is meeting the highest standards of performance and productivity.
6 Best Free Employee Monitoring Software
EmpMonitor
EmpMonitor is a cloud-based employee monitoring software that helps employers keep a sound record of their remote as well as office-based employees. On one hand, it provides a robust surveillance experience and, on the other, it prevents security breaches. Here, you can track your employees by screen monitoring, activity status, attendance, projects, and productivity analysis. Its dynamic modes make monitoring easy without breaching the privacy of the employees. Isn’t it great? This is a paid tool that comes with 15 day trial period. So, book your demo and start exploring!
ActivTrak
ActivTrak is a free employee monitoring tool for Windows, and it offers excellent free monitoring services. You can track employees’ web activity and user screen activity by real-time screenshots and URL tracking tools. Also, you can have the advantage of viewing the work stats of all your employees at once.
StartWin Single Lite
This employee monitoring software is free for windows and protects the host’s pc from viruses and malware. Other than that, StartWin Single Lite monitors the user screen with real-time screenshots and tracks browsing no matter if they were operated in incognito mode.
Unlike other employee monitoring tools, StartWin Single Lite obtains reports based on the time tracking statistics and screenshots.
Hubstaff
Hubstaff is a free employee computer monitoring software for windows, and it tracks the system idle time and work duration to give you a better presentation on employee productivity. It automatically detects the system activity and inactivity, unlike other free employee monitoring tool.
Network Spy
Network spy is another free employee monitoring software that only works in devices having Windows operating systems. They come under two different monitoring solutions; Network Spy Client and Network Spy Server. The client software offers to manage the monitoring of a group, and the server software offers to provide monitoring solutions for the system server.
The Network Spy employee monitoring tool screenshots the user screen and uploads it to the administrator’s server. And it provides real-time surveillance support to the firm.
You only need the IP address and Port Number of your employee’s computer.
Desktime Lite
Desktime Lite is a lite version of a paid PC monitoring software Desktime. It only works for Windows operating systems. You can operate monitoring from anywhere in the world for free!
With Desktime Lite, you can view application usage history and track the productivity of employees through this. It also allows you to schedule tasks via google calendar or outlook calendar.
Expectations From Employee Monitoring Software
Employee monitoring software provides companies with an easy way to monitor their employee’s computer activity. So, what does the process entail? How do you get started? First, you set up whatever employee monitoring software you have chosen on all of your company computers. Then, you choose the employees who are subject to monitoring.
Employees are given the option to opt-in or out, so it’s crucial to have a strong policy in place about monitoring. So there is no confusion for employees. Next, the monitored employees are set up with an account. Whenever they log in, they are asked for their unique username and password. From there, all activity is recorded and can be viewed later in reports.
It’s a fairly common scenario: lack of productivity, decrease in quality from an employee, or even the complete disappearance from the job. In this scenario, employers typically have quite a few options. If there are clear signs of severe malpractices, the employer could fire the employee immediately. In the case of poor performance, they might give warnings and take time off without pay. The worst-case scenario would be that the company is having trouble with its employees and doesn’t know why or what to do about it. An employee monitoring technology can be used to understand the depth of situations in such cases.
Let us take the example of EmpMonitor.
EmpMonitor is an employee monitoring software that allows companies to monitor their employee’s activities on their computer. They can get an understanding of their current employee’s productivity, whereabouts, and more.
The main purpose of this program is to use the information gathered from the employees to help them understand if they are efficient with their time, are at work when they are supposed to be, are performing well enough for their jobs, and more. This information can help employers determine who is worthy of getting a raise or promotion.
The employees can also use this program to track how much time they spend on their jobs every day, which can help them get paid for all of the time they put in.
Knowing the stats not only helps employers but also helps employees to get paid for their tough labor. So it is a win-win!
Every technology has drawbacks and loopholes, but what defines them is their ability to favor the user. Hence we can conclude that the employee monitoring software technology serves its best with and without its limitations.
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