When To Deploy An Employee Monitoring Tool
Although no two businesses are the same, some of the most common issues impacting today’s leaders include attracting and retaining top talent, adopting AI and new technology, and hiring in a challenging market. An employee productivity monitoring solution can gather a treasure trove of workforce analytics that can address all of these, but choosing the right solution for your organization and rolling it out the right way are key.
In a recent study, Gartner revealed that the number of remotely monitored employees has increased by 30% in the past year, with 71% being monitored. But what type of solution makes sense for your organization, when is the right time to implement it, and how should a rollout be managed?
Avoid Employee Surveillance Monitoring Solutions
In another Prodoscore blog post, we explain why surveillance-style solutions are not the way to go if you want to have a good relationship with your employees. Any solution that involves tracking mouse movements, taking screenshots, or invasively monitoring employee activity will negatively impact employee trust and engagement.
Those activities can also impact productivity, as employees will actively choose work that makes their activity look suitable for the solution over work they should be doing or that will lead to genuine success and productivity.
These solutions are only suitable for environments where people expect them, such as law enforcement or other organizations where heightened security is necessary. There are also use cases where computer monitoring and internet tracking are essential for management to understand.
Identifying the Right Solution
For organizations looking to gain insight but not oversight, a solution that only surfaces data from business tools and offers actionable tips to drive success is ideal. Considering some top issues plaguing the workforce can also help guide leaders to the right solution. Here are some ways an employee monitoring solution can help organizations tackle key concerns today:
1. Retaining Top Talent:
Organizations can identify high-performing employees and recognize their contributions by analyzing productivity data. This data can inform targeted rewards, recognition, and professional development opportunities, demonstrating appreciation and fostering a sense of value that encourages top talent to stay. Additionally, understanding work patterns can help identify and address potential burnout or workload imbalances that might drive employees away, so that managers can step in to handle challenges before it’s too late
2. Improving Adoption of AI and New Technology:
Data from some employee monitoring solutions can measure how effectively employees use new tools and technologies, including AI solutions. This includes adoption rates and training gaps, and reveals areas where workflows can be optimized. By tracking progress and demonstrating the tangible benefits of these technologies, organizations can encourage broader and more successful adoption and help realize an ROI.
3. Improving Hiring by Creating a Blueprint for Success:
Analyzing productivity data across existing teams can reveal the characteristics and behaviors of successful employees. This information can be used to create a profile of an ideal candidate and refine hiring criteria. Furthermore, the data can help identify the most effective onboarding and training practices, ensuring that new hires are set up for success from day one and are more likely to become productive, long-term team members.
With Prodoscore, all of the above is possible. Employees, managers, and leaders get access to data that enables better-informed decision-making. Employees who want to self-coach can better understand how their contributions differ from their teammates and identify areas of improvement. Most employees expect some level of monitoring, but they don’t like it when it invades their privacy or disrupts workflows.
When to Implement an Employee Monitoring Solution
Anytime an organization is looking to make better-informed decisions, improve people management, and drive results, it is the right time however, here are some specific projects where the data proves to be especially useful:
- You want to measure the adoption of new tools, such as a new CRM or ATS,a shiny AI tool, or an updated phone system
- You suspect employees are not engaged
- You want to ensure workflows are evenly distributed across your company and teams to avoid underutilization or overutilization of staff
- You plan to make material changes to the company and need to measure their effects on the workforce
- You want more visibility into a hybrid and/or remote workforce
- You are having employee retention issues and want to find the cause
How to Successfully Implement an Employee Monitoring Solution
Employees need transparency to foster a high-trust culture. For this reason, we recommend notifying staff that a new solution will be rolled out, explaining why, and listening to their concerns. It’s important to let employees know that it will be used to boost productivity and make objective business decisions, along with other company-specific KPIs.
Once you have buy-in and it is installed, ensure your people are trained on how to access their dashboards, how data is captured, and how it will be used in performance reviews.
Are you eager to do employee productivity monitoring right?
