Employee monitoring software is any program through which you can track your employees’ activity.

There are many different features these tools offer, but the main ones include time tracking with proof of work and productivity level tracking.

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As a small business owner, you might think you have no use for such software given that your team consists of few people (who might be working remotely).

However, computer monitoring tools are suitable for all kinds of businesses, especially those with remote teams. Even if you have a physical office, it is still impossible to track and check what each employee is doing without some kind of software.

Small business owners are still discussing the morality and legality of the monitoring tools. The good news is – they are legal in most countries (to a certain extent). But you might need a special consent to implement them, so do check with your lawyers for more details.

Benefits of employee monitoring tools are numerous, and in this article, we will be exploring the 5 top reasons why SMBs might need them. We will explore security, productivity, cost, quality and employees’ benefits.

Keep reading to find out why you might want to purchase a computer tracking software!

1. Security

Did you know that 61% of businesses who suffered a data breach in 2017 had less than 1000 employees?

Additionally, most of those breaches come from the inside. Cyber-attacks are becoming more frequent, and even tech giants such as Yahoo and Uber were not immune. That’s why taking cybersecurity and email security is so important. Setting up DMARC is a crucial security measure to avoid falling into phishing or spoofing attacks.

By using an employee tracking software you will be able to track your employees’ activity, meaning you will be aware of any malicious threats that come along. And not only that, tracking tools can help you see both internal and external threats.

What is more, you can see if one of your workers downloaded sensitive materials from your internal network.

The cost of employee monitoring tools is low (starting at around $6 per month). Especially compared to the cost of data leaks and breaches.

The security of your company, employees, and customers should come first, which is why you really need to think about getting a monitoring software.

These systems can be very useful in case of illegal activity.

By accessing each employees’ computer activity you will be able to find a guilty party and hold them accountable for their actions.

Moreover, you will be able to prove your company’s or employee’s innocence in case of a wrongful lawsuit.

2. Increasing Productivity

A recent survey has shown that an average employee spends between 1.5 and 3 hours at work doing private activities. 

Taking into consideration that the usual workday lasts for 8 hours, this means that the quarter of your employee’s time is spent on shopping, browsing social media, reading the news, etc.

The fact is, most of the people are not productive during their full shift. However, your company will start losing money at some point because of highly unproductive employees.

One way to tackle this problem is to introduce a monitoring software to your company. There are many case studies showing how companies increased productivity upon installing the software.

But what is the reason employees start behaving differently? To put it in short: it’s deterrence.

In simpler terms – when workers are aware they are being monitored they feel fear of consequences, thus, they are on their best behavior. It does not mean they will be petrified of you, it’s purely a psychological thing.

3. Saving Money

Time is money.

Therefore, time leaks are actually profit leaks. They are everywhere, and most of the time they are caused by low productivity levels.

However, there are a few other time leaks you should pay attention to:

• Slow software
• Repeatable actions that can be automatized

The best way to detect and prevent these leaks is by monitoring employees’ activities.

With software that takes screenshots and measures time spent in an app, you can determine why some projects are slower than the others. Additionally, you can establish which tasks are repeatable and find a way to automatize them.

By replacing slow equipment and automatizing processes your company will save a lot of time because mundane tasks will be abolished from the workplace.

Another way employee tracking saves money is by automatically calculating worked hours and payroll amounts.

Timesheets are usually written at random, and payroll calculation can take a couple of hours each month.

Most monitoring software tools have a payroll calculator feature, which will automatically calculate how much you are due to pay each one of your team members.

And yes, most employee monitoring apps cost money.

Some providers do have free trials, but in the end, you will end up paying for the software. Luckily, these are inexpensive, and you will quickly realize that the cost of NOT having an employee monitoring system could be much higher than the software itself.

4. Quality Control

You probably already monitor your business calls and emails to ensure the customers are getting the best treatment from your employees. Employee monitoring software can give you more insight into customer relations and help you improve processes so you can serve your customers in the most efficient way.

Well, direct customer communication is not the only place where your team members should be showing high levels of quality.

For example, think about your marketing team – it would be great if you could check everything they write, produce, design, but you cannot – so some things might go out without too much checking.

With access to everyone’s activity, you can check in from time to time and see if production is still on a high level.

Furthermore, if any issues arise on the project, you can go back to the analytics dashboard to check what the cause of the issue was and how to fix it.

5. It’s Beneficial for Employees

And last, but not the least – monitoring is good for employees. It will spike their productivity, but it will also help them improve.

If your monitoring app has a productivity analysis option, you should share the stats with each employee. It will help them see which apps are making them unproductive and they will be able to find a solution.

Even better if they can track the productivity levels in real time.

Once they perform a self-evaluation, your team members will be able to see during which parts of the day they are most productive.

Consequently, they can plan future tasks to match their productivity levels, and keep their tougher projects for the time when they are experiencing a productivity spike.

What is more, with computer monitoring software you can see if one of your team members has issues with some processes.

This way, you can determine if they need additional training and help them on their improvement path. Moving forward, regular trainings and refreshments will also help your quality control levels and overall customer experience.

Another great thing is that both you and your employees will have tangible data to show during evaluations.

Employees who deserve a promotion or a salary bump will be able to support their request with hard facts.

On the other hand, demoting or firing an underperforming worker will also be backed up by proof.

Final Thoughts and Tips

Implementation of employee tracking tool could backfire if you do not conduct it correctly. Your employees might see it as intrusive, or unnecessary.

However, if you take your time and explain every benefit of this tool, your team members will surely get on board with it.

Workers’ monitoring also raises some moral and ethical questions, and it is fine to track your team as long as they were informed and gave their consent for that activity.

Additionally, you need to clearly define work and non-work related tasks, emails, calls, and websites to make sure you are only tracking those activities which are related to your company.

Be mindful though, as not all companies have the same privacy and monitoring laws. We definitely recommend you reach out to your lawyers before purchasing the software.

To ensure you keep your employees’ privacy intact, make sure only necessary people have access to their activity reports. Also, keep in mind that those people should be highly trained in data protection.

Since there are many employee monitoring tools available, we would recommend you look the one that contains the most necessary options, such as:

• Time tracking with proof of work 
• Remote worker’s screenshots 
• Payroll calculation

Most tools also include some advanced features like app integration, customization, and so on. But those really depend on what kind of organization you are leading.

In any case, we do recommend that you perform thorough research before settling down for one of the software options.

Did you ever use employee monitoring software? Which one? What did you like about it? Let us know if the comments below!

Bojana is a Content Writer at Workpuls, with a background in marketing and journalism. She enjoys writing about productivity, remote work, and marketing.

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