How To Get Remote Workers On Board With Productivity Monitoring

Monitoring remote employees’ activities during work hours has garnered a particularly bad wrap in recent years. This is because many employees view the use of monitoring software as an invasion of privacy or equivalent to micromanaging.

By all accounts, working from home is here to stay, and employers really do need effective ways of managing their remote workforces. The issue is, then, not the practice of monitoring itself, but rather how employers’ go about this. That is, when employers are not transparent about using monitoring software, or upfront about why they believe using such software is necessary, problems can arise.

If employees can clearly understand why screenshot, keystroke, mouse click, and similar data need to be collected, chances are greater that they will be accepting of the practice. When adopting necessary employee monitoring software, then, it is vital to ensure that employees understand exactly what data the employer will collect and why this is necessary to promote a productive, safe, and happy remote work environment for all concerned.

Employees should also be empowered through open communication channels and feedback to give input regarding monitoring practices. Indeed, providing employees with feedback and showing them how they themselves can use monitoring software to track and improve upon their own performance can also be helpful in moving employee perceptions away from “I’m being micromanaged” to “This is how I’m using my time, and this is how I can improve”.

Companies that behave surreptitiously in respect to how and why they monitor their remote workers are likely to continue seeing negative employee outcomes and responses to monitoring software use. Conversely, companies that are open and honest and provide their employees with opportunities for growth, freedom, and input on how monitoring should occur could well see great improvements in both productivity and general employee morale.

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