The relationship between employees and employers is quite fragile. It is put to test when a business organization decides to use monitoring software. The employees may feel their privacy is invaded while the employers think it to be necessary for optimal performances. For further information, please go through the rest of the discussion right now.
What is Employee Monitoring?
When a company decides to monitory the employees, it usually depends on software. For example, RFID or radio frequency identifications enable a company to view an employee’s activities as well as offer alerts regarding his/her location. The data tracked is accessible through private servers or online accounts.
Some significant activities that the modern-day companies usually monitor are:
· The duration which employees spend on social media platforms.
· Emails they send and receive throughout the day.
· Internet history.
· Messages they send and receive on Skype.
· The documents on their Google Drive.
Once the data is stored, the companies can utilize it to evaluate the productivity.
Is Employee Monitoring Legal?
The experts offering RFID personnel tracking systems said it is cent per cent legal for the companies to monitor their employees during the work schedule of course. The companies must adhere to certain rules:
· They must inform the employees and acquire their consent.
· Software must be fixed only to the devices owned by them.
· Only data associated with the work can be viewed.
There are federal and state laws that forbade the companies from monitoring their staff without their permission and knowledge. They may lose their license if they are caught keeping track of anything personal.
Reasons Companies Must Try Employee Monitoring
· Discover the Weaknesses-With employee monitoring, the companies will be able to analyse their strategies and discover the weaknesses they may have. The weaknesses can be related to corporate structure, resources and tools used, interactions, etc. Getting rid of any flaw early keep unnecessary complications at bay.
· Block Distractions- According to multiple researches, four out of five workers feel distracted when they are working. They chat with their colleagues for a long time, end up playing games, using Facebook, texting, watching videos etc. Employee monitoring software is capable of blocking the technology-based distractions in a seamless manner.
· Protect Business Data-Data is perhaps a business’s most precious asset. This includes private records and documents, email contacts, client details, and many more. In today’s era, the companies have a distinct data protection plan. They use software to detect aspects that may serve as a threat to the data.
· Increase Productivity- Employees are considered the driving force behind a business. Without the employees, a business will unfortunately not function. So, keeping this in mind, companies have become concerned about contributing to employee productivity. By viewing the employee actions on a daily basis, employers could provide suggestions for improvement.
An employer will ultimately decide about the investment in employee monitoring software. In certain cases, it may be advantageous to get the employees’ thoughts on the matter. By having the staff involved, they may not get an idea that their privacy is invaded or that their employer do not trust them.
