Monitoring your team to see what they're doing and whether or not they're making judicious use of their time to justify their employment and boost productivity while, at the same time, being concerned about data security and misuse of work tools.
Many companies around the world are embracing remote work and their workforce is working from home. Some of these personnel are working remotely for the first time, having been used to the conventional office work environment. They have access to files, email, and data through cloud-based networks.
The Importance Of Tracking Employees' Computer Activity
Monitoring helps business executives understand the kind of site visited by their workers, the data/files accessed and shared, and where these devices are located.
Monitoring the activities of your team on the computer helps employers to achieve the following:
1. Increase Productivity
A lot of team members use the internet in the workplace and waste between one to two hours daily browsing the internet. Tracking keeps everyone on their toes and makes them avoid activities that could distract them.
This helps them stay focused and do what is expected of them. With monitoring, employers will know who is doing their best to see that everything is going well.
2. Save Cost
Monitoring tracks bandwidth usage. This regulates how employees use data bundles and what they use them for. This will save costs for the company.
3. Identify Time-Wasters
Monitoring affords managers and owners the opportunity to look at tracking data and see processes, applications, and clients that consume much of an employee's time in order to make informed decisions that could have a positive impact on the company.
4. Detect Insider Threats
Companies can easily discover threats from those working for them through data generated from monitoring their activities on the computer. This will allow the organization to take a proactive step aimed at bringing these threats under control. Usually, a piece of software identifies this and alerts the company immediately.
One great solution for companies to monitor and address these threats is by leveraging the advanced security features of Microsoft Windows Server. To learn more about how Microsoft Windows Server can enhance your company's security measures click here now, as by taking advantage of this comprehensive solution, organizations can stay one step ahead of threats and safeguard their valuable data and resources effectively.
This solution not only enhances security measures but also streamlines IT operations, providing a reliable and efficient infrastructure for the organization's computing needs.
5. Carry Out Investigations
Where a staff member is accused of discrimination, fraud, harassment, or any other issue of misconduct, a company will quickly avail itself of data gathered from its monitoring activity.
6. Ensure Legal Compliance
Tracking computer activity will confirm to an employer whether or not employees are complying with relevant government laws and regulations in their jurisdiction, and even a company’s work ethics.
How To Monitor Employees’ Computer Activity
Employee monitoring is no longer a question of whether it’ll be done but when it’ll be done. If you are not using one to monitor your team then you’re missing out. The primary benefit of having to use employee monitoring software is the simplified monitoring and management process.
Monitoring your staff’s activities covers many areas and it’s challenging to keep track of all of them. By getting the appropriate monitoring software for your company, you will be able to get accurate figures and thus improve productivity.
In detail, an employee tracking software tells you exactly how your team uses their time and gives you powerful data for a more productive and efficient team. It tracks the apps and websites your staff use individually, as a team, or on a company level and then gets random screenshots or those triggered by employees’ suspicious or malicious activities.
This is to help you look into their activity logs, including active and idle time. You can also choose to review and approve manual logs.
How To Choose Employee Monitoring Software
If you're looking for a good employee monitoring system, there are three simple questions you need to ask yourself in order to narrow down your search.
- Will it make your team more productive?
- Will it help to avoid liabilities?
- Will it help to detect problems before they occur?
Once you have answers to these questions, then you're closer to finding the monitoring software that works. Otherwise, you'll make a costly mistake you'll never live to regret.
Things To Monitor On Employee Computer
Some of the things you can monitor remotely with tracking software include the following:
1. Logon/Logoff Data
Find out if there are lots of periods of inactivity from the computer. Check as well if your personnel come late to work or leave early enough.
2. Internet Activity
Look at their internet activity to see the kind of websites they visit, the length of time they spend when they should be working, and whether or not they’re conforming to your firm’s internet policy.
3. Social Media Logins
Know the amount of time your staff spends on social media that tends to distract them from carrying out their legitimate duties.
4. Geolocation
Track the location of your staff to make sure they’re where they ought to be and working from home. You can also use this to track stolen or missing devices.
5. Screenshots
Take a screenshot of your computer to know what your team members are doing at any given time.
6. Emails
Track their email communications and know who they’re communicating with, whether they’re sending out sensitive data to an outsider or doing something else which may be inappropriate or illegal.
7. File Activity
Take note of what your staff is downloading or uploading and whether or not they’re accessing what they shouldn’t.
Should Your Employees Know You're Monitoring Them?
Some employers don't tell their workers they're monitoring them while others do. If you don't tell them, they usually are unaware they're being monitored since they can't detect the software on their devices.
However, it makes much more sense if you let your workers know you're tracking their activities on their work devices and why you're doing that. This is minimally invasive and shows transparency and respect for privacy.
Conclusion
Employee monitoring has come to stay. Trackable data range from keystrokes, web history, social media history and logins, screenshots, email, text messages to instant messages, and logon/logoff history.
Employers gather these data for a number of reasons, especially to know if their employees are sleeping, stealing time, slacking off, misusing data, installing malicious software, posting negative comments about their company or others online, or committing any other violations capable of tarnishing the image of the company and bringing it into disrepute.
Be that as it may, organizations must learn how to keep track of what their teams are doing on the computer and other company devices while following international best practices.
