What is employee monitoring?

Monitoring employees to track workforce productivity and safety is becoming increasingly employee monitoring tool common. Why? It works. Tracking and optimizing driver routes speeds delivery times. Monitoring item picker activity in a warehouse increases order-to-packing efficiencies. Setting up surveillance cameras deters theft.

There is now a whole host of software applications and technology out there to help companies deploy effective employee monitoring systems. It’s a quickly growing market that’s expected to reach nearly $1.5B by 2028.

What type of technology is doing the tracking?
This market is expanding rapidly as stated. There are new solutions coming to market constantly. And the technology is advancing quickly, too. Here’s a short list of employee monitoring technology:

Employee monitoring software
Video surveillance cameras
Wearable GPS/health/safety monitors
Keystroke/screen recording applications
Mobile device management solutions
Network surveillance systems
Keycard access systems
Biometric security technology

This technology can be procured as a total solution, a bundled solution, or built a la carte by a provider. Of course, a company will also need the secure IT infrastructure necessary to connect and best utilize their employee monitoring system.

Minimize monitoring where it makes sense.
As a company, you might feel compelled to monitor everything. But you also need to build trust between the organization and the people who work in it. Over monitoring can be overbearing and make employees resent their employer.

In the end, your employees are a valuable asset. They possess workplace intellectual knowledge that takes time and investment to build—and replace. Monitoring works best when it comes from a place of respect and betterment where needed rather than heavy-handed enforcement everywhere, all of the time.

Transparency is key to acceptance.
Understandably, employees may be apprehensive to monitoring. But if openly informed of why, what, and how they are being monitoring, most are comfortable with it. Always let them know they can appeal should monitoring affect their job. And employers should always remember that a great employee can always have a bad week. Life happens.