The modern workplace is more efficient than ever before with powerful applications making optimal use of an employee’s professional time. User Activity Monitoring software is the next leap in operational efficiency as companies can learn who their most productive employees are, which applications are most utilized, and what time of day their teams are most productive. Managers have plenty to be excited about when it comes to the productivity possibilities of User Activity Monitoring software. But what about other employees?
Sometimes, employees get anxious with new management software because of a bad previous experience or an unfounded rumor being spread around the watercooler. Anxiety over User Activity Monitoring software grows when employees aren’t informed. In reality, User Activity Monitoring is solely focused on finding the behaviors that lead to greater employee success while reeling in behaviors that may lead to loss in productivity or a security risk.
Easing Employee Anxieties about a User Activity Program
Getting over any anxieties that employees may have concerning User Activity Monitoring will require a thorough communication of expectations between employees and management. Be specific and consistent in what it is that the company wants to keep track of and have an explanation to why.
My Employees Feel Stressed About “Being Watched”
Stress that comes from a fear of “being watched” largely stems from a fear of being scrutinized. There are clear do’s and dont’s in every workplace. For example, do be diligent with your work and respectful of company policies. Don’t engage in behaviors that may be distracting to your work like streaming a Football game during work hours. While some activities are obvious, there may be lingering questions on what is or isn’t okay. It’s in this questionable gray area where most employee anxieties come from.
When talking about User Activity Monitoring with your employees, it’s essential to have clear work policies in place that outline what online behaviors are acceptable. This information should always be available to all employees. This way, employees won’t have to worry about constantly keeping a mental check at every step of their task.
With ActivTrak, user activity monitoring can be a workplace learning tool for both employer and employee to identify areas of opportunity. Organizations use ActivTrak’s data insights to find trends, patterns, and correlations to better understand workflows from business processes and how to improve them. They can then share those findings with employees and work as a team to improve the business.
My Employees Feel Stressed About the Program Encroaching on Their Personal Time
In the modern workforce, where distant teams and remote employees are becoming the new norm, it’s increasingly common for companies to have flexible work hours. Perhaps your company has international clients whose schedules require alternative work hours or the nature of your business blurs the line between personal and professional time.
Certain roles may require employees to constantly be on-call like sales – where time literally equals money. User Activity Monitoring can help uncover the hidden genius behind top performing sales teams and offer productivity ideas that will help everyone make better use of their time. Teams are also encouraged to try out new workflows and ideas, knowing that their contributions are adding up to actionable data that could potentially lead to more employee productivity and profits.
It’s up to management to make ethical use of the User Activity Monitoring software and set clear boundaries for when and what information is being tracked. Work with employees to get a better understanding of when and how work is being done and set limits on the User Activity Monitoring software.
With ActivTrak, organizations set custom scheduling which allows them to monitor activities by individuals and teams to fit different time needs. ActivTrak lets you ensure activity data is collected only when employees are on company time. Admins can set schedules to stop monitoring employee activities on lunch breaks, right before, after work, or when they’re using their work computers at home.
My Employees Are Anxious About How Information Is Used
A major benefit of User Activity Monitoring software is the greater level of transparency on how work is being done. Employers will have access to real-time data on which employees are seeing the most success and the positive behaviors that enable them. This wealth of information should be used to shape productive feedback and ground communication between management and employees.
Shaping productive feedback starts by outlining how information is being used to meet company goals, such as:
- Improving company’s data security
- Improving employee efficiency
- Optimizing company expenses
- Improving employee retention and growth
Take into consideration how and when employees will receive feedback. We recommend using the information to create coaching opportunities like hosting mentoring sessions with star employees or forming employee partnerships.
When introducing User Activity Monitoring Software into your company, the best approach is to maintain open communication with employees and be specific of your goals and expectations. It’s natural for employees to feel anxious about the software when they are uninformed. When companies are transparent and work with employees to meet goals, they earn the employee’s trust and can perform without unnecessary stress.
ActivTrak helps organizations leverage user activity monitoring to better understand productive behaviors and use those insights to coach employees and improve productivity and engagement. ActivTrak lets you identify what applications productive employees use most, discover most productive work time periods and which teams work best together. You can also gamify team productivity using the Top Groups view as a leaderboard encouraging healthy competition among teams.
Effortlessly track and optimize the performance of your employees with a free trial of ActivTrak! Monitor User Activity only during working hours with custom tracking schedules and get insights to improve productivity and poor operational processes, all without lifting a finger. Start your free trial of ActivTrak now.
