What are the benefits and disadvantages of employee monitoring?

With the rise of remote and hybrid work in recent years, the benefits of employee monitoring have become a hot topic. Organizations and managers are debating the best way to ensure productivity and accountability while maintaining employee morale.

While employee monitoring can offer valuable insights into productivity and workflow, it is sometimes criticized for potentially being too invasive and having a negative psychological impact on staff. In this blog post, we will take a look at the key pros and cons of employee monitoring to help you develop the best approach for your organization.

What is employee monitoring?

Broadly speaking, employee monitoring involves companies tracking what staff do during work hours. This can include tracking time worked and monitoring app, internet and email use, for example. The purpose of monitoring is to determine whether employees are meeting the company’s required standards for productivity, time management, and overall work policy.

It’s safe to say that almost all employees are monitored in some way—the difference is in how it’s done and to what extent. Employee monitoring can range from strict measures like camera tracking and keystroke logging to a manager simply checking in on their staff from time to time.

When done right, it can improve productivity, accountability, and support more flexible work arrangements. However, if implemented poorly, it can decrease trust between managers and staff and have a negative psychological impact.

Let’s explore the advantages and disadvantages of employee monitoring in more detail.

3 main benefits of employee monitoring

1. Insight into productivity

One of the benefits of employee monitoring is gaining valuable insights into productivity. For managers, it helps keep track of whether employees are staying on task and meeting goals. It can show where employees might be spending too much time or where things could be improved, making it easier to manage workloads and resources.

By receiving feedback based on monitoring, employees can gain a better understanding of their efficiency, pinpoint areas for improvement, and develop more productive and focused work habits.

2. Better accountability

Using monitoring tools makes accountability a lot easier by providing a transparent record of work. This allows managers to easily track progress, identify any potential issues early on and ensure that everyone is pulling their weight.

When employees know their work is being tracked, they’re more likely to take ownership of their responsibilities. This makes the overall workflow more efficient and enables fair and consistent performance evaluation later on.

3. Flexibility 

Another benefit of employee monitoring is the ability to facilitate more flexible work arrangements. For example, instead of sticking to a traditional 9-to-5 schedule, employees can work when they feel they are most productive—and monitoring can still ensure they are putting in the expected hours. This kind of approach lets managers focus on results rather than micromanaging schedules.

3 main disadvantages of employee monitoring

1. Loss of trust

One of the downsides to employee monitoring is the potential to damage trust. If an organization implements stricter monitoring where the previous relationship between staff and management was based more on trust and personal relationships, employees may feel they are no longer relied upon to do their work effectively.

If monitoring is excessive or poorly explained, it can easily come across as micromanagement, suggesting a lack of confidence in employees’ abilities. This can hurt morale and make employees less invested in their work.

2. Privacy concerns

While it’s reasonable for an employer to have insight into employee activity, monitoring can sometimes become excessive, especially in remote settings where the lines between home and work life can blur. Depending on the level of autonomy employees are used to and the methods the company uses, monitoring can be perceived as overbearing and an intrusion on privacy.

Moreover, since monitoring collects sensitive private data, the employer must ensure its protection, which not only requires proper data security measures, but also trust from the employees. 

3. Extra costs

Good monitoring software doesn’t come free. For small businesses or those trying to save every penny, these costs must be carefully considered. However, remember that you don’t necessarily have to break the bank—a less expensive, limited plan might be a worthwhile compromise, depending on your team’s needs.

4 key tips for effective and fair employee monitoring

Now that we have looked at the pros of employee monitoring, and the cons, too, let’s discuss the best practices for implementing it. Choosing the appropriate software solution, being transparent about its use, and balancing it with employee incentives goes a long way toward making monitoring work.

1. Use DeskTime

Effective employee monitoring starts with choosing the right software. DeskTime offers the flexibility to tailor monitoring to your organization’s needs, letting you choose which employee activities are tracked. With features like detailed time tracking and productivity calculation, DeskTime covers all the essential functions of employee computer activity monitoring. 

If you’re unsure what level of monitoring is right for your organization, the free DeskTime demo offers a great way to explore its capabilities.

2. Be clear and be transparent

If you are planning to implement employee monitoring, transparency is essential. Clearly explain which activities will be monitored, the methods used, and the reasons for doing so. Implementing monitoring without thoroughly informing employees is a serious mistake and will undoubtedly lead to resentment. 

It’s also important to present monitoring as a tool for mutual support rather than mere surveillance. Explain how it benefits employees by offering insights into their own performance and how it contributes to improved overall accountability and workflow management of the team.

3. Show the team the benefits of employee monitoring

To ease worries about autonomy and privacy, it’s a good idea to make monitoring feel like a fair trade-off. For example, you can use the monitoring data to create more flexible work arrangements, such as personalized schedules or hybrid options. 

You could also share some of the monitoring data with employees, providing objective, data-based feedback and explaining how it can impact their future career growth within the company, such as potential promotions. Monitoring is not just about catching slackers—it can also give management better insight into employee achievements.

4. Avoid overreach

When it comes to employee monitoring, perhaps the most important aspect is to be considerate and avoid overreach. Monitoring should be meaningful and track only activities that yield actionable data. For most organizations, monitoring every keystroke is likely counterproductive. Focusing on time and URL tracking, for example, is a more sensible approach.

Excessive or overly invasive monitoring can backfire, damaging morale and trust. According to experts, when employees feel that monitoring is reasonable, respectful, and focused on helping them succeed, they’re more likely to accept it. 

Employee monitoring: Keep it balanced to reap the benefits

Employee monitoring is all about balance. Fair and transparent monitoring can improve productivity, accountability, and provide valuable data. However, organizations should be wary of using it as a means of micromanaging employees. Excessive and intrusive monitoring can be counterproductive and erode trust between employees and management, eliminating any benefits of employee monitoring.

Remember that monitoring is not an end in itself—the goal is to keep an eye on those aspects of work that drive productivity. While the scope of monitoring will differ for each organization depending on its needs, a good rule of thumb is to start with the right software and be open with employees about your intentions.