Tag: Employee Monitoring Software

10 Employee Engagement Activities in Companies

Staff timer Family

Employee engagement activities aren’t considered as important as they should be. But before you start crunching numbers and coming up with some new activities, know that employee engagement is essentially a mindset. The only way employee engagement activities can yield the desired result is if you keep your focus on the “why” of the issue.  

Don’t just look at the figures and statistics. Treat your employees with empathy because they are humans with their own ideas, thoughts, accomplishment, and problems. They are not just there to make money for your company, they are vital resources that need nurturing in order to deliver satisfactory results. 

Importance of Employee Engagement Activities 

The Importance of employee engagement activities can’t be overstated. They have time and again proven to:

    • Decrease staff turnover rate
    • Improve efficiency and productivity
    • Retain more customers 
    • Increase profits

Most importantly, engaged employees are obviously happier, both in their professional and personal life. Everything done with increased engagement has longlasting effects on the culture of the workplace. 

 

   See Also: Time Clock Apps for Multiple Employees

Purpose of Employee Engagement 

The main purpose of employee engagement is to attract and retain top talent. Recent research has shown that more than a quarter of employees is at a high risk of turnover. The most worrying part is that one-third of those at risk are talented employees that go above and beyond what’s expected of them. They are eligible for other positions. 

When competition is fierce and the cost of training new employees is sky-high, employee engagement activities become vital. Plus, these activities can directly increase the productivity of a team and take it to the next level. 

How to Engage Employees

Some of the top employee engagement activities include:

 

  • Involving Employees in Your Business Planning

Have a big meeting with all of your employees every six months or so. Tell them about the most important issues faced by your company and how you plan to address those issues. Take your team on board while making future plans, assessing opportunities, and refining pre-existing business strategies to suit your needs. 

 

  • Creating an Efficient Knowledge Sharing System

High employee turnover rate means inevitably results in the loss of essential information. One way to avoid it is by creating a kind of knowledge sharing system. It avoids extra cost to some degree and has proven to be a great engagement driver for new hires. 

We recommend implementing a mentorship program that pairs new employees with experienced ones. It will quickly get the new hires up to speed and help familiarize them with the working process of your company.  

 

  • Showing Them the Financial State of Your Company

Don’t hide your company’s financial record from your employees. Flaunt it and instill your employees with confidence. 

Give a quick presentation at the end of every year or quarter. Show them the fruits of everyone’s efforts, set ambitious goals for the next phase, explain how everyone involved can meet those goals. This eventually becomes a set of activities that keeps the employee engaged and full of purpose. 

 

  • Creating a Learning Environment

One of the main reasons why employees quit companies is a lack of learning opportunities. They claim that employers always demand more but don’t provide an environment that encourages growth. 

Make it easier for employees to access the required knowledge and development opportunities. 

 

  • Hyping Upcoming Opportunities

Get your employees excited about upcoming events. Let them know that opportunity is knocking on their door and they better grab it with both hands. You can communicate these opportunities in your internal newsletter, directly, or during the monthly meeting. 

If your employees are optimistic about your company’s future, they’ll ignore those poaching emails from other companies. 

 

  • Start Your Own Internal Magazine

Create a magazine focused solely on your employees. Fill the magazine with witty columns, news, stories, and opportunities. We’re sure that most of the staff will love to be featured on the cover as Employee of the Month. 

The magazine could be in online or print form. You can even go for both forms; a monthly online and a quarterly print issue. 

 

  • Encourage Individuals to Take Responsibility

Each and every employee is the hero of their own story. They need to carve out their own career path and set goals for themselves. 

Have your employees write their goals on a piece of paper. Tell them to put the paper in an envelope and seal it. After six months or so, give them the sealed envelopes to let the see if they’ve accomplished their goal. 

 

  • Always Give Back

Get involved with your local social and charitable initiatives. Giving back to your community helps you get in a positive mindset. It also cultivates pride and loyalty. 

Have your team pitch some causes and start supporting the one you feel most strongly about. Make it your personal mission and not just some hobby. Get your employees involved as well. Let them feel and know that they’re making a difference. 

 

  • Act on Employee Feedback

Listening to employee feedback is just part of the equation. You won’t be able to build any engagement without actually acting on said feedback and making the necessary changes. 

This doesn’t mean that you should act on feedback from all your employees. Prioritize feedback from your high-performing employees. If they feel like their voice isn’t being heard, they’ll most likely look for other opportunities. 

If you’re not sure who your high-performing employees are, use Staff Timer to monitor and receive daily intelligence reports on employee tasks and projects.  

 

  • Allow Personalization at the Workplace

When you depersonalize the workplace, you end up dehumanizing your employees. Encourage them to put some personalized items on their desks. Normalize diversity and inclusion. 

In short, create policies that accept different hairstyles and clothing options that reflect their individual beliefs and values. 

 

  See Also: Task Tracker

Key Takeaways

Employee engagement activities are absolutely worth their weight in gold. There are countless benefits of having engaged employees that believe in what they’re doing and look forward to their day. 

Always remember, satisfied employees means satisfied customers. 

Employee Monitoring Software: How it Benefits Data Privacy

Nowadays, data is considered as a more valuable resource than oil. In this new digital economy, data and what you extract from it is very similar to oil a century or so ago. It represents a huge untapped asset that – depending on how you extract and use it – can bring lots of benefits. When trying to extract value from raw material, you need to first refine it into a commodity. For data, the value is in the knowledge extracted. 

Now that we have established the importance of data, those who are in possession of it need to guard it well. There have been lots of data breaches over the years. Unsurprisingly, one of the leading causes behind these breaches has been insider threats. According to Insider Threat Report 2018, almost 90% of companies are vulnerable to insider attacks. 

So what should companies do? One way to increase data privacy and decrease insider threats is by monitoring your employees. It’s not the most attractive idea but it gets the job done. In this article, we’re going to discuss how employers can use employee monitoring and some other methods to increase data privacy. 

Employee Monitoring

Employee monitoring is getting increasingly important in this day and age. Why you may ask? Well, it mostly has to do with our decreasing attention spans. 

It’s very easy for us to get distracted. The average human span is now just eight seconds. Mobile phones and social media apps are one of our main distractions. That’s not exactly surprising. We are always getting the urge to check on our mobile phones. This is quickly becoming a major problem for employers as employee productivity is decreasing day-by-day. 

Recent surveys by staffing firms have been able to back this point. Those surveys have found that employees spend at least 56 minutes per day on their phones, using it for personal business. That’s nearly an hour of work wasted! Daily!

To increase productivity, employers are considering employee monitoring apps. Some of the ways through which employees can be held accountable for their work: 

    • Defining clear policies. Business owners need to write down their office policies. They should explain these policies in a clear and precise manner. Include them in a handbook or guide and make sure that all the employees have carefully read through them. If an employee doesn’t follow your rules then you need to immediately take disciplinary action. Also, avoid favoritism and ensure that these policies are being equally implemented on all employees. 
    • Choosing an employee time tracking software. Make a list of features that you would like in an employee monitoring software and then search the market. Look into apps, like  Staff Timer app, that can improve business operations by providing real-time monitoring and automatic time capture. These apps can keep track of daily employee progression and increase transparency and productivity.  
    • Blocking unproductive websites. The internet is a huge space filled with sites, like Facebook and Twitter, that can easily distract even the most productive of employees. Block these websites. If your employees tend to visit pages that have nothing to do with their job, gently remind them that they are on company hours.
    • Use video surveillance. Video cameras are usually placed in the office in order to discourage or detect theft. But that’s not their only use at the workplace. Companies can also use them to monitor their employees and observe how productive they are throughout the day.

Data Privacy 

No matter the size of a company, they can’t afford to ignore data privacy. Even huge companies like Facebook and Quora have been targets of data breaches in recent years. This means that small and mid-sized companies aren’t safe as well. According to the National Cyber Security Alliance, almost 60% of small businesses collapse within six months after a cyber attack. 

Some of the most effective strategies regarding data privacy include: 

    • Identifying information flow. Businesses that know where their data is arriving from and where it’s headed to can identify vulnerable points. This lets them come up with informed decisions with regards to data privacy measures and policies.
    • Banning mobile devices at work. This may upset some employees but is proven to increase productivity. Since mobile phones are small and not very noticeable, hostile insiders can easily use them to rob or launch attacks on sensitive data. 
    • Allowing only company laptops. Just like mobile devices, hostile insiders can also use their own laptops to rob or launch attacks on sensitive data. To guard against this threat, companies should ban personal laptops in workplaces. 
    • Applying encryption. Companies need to use encryption in every bit of data, end to end. From USBs to data transfer, encryption is a must for all businesses that are serious about data privacy.
    • Use strong passwords for company laptops. Weak and short passwords are no good. Experienced hackers can easily break them. To protect your data, passwords should have at least 8 characters, 1 upper case, 1 lower case, 1 number, 1 special character, and contain no portion of the user name.
    • Regularly update your operating systems and browsers. Hackers are always leveling up and learning to break into various software. Tech companies update their software to get rid of the weak spots that these hackers have found. So fill these holes in security by constantly updating your system. 

 

Employee Monitoring Software: Embracing it Without Hurdles

Introduction

Employee monitoring software is all the rage these days. It’s not the most attractive software but is known to produce great results for both employees and employers. But how can one implement employee monitoring software without affecting office culture? Not all employees are going to feel comfortable with a Big Brother-like figure watching over their every move. 

So what can business owners do to adopt employee monitoring software without affecting office culture? Well, it depends on the company and its priorities. Maybe your company needs to quickly improve its employees’ productivity. If that’s the case then go for it. But if your business’s key employees are firmly against the idea of an employee monitoring software, it’s your job to convince them of its numerous benefits. 

In this article, we’re going to discuss some ways through which companies can embrace employee monitoring software without compromising culture. 

Communicate your expectations

Share your goals and expectations with all your employees. It’s their right to know about your reasons behind wanting to monitor their work activities. Touch upon these specific reasons but in a way that stops employees from panicking and feeling as if their privacy is being invaded. 

Bob Aronson, a communication consultant, says:

“If communication is not your top priority, all of your other priorities are at risk.” 

Let employees know about your new policies

Business owners need to inform their employees about any major changes in company policies. Before buying employee monitoring software, employers need to write down all the new policies that will inevitably come up due to this massive change. Explain these new policies in a clear and concise manner so that misunderstandings can be avoided. Include them in a guide and make sure that every employee has read it. 

Milton Friedman, an American economist who received the 1976 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, says:

“One of the great mistakes is to judge policies and programs by their intentions rather than their results.”

Reproach those who don’t follow your new policies

Your new monitoring policies won’t be effective if no one follows them. First, give a fair warning to employees who break your rules. If they still don’t follow the rules then you need to take immediate disciplinary action. The effect of your new policies will diminish if no one takes them seriously. Also, your office culture will start changing for the worse if no one takes your policies seriously. 

Brandon Mull, an American author best known for ‘Fablehaven’, says:

“A rule is of no value unless the punishment is enforced.” 

Conserve important traditions

When the company is just beginning, certain traditions automatically start popping up. These traditions become a part of the overall culture and play a defining role in forming the overall image of the organization. Don’t forget about these traditions when you start monitoring your employees.  

Narendra Modi, the Indian Prime Minister, says:

“Over an extended period of time, if a culture does not entail any traditions…if there are no values…or if there is no awareness or social consciousness…a heritage tradition can never be developed.”

Acknowledge employee achievements and contributions

The employee monitoring software will eventually highlight productive and unproductive employees. As a business owner, you need to recognize these star performers. Don’t let them feel as if their contributions are not being taken into account.

To let your employees know that you’re being sincere, do small things on a regular basis rather than handing out yearly rewards. Employees like to feel recognized, especially by their superiors. And they would prefer to get acknowledged for their achievements more than once a year. 

Randolph Pausch, the American Associate Professor at Carnegie Mellon University, says:

“Showing gratitude is one of the simplest and yet most powerful things humans can do for each other.” 

All communication channels should be open

Establish open communication with your workers. Not all employees are going to easily adjust to employee monitoring software. Actively listen to their complaints. Their concerns should be addressed. Employees should feel as if their reservations are being heard. But make sure that this communication is done in a respectful manner. 

Jeffrey Morales, CEO of the California High-Speed Rail Authority, says:

“Communicate in a respectful manner – don’t just tell your team members what you want, but explain to them why.”

Boost Productivity With Top 4 Employee Monitoring Tools

Ever been torn between the ultimate choice of Employee Monitoring Tool for boosting productivity?

This article is definitely going to help you out and decide which one is the best tool for you. Some of the primary factors, that we will be looking at for the purpose of this article are:

  • Affordability
  • Features
  • Services
  • Ease of Use

1. Hubstaff

Hubstaff is currently the industry leader in when it comes to remote monitoring, time tracking, invoicing and billing solutions. Founded in 2012, Hubstaff since then has seen an upward growth trend in terms of the services being offered as well as the customer base.

There are a total of 3 pricing plans offered by Hubstaff – Free, Basic and Premium. The Basic Plan starts at $5 per user per month and goes up to $10 per user in the Premium Plan.

Hubstaff is not just a timekeeping software but has expanded its features to become versatile. Also, include online timesheets, employee scheduling, payroll software, and employee monitoring. Followed by productivity measurement, GPS tracking, online invoicing and project budgeting.

They offer a wide range of features, which can be overwhelming for people who just wish to use a few of those many features. Many people have faced issues with their timekeeping functions and how it relates to the payroll system.

2. TimeDoctor

TimeDoctor is one of the leading timekeeping software(s) that helps employees monitor their team’s productivity. It helps them boost the numbers by tracking time and progress. It was established in 2012. Since then has expanded operations to over 23 countries and works fully remotely.

With the pricing of TimeDoctor starting at $5.00 per month per user and going up to $9.99 per user per month, it’s pricing is not very different from Hubstaff.

TimeDoctor offers a number of features like time tracking, screenshots, powerful reporting, billing, off-track reminders and even tracking breaks.
It is yet to add integration with mobile phones, which would really boost the ease of use of the application.

3. StaffTimerApp

Staff Timer Tracking software is an AI-driven time tracking solution that uses artificial intelligence to assist employers with real-time team monitoring. It also offers advanced and intelligent reporting and task assignment via voice clips. Staff Timer Application is a relatively young one into the market but has caught on to the ongoing trends quite quickly.

When it comes to the affordability factor, they offer its basic plan from just £2.99 per month per member and goes up to just £5.00 per month per member. It’s the most inexpensive of all the time tracking solutions in the industry. It’s a perfect fit for freelancers, small, mid-sized and large teams.
They offer four main features that include:

  • Real-time reporting
  • Voice recording tasks
  • Image and video proofs
  • Screenshots after every minute, and
  • Daily work videos, created from all the recorded screenshots.

Staff Timer App is simple and easy to use with the option to manage multiple companies and projects using a single platform. With a lot of upcoming features like invoicing, task-wise billing, payroll management, etc. It sure is a promising app in the market.

4. Toggl

Toggle is one of the rising stars in the time tracking industry. It allows people to manage their teams and track productivity. It was founded in 2007 and has made considerable progress since then.

With an affordability score of around 3 on 5, Toggl offers 3 pricing plans. The first of which is the free plan with limited usability. The paid plans start from $5 per user per month and go up to $49 per user per month. With this pricing,

Toggl ranks more expensive than the two industry giants, Hubstaff and TimeDoctor.

The services offered by Toggl include time tracking, flexible and sound reporting, automatic timesheet management and business intelligence reports. Although a bit pricey, Toggl supports integrations with most devices (laptops, tablets, phones, etc.).

10 Ways Time Tracking Helps You Make The Most Of Your Freelance Employees

Time Tracking for freelancers is quickly gaining popularity in the remote work industry. As more and more companies go virtual with respect to their teams and work practices.

Many companies are functioning with distributed teams that are spread out globally. The issue, most of them face, is regarding fully utilizing the freelancers they hire for different tasks.

Most are not able to do so and are generally overpaying in return for the output they’re receiving. Here are 10 ways in which you can make the most of your freelance employees and save the company’s resources using a time tracking solution.

10. Track Time for Increased Productivity

You can carry our time tracking using time tracking solutions. Many are available in the market and have multiple features and prices.

Integrate time tracking solution with your company’s platform and track your freelance employees’ productivity using that.

When working remotely, the freelancer can start the timer for a certain task they are about to work on, pause it when they take a break and end it when they are done with the task.

9. Remote Monitoring to Ensure Correct Work Track

Monitor your remote employees using a time tracking solution that supports real-time screen sharing and takes screenshots of the freelancers’ computer screen every minute.

Those screenshots can then be combined as separate frames and used to create a complete workday playback video. That way you can know exactly what your employees are working on and how their progress is going.

This will also make sure that you and your freelance team are on the same page when it comes to how tasks are attempted and what direction a project is supposed to take.

8. Implement a Schedule via Time Tracking Solution

Design a schedule for your employees and make sure that it is being followed. Considering they are freelancers and will have other tasks, the schedule must be a personalized one for each employee, fitting to their personal chores and tasks as well.

Furthermore, it must align with the work hours of the company so remote employees are available for coordination, discussions or meetings with in-house employees, whenever needed.

Productivity heat-maps for each individual must be an important consideration while creating the schedule.

7. Task-wise Billing Using A Time Tracking Software

The payment structure for freelancers is best when done task-wise or hour wise. For this, you can integrate an invoicing solution with your time tracking solution. So the billing can be done according to tasks completed and the hours worked.

The time tracking solution will have a complete record (with proofs) of the work completed by the employee. That way you can be sure that you’re not overpaying the freelancers.

6. Intelligent Report to Get Value for Money

Many leading time tracking solutions in the market offer the option of advanced reporting. Some remote employee monitoring software offers intelligent employee reports. Where the day’s screenshots are automatically categorized according to the active windows in those images, clearly telling the employer what the freelancers spent most of their time working on.

This increases transparency and if there are any wasted minutes, the employers can get to know about those within a matter of a few clicks.  

5. Task Logging to Estimate Work Done Through Time Tracking

Make sure that your freelance employees log each and every task they perform. Whether it is a task already assigned to them or a task they performed.

When a task is logged, a record is maintained that lets the employers know how much work was actually achieved by the freelancer. Whether they are putting the best of their efforts into the work or not.

4. Clarify and Align Company’s Goals with Freelancers

In order to be sure that the employees work the same way that you expect them to, it is essential to make it clear to them what they are working for, what is the end result supposed to look like and what are you trying to achieve.

Once the goals of the company are aligned with the freelancers’ goals, then the workflows will be regulated on their own. Productivity will increase and the employees will put their best foot forth.

When the employees know how their work is going to impact the common end-goal. They will have a clear idea of the value of their work and their value as an employee to the company.

This is essential for boosting the morale of employees and pushing them to work harder.

3. Rule of Thumb: Work Smart, Not Hard

Taking up this rule will make tasks easier for you and your employees, both. Working smart saves time, energy, resources, gets things done much faster and makes searching for information much easier.

Automate timesheets instead of manually maintaining logs for each hour or each task. It is much easier to start and stop the timer with a single click, rather than manually making each entry to a timesheet.

Furthermore, it makes the job simple when all work done during the activity time is recorded and gets divided into separate categories, creating automated timesheets.

This way, your freelancers spend the majority of their time working on the actual tasks instead of logging entries manually.

2. Improve Communication via Audio Clips

Team communication impacts employee productivity and plays a major role in how your employees perform. Merely assigning them tasks using a project management tool or a time tracking software isn’t enough.

Nothing can beat the power and impact of face-to-face communication. If you cannot communicate with them in-person due to geographical boundaries, then feel free to conduct a Skype Business Call, or use a platform that helps.

You can assign tasks in the form of voice clips and allows the freelancers to respond back using voice clips as well. In case they have any query and wish to clear it prior to attempting a task.

Clear and quick communication is always verbal and enables workflow-streamlining when the teams are on one page.

1. Trust your Employee to Get the Job Done

If you’ve hired a freelancer, trust that they can get the job done as well. There is no point in hiring them otherwise.

If you try to micromanage your employees, directing their every move and telling them how to go about a task, even when they might be suggesting better ways to do it, they will simply be exhausted and irritated.

Build a certain trust level with your employees, and believe in them. Have a solution that monitors their work activity by giving you an idea of their sincerity and dedication to their work.

If they work hard, waste no time and have the required level of productivity, then let them be, sit back and let them deliver the assigned work to you, on schedule.

Do employees work from home? Here are Top 8 Tips for Employee Productivity Tracking!

The world is facing a complete digital shift and the remote working comes with it. Also, virtual companies are getting common by the day, with teams dispersed around the globe.

This revolution brings with itself the concern for employers: Do employees work from home? If yes, are they equally productive as those in an office space? Another major question is to monitoring employees activity and productivity. Here are a few tips on how employers can perform employee productivity tracking:

8. Prioritize Work According to Ease of Completion

The first step to fully utilize the hours in an 8-hour work day. For this, it is highly important to prioritize tasks and organize them in a schedule where they can actually be carried out and completed. For instance, if there are tasks that require a remote employee to travel or communicate with some vendors, or companies, then the optimum time to carry out that task is generally in the afternoon when the workflow is prime.

On the other hand, if there are tasks that require an employee to be creative and imaginative, then the best time for that is in the early morning.  Since people are most likely to have fresh minds in the morning. This would save time, and allow easy employee productivity tracking via the number of tasks completed within a day.

7. Ensure Employees Work During Company’s Work Hours

Remote work can lead to increased procrastination. Employees can tend to be more relaxed due to the heightened comfort level around them when in their own spaces. This may result in employees working on their own hours and not when every employee in the company is active.

To avoid miscommunication of tasks, and effective employee productivity tracking, we advise you to set some rules for your employees. One may be that employees working remotely must work during the company’s work hours to improve team communication and timely utilization of work produced.

For example, if a remote content writer completes content for a website at midnight, the front-end developers implement it in the morning and require changes in it, they will have to wait till the next day to get those changes in the content done.

This will delay the task itself, which should not have taken more than a few hours. Therefore, for effective employee productivity tracking, it is essential for remote and in-house employees to be active and work in unison at the same time.

6. Regular Work Intervals Allow Employee Productivity Tracking

Let’s face it, no human can remain productive for 8 or 9 hours straight. Everyone deserves a break and some relaxation time in order to be productive, deliver targets on time and relieve work stress. For efficient employee productivity tracking, it is recommended to work in short intervals.

For instance, if an employee works for 1 hour, rests for 15 minutes and again works for 1 hour, they are likely to be more productive than if they work for 4 hours non-stop and rest for 1 hour and then work for 4 hours non-stop again.

Similarly, the last person with a 1-hour break is likely to be more productive than the person who works for 8 hours straight, without any break.

Hence, regular work intervals are the best way to accurately carry out employee productivity tracking as that’s when the human mind is not over-exhausted or cluttered.

5. Draw Up a Schedule to Include Chores and Meals

The needs of employees working from home would definitely be different than the needs of employees working in-house. The best way for remote employees to stay productive is to draw up a schedule and stick to it.

Furthermore, that schedule must be created by the employer, keeping into account the fixed time for chores and meals as well.

This way, if an employee has an 8-hour work day, out of which, 1 or 2 hours are for chores and meals, then their tasks can be assigned and divided throughout the day accordingly.

4. Opt for a Comfortably Designed Workplace

Being in a comfortable environment and working in one is what makes an employee more productive in the workplace. This is something your employees need to take care of at their end.

A comfortably designed workplace helps employees in working with complete focus and dedication. Once they are focused and successfully completing the tasks assigned to them, that is when their productivity levels are at their highest.

Employee productivity tracking is made easier when the work productivity is calculated of tasks that are completed correctly and on time. A comfortable workplace, be it remote, ensures a stress-free environment and a relaxed mind for high-quality work.

3. Employee Productivity Tracking through Technology

Using technology to your own advantage helps reduce the manual work that consumes the majority of the time. Be it working productively or monitoring employees, smart work always trumps hard work. One cannot only work hard or just work smart. Both must go in unison for effective employee productivity tracking.

Employees working remotely must use automated systems and technology to reduce manual work and improve productivity. Similarly, employee monitoring in-person consumes a lot of time and even hinders the productivity of employers. A remote monitoring solution helps in saving precious minutes and allows employers to assess employee productivity accurately.

With the latest technology available these days, remote monitoring is easily possible through screen sharing, live visual logs, and automated timesheets.

2. Home Work Space is a Sanctified Place

Some rules are implemented by the company and some are self-enforced by the individual. One of the most important rules is to keep the home and office spaces separated. Your home-office or workspace at home must be a sacred place, free of interference from your family members or distractions that hinder your productivity.

Employee’s workspace must be a sanctified place where you have things organized according to your requirements. During work, employee productivity tracking is made more efficient when employees’ time is not wasted in finding relevant resources or documents in the time of need.

Less wasted time equals more time spent in actual work, hence enhanced work output.

1. Organize your Workplace and Save Useful Minutes

An organized workplace is the key to saving the maximum time during work hours. Whether you’re researching for a report or need to look at certain facts or emails, making specific folders and tagging the emails will help you locate them easily.

Similarly, using project management tools can help you save time at the time of need. The most popular tool is Google Sheets for record maintenance and organizing tasks and numbers. Employee Productivity Tracking can be made quick and easy using work organization tools.

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These 8 simple tips can help you maintain a work-life balance with maximum productivity and an optimum ratio of Smart and Hard work. 

Proven ways to track employee’s productivity in today’s world

Employee Productivity is the buzz word of current times. Many people are trying to be more productive in their personal lives. Many more are trying to enhance their work productivity.

In some peculiar settings like a remote work environment, it becomes more important to track employee productivity.

Defining Employee Productivity

Employee productivity is the measure of the efficiency of an employee or a group of employees. It is often assessed by the quality and quantity of work produced.

Employee Productivity is a relative statistic. For an individual employee, it is assessed by comparing the individual’s productivity to that of a group of people. Employees with high productivity levels are often more productive than the average team. Similarly, people with low productivity levels are often not able to produce the average quality or quantity of work as compared to the rest of the workforce.

Why is productivity important?

Productivity is one of the more important agendas of the management, in the Corporate World of today. The reasons are manifold.

Cutthroat competition is inevitable in today’s corporate sector and having a slow and lazy team is simply not an option.

Much of the profitability of the organizations depend upon the workforce. So it is quite important to have a dependable and diligent team of employees.

The trends, expectations, and demands of the market are constantly changing. To keep up with the evolution and changing the landscape of the market, it is important that the employees are intellectually productive.

Tracking Employee’s Productivity

Having established the importance of employee productivity, let’s discuss some of the ways by which it is measured.

1. Track their time

Often it is a duty of the Project Managers to assign individuals with a list of tasks. Tracking productivity by means of tracking the time it takes to get a job done is one of the most common ways of measuring the productivity of an employee.

For this purpose, many organizations deploy Time Tracking Software. These tools let the employees measure the amount of time they spend on each individual task. They also help employers get a transparent idea about employee productivity.

2. Assess the value

There are many situations where just the measure of time is not a good indicator of productivity. For example, the productivity of a painter is measured by the time it takes to finish a piece. So, either the productivity will come out to be dismal or the efforts to enhance the productivity will result in poor quality work. Therefore, time is not always the best indicator of the productivity of an employee.

One of the widely used metrics of employee productivity is assessing the value that an employee brings to the table. The presence of a certain individual can bring value to your team in many ways. For example, an HR manager might be a source of motivation and positivity for the rest of the team.

An executive might be a good mentor for training newbies. A marketing executive with a stellar personality might boost your sales. An individual with great skills can affect your team in more than one ways and assessing the value they bring to the organization is a useful way to measure their productivity.

3. Cost-profit analysis

Making profits in the universal aim of all the businesses around the world. An employee is productive and profitable if he helps the organization generate more profits then the cost of retaining him in the company.

The cost of keeping an employee on the payroll consists of compensation, benefits and other expenses of the housing. If the revenue that he assists in generating are greater than the costs, then the employee is definitely productive and a valuable asset for the company.

4. Measuring Employee’s Productivity

Having established the importance of employee productivity, let’s discuss some of the ways by which it is measured.

 

5. Indications about the strengths and weaknesses

When you track employee productivity, you get useful insights about the strengths and weaknesses of the workforce.

The managers get to know about the employees that outshine the rest of the team. They get an idea about the team members who are unable to deliver the desired results. The management gets to identify productivity blockades and hurdles.

The data also becomes useful to identify low performing individuals. By correct identification of the problems, the management can take steps towards improving the situation.

6. Guides you about the budget

Managers who know the production capacity of their teams are in a good position to make good financial choices.

Productivity tracking is so much more than just the number of hours worked. It delivers insights into all kinds of available resources. These insights empower the management to make sound decisions related to budgets and financing.

7. A basis for performance appraisal

Everyone needs appreciation for the work they do similarly, employees do too.

Productivity tracking provides ample data for the managers to officially recognize the work and efforts of the team. Therefore, time and productivity tracking, as boring as it may sound, helps employees in making their efforts known to the management.

Praise and rewards can help increase the motivation level of the team. And this, in turn, can help in boosting the productivity of the whole team.

8. Makes employees more productive

It is a scientifically proven fact that individuals tend to be more productive when they know that they are being watched. Just like that, employees tend to be more productive when they realize their team leads are monitoring their progress. 

Moreover, when one employee gets praised for the work that he does. He sets a positive example for the rest of the team which in return establishes a positive work culture. 

Conclusion

Track employee productivity to find out hidden truths about your team. This will not only improve the organizational culture in many ways but also the profitability of your organization!

Like what you read? We have more for you:Top three-time tracking applications for remote employees

Why do you need a Time Tracker for Work?

Using a Tracker tool sounds annoying! Do you really need a Time tracker for work? Are the bosses being unreasonable and irrational with their demands of using a Time Tracker? Well, the truth of the matter is that Time Tracking has proven to be fruitful for businesses. That is why many managers and bosses are adamant about the use of a Time Tracker.

Why do you need a Time Tracker at work?

Do you get distracted and feel lazy like many people? Do you lose your focus during the work? If you’re anything like most professionals around the world, you most definitely need a Time Tracker at work.

Time Tracking Software might seem intrusive and slavish, but they have help organizations achieve a lot in a relatively shorter duration of time. People who use these tools report that they have been able to get more out of the standard workday. In comparison to the time when they did not use a Time Tracking tool.

But to give optimum productivity, finding and deploying the right kind of tool is the most important task.

What makes a good Time Tracker?

A quick Google Search clarifies that there are dozens of Time Tracking Solutions out there in the market. And it is normal to feel overwhelmed. But it is very important to choose the correct Time Tracker for work. An unsuitable tool can cost you time and money.

Look for the following qualities in your potential Time Tracking Software.

 

User-Friendly Design

It is really important for support software like Time Tracking Software to have a user-friendly design. A time tracking software should not be the reason that you waste time at work. There are some tools that are so detailed and comprehensive that the user wastes time while tracking time.

The UX and UI should be self-explanatory and help the user in navigation through the application and usage.

Flawless Functionality

The main purpose of the Time Tracking tool is calculating the time that is spent on work. Results devised by these systems become the basis for planning, decision making, budgeting, and many such important decisions. For these decisions to be sound, it is imperative that the input data be flawless as well.

Therefore, the time monitoring tool that you use should be flawless in what it does. Calculations of work hours should be perfect. The estimates of activity levels and productivity levels should be realistic. Incorrect tools can be detrimental to the business!

Non-intrusive features

Since a Time Tracking system is mostly used for tracking the time and productivity during the work hours, it is important these tools are strictly non-intrusive. There are some time tracking tools that send off notifications from time to time. For example, a Monitoring Software might intimate the user that he has been using Facebook for too long or the system has been idle for too long.

These notifications might sound useful. But in reality, they are quite intrusive and get in the way of the workflow.

The ideal software will be completely automatic. It should not require the user to log work hours again and again.

Rational Pricing

A large marketplace suggests that there are diverse pricing plans and subscription plans. This calls for careful analysis of the prices and the plans that are offered.

Look for a tool that does exactly what you need. If you are looking for a simple Time Tracking Software, opt for a product that is a Minimum Viable Product.

This way you will get the desired functionality at low cost. If you just need one or two features and you choose an extensive Time Management System, you will lose money since all the offered features will not be used. You, most likely, will also waste time by tangling in a complicated system that you don’t really need.

On the other hand, if using a comprehensive system helps you, then, by all means, go for it!

Dependable Customer Support

Although software developers try very hard to make their products function without any glitch, it is an inevitable reality that many times, products and services produce unforeseen bugs and errors.

To cater to this issue, dedicated and dependable customer support is very important. Make sure that the Time Tracker that you select for your daily use has a good Customer Support history. This way, you will always have someone to go to, if the system starts misbehaving and producing erratic functionality.

Which problems are solved by a good Time Tracker?

The market for Employee Monitoring and Time Tracking is on the rise. It suggests that the tools are actually useful and hence in demand. There are many common work-related problems that are solved by Time Tracking. Some of them are discussed below:

It saves you from distractions

It is very normal for professionals to feel distracted while working. Using a tracker can, however, save you from the distractions. While using the software, you will be conscious of being watched for the most part of the day.

This realization will stop you from getting distracted by your thoughts, office gossip and frequent snacking.

These activities might seem trivial but they are big time wasters, according to studies.

It keeps you focused

With fewer distractions, you will be more focused on your work. A good tracking tool helps weed out activities that leach on the valuable time. You will waste less time on Facebook and Instagram. You will not wander the internet aimlessly for a long duration of time. Getting rid of all these bad habits will make you more focused on the tasks at hand.

It makes you more productive

Imagine that you are in a zone where there are no distractions and you stay completely focused. How productive that zone would be. Tracking the time would make your work similar to that zone.

It has been observed that employees that use Time Tracking tend to be more productive. They waste less time, dedicate more time to work and produce better results. Since they spend high-quality work hours at work, they are more likely to produce high-quality results as well!

It highlights your efforts

Most of the time, Tracking the time is a demand of the management. Though it might sound intrusive, it actually benefits the employees in numerous ways.

A Time Tracker for work extracts transparent statistics about the time spent on getting the work done. It also clearly shows the efforts of employees to the management and lets the employers and managers know how hard the team works to achieve the collective goals of the organization.

It optimizes the teamwork

Time Tracking can be a great tool for optimizing teamwork. When the management is on top of all the tasks that are done and the time that is spent, the project management practise becomes smooth. The tasks are managed and delegated according to the expertise and capacity of the employees.

It keeps you free from stress

Honest and transparent statistics enable the management to come up with realistic project planning and deadlines. When the management is completely aware of the strengths and weaknesses of their human resources, they will plan their business activities accordingly.

Realistic deadlines are a great friend of the employees. This is because they save employees from overwork and stressful work situations.

An example of a reliable Time tracker

To save the readers from excessive research, I will review StaffTimerApp, it is a very useful time tracking and employee monitoring tool!

It uses Screenshots

Most Time Tracking applications make use of Keystroke logging and URL tracking for the purpose of tracking the time. This is where StaffTimerApp stands out. It captures the screenshots of the employee’s screens and then processes them to estimate the time spent on work-related and non-work related activities.

It gives a breakdown of how the time is spent

The application uses Screenshots to get a breakdown of how time is spent during the work hours. Those screenshots are then categorized by using sophisticated artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms. Users can conveniently see how much time is spent on work related and non-work related activities.

This breakdown is the backbone of successful Time Management.

It is sensitive about user Privacy

Since the application only uses Screenshots, it does not access a lot of user information. It totally relies on the screenshots to calculate billable and non-billable hours. With no keystroke and mouse activity tracking, the passwords, pin codes, credit card information is safe and not logged into the system. Therefore, the application is sensitive to user privacy!

Conclusion

Use a Time Tracker to boost productivity at work. Use a Time Tracker for your team to manage the projects better! This is because effective Time Management can be very beneficial for the business and can help in reaping lots of profits!

Undeniable advantages of using an Employee Monitoring System

Monitoring employees is a multifaceted phenomenon. From the employers’ perspective, it is a way of enhancing productivity. Whereas from the employees’ perspective, it seems slavish. But the truth of the matter remains that there are many advantages of using Employee Monitoring Systems. For this reason, the market statistics for such systems are soaring.

Kinds of Employee Monitoring Systems

No two workplaces have the same kind of environment and requirements. The diversity in the Corporate Sector calls for different kinds of employee tracking tools. 

Find the different kinds of Employee Monitoring tools below:

GPS Tracking Software

Keeping an eye on the employees who are working right in the next room is much easier than tracking the performance of an employee whose job requires him to move around in the city. For such jobs, GPS Tracking Software is available. These trackers are usually deployed in vehicles or the employee’s mobile phones.  It helps you to track the location of the employees.

Time Tracking Software

Time tracking has become an integral part of many organizations around the world. This software calculates the actual amount of time, spent on each task.

Moreover, it comes packed with subtle features that help the managers in monitoring the employees. In addition to conventional management.

Remote Employee Monitoring Software

Telecommuting and Remote Work is slowly becoming the reality of the contemporary Corporate World. This trend created room for an employee monitoring system. Today, there are some Softwares that caters to the distributed teams. The features empower the employers to such an extent that they can monitor employee activity without any hindrance due to the great distances.

Employee Microchipping

Some futuristic tech companies have introduced microchipping for the employees — embedding tiny microchips in human bodies. The purpose of these microchips is to rid the employees of identity cards. Also, the complex and time-consuming employee monitoring systems. These chips will let employers know about the location and activities of their employees.

Advantages of Employee Monitoring System

Employees often feel that tracking their activities, is a breach of privacy. They see it as a sign of mistrust. Many argue that it restricts the employees to follow a predefined path religiously. But such restrictions sabotage the creativity of the people, which is often a good thing.

 

Optimize the Productivity

Time tracking Software helps employees in becoming more productive. Similarly, the Hawthorne effect suggests that people tend to become more productive when they know that their employers are observing them.

Monitoring employees at the workplace is fundamentally an extension of ‘observing’. In workspaces, this conjecture holds true. Managers tend to think the same.

Sound HR decisions

Employers and Human Resource Managers have found it to be extremely useful especially when they have to make HR decisions. HR decisions are mostly influenced by employee behavior and performance.

With the help of such tools, employers and managers are able to observe the skills of the personnel discreetly. This helps a lot in making good HR decisions. And we know that good Human Resources is conditional for profitability.

Reduce Data Theft

According to a study from Keeper Security, Data Theft has recently emerged as the leading concern, most of the organizations around the world have. In recent times, we have witnessed data theft costing corporations billions of dollars. However, in most cases, these unfortunate events have occurred due to irresponsible employee behavior.

To make sure that such cases do not occur, organizations have shifted to surveillance. Additionally, tracking their teams’ time and productivity.

Control Cyberloafing

Cyberloafing is one of the leading ways the employees waste time at work. Employees often use the internet for doing personal tasks, like online shopping, paying the bills replying to emails, etc.

Moreover, employees often get distracted by the abyss i.e. the internet. They check social media frequently and often get caught up in scrolling these time-consuming applications.

Therefore, when an employee monitoring tool is used, employers stay focused on work and avoid distracting activities as they make them look bad!

Convince your employees!

It is not uncommon for employees to feel violated when such a tool is deployed! However, we have seen from the discussion above that using such software is pretty much mandatory in today’s day and age. Following tips can help you persuade your team

Conclusion

The advantages of using the Employee Monitoring System are undeniable. They help corporations save hundreds of thousands of dollars. But the practice hangs in a delicate balance. For this reason, it is important to not make it a vexing practice for the employees!