4 Ways to Convince Employees that Monitoring Tools Aren’t ‘Spying’ on Them

One of the biggest problems with employee monitoring is the simple fact that it makes employees feel like their being ‘spied on’. Not only does this make them concerned for their privacy, but it makes them think they aren’t trusted which can demotivate them and affect productivity.

Convincing employees that you aren’t going to ‘spy’ on them isn’t easy. However there are a few ways to go about it that can minimize their concerns:

• Avoid intrusive monitoring

Some types of monitoring are a lot more intrusive than others – and you’ll definitely want to avoid that as far as possible. If you use Controlio by Efficient Labs its features can capture keystrokes, screenshots, or even screen recordings – but many employees may feel that’s an invasion of their privacy.

Similarly Controlio is also able to monitor emails and IM chats. While this can be useful for work-related emails and communications, the fact of the matter is you’ll want to make sure you aren’t tracking any personal emails or chat sessions.

• Only monitor as much as absolutely necessary

As a rule you should only monitor your employees to the extent that is necessary to fulfill your goals. In this way it’ll be easier to justify to your employees and you can explain exactly why you need to monitor certain aspects of their activities – while reassuring them that nothing else will be tracked.

• Give employees access to their own data

One way to assure employees that they aren’t being ‘spied on’ excessively is to let them see for themselves what is being monitored. In Controlio it is easy enough to let employees check their own data, or have reports sent to their email at fixed intervals.

Not only can this help assuage employees concerns, but it may also be useful to employees to see their own productivity data.

• Publish a detailed policy

Publishing a detailed employee monitoring policy will let you explain to employees exactly how they’ll be monitored, what data will be tracked, and the reasons why it is necessary. That should help reduce the feeling that they’re being spied on.

Additionally, the policy should also cover what employees can expect and what is expected of them – including how you intend to use the data and the impact it’ll have on them. After you publish the policy, make it a point to solicit feedback from your employees so they are able to give their input on your plans.

Hopefully all this will let you at least reduce the worry your employees have that their being spied on or their privacy will be invaded. Although it may take time and effort on your part, it is definitely worthwhile as it could help you to avoid many issues.

At the end of the day, your goal should be to implement employee monitoring in a way that is able to fulfill your goals and yet at the same time not make your employees feel insecure regarding their privacy.