In business, productivity is used to measure how efficiently the inputs of labor and capital are being used within the business economy to produce a given level of output. For most businesses, the higher the rate of production, the higher the revenue.
With that said, developing and maintaining efficient rates of productivity is an ongoing challenge for business. With new technology brings new challenges and new solutions for businesses to explore when looking to maximize productivity and revenue.
Employee tracking, for one, may be an old concept, but productivity tracking software is changing the way in which employers can monitor employees, track time, and keep track of their teams in between formal check-ins.
Tracking employee time and productivity can benefit companies in a number of ways. In this article, we’re going to look at some of the benefits of tracking your team’s productivity with employee productivity tracking software.
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Table of Contents- Improve Employee Productivity
- Identifies Struggles and Internal Problems
- Efficiently Track Attendance and Effort
- Improves Working From Home
- Creates Trust in Employees
- Effective Project Management
- Increases Security and Safety
The Benefits of Tracking Productivity
1) Improve Employee Productivity
The biggest benefit of employee productivity monitoring is simple to understand but can be difficult to apply. As each business has its own unique policies and practices, the use of employee tracking should be developed to fit the company’s systems.
By tracking the work that employees do, a company can determine whether employees are working to the company standard. If the standard is not met, employers can look for ways that will help their employees to improve their work. Additional training is commonly provided for workers who may be falling behind.
Implementing time tracking and productivity software and systems are other methods to improve employee productivity. We’ll touch on these methods further down in the article.
The more difficult question to consider is the cost of not tracking the productivity of employees. Let’s take a look at some glaring statistics below that emphasize the need to improve efficiencies with employee tracking systems.
According to Achievers.com, only 21% of American workers are highly engaged. These highly engaged workers are defined as those that are producing quality work at an efficient rate for their company – or being productive.
Research conducted by Paul Petrone finds that disengaged employees will cost a company 34% of their salary, or $3,400 for every $10,000 that they are paid. In short, disengaged and unproductive workers cost companies a significant amount of money in lost production and revenue. And unfortunately, there’s a high percentage of these employees in the workforce as Gallup.com estimates 13% of American workers are actively disengaged.
By implementing employee productivity tracking systems, organizations can increase employee productivity, which will result in an increase of revenue for the business as a whole.
How Employee Productivity Monitoring Software Improves Productivity
- Time tracking software reduces employee time theft by showing how much time is actually spent at work
- Screenshots and internet usage monitoring provide evidence of excessive unproductive web activity
- Having monitoring software on employee computers reduces temptations to excessively browse non-work websites
- Unproductive bandwidth hogs that affect network performance can be discovered and dealt with
- Analyzing productivity and engagement trends provides opportunities to optimize work processes and make teams more productive
- Productivity tracking software provides disengaged employees with a benchmark that can be used as a part of an Employee Performance Improvement Plan (PIP)
2) Identifies Struggles and Internal Problems
Tracking the productivity of individual employees as well as workforce teams helps managers to understand the struggles and problems that their workers could be facing. Productivity and time tracking can also help to improve forecasting efficiencies for businesses that are dependent on having work completed at a specific cost and within a specific timeframe.
Employee productivity tracking identifies workers who are taking longer than expected to complete a task. Monitoring productivity will also provide a clear line of sight into the quality of work that their team is producing, as prolonged hours on a project can be an indicator that the workers are not confident in the work that they are doing. By knowing where, how, and why workers are struggling, managers can develop custom solutions for team members.
With employee productivity data, businesses can look to improve the ways in which they estimate the time, costs, and labor needed in order to successfully complete a project.
For business owners, these forecasts are fundamental to the company’s bottom line. If a project is taking longer than expected, it is oftentimes the company itself that will be affected as the client or customer would be provided with a set price in advance.
Accurate forecasting and estimates are essential for billing and revenue, and employee productivity tracking is fundamental in developing a solid understanding of workflow and costs.
3) Efficiently Track Attendance and Effort
Without any system of employee productivity tracking in place, it is difficult for a company to be sure if its employees are on the jobsite or working at an adequate level of production.
Time fraud, which can be as simple as an employee not showing up to work while claiming hours on their timesheet, is one of the most common schemes found throughout business. In fact, time fraud schemes affect 75% of all US businesses and cost employers more than $400 billion per year in lost productivity.
There are many different ways in which a company can accurately track the attendance and effort of its workforce. These include:
Productivity Tracking Software:
Sophisticated time tracking software installed on employee computers are capable of reporting on the websites visited and the applications used during work hours.
With this in place, managers are able to see how their workers are spending their time on the computer and can isolate those who are misusing their time with automated reports. Social media, online shopping, and video streaming are common misuse cases of computers in the workplace.
Video Surveillance
A more traditional method of tracking attendance and the effort of employees is through video surveillance. With video cameras present on a jobsite or in an office, time wasted due to employees socializing during work hours can be cut by up to 80%.
Time Tracking Software and Time Clocks
Manipulating a standard time clock can be as simple as having one worker clock in for another, either before the latter arrives or even if the latter does not work at all that day. There is a wide array of advanced time clocks now available that use technology to accurately and securely track the time that an employee spends at work. These advanced systems include facial recognition, multi-factor authentication, and GPS technology.
4) Improves Working From Home
COVID-19 forced the hand of businesses as they needed to adopt work from home strategies in order to sustain productivity in light of the global pandemic. Traditionally, companies have abstained from the remote work concept due to concerns over loss in productivity and overall efficiencies for the company. Simply put, they need to know that their employees are working while they are remote.
But as we all know, distractions are abundant when at home, as we can be tempted by television and video games, or can find the need to run personal errands while on company time.
Luckily for those that are able to have employees work from home, productivity tracking has never been easier with advanced employee tracking software that is now available and affordable.
For those that are confident in the working efficiencies of their remote workers, savings from office space overhead can be distributed throughout the company to improve other areas of the business. Global Workspace Analytics projects that companies can save $11K annually per employee who works remotely 50% of the time.
Remote workers themselves will also be more content with their remote work situation as they will save time and money from commuting. The average cost of commuting in the US can reach as high as $5K per year as gas prices and public transportation costs continue to rise.
5) Creates Trust in Employees
One of the most important factors in the workforce dynamic is the level of trust that management has within their team. With a healthy level of trust between management and a workforce, companies can expect to see the following benefits, according to SmallBusiness.chron.com:
- Improved employee development.
- Reduced turnover rates.
- Greater loyalty to the company.
Building trust between employees and management begins with a clear understanding of rules and deliverables, but without clear data or results of employee productivity, It is tough to be sure that company expectations and standards are being met by the team.
Employee monitoring systems provide data and results about what teams spend their time on, helping management measure the workflows of their staff.
If the data and results indicate that the team is not producing to the company standard, action can be taken to improve the situation. If the data and results are positive, management can rest assured knowing that their team is working to meet expectations.
6) Effective Project Management
The effectiveness in which an organization operates and produces is critical for its revenue, and project management is at the forefront of overseeing and improving production. Whether the project be software development or the construction of a new building, the ways in which the project is managed and the methods used can determine whether the project is successful or not.
Estimating the amount of time that tasks will take, assessing the quality of the work done, and reporting on the challenges that the team faces are important duties of project management. Tracking a team’s productivity will help gain great insight into all three of those managerial components.
Estimating
With historical data of how much time was required for projects, companies can better estimate the amount of labour and costs for future projects.
Quality
Tracking employee productivity provides real-time insight into the progress of a project. By knowing which stage of development the project is in, managers can proactively assess its quality and provide feedback for improvement.
Challenges
As teams work towards the completion of the project, challenges are likely to arise. Understanding the cause and effect of challenges will help to improve the processes that future projects follow.
7) Increases Security and Safety
Aside from the added production output that comes with effective employee productivity tracking, doing so will also increase the security and safety of a company. Employees who are not reaching expected levels of productivity are often being negligent while at work, increasing the risks of a security breach or even an accident on the jobsite.
For example, a worker responsible for the safety of the jobsite must be productive in the ways in which they ensure that the workforce is clear from potential accidents and general safety concerns. If this worker is not being productive in minimizing these risks, a rise in workplace accidents and harm will likely occur.
In 2019, the total cost to businesses due to workplace related injuries amounted to $171 billion. Improving employee productivity will help to reduce the potential of injury and will save businesses money.
Similarly, workers who are responsible for the security of an office or job site must remain productive. Properly securing a warehouse, for example, is important as theft can be a major threat to businesses that own expensive equipment. If a security team is not being productive and doing their job properly, valuable equipment can be damaged or stolen, resulting in major loss for a company.
How to Track and Measure Productivity
With CurrentWare’s employee computer monitoring software BrowseReporter you can track employee internet and application usage. Automatically sort web browsing into productive, unproductive, and neutral classifications to view employee productivity at a glance.
1) Set Clear, Measurable, & Actionable Goals
You cannot improve what you do not measure. In order to improve performance, you need to have a clear understanding of what performance improvement looks like in the context of your organization. Without specific and measurable productivity goals, the effectiveness of your performance improvement plan will be difficult to track.
2) Capture Data with Productivity Monitoring Software
Productivity monitoring software helps employers understand employee productivity trends by tracking the time spent on tasks. Following a productivity analysis you can determine which team members are fully engaged and which are wasting time on unproductive apps and websites.
By tracking the metrics that matter to your organization you can benchmark productivity levels and create a baseline for measuring productivity in the future.
It’s important to note that how much time is spent on productive vs unproductive tasks is not a sole indicator of employees’ productivity. While monitoring software will help managers keep track of how employee time is spent, it is best used in combination with other management tools such as KPIs and project management.
3) 1:1 Meetings & Reports
Managers play a critical role in leading improvements to the performance of their employees. Standup meetings are an excellent opportunity for managers to develop rapport, provide authentic and frequent recognition, and collect process improvement feedback from employees.
Learn More: How to Assess the Productivity of Employees That Work From Home
Considerations for Using Productivity Tracking Software
When tracking employee computer activity there could be some employees that are concerned about how their productivity reports will be used to assess their performance.
To help you get the most out of employee performance monitoring software, CurrentWare has provided several resources on the best practices for monitoring employees in the workplace.
Workplace Monitoring Policy Template (Employee Privacy Policy)
This article has the tips you need to get started with writing your own monitoring policy. We’ll also provide you with a FREE workplace monitoring policy template that you can download and customize to fit your needs.
Free Internet Usage Policy Template
A free employee internet usage template for you to download, customize, and use. Disclose the use of productivity monitoring software in your organization and set standards for internet use.
Workplace Privacy and Computer Monitoring: Best Practices (White Paper)
A free white paper that employers can use to develop a privacy-first employee monitoring strategy. It includes tips for reducing the privacy impacts of productivity tracking software, case studies, and how to choose the best productivity tracking software.
Monitoring Employees in the Workplace: 6 Privacy Tips for Employers
Want to start monitoring employees in the workplace? These tips will reduce impacts on employee privacy so employers can maximize the benefits of their employee monitoring strategy.
How To Use Productivity Monitoring Software Data
Productivity monitoring software is a powerful workforce analytics tool. Beyond improving individual employee productivity, tools like BrowseReporter can provide valuable insights into how your workforce operates. This article provides examples of how companies can use computer usage and time tracking data to improve their business intelligence.
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