Does employee tracking help or hurt or have unintended consequences?
From the Jacksonville Business Journal (October 2022)
Some companies exhibit productivity paranoia especially for remote employees and thus they have expanded the use of tracking software, but the move may cause harm. Sources show that about 37% of employers added on increased use of employee tracking software and the demand is growing. The software takes on nicknames like “bossware” or “tattlewear”. HR experts say companies need a balance especially where turnover is high and poaching of talent is prevalent.
In a Better Boss Now podcast, Joe Mull, said that the majority of employees are trustworthy. Companies would like to eliminate loafing or dishonesty. However, the use of the software sends a message of we don’t trust you. This dulls employees’ commitment to their company and likely reduces the desire to stay long term. Tracking software sends a powerful negative message… “we don’t trust you.” Whatever may be learned from tracking is outweighed with negativity.
Employers should define what goals employees should accomplish, and how they are to be measured. Once that is agreed upon, the company should step back and let the workers execute for themselves. Have system.
A proponent of such tracking states that it improves productivity, uncovers security threats, theft and safety matters. Federal laws do permit employee monitoring of communications for business reasons, but state laws vary widely.
A contrary view argues that it may have unintended consequences and hurt hiring and recruitment. If employees think they are being monitored they may be afraid to be creative or try new things as they will be subject to judgement or looked at as being wrong. It appears to stifle creativity according to Glassdoor and Indeed, two companies involved in hiring and recruitment. Microsoft surveyed 20,000 people in 11 countries and analyzed trillions of MS365d signals along with LinkedIn labor trends and concluded that managers need to ditch “productivity paranoia”. They also found that meetings per week increased over 150% since the start of the pandemic and see that employees are sending emails during meetings as they are double booked and suffering a time crunch and juggling lots of tasks.
The conclusion was that the shift to remote and hybrid work made it challenging to be confident that employees are being productive. Maybe the answer is good communications, agreed upon, measurable tasks and trust.