What is Employee Monitoring Software? Everything You Need To Know

Get answers to all your doubts and queries related to Employee monitoring software. Its relevance, importance, benefits and need in this time and age. 

Remote working is the new normal! However, domains like field sales, medical representation, and door deliveries have always been out-of-office jobs. Employee monitoring software automates the employee management process completely.

The demand for employee tracking solutions is at an all-time high. Companies have realised their potential and are willing to build an efficient and more productive team with actionable data.

What is Employee Monitoring Software?

Employee monitoring solutions add value to your company and your team operations.

It’s a myth that employee management software is for tracking employees and their tasks. Yes, they are, but their relevance goes beyond tracking. A good employee monitoring software offers a comprehensive solution that simplifies the working process.

Employee monitoring software, as the name suggests, is used for keeping an eye on employees’ performance and fetching actionable insights. It helps in spotting the most punctual employees or the ones who are hardworking. You can appreciate those who outperformed others and encourage the ones who underperformed.

Rising Demand For Employee Monitoring Solutions

Demand for employee tracking software rose exponentially during the pandemic. Earlier, only field force teams asked for employee tracking software. However, things changed after the pandemic. The work-from-home culture also cultivated the need for employee tracking tools amongst in-office groups.

The pandemic stimulated a massive spike in the adoption of surveillance technology globally. Most companies are considering the hybrid model, if not the remote model, as the future of employment. However, the pandemic has also boosted the incorporation of surveillance technology in traditional field jobs. Software-enabled employment management brings in-office and on-field employees on one platform. Therefore, team coordination becomes a cakewalk.

Benefits of Employee Monitoring Software

Tracking = Monitoring = Growing

Employee Monitoring software solutions also extend benefits to employees, like the convenience of marking attendance, reporting to the manager, archiving data, and more. Earlier, everything needed to be done physically on paper and archiving reports, documents, and collaterals would need storage.

Improves Productivity – According to a study conducted by Forbes in 2018, only 22.9% of sales representatives use time management methods. In field jobs, time plays a crucial role in defining the team’s performance. Every minute wasted is an opportunity missed as another rep will steal the chance. When the employees know they are under surveillance, they perform better as everything goes on the record.

Boosts Profits – Software-aided employee management ensures limited instances of time theft. The increase in productivity means an increase in profits. The employee monitoring tool comes with a bunch of solutions that enhance the overall efficiency. The expense management tool enables accurate remunerations and reimbursements.

Enhances Data Accuracy – One thing that software ensures is the accuracy of data. The scope of human error is limited to negligible. The more accurate the data is, the better the analytics. Guess what? The possibility of insider attacks is also restricted. The best part is we do not have to make an added effort to fetch data; it happens automatically around the clock. Employee management software takes care of it.

Better Employee Management – Gone are the days when managers had to keep an eye on subordinates and their tasks. Employee tracking software like TrackoField monitors the employees round the clock, aiding managers to concentrate on better and bigger matters. The software also bridges the gap in terms of distance, time and designation. Executives can report, reply and raise queries in real-time. Similarly, managers can acknowledge or revert to the executives in real-time from anywhere without wasting a moment.

Read More: Know the Benefits of Field Employee Tracking Software

Acceptance for Employee Tracking Software Amongst Employees

ABSOLUTELY!

You’ll not believe it but modern employees are welcoming employee monitoring software as they want transparency. Gartner’s 2018 report revealed how around 30% of employees are okay with employers monitoring their performance, emails and tasks, whereas, in 2015, only 10% of employees were comfortable with monitoring.

An Accenture survey of 2019 reported that 62% of organisations use new employee tracking tools to fetch data on their workforce. However, the surprising part is that 92% of employees were okay with their organisation collecting data on them and their tasks. 61% said they agreed to improvement in their performance and more-customised compensations.

Employees also expect something in return when an employer takes data on them and their activities. So what do we mean by responsible use of employee monitoring software?

• Let employees have control over their data.

The primary objective of the software for enabled employee monitoring is to establish transparency and better analytics. If employees are given access to their work-related data, they can analyse their performance by themselves and work on areas that require improvement. Almost 73% of employees surveyed wish to have their work-related data and take it with them when they leave their jobs.

• If employees enjoy benefits, let them take responsibility.

When employees have access to their work data, they take responsibility for their actions or performances. An automated employee management system takes managers’ load off as employees monitor their own performance.

• Automatic reporting and reduced phone calls

Optimise field force management with fool-proof metrics and reliable data. It helps generate automatic reports on distance travelled, orders placed and many other factors. Therefore, reducing the hassle of maintaining manual records. You get live updates and location tracking on the app, which reduces the number of calls managers would make to the team members to get updates.

• Use tech to provide what employees genuinely deserve. 

The accuracy of data is impeccable in software-backed employee monitoring. The scope of discrepancy is negligible. Therefore, it helps provide employees with better opportunities and growth prospects. Employees feel content as the software ensures transparency and fairness in decision-making.

Essential Features Of Employee Monitoring Software

We believe we have debunked the myth that employee tracking solutions breach employees’ privacy. No organisation wants to make their employees feel unsafe and cheated. Employees have grown out of such assumptions and accepted the software-backed employee management.

Let us explore the features that good employee management software offers other than live tracking.

• Task Management Solutions: Everything is possible through a single platform, from planning tasks to assigning and monitoring them. Managers can track the tasks in progress from anywhere at any given time, switch the task assignee and track the task progress. Employees can also raise queries regarding tasks, update the status/report, mark them done and move forward
•  Expense Management Tool: Managing employee expenses, claim requests, and reimbursement are some taxing tasks. Field employee monitoring software simplifies the process by reducing the lengthy reimbursement process to a few clicks.
•  Attendance Monitoring Solutions: The software enables the ease of marking attendance. Automatic attendance marking is also an option. The data on employees’ presence and absence is handy at all times. Real-time tracking of field employee strength, how many are on break and how many took a half-day off – every detail is a few clicks away.
• Leave Management System: Managers get a notification every time an employee applies for leave. When leave requests keep piling, an alert is sent to the manager. Employees can apply for leaves via the app. They can keep track of their PL(Paid leave), EL(Earned leaves), CL(Casual leaves), and Sick leaves(SL)and plan their days off accordingly.
• Calendar Scheduling: A monthly calendar allows easy scheduling of tasks. All the details pertaining to tasks such as date, time, assignee, etc for each employee is at your disposal in a single place.
• Order Management Tool: This in-built tool comes in handy when your sales executives place client orders remotely. With API integration the product inventory gets listed on the software that employees can access via their app. The order is billed online and managers get notifications pertaining to each order billed by field employees.
• Chatbox and Custom Forms: Good employee monitoring software such as TrackoField offers an inbuilt chat room that cuts the hassle of switching apps to discuss a task over a chat. Custom forms and fields allow you to design forms as you like.

Read More: Best Employee Monitoring Software You Can Use in 2023

The Final Note – Employee Monitoring Software 2023

With the growing demand for employee monitoring tools, software providers are exploring the true potential of the technology. New technologies and updates will enhance the user experience and increase the use cases.

New-age technologies like AI and Machine learning will make these tools more intelligent and responsive. It will make way for precise behavioural and predictive analysis. Therefore, spotting red flags and prospective challenges becomes easier.

Better time management, task delegation and employee appreciation are only possible if there are fool-proof insights into team operations on all levels. Get in touch with Team TrackoField to unearth what this advanced employee tracking solution has in store for you.

Frequently Asked Questions About Expense Management

Q.1 How to select the best Employee Monitoring Software?

Ans: Choosing the right field employee tracking software is harder than it seems. It involves multiple steps:

1. Thoroughly screen features of employee management software
2. Software demonstration to check user friendliness
3. Free trial to check compatibility and adaptability
4. Check for software customisation to suit your needs
5. Consider software that offers accurate and detailed reports and analytics
6. Opt for the software that integrates seamlessly with other apps and tools you use.

Q.2 How TrackoBit is the Best Software for Employee Monitoring?

Ans: TrackoField from the house of TrackoBit is the leading employee monitoring software. Other than robust solutions and on-point accuracy, here’s what makes TrackoField the primary choice among enterprises:

• Wide range of practical and flexible features
• Custom Solutions and Reports
• 24*7 Technical Support
• Latest and most sophisticated tech stack
• Regular updates and new features
• Seamless API integration 

Q.3 What is the Purpose of Employee Monitoring Software?

Ans: Employee management software holds more value than just a means for tracking the whereabouts of employees. Its purpose includes:

• Analysing team productivity
• Tracking the right utilisation of time
• Aid in policy drafting and enforcement
• Employee accountability and promotions
• Discovering concerning trends and risk management 
• Workflow optimisation

Q.4 Is Employee Monitoring Legal?

Ans: The legality of employee monitoring via software depends on the jurisdiction and circumstances. However, in general, employers hold all the rights to monitor employee activities within the workplace or extended workplace in case of field/on-site jobs with the consent of the employee and them already aware of the tracking.

It’s workable as far as the employer complies with all the privacy laws, ensures data security and has legal guidance pertaining to laws and regulations concerning employee monitoring.

Q.5 What are the pros and cons of employee monitoring?

Ans: There are more pros than cons of employee monitoring via software. The pros include:

• Better visibility into team operations
• Insightful decision-making backed by data
• Enhanced accountability of work
• Transparency of data at all levels
• Lesser scope for human error 
• Faster turnaround time for tasks
• Streamlined workflow and optimal resource allocation

The cons include:

• Potential trust issue among employee
• Possibly increased stress on employees
• Possibility of micromanagement and surveillance culture

Diksha Bhandari

Currently creating SaaSy content strategies for TrackoBit and TrackoField, this content professional has dedicated a decade of her life to enriching her portfolio and continues to do so. In addition to playing with words and spilling SaaS, she has a passion for traveling to the mountains and sipping on adrak wali chai.

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