Why Employee Computer Monitoring Software Affects Employees’ Productivity?
Numerous blogs, ebooks, and whitepapers have been written about the positive effects of employee computer monitoring software. We, as a company that makes such software, were able to see first-hand how our clients achieved some amazing results thanks to their computer monitoring system.
Everyone was able to see a productivity bump, but besides that, companies were able to improve their project estimates, bill clients more accurately, and earn more money in the process.
Before we jump into explaining why the employee tracking program affects productivity, we should see why employee productivity levels are so low.
Main Productivity Reducers
Generally speaking, there are two reasons why employees need a long time to finish a task:
- They don’t have enough knowledge to complete the task
- They’re not paying enough attention to what they’re doing
It’s impossible to stay 100% productive at all times, you know it, your employees know it, everyone does. But the main reasons employees steer away from what they were doing are distractions. Most of the time, employees will take a quick look at their social media channels, or check their messages, which will make them spiral down the endless feeds. Once they do, it will take them about 20 minutes to fully concentrate on the task they were given.
The same thing happens with coworkers who talk loudly or come to ask questions. All of these are distractions both you and your employees are facing on a daily basis. Luckily, a staff tracking software will allow all of you to see how much time you’ve spent on unproductive activities, so you can change your behaviour to achieve better results.
But, the question remains — why employee computer monitoring software affects employees’ productivity so much?
Deterrence
Deterrence is defined as “the action of discouraging an action or event through instilling doubt or fear of the consequences.”
We hate you break it to you, but when you notify your employees you’ll be installing a computer monitoring software for business, their first though will probably be how they’ll be punished if they spend too much time on social media. However, this isn’t a good way of using the software, and we strongly advise against nitpicking on every single second your employees didn’t spend working.
Even though they will be afraid of the consequences, that doesn’t mean you should impose them.
Hawthorne Effect
Hawthorne effect, or the observer effect, is a term used for situations in which people behave differently because they’re being watched. Initially, this term was coined because of the research conducted at the Hawthorne Works company. The idea of the research was to see how employees' productivity changes depending on the light levels in the factory. However, the researchers determined that light had no effect on productivity, but that the productivity levels were higher when observers were present.
Thanks to this research, we know why user activity monitoring tools affect productivity so much.
Employee Monitoring and Productivity Stats
Over the past few years, we’ve worked with clients from many different industries, and they were kind enough to share the results they achieved with us. Thanks to their numbers we’ve concluded that:
- Clock-in data was by 15% more accurate in the companies who use employee computer monitoring software
- Tasks are completed in 25% less time, which generated up to $10 million in savings per year
- Average productivity levels grew by 26 to 32%
Final Thoughts
Did you ever think about why employee monitoring affects productivity so much? Let us know in the comments what do you think is the main reason for this.
