In the times of remote and hybrid work culture, it is well understood how important computer tracking software is. Though employees and employers both have different scales of apprehensions and opinions regarding it.
Therefore, on that note, let’s have a look at the advantages and disadvantages of computer tracking software.
The Advantage of Computer Tracking Software
Here are some advantages of employee computer tracking software:
1. Time Tracking
An employee computer tracking software is working as employee time tracking software used to make a difference between time usage done by employees who are engaged in their work and ones who are killing time at the cost of the company’s productivity.
2. Identify Malicious Acts
Let’s say your organization has a set rule of prohibiting social media websites during working, then such computer monitoring software detects the breach in the rule and shares the proof either in the form of screenshots or URLs, etc to the relevant employer.
Besides, employees work with the company’s sensitive data which needs to be kept confidential. In case, any employee tries to transfer the data to his storage device or transfers the same to his mail ID, there comes the benefit of installing computer tracking software in your workforce PCs.
3. Sends Alert in Case of Violations
In case of any sort of company policy violation, an alert is sent to the concerned administrator with supporting documents.
If such violations continue to take place by the employee, the management can take appropriate action against the employee in the future.
4. Device Control
Some advanced computer tracking software is designed to give device control to the admin. In case an employee is found breaching company policies and continues to do. So then, the management can take this call of controlling the employee’s device.
5. Enhances Employee Engagement
It goes without saying that if your organization is leaving no stone unturned when it comes to engaging your employees in work. Either by monitoring them or motivating them, then for sure such software proves to be a boon for the organization.
6. Decreases Supervision
An employee computer tracking software eases out the managing part for supervisors and managers in terms of targeted goals and deadlines.
It reduces micromanaging in the first place which as a result saves time and energy for the supervisors.
7. Enhances Productivity
As per a study by MIT University (USA), it is believed that when employees are aware of the fact of computer tracking in their devices, their efficiency is enhanced by 7% and so increases employee productivity in proportion.
8. Guaranteed Objectivity
Generally, employees have this complaint of facing biased decisions by their leaders. On that note, the daily reports generated by computer tracking software provide a clear picture of his employees’ performance, their status of progress & work behavior.
9. Collection of Data for Analytics
No matter how well your employees perform, there is always room for improvement. Being a supervisor or team leader you need to think of the necessary growth of your team.
Therefore, employee time tracking software helps to optimize the distributed task, adjust or reshuffle schedules, and simplify some complex processes by generating supporting data.
10. Enhances Manager’s Efficiency
A lot of time and energy of a manager is invested in understanding his employees’ working patterns, the entire day schedule, and in what activities their entire day is spent.
Therefore, computer tracking software covers it all by capturing details like the time the user was active on his PC, the time he took a break, the time he finished his day, etc.
11. Ability to Supervise Remote Employees
Without an iota of doubt, it is as important to monitor and track remote employees as it is to control employees sitting in the office.
Therefore, such software provides the same detailed information about remote employees’ day as for the office employees.
The Disadvantage of Computer Tracking Software
Here are some disadvantages of employee computer tracking software:
1. Privacy Issue in Employees
Employees feel offended and at times humiliated when computer tracking practices are not executed properly and breach employees’ privacy concerns.
2. Ruin Relationships with Employees
Since there is a proper method of implementing computer tracking provision and if that is not done by the books or keeping transparency, you can damage your relationship with the employees which can also result in high employee turnover.
3. Legal Concerns
Globally, the concern for data privacy and privacy at the workplace is picking up pace, therefore if your tracking and monitoring methods have loopholes then the privacy concerns can bring up legal issues.
4. Ethics of Employee Computer Tracking
If your organizational policies fail to answer some concerns regarding ethics of computer tracking like to what extent your employees are being tracked? Are your employees aware of some sort of computer tracking? For what purpose are you going to use the data? Then your organization may face serious repercussions from offended employees.
5. Can Prove to be Expensive
A good amount of investment is required in implementing employee monitoring software, therefore if your business is a small or medium-sized enterprise then it may add to your operational cost. Besides, installing such software requires a pre-study of what you are getting into as per your requirements.
Moreover, no one wants to invest in tracking employees’ computers when he has limited funds to run his business.
6. Managers go Untracked
So, in general, it has been observed that managerial level computer tracking is not practiced in organizations which again brings up a sense of discrimination in employees regarding the authority of higher and lower hierarchy of the organization.
7. Downgrade Motivation
No employee would like to know that he is being tracked and hence this brings a sense of low motivation. It leads them to think that his organization hardly trusts him on work. Therefore, this also leads to a feeling of non-belongingness.
8. Employee Inconvenience
The practice of computer tracking brings up a sort of inconvenience in employees’ work routines. Normally, computer tracking software comes up with a feature of pressing an option of ‘start’ when an employee starts off his work duty. Not just that, such software demands clicking on an option of ‘ on-break’ whenever the employee wants to take a break.
Therefore, all these formalities build up extra stress in employees’ minds which they want to get rid of.
Moreover, as it is a human tendency to forget things, skipping such a process can cause them to list unproductive employees.
Conclusion
Every organization has its daily challenges to encounter productivity concerns. Based on the above-mentioned points on the advantages and disadvantages of computer tracking software, you decide what matches yours.
Ponder upon the solutions for cons that you face while using computer tracking software.
