Top 15 employee monitoring software industry trends 2023

We are WorkTime employee monitoring software for 20+ years promoting a healthy work relationship by providing top-notch productivity reporting and enabling transparent work environments.

The modern workspace is focused on humane efficiency monitoring. This is not just another management life hack list. A good employee monitoring software is more than just a timesheet. Many of the most known tools appear to be just that. - According to the ILO, Americans work 137 more hours per year than Japanese workers, 260 more hours per year than British workers, and 499 more hours per year than French workers. - At least 134 countries have laws setting the maximum length of the work week; the U.S. does not. - In the U.S., 85.8% of males and 66.5% of females work more than 40 hours per week. - According to the Center for American Progress on work and family life balance, in 1960, only 20% of mothers worked. Today, 70% of american children live in households where all adults are employed. Current trends highlight employees who track their productivity by invading their privacy, as opposed to using non-invasive employee monitoring software, are more likely to report time inaccurately, which could cost you big.

Demand for employee monitoring software is rising due to the hybrid work model

The hybrid work model has become a lord and savior of the post-covid business world. In 2022, Forrester Research predicted a dramatic shift to a hybrid work model across the US and EU. In the survey, 70% of companies stated they plan to implement a hybrid work model by the end of last year. In addition, according to ZipRecruiter, about 39% of new hires search for hybrid work arrangements, while 18% look for fully remote positions. These figures and Forbes research show that employees strongly prefer companies that offer remote or hybrid work options. Though, at first glance, the rise of the hybrid work model offers employees freedom and flexibility, it is a challenge for employers. On the one hand, a work-from-home policy can give you a competitive edge in attracting “fresh blood.” But on the other hand, all remote work accompanies fluctuating employee productivity, regardless of location. This, in turn, (for the first time in history) absolves all kinds of employee monitoring software of all the blame the “conspiracy theories” of the past have placed. Before Covid, there was no positive attitude among employees toward monitoring. But now, being the most seamless solution within hybrid and remote options, monitoring software finally enters its “golden hour.”

The demand for computer monitoring software grows with the increasing number of remote workers and hybrid work schedules.

This software allows employers to track and assess efficiency, identify potential risks, and evaluate and create informed prognoses for project timelines and deadlines. Plus, it helps ensure compliance with industry standards. Modern employee monitoring software diversifies businesses between “on-site” and remote work. For instance, WorkTime allows users to list multiple IP addresses tagged as “office” or “remote” work locations. This way, businesses can effectively monitor and optimize their workforce irrespective of their working environment and gather statistics on which “mode of operation” gives better results.

Invasive employee monitoring causes increased stress in employees

Surfing social networks, freelancing during working hours, or playing solitaire - are you sure all this is not about your employees? On the other hand, employee monitoring software that allows access to real-time information like keystrokes, browsing activity, emails, and chat apps seem like (and at times is) a 100% invasion of privacy. According to Harvard Business Review - 60% of companies with remote workers use employee monitoring software. - Global demand for employee monitoring software increased by 65% between 2019-2022. - 67.6% of North American employers with 500+ employees use employee monitoring software. However, the research also highlights the intrusive nature of monitoring, with 59% of employees feeling stress and anxiety about workplace surveillance.

WorkTime fosters trust by offering a healthy balance between productivity monitoring and privacy.

According to BBC experts, the risk of monitoring expanding beyond its initial purpose can be challenging. Excessive surveillance and analysis can harm workplace morale and lead to counterproductive behaviors. An imaginary generalized employee has a strong negative attitude toward “employee monitoring”. A survey of 750 tech workers revealed that half prefer to quit rather than endure constant monitoring. What if browsing TikTok is your job? Imagine a marketing manager looking for a suitable influencer to further your brand recognition.

Non-intrusive software like WorkTime allows productivity tracking without compromising privacy.

Non-invasive monitoring solutions like WorkTime allow users to add a list of the apps and website links tagged as “productive,” whether it is mentioned above TikTok or cursed Excel, which cannot possibly be considered as “fun time.”

Mobile employee monitoring and Geofencing

According to Forbes, 69% of employees admit that they don’t monitor their time accurately. Mobile apps for monitoring time are not new technology, per se, but they’ve become more common. Using employee monitoring software on a mobile device allows companies to gather data about employees who work hybrid schedules or have field responsibilities.

Mobile productivity monitoring software follows the new rules by enabling productivity tracking for workers with office, hybrid, and remote schedules.

Another trending element of employee monitoring is the implementation of geofencing or using GPS to trigger a virtual boundary. This was once only popular as a real-time marketing technology enabling auto-check-ins on Facebook when you arrive at a restaurant. Now, some software applications offer the option of setting up employer notifications and automated employee clock-in and clock-out reminders based on a predefined map area. It’s no surprise that the combination of mobile employee monitoring and geofencing has taken off, as they have the potential to reduce employee error and save employers thousands.

Global regulations are changing employee monitoring software

The Electronic Communications Privacy Act has been in force in the United States since 1986. This is the only law in the US that protects employees from workplace surveillance. It prohibits employers from intentionally eavesdropping on employees' private conversations. Today, the law does not consider social networks and other forms of communication. Believe it or not, businesses don’t care about personal relationships and data as much as it is set to in the modern media. They sensationalized unethical and unlawful employees monitoring sales, slowly dying papers, and creating traffic for new digital media. On the other hand, businesses must navigate these murky waters to streamline work, nudge employees to make efficient use of working time and prevent the employees from harming the company's reputation.

WorkTime follows modern legal frameworks to balance monitoring and privacy invasion and ensure compliance.

Employee monitoring in the US

In the United States, employee monitoring is generally legal, allowing employers to monitor employees' activities on their devices. However, valid business reasons must support the monitoring, and some states require employee consent. In addition, federal legislation does not mandate employers to disclose the monitoring to their workers.

Employee monitoring in the EU

In the EU, employee monitoring is legal but subject to regulations. Employers must have legitimate business interests for monitoring, and employees must be informed about the monitoring. Principles of legality, legitimacy, and proportionality apply across EU countries. Compliance with the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is essential, emphasizing consent, transparency, and data protection.

Employee monitoring in the UK

In the UK, employee monitoring is recognized and permitted, but it must comply with the laws. The Data Protection Act and the Employment Practices Data Protection Code provide guidelines for monitoring employees. Employers must follow principles such as lawful, fair, and transparent monitoring, specifying the purpose of monitoring, and respecting data protection rights. In addition, employers are generally required to inform employees of the monitoring, with exceptions for covert monitoring in certain investigation scenarios.

General outlook on current regulations informational

In any country where you work with people and need to monitor their efficiency, there is a separate set of regulations to safeguard people’s privacy. So it would be prudent to get legal advice from a local specialist before implementing any surveillance software. The regulatory requirements for monitoring employees vary significantly from country to country. However, WorkTime is equipped to meet the diverse monitoring needs of companies worldwide.

Employee monitoring software adapts to BYOD & current need for the device and cross-platform compatibility

The times of the “holy wars” between Mac and Windows are over. Now, thank god, we live in the era of hybrid everything. Now software must be usable on any device and platform. Otherwise, the developers will drastically cut the potential user pool. Regarding “corporate devices,” there is a new trend called BYOD. And according to the latest stats, 95% of organizations worldwide have actively implemented some BYOD policies, and the BYOD market is predicted to grow to $366.95 billion by 2024. BYOD policy allows employees to use personal computers, smartphones, and tablets to access work-related information.

BYOD takes remote monitoring and management to the next level of trust. WorkTime is fully equipped to address employers' needs regarding productivity monitoring for any device, base system, or place on the planet.

Employee privacy and data security should be considered when monitoring employees’ computer activities and productivity on such devices. Employers need to use non-intrusive employee monitoring software that only collects data related to the employee’s job duties and does not invade the employee’s privacy outside of those hours. Additionally, legal experts advise businesses to obtain written acknowledgments from their employees stating that they understand the policy’s regulations and are willing to grant appropriate access to their devices for employee monitoring. The shift towards the hybrid work model is gaining momentum as employers and employees recognize the advantages of remote work. Technologies like Remote Desktop Connections (RDC) have become indispensable for seamless remote work, providing convenient access to office resources from anywhere. However, some companies are also returning to the traditional "in-office" format. In both cases, reliable device tracking is crucial for employee monitoring software, whether it's for remote workers or office-based employees.

As the rise of the hybrid work model and BYOD trend dictates ensuring device and operating system compatibility, WorkTime employee monitoring software is ahead of the curve by being adaptable and fitting any system or device.

One of the significant challenges for employee monitoring software is its ability to function across various devices and operating systems. Employees use various devices, such as laptops, desktops, smartphones, and tablets, operating on platforms like Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android. To effectively monitor employee activities, monitoring software must seamlessly adapt to these varied environments while prioritizing data privacy and security. In 2023, monitoring software should address several key challenges: reliable device tracking for remote workers and office-based employees, compatibility across various devices and operating systems, prioritization of data privacy and security, and providing comprehensive reports with valuable insights into employee activities.

WorkTime provides non-invasive and efficient monitoring of time spent on tasks, tracks worker activities, and assesses productivity across various devices and operating systems. In addition, WorkTime adheres to strict privacy standards while delivering comprehensive reports.

Demand for consolidating data from on-site and off-site grows

According to Forbes, 32% of workers desire to continue working remotely, and 73% are already in a hybrid or fully remote setup. These numbers indicate that a significant portion of the workforce prefers remote work. The fact that nearly a third of the workforce wants to continue working outside the office suggests the need for new policies. As remote work continues to be a prevalent trend, the demand for hybrid work arrangements is rising. Employees prefer working in the office 1-2 days a week and remotely for the remaining days, typically from home.

Employers must prioritize comprehensive monitoring software to effectively manage and monitor office-based and remote employees.

Office-based monitoring: Direct observation offers real-time insights into employees' activities in an office setting, fostering accountability and transparency. Monitoring software tracks PC activity to ensure tasks are completed, and company guidelines are followed, combining direct observation with digital monitoring to create a productive work environment. Remote monitoring: Remote work presents unique challenges as employees rely on personal devices and home networks. Tracking and ensuring productivity among remote teams can challenge managers due to these nuances. While surveillance can be helpful, it's important to balance monitoring and respecting privacy. Here are a couple of tips for managing remote teams: - Clarify expectations - Communicate frequently - Foster team spirit - Provide regular feedback - And utilize collaboration, management, and monitoring tools In addition, by comparing office and remote work productivity, you can make informed decisions and easily filter shifts by location to delve into employee performance. To make your processes data-based, and evaluate the influence of your workplace on your team's productivity, choose modern monitoring software to gather user data.

To see how suitable software can enhance productivity for both office-based and remote employees for yourself, start your free trial of WorkTime today.

The end of the “feature race” in employee monitoring

A couple of years back, all software developers on the planet decided, “We need more features, big and small!” thus started a useless feature race. It didn’t matter if this function was valuable to the user; the sheer number of buttons was the goal. Feature race bore flawless Face IDs bypassed by brothers and other relatives, obnoxious number of cores build into a PC, and overall products covered with makeup and glitter of “over-function.”

WorkTime embraces innovation. However, we refuse to flaw a comprehensive employee monitoring software solution with useless features.

Thankfully, the current trend is “less is more”. WorkTime house rules strictly forbid “invention for the sake of it.” So our developers’ team has the pleasure of daily struggle with the client's immediate and real needs. Therefore every feature showcased on our corporate website is tightly connected to our service's main and obvious purpose - to provide a client with the miracle of flawless efficiency data and productivity stats anywhere, anytime. - If an immediate need to create a new feature for a specific client or a group of regular customers arises, we focus on maintaining the integrity of a wholesome solution. - Suppose a developer needs to make the product more attractive to the consumer. In that case, it is better done by enhancing our integrating capabilities, allowing all the platforms and products to be interconnected at the client’s disposal. - If, even on a whimsical basis, a client wants a custom-made solution or an app, we strive to make the app adaptable to clients' needs without losing the initial price per value rates.

WorkTime focuses on the factors to meet the needs of both – the employer and the employee – ease of use, intuitive interface, and customization options.

1. Comprehensive, integrated technologies: A good monitoring tool should offer integrated technologies, providing a holistic view of your network infrastructure. 2. Preconfigured integrations: Look for a tool that offers preconfigured integrations for easier setup. This saves time and ensures seamless compatibility with your existing systems. 3. Plugin-free functionality: Choose fully functional software without installing add-ons or plugins. This simplifies the setup process and ensures a streamlined monitoring experience. 4. Customizable visibility: Look for customizable dashboards and topology maps that provide various visibility options. This allows you to tailor the monitoring interface to your needs and easily track network performance. 5. Flexible alerting and notifications: A good monitoring software should offer customizable alerts and notifications. This enables you to set up alerts based on specific thresholds and receive timely notifications through various communication channels. 6. Easy-to-share reports: Ensure the tool provides customizable and easy-to-share reports for different audiences. This functionality simplifies reporting processes and facilitates effective communication. 7. Automated processes: Look for automation features like automatic network discovery. This saves time and effort by automatically detecting and adding network devices to the monitoring system. 8. User-friendly interface: Choose a monitoring software with easy installation, setup, and clear user interfaces. This ensures a smooth user experience and minimizes the learning curve. 9. High availability: Look for a failover mechanism in the monitoring tool to ensure continuous monitoring even if the system running the tool experiences failures.

WorkTime is monitoring software that encompasses essential and beneficial functions. Its comprehensive, integrated technologies and client support provide a holistic and compatible monitoring solution.

Your business should focus on serving customers, not micromanaging your employees’ time. With efficient employee monitoring software, you can keep track of all the hours your employees work with minimum effort.

Employee monitoring software turns to biometrics

According to market research firm the IMARC group, the global biometrics market reached US$ 33.2 billion in 2022. The biometric technology industry is projected to be worth as much as $59B by 2025, per CB Insights’ Industry Analyst Consensus. Biometrics is revolutionizing how businesses track employee attendance and enhance security. These systems analyze hand geometry, iris scans, voice recognition, signature recognition, and facial recognition to authenticate employees and track their login and logout times.

Using advanced technology to verify unique physical characteristics, biometric systems provide a seamless and accurate identification method. WorkTime can record employee logins regardless of the identification method.

Biometrics involves measuring and analyzing a person’s physical or behavioral characteristics. Because biometric data — such as a person’s fingerprint or voice — is unique to each individual, it’s useful for authentication and access control. While biometric technology is still quite new and has several challenges to overcome, it’s a growing market, and some advantages encourage increased adoption. For example, biometrics is often more secure than other authentication options, more convenient for customers, and more cost-effective for businesses. Biometric technology encompasses a variety of techniques that can be used to identify an individual, including: - Fingerprints: A fingerprint scanner can obtain around 30 specific points, or minutiae, in a single scan. No two individuals can have more than 8 minutes in common with one another, making fingerprints a very reliable biometric. - Facial features: A facial recognition system analyzes an individual’s facial features or patterns to authenticate their identity. This form of biometrics does not require any contact with the person. Eye scanning is another method of facial recognition. Eye scanners can identify an individual through iris recognition or through retina recognition, which looks for patterns of veins in the back of the eye. - Voice patterns: Speaker verification uses a person’s voice to confirm their identity. It’s often used for telephone-based secure systems, such as telephone banking. - Palms: Palm scanners may obtain verification by using geometric features such as finger length and hand width or scanning for unique vein patterns in the palm. - DNA: Encountered most often in forensics and healthcare, DNA testing is a useful tool to accurately identify a person by analyzing segments of their DNA. - Behavioral characteristics: Behavioral biometrics measure unique patterns of how an individual behaves rather than analyzing their physical characteristics. Behavioral biometrics include how a person walks, types, and gestures.

WorkTime team is keeping with the time, so we researched where biometric technology is used today and which industries could use biometric employee monitoring in the foreseeable future.

Beyond using your fingerprint or face to unlock your mobile phone, biometrics technology is being deployed across many industries — with some areas seeing more advanced adoption than others. Automotive: Biometrics is increasingly used in developing automotive technologies, mainly for security and driver safety. The global market for automotive biometric identification is expected to reach $303M by 2024, with a compound annual growth rate of nearly 17%, according to CB Insights’ Industry Analyst Consensus. However, those are end-user-focused functions that would not offer management any usable data on employee productivity. Fintech & banking: As financial services become more digital, banks and fintech are adopting stricter identification protocols to combat fraud, increase transaction security, and enhance customer experience. In 2022, about 60% of banks saw the total value and volume of customer fraud increase from 2021, according to a survey conducted by KPMG. The main growing fraud types include online, identity, and data theft. As a result, biometric tech has become a strategic part of financial service security platforms, whether for credit cards, ATMs, or online portals. According to Mastercard, the trend is also driven by customer preference — more than 90% of consumers would rather use biometric methods than passwords. But, biometrics still stays in the user data protection zone and does not apply to employee efficiency. Healthcare: Various aspects of the healthcare system could benefit from biometrics. For example, biometric data could enable faster patient identification in emergencies. It could also help prevent patient fraud and wrong prescriptions, common issues in the healthcare industry. New York’s Northwell Health of New York uses iris scans to address this. Biometrics could also protect patient privacy, making their health information available only to those with permission. Authorized doctors could verify their identity with a quick iris or fingerprint scan. Using facial recognition or fingerprints as part of multi-factor authentication could also advance telemedicine through accurate patient identification and secure digital access to patient information for the attending doctor. Healthcare is the only industry that would benefit from biometrics authentication as a part of the employee monitoring system. Hospitality: Though facial recognition is growing within the hospitality industry as a new way of providing better-personalized services for customers, it still needs to provide business management with additional data on internal productivity. The restaurant industry is also starting to use biometrics to remember customers’ order preferences. For example, Dallas-based BurgerFi and Malibu Poke use facial recognition to speed up ordering by bringing up customers’ favorite options. As you can see, this does not influence internal efficiency. Law enforcement and Border control: These industries are also the ones that can benefit from biometric tech infusion into the employee monitoring system. Fingerprint scanners at border customs have been in use for years. Scanned fingerprints are compared to the Automated Biometrics Identification System (ABIS) to identify anyone with a criminal track record quickly. However, fingerprints have a high false acceptance and rejection rate. Various countries, including Thailand, the UK, Canada, and the US, have explored iris scans and facial recognition as more reliable ways of identifying travelers. DNA and fingerprints are the two most reliably-used types of evidence in a criminal case. Officers can carry personal devices able to scan a suspect’s fingerprints quickly and immediately compared to the Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS). Worldwide, the trend of using facial recognition for live video feed identification has been growing. City-wide facial scanning surveillance systems in London, for example, led to the arrest of 3 violent criminals. Identifying criminals cannot be the sole purpose that facial scanning serves. A biometric identification system can help law enforcement and border control agencies to authenticate employees and facilitate access verification.

Companies must be increasingly aware of the challenges and risks as the world continues adopting biometric technology to benefit businesses and consumers.

AI takes its place in employee monitoring software

The greatest superpower AI brings to employee efficiency is unparalleled analytics. A-powered monitoring software can create reports out of vast amounts of data. By closely tracking and analyzing employee activities, AI-driven tools provide valuable insights and identify areas for improvement. However, it entails that your team must be vast as well. Thus, AI-powered monitoring software will only add a little value to any SMB entity.

Use monitoring software to enhance internal processes, optimize work schedules, and adapt to new work modes, not to brag to friends that you have an AI in your servitude.

Facial recognition technology, integrated with AI algorithms, adds an extra layer of monitoring to the workplace. AI algorithms improve facial recognition systems over time, making them more reliable in identifying individuals and detecting anomalies. Random checks during work hours enhance accuracy and deter inappropriate behavior. But if you are not MI 6, your business will hardly benefit instantly from installing cameras everywhere. Visual monitoring has become a “fashion choice” in recent years. Enhanced by AI, constant surveillance is another layer of distrust and paranoia. First, consider the levels of data secrecy you are operating under, then account for all the ethical considerations of using AI to monitor your employees.

The invasive nature of some software and evolving privacy norms may lead to changes in legislation.

Using AI to minimize managers' manual work while decoding “timesheets” and other productivity reports is a different approach. With the right tool, employees and companies can be confident that their security and privacy are not compromised. Meanwhile, some of the analytics is “outsourced” and automated, making all the internal decisions “data-based.”

WorkTime offers employers a non-invasive solution to monitor worker performance by tracking time spent on tasks and providing valuable insights.

Managers require BI & more efficient task monitoring

Only 21% of global workers surveyed identified as being actively engaged at work, and the employees who are not engaged or actively disengaged cost the world $7.8 trillion in lost productivity. That's equal to 11% of global GDP. Many businesses are finding ways to watch what their employees do all day to discover where lost time is going. During the pandemic, concerns about employee productivity skyrocketed the general interest in employee monitoring. Those with remote teams especially needed convenient tools for monitoring their teams’ online time. The result? Eight out of 10 of the largest private employers in the US monitored individual productivity, and even some small businesses now score their employees on the productivity metrics that matter most to them. Employee monitoring goals have expanded to include ways to make better use of a team, and like remote work, the component of employee monitoring is here to stay.

Productivity monitoring software became a “must-have” for businesses, from SMBs to mature enterprises.

Senior managers report wasting 16 days a year searching for printed documents. Employers have always cared about how employees spend their time, but now they want a more granular view — and it’s easier to acquire than ever. With employee monitoring tools often integrated as standard features in project management platforms, project managers can connect tasks with time. Instead of seeing a to-do list in one place and the day’s time logged in another, they can see how the variable time impacts current and future projects via tasks.

WorkTime digital reports allow your management to spend time productively, saving them up to 16 days a year.

When used to its fullest capacity, employee monitoring software that logs time per task is an unmatched efficiency tool. Monitoring employees at the task level makes repetitive tasks that take up lots of time stand out, thus giving leadership invaluable proof of which processes are redundant and good candidates for automation. In professional services, decisions to replace redundant tasks often free up time to build stronger client relationships. Task management platforms with built-in employee monitoring and helpful scheduling and task assignment tools are one of many types of business software expected to continue growing in popularity among businesses of all sizes.

Leadership teams demand employee monitoring software to provide advanced business intelligence

A Deloitte report shows that 73% of organizations are satisfied with the returns from automating their business tools and processes. Reporting has come a long way, and business owners who have the means to generate good data consistently tend to make smart decisions. It’s clear from the increased availability of advanced features in reporting software and data visualization tools that the average business owner now understands this connection.

Employee and productivity monitoring reports add to the overall business intelligence of your enterprise.

Employee monitoring data is no longer isolated from other types of business reports. Thanks to automated reporting and integrations, it’s often woven into project progress dashboards, client invoices, and profitability analyses. Smart employee monitoring tools can now gather more precise information. As business intelligence tools become more widespread, leaders can personally determine which time-based moves positively impact the business metrics they care about most without hiring third-party consultants or business analysts.

Businesses that opt for outsourcing boost the employee monitoring software market

The first outsourcing wave showed how easy it would be to scale your team. It allowed businesses to adjust their team for specific projects and goals. The second wave guided employers to eliminate preconceptions and troubleshoot the issues of overlapping foreign cultures and laws. The third wave is mostly characterized by exotic places, like the Philippines, India, Malaysia, and Indonesia, where businesses started to look for additional workforce. Employee monitoring software gained a special kind of momentum. Because from the start, scheduling, and control over the project posed a challenge for employers.

Employee monitoring software solves the issue of control over the outsourced teams.

In 2023, except for adding the Philippines and India to the list of prospective places to look for employees, the research found the following: - 45% of companies plan to increase their outsourcing since the pandemic, often focusing on finding skillsets they can't access in-house. - The cloud allows around 90% of companies to embrace more outsourcing opportunities by enabling teams to reach a wider range of distributed professionals. - By the end of 2023, IT outsourcing should exceed a spend of $1.3 trillion as companies increase their search for digital transformation experts. - The number one reason for outsourcing for 70% of companies is cost reduction, as outsourcing lowers the costs of hiring in-house staff. - Around 24% of small companies say they outsource to increase efficiency levels. Many small businesses also use outsourcing to access specialist skills. - Business process outsourcing is set to hit a value of $620 billion by 2032 as companies continue to work collaboratively with contractors.

The rapid rise of outsourcing gave a push to employee monitoring software popularity.

Many companies use offshore outsourcing teams as their core teams or as an addition to existing in-house departments. Meanwhile, productivity monitoring software focuses on remedying the typical challenges of offshore outsourcing teams and effective solutions for those who have just started using this approach. And best approaches to deal with outsourcing challenges are Time zone differences: Differences in office hours with your offshore outsourcing partner can cause communication delays and failure to meet previously agreed timelines. Effective interaction between the client and the outsourcing team is vital for business development. While a 2-3 hours delay is not a problem, a 5-8 hours delay needs specific solutions.

WorkTime reports allow for proper schedule planning and correct project timeline construction.

Modern enterprises use the Agile methodology for project management. It includes sprint planning, conducting scrum meetings, regular demos, retrospectives, and tech-related calls with team members and stakeholders. The location of an outsourced team is a very important factor. A correct schedule allows companies to conduct meetings worldwide during OG teams’ office hours and satellite teams. Businesses can maintain effective communication between all parties using productivity tracking software, messengers, and proper process management. The lack of control and unclear delivery expectations: This is one of the biggest concerns of outsourcing. Yes, having an in-house team, you will be able to check their progress as regularly as you want, and you will be able to adjust the project direction right on the spot. However, delegating your project to any third-party vendor, you must be ready to let go of the control and micromanagement to a certain extent. The key to solving this problem is transparent processes in the outsourcing team. Access to productivity reports, project management tools, and task trackers with detailed job reports will give you an understanding of what the team is doing at each particular moment, how much time is dedicated to each task, and how effective the performance is. Let us illustrate the benefits of non-invasive employee monitoring software using these crucial industries.ation could be among the most popular blockers in starting an outsourcing project. There are no guarantees that the vendor and its developers will understand you correctly in all details and make the right decisions. To ensure that communication is clear and there is a mutual understanding of short-term and long-term goals, make a continuous communication process one of the key elements of your cooperation. Productivity monitoring software allows all the teams to be on the same page. Especially if, right from the start, efficiency is added to principal workflow elements.

The need for non-invasive employee monitoring software grows in many industries

Are you ready for some horrifying news? According to the American Time Use Survey, Americans spent the following hours per day: Work-related activities - On weekdays - 1 hour 26 minutes - On weekends - 48 minutes Telephone calls, emails, and regular mail - On weekdays: 50 minutes - On weekends: 27 minutes By type of employment - Full-time: 8 hours 10 minutes daily - Part-time: 5 hours 19 minutes daily - People with one job: 7 hours 40 minutes daily - People with multiple jobs: 14 hours 55 minutes daily - People working for wages and salaries: 8 hours 40 minutes daily - The self-employed: 8 hours 47 minutes daily Another controversial time-waster is meetings. Nearly 21% of employees need to track their time in meetings, which costs businesses another $32,000 annually in lost revenue. Studies estimate that U.S. companies lose $8.8 billion in revenue daily due to untracked time. That’s a lot of money.

Accurate non-invasive employee monitoring software can help businesses stop leaking money.

Employee monitoring can also improve productivity by giving them more insight into their work. You can use non-invasive employee monitoring to identify workflow bottlenecks and find out who your most productive team members are. This can help you learn what works and recognize top performers. Non-invasive employee monitoring is especially important now as remote work is more common. Having an idea of your in-office team isn’t hard. All you need to do is drop by someone’s desk and ask if they’re on track for that 3PM deadline. Things are a bit more complicated when you’re operating remotely. “End of day” can mean any time, depending on location.

WorkTime aims to help you make data-driven decisions so everyone can work smarter.

Non-invasive employee monitoring helps you avoid disruptive check-ins and saves your team from stopping what they’re doing. It promotes transparency for managers and employees. With employee monitoring, leadership gets insight into how remote employees spend their work hours. Employees get a way to prove they’re working without constant check-ins. Let us illustrate the benefits of non-invasive employee monitoring software using these crucial industries.

The importance of non-invasive employee monitoring in the healthcare industry

Keeping track of all employees: The 2022 American Community Survey reflected in the Kaiser Family Foundation shows that the healthcare sector employed 22 million people. It accounts for 14% of all American workers. Healthcare requires time and resources to manage staff without proper tools. How do you calculate payroll? How do you marry the payment with the amount of accomplished work? It becomes even more complicated because medical employees have shift schedules, leading to mix-ups or errors. You may opt for digital solutions such as spreadsheets in Excel. They need more connectivity with other departments, and procedures vary from employee to employee, causing chaos. That’s why non-invasive employee monitoring systems are essential for accurate monitoring 24/7. Avoiding burnout: Long shifts are common in the healthcare sector. Medical doctors should focus on their patients’ conditions, not filling in the documents when they appear at the hospital. Employee non-invasive employee monitoring systems are crucial for removing this unnecessary step.

Non-invasive employee monitoring software allows healthcare professionals to avoid burnout due to paperwork.

Such solutions save the effort and money spent inputting and modifying staff hours and shifts. Mobile apps, GPS features, programmed reporting, and other features make these tools necessary in healthcare. Professionals can sign in and track their regular and overtime hours. No need to submit timesheets - non-invasive employee monitoring tools do everything for you.

Conserve attention for your job, and leave reporting to WorkTime's non-invasive employee monitoring software.

Fewer Human Mistakes: Accuracy and attention to detail are essential in the healthcare and medical industries. Efficient non-invasive employee monitoring software doesn’t just count how many hours employees spend at work during the day. It tackles potential timesheet problems. How? Businesses may track employee tiredness and overall health by examining the staff workload and shifts over time in non-invasive employee monitoring tools. This information may assist in minimizing stress as employers can give someone time off or compensate for the overwork. The bottom line is that such tools reduce the number of human errors caused by inattentiveness or hurry. Preventing Time Theft: Time theft is an act of not working during the stipulated period. It means employees don’t fulfill their duties during working hours, arrive late at work, goes home earlier than they can, or do their personal stuff. Time theft happens due to various reasons, such as lack of motivation when they feel overwhelmed by the number of duties; insufficient payment; when they think you won’t notice their absence.

WorkTime prevents time theft from healthcare providers.

The healthcare sector is the sphere where time theft may thrive. Employees can chat with their colleagues, extend their coffee breaks, or clock in for other workers to substitute. It may influence someone’s health, so you need solutions to prevent this. Modern tracking software can stop time theft in healthcare by holding workers accountable. You may understand the importance of non-invasive employee monitoring software. But there are many healthcare organizations with outdated approaches to measuring time. Poorly-managed staff time leads to various issues both at an individual and corporate level. Staff will suffer from missed deadlines, poor quality of work, stress, and exhaustion. Multiply it by the number of your medical employees; the negative effects will influence the entire organization.

The value of non-invasive employee monitoring in banking and financial institutions

Non-invasive employee monitoring has become a crucial workflow element in many fields. The financial service industry is no exception, as this practice enables tracking company progress and making informed decisions about the next business steps. WorkTime assesses your company's progress by collecting data on key performance indicators. KPIs are a way to quantify both the current state and historical trends within any business. Analyzing them can help managers, directors, and higher-ups resolve problems, bring positive changes, and get an insight into the profit and loss account.

Non-invasive employee monitoring software adds value to the financial industry.

The changes you can implement include task redistribution, adding productivity tools to the daily routine, identifying top and low performers among your staff and clients, and many other solutions. Non-invasive employee monitoring software solutions also improve the transparency of your business. This means that you will know both the progress of your projects on every level and avoid unfair work distribution. From the higher-ups and management down to tellers and other staff, tracking employee time can bring you many useful insights and point you to how you can improve your establishment’s profitability. Here are some of the opportunities non-invasive employee monitoring per employee brings: - Knowing whether your employees are using the entirety of their work hours - Understanding how effective your teams are - Identifying unproductive practices and distractors - Finding out who your top performers are and who needs some help or guidance - Tracking overtime, vacations, and sick time - Monitoring time utilization - Tracking time per task Non-invasive employee monitoring gives you an accurate insight into the current state of your company and the options for future improvements. Understanding how much time a certain type of task takes will also help you with future time assessments. Non-invasive employee monitoring also helps you identify oversights in the organization and errors in task delegation. Finally, it can help you determine whether to outsource certain activities to utilize time more efficiently.

Non-invasive employee monitoring gives you an accurate insight into efficiency and profitability on a service line level.

When it comes to financial services, it is important to differentiate between the profit margin from receiving deposits and loans and the profit from other services like currency exchange, safe deposit boxes, wealth management, etc. Equally important, you can account for the time going into all these activities.

What kind of effects can bad employee productivity have on a business?

What kind of effects can bad employee productivity have on a business? Decreased motivation and energy levels. Medical employees will feel dissatisfied with the amount of work they leave behind after the shift. It may cause the feeling of not being professional enough to complete everything. This feeling leads to lower productivity and motivation. Reduced energy results in poor performance. The company may set higher standards for employees, aggravating the issue rather than solving it. More employees will resign, so you’ll have to spend time hiring someone to substitute for them. Higher costs. The need to accomplish more before the next day causes many employees to overwork. That’s where the company may suffer. Working longer requires more resources or extra pay. Increased pressure causes more issues, so it’s another cost for a company to compensate for frequent sick leaves.

WorkTime benefits businesses in multiple industries, like healthcare providers, banks and financial institutions, law enforcement, defense contractors, and insurance providers, not just IT sector.

Increase in demand for employee monitoring software in the UK due to the switch from GDPR to DPA

The UK’s decision to leave the European Union (EU) has led to some confusion regarding the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). UK businesses may need clarification on GDPR compliance considering the two different regulations.

While UK businesses must ensure compliance with privacy laws when doing business in the EU. WorkTime complies with both the GDPR and the DPA.

How do the UK’s GDPR and EU’s GDPR compare?

The UK General Data Protection Regulation closely follows the same data protection rules as the EU General Data Protection Regulation. Furthermore, the UK Data Protection Act (DPA) essentially adapts the European Union GDPR rules for the UK’s legal system. The DPA outlines data privacy laws, the data protection measures that public bodies must follow and lists the enforcement powers and processes. All the EU’s data protection principles have been changed to fit the UK’s legal system. This covers all forms of personal data protection, including how it’s enforced, who enforces it, and how regular and systematic monitoring will happen. DPA is the UK’s GDPR. There is a slight modification for the UK version. Businesses must understand these differences to ensure GDPR compliance.

Employee monitoring software in the UK has become exceedingly more in demand because of the new data processing laws.

All data processing and collection of sensitive personal data before 31 December 2020 fell under the rules laid out in the EU’s GDPR. Any data collected after that (i.e., from 1 January 2021 onwards) falls under the detailed guidance of the UK’s GDPR. Think of the UK DPA as the UK implementation of the large-scale legal obligations of the EU’s original GDPR– now the UK’s version. The DPA also outlines the rules that every data protection officer must follow. An example is the national security sector, where the GDPR doesn’t apply. So, the UK DPA provides the regulation that must be followed for collecting and using personal data. The UK DPA also outlines the powers. The ICO is, as explained earlier, the Data Protection Authority in the UK, which works in a judicial capacity. Every data protection officer must follow the DPA, which is split into separate sections. All of these sections are presented in clear and plain language in such a way as to ensure easier access and more control over compliance.

DPA and Employee Employee monitoring

According to the Taylor Wessing Legal Group, monitoring employees is a controversial issue that companies rarely seek explicit consent. The law firm maintains that employee monitoring may be considered a high-risk practice and hence require a Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) report to be filed with the appropriate national data protection authority by the company’s data controller.

WorkTime software adapts to the new UK rules and regulations, allowing businesses to keep track of productivity without breaching employees’ privacy.

What should employers do? - Inform employees about monitoring practices in the workplace – how and why the employees are monitored. Have clear written monitoring policy guidelines in place. - Ensure the employees know the legal basis for processing their data. - Allow the concerned access to monitoring records. - Respect the privacy of personal communications and only require access when there is a good reason for it, like suspicion of criminal activity, breach of confidentiality, or leak of company secrets. - Limit monitoring to the necessary minimum warranted by business needs or legitimate interests. - Some employee time management and monitoring records obtained from electronic time clock solutions such as Unrubble may be subject to the regulation of biometric data processing in light of DPA.

Employee monitoring software vendors insist on transparency and employee consent.

For instance, when an employee clocks in by scanning a QR code, if the app records the image of the face of the employee, this can be construed as biometric data processing (Source: DLA Piper). Employers should ensure that they have a legitimate interest in processing such data. For example, to ensure that the employees arrive on time and clock in personally, especially where access to restricted areas is limited to specific persons. There is a need for strict control by using biometric data, like face/voice/fingerprint recognition software. With General Data Protection Regulation (DPA) coming into effect, several workplace policies must change to comply with the new law. Monitoring employees and employee monitoring practices is one of them. Learn how DPA will affect processes like keeping time sheets in your office.

Employers must inform employees about the rationale behind such data use.

Why use employee monitoring apps now that DPA has come into effect? Firstly, electronic solutions will make data processing record keeping much easier. As mentioned above, DPA will require much more record-keeping from employers on how personal data is stored and processed in their companies. Keeping such records manually would create problems and extra work for employers and HR professionals. However, if apps such as Unrubble.com are used, they can easily export data processing reports directly from the app. Secondly, by design principles of DPA, employers are legally obligated to implement systems for secure data storage and encryption. Data stored in Unrubble.com is encrypted using the secure socket layer (SSL) technology, which minimizes the risk of a data breach or loss compared to paper records. Although DPA is a large burden for employers, it provides an opportunity to update and streamline employee time management systems in your company. And since the benefits of implementing employee monitoring apps in a business are far greater than just compliance with the law – increased employee productivity and engagement, time and money savings, stronger leadership, and accountability DPA can provide a great opportunity to transform your business.

Modern employee monitoring software is not just about employee productivity but also about employer accountability.

Businesses adopt employee monitoring software to prevent business losses

The post-COVID period has led to economic decline in countries like the USA, Canada, and Europe. Thus, employers have become more demanding of employees, and monitoring is used more often. Unscrupulous employees can influence the success of a business. We need to work more, not less.

WorkTime users have progressed since pre-pandemic times, but business is still not meeting expectations. Satisfaction with work/life balance and employer's DEI and societal impact efforts have improved.

While these positive trends show Gen Zs and millennials are slightly more satisfied with their employers, they need to be convinced that business, more broadly, is having a positive impact. And new setbacks are hampering their ability to plan for their futures. Employee monitoring has many benefits. From boosting your productivity to allowing you to increase your hourly rate - there is a lot of scope for improvement. Technology and employee monitoring tools have helped business owners become more productive. It has made business management easier and allowed individuals to stay organized. But it can do much more. Increase in employee productivity: Employee monitoring allows employees to see exactly how much time they spend on each project, thus helping them to most effectively manage their workloads to stay productive while performing the assigned tasks. Besides, employees who work on projects or tasks outside their job description often need to realize how much time the task takes. Employee monitoring lets optimize time utilization on various task categories and improves accountability. Lots of businesses have started using employee monitoring software to monitor their employees. It helps identify the areas of improvement and facilitates HR work. Employee monitoring data can also assist in making better decisions about hiring, firing, billing, and many more, which makes employee monitoring applications very convenient for businesses of any size.

In the absence of employee monitoring, you risk falling multitasking, which is harmful, to say the least, as it causes feeling busy rather than productive. Furthermore, it results in a higher likelihood of cumulative stress.

Work prioritization: What if there was an option to direct your efforts to achieve cutting on distractions? The benefits of employee monitoring in this domain are clear for anyone who has been held accountable for their time. Knowing how you prioritize your time daily is essential in a business setting. This information can help you improve your productivity, create better workflows and ensure that nothing falls through the cracks. Billable Hours Calculation: There is a connection between employee monitoring and higher company profits. If we look at it carefully, the real cause of this great result is the activity tracking itself and the options to bill properly. Accuracy in tracking billable hours translates into billing efficiency. With proper analysis of employee monitoring data, HR can make plans, calculate employees' compensations, perform business operations in compliance with legal norms, determine which department is underutilized or overworked, and increase productivity using suggestions in implementing digital monitoring tools during the work process. Project cost optimization: One of the advantages of employee monitoring is that it enables you to run reports on project time and budgeting. This can be used for project cost optimization purposes or to analyze your team activities and more effective time allocation in creating value. When done right, employee monitoring allows for devising a clever protocol for understanding complex processes within a company, including its project profitability and upscaling models.

Employee monitoring software with “one dashboard reports” allows managers to evaluate projects' profitability at a glance.

Tracking project progress & better team management: For businesses, automated employee monitoring systems have become an essential tool for measuring employees' performance and evaluating project progress in real-time. For example, when employees work on different projects, it is important to know how much time is spent on each activity to calculate the cost and forecast the business outcomes. Employee monitoring also helps you avoid distractions by making them easier to spot and eliminating them if possible. Business owners will know exactly where team time is going and be able to schedule project-related activities accordingly so every team member can get the most out of their day.

Utilizing time metrics improves team communication and gives valuable insights into the task and team management.

As listed above, employee monitoring has many benefits for businesses and individuals, including increased productivity, better budgeting, and better awareness of what tasks are taking up your time. The first step to implementing employee monitoring is identifying why you want to apply it and finding a good software solution that fits your needs.

Employee monitoring landscape over time

Employers and employees can be at odds for many reasons, and employee monitoring is often one of them. While employers worry about theft, lack of productivity, and other issues, many employees feel violated by surveillance. The overall landscape and commonality of employee monitoring have changed significantly over time. Here are some essential facts about why noninvasive employee monitoring has become so big: - Between 2015-2020, companies that monitor their employees increased by over 166%. - The COVID-19 pandemic hugely impacted how common employee monitoring has become. It’s estimated that only 30% of companies monitored employees in 2015, compared to 80% in 2020. - Only 45% of companies electronically monitored employees in 1999. - That’s compared to the at least 80% who utilize electronic employee monitoring software today. In part, this can be explained by advancements in technology, but there’s also a concern about lacking employee trust. - The employee monitoring software market is expected to have a CAGR of 12.1% through 2026. - Likely, the share of companies that use employee monitoring software in the workplace will continue to increase. This is a notable upward trend, given that most companies already use employee monitoring software. - The global employee monitoring software market is worth $1.12 billion as of 2021. - And this massive value is only expected to increase going forward projected to reach a potential $2.10 Billion by 2030 at a growth rate of 7.2%. Previous international crises have shown that they are often never reversed once heightened surveillance measures are introduced. The developers of employee surveillance software also do their best to guarantee that their products become permanent fixtures of the modern workplace. The range and sophistication of surveillance technologies adopted worldwide have been on a huge rise. As remote work looks set to continue for the foreseeable future, invasive employee surveillance may also be here to stay. Thus, WorkTime tirelessly promotes a noninvasive employee approach. Noninvasive employee monitoring allows management to collect engagement data. According to the 2022 Engagement Survey, 70% of U.S. employees are somewhat disengaged. Unfortunately, this problem also means that workers need to care about the goals and success of a company. Consequently, the issue costs organizations $450 billion to $550 billion in lost productivity annually. Now, companies get insights into behavior analytics by utilizing noninvasive employee monitoring workers. Performance data will reveal the employees actively disengaged or at risk of heading in that direction. A survey published on Statista revealed that 61.6% of remote workers access social media sites during office hours. It's only natural for employees to get distracted occasionally and engage in cyberloafing. However, internet abuse can bring significant losses to a company if left unattended. A quick watch on YouTube may be harmless, but what if people visit pornographic or malware-ridden sites? Organizational performance may strengthen if companies monitor and address this behavior. Of course, policies on internet use can be useful in preventing these kinds of issues. However, detecting such activities with non-invasive employee monitoring software is easier. A study presented at the American Society of Businesses and Behavioral Sciences revealed that noninvasive employee monitoring apps effectively discourage inappropriate internet use for large organizations. The best thing about non-invasive employee monitoring systems, like WorkTime, is that they promote trust and transparency. A comprehensive efficiency management system lets you get insights into individual and team productivity without breaching employers' security or employee privacy. Noninvasive employee monitoring fortifies cybersecurity. According to an Accenture study, data breaches increased by 67% between 2019 and 2022. Indeed, cybersecurity should always be among the biggest concern for companies. Larger enterprises are especially vulnerable to such threats. After all, Verizon's 2023 Data Breach Investigations Report revealed that 85% of these breaches involved a human factor. By adopting a non-invasive employee monitoring and observing their activities, managers will get insights into risky behaviors that may result in data breaches. In case of a legal issue or cyberattack, the non-invasive employee monitoring software logs will serve as the "black box" for a company.

WorkTime follows and preempts industry trends. To check for yourself, get a 14-day free trial today!