What is Employee Tracking Software?

In the past, managers had to stand over their employees’ shoulders in order to see what their team was doing at work. But in today’s world, there are far more efficient ways to keep track of employee activity.

Employee tracking software allows employers to monitor every digital step their employees make on their computers. By using this software, employers can access the information they need to effectively manage employees and protect their company.

How Does Employee Tracking Software Work?

Employee tracking software can be installed on a Mac or PC device used by your employees, regardless of whether they work in the office or remotely. Once installed, the software will begin tracking and recording your employees’ activities.

You will be able to access the wealth of data collected by this software in a number of ways. A log of all recorded data is available, but it’s best to view the data in a chart, dashboard, or report to quickly find the information you need. You can also adjust the settings so you are immediately notified when employees engage in certain activities, such as visiting restricted websites or accessing confidential files.

You won’t have to spend time worrying about what your employees are doing at work—let employee monitoring software do the work for you. Now, you can focus your time and resources on more crucial tasks.

What Activities Can Employee Tracking Software Monitor?

An employee tracking system can record various types of data, including:

• Emails: See who your employees are emailing, what files they are sending, and what they’re talking about.
  
• Social media: See how much time employees spend on social media, what social media websites they visit, and whether or not your employees are searching for new jobs on social media during work hours.
  
• File tracking: See a history of the files your employees upload, download, transfer, delete, rename, print, modify, or email.
  
• Websites: See the keywords your employees search for, the URLs your employees visit, how much time your employees spend on each website, and more.
  
• Keystrokes: See a history of every keystroke your employees make on their computers.
  
• Screenshots: Take continuous screenshots of your employees’ computers at certain intervals throughout the day or adjust your settings so the software only takes a screenshot when certain keywords are typed or viewed on the screen.
  
• Program usage: See a history of the programs and applications your employees use while at work, including how much time they spend on each program or application.
  
• Hours worked: Keep track of what time your employees log in and log out, compare their active vs. idle time, and see how much time was spent on work-related tasks vs. personal tasks.

All of this information will be recorded and available to view at any time. Installing this software is the key to learning more about how your employees spend their time at work.

What Are the Benefits of Using An Employee Tracking System?

There are a number of benefits to tracking your employees’ digital activity, including:

• Improve Productivity
• Protect Sensitive Data
• Conduct Employee Investigations
• Check Compliance With Laws

Improve Productivity

Use employee monitoring software to evaluate the performance of each of your employees. The data collected by this software can help managers determine who is performing well and who isn’t pulling their own weight on the team.

Managers can also see which team members are wasting time at work by completing personal tasks, visiting social media websites, or engaging in other unproductive activities. You can use this information to better manage your team or determine which websites to block on your employees’ devices to help them focus.

Seeing how your employees spend their time at work can also help you identify which processes or clients are time-wasters. Having this information can help you make smarter business decisions that will improve your team’s productivity.

Protect Sensitive Data

Use employee monitoring software to detect insider threats and protect your company’s sensitive data. This software can help you detect suspicious activity, such as an employee downloading sensitive files onto a USB device or emailing a client list to a competitor. You will be immediately notified of these activities so you can quickly take action to protect your company.

Conduct Employee Investigations

Human Resources can use monitoring software to investigate complaints related to workplace discrimination, harassment, retaliation, fraud, and other illegal activities. The data collected by this software, especially the screenshots, can be used as evidence in these investigations into employee wrongdoing.

Check Compliance With Laws

Many businesses must comply with federal laws such as HIPAA, FINRA, FERPA, and more. Using this software allows businesses to confirm that their employees are not violating any federal laws or regulations. You can also use the software to produce audit logs that can be provided to auditors who randomly check for compliance.

Is Employee Tracking Software Legal?

There are no federal laws that prohibit employers from monitoring their employees’ digital activity. In fact, employees in the U.S. typically do not have the right to privacy at work, which means employers are legally allowed to monitor their activities on company-owned devices.

The laws regarding monitoring employees at work can vary from state-to-state, though. Some states have passed laws to regulate how and when employers can monitor their employees. For example, employers that operate in the state of Delaware must notify employees before using employee monitoring software to track their digital activity.

It’s important to research the laws in your state to determine whether or not there are any restrictions regarding employee monitoring.

Should You Tell Employees About Employee Tracking Software?

Even if it is legal to monitor your employees’ digital activity without their consent, it’s best to be transparent with your employees.

It’s strongly recommended that you share your decision to monitor digital activity with your employees. Make sure your employees understand that you are not using this software because you don’t trust them. Instead, explain how this software can help the company improve productivity and protect sensitive data.

Be sure to put your employee monitoring policy in writing, preferably in the employee handbook. Provide this handbook—and your monitoring policy—to every new employee when they start. This way, there is no confusion regarding what is being monitored, what employees should and should not do on their computers, and what the consequences are for violating the company’s policy.

Get the Control and Insight You Need With InterGuard

Installing InterGuard software on company-owned devices is the easiest way to monitor your employees and protect your company. You will no longer need to worry about what your employees are actually doing while they’re on-the-clock. Using InterGuard, employers can gain the insight into their employees’ activities that they need to protect their business.

Learn more about InterGuard by watching a demo video, taking an online test drive, or starting a free software trial today.