With Working from Home still being a a large factor for many organisations, monitoring of employee work habits has become more common.
When did they send the email?
When did they access the latest briefing note?
Questions like these ,and many more, are becoming easier to answer with messaging snd team-based software becoming prevalent.
Such monitoring is often seen as an infringement of employee privacy and considered inappropriate for ‘well-managed’ firms.
However, the same data that can be used to ’spy on’ workers and hold them to account for their lack of presence or engagement can also be used to check on their well-being.
Instead of the questions above, we could ask:
Why are they sending work-related emails at 2 am? Or …
Why have they been online for seven straight hours?
A few days or perhaps weeks of out-of-hours working will start to lower their focus and their productivity.
Management means making sure you have all the right resources in place, operating at optimum performance. You need your employees fit, engaged and alert not tired/exhausted.
So, if you do monitor working patterns, ask yourself wbh.