%20h.svg "LogicMelon")
The monitoring of employees in the workplace is one hot topic. On the one hand we have the employers who need to have an idea of their employees’ goings-on for both performance and protection reasons. And then on the other, you have the employees who understand that some monitoring is a necessity but aren’t fans of untrusting surveillance. Who can blame ‘em!
It’s a balance that some employers have mastered, while others have gone too far into the spying side. This is an Employer Brand and employee morale danger zone.
So, how can you be mindful and masterful when it comes to employee monitoring? You don’t have to turn your office into a tech fortress or shy away from your monitoring responsibilities. It’s all about creating a culture of understanding and communication around the issue of monitoring, rather than going in all tools blazing.
How to humanise your employee monitoring strategy.
The truth of it is that employers do need to monitor their workforce. Whether we’re talking timesheets and performance-related checks or keeping an eye on social media use and web distractions, there’s always a need to know what’s going on in your office.
As an employer, it’s your job to make sure that;
- Work is being done and performances are good across the board.
- The company is protected against legal issues and theft.
- All regulations are being met.
- Employees are protected from forms of harassment.
- Your staff are behaving in a way that represents the company.
And to do these things you need some semblance of monitoring, it’s that simple. But that doesn’t mean you need to spy on their personal email use, ban mobile phones or tally up toilet breaks. Get human with your monitoring and you can create a people-friendly form of monitoring that can serve everyone under your company roof.
- Choose your language carefully.
Whether in a written policy or verbally communicated at a meeting, choose the words you use to explain monitoring in the office carefully. Terms like ‘surveillance’, ‘banned’ or ‘spying’ do nothing for your bid to humanise your efforts. Your employees know and accept that monitoring is part of the job so do what you can to naturalise the process and ensure it does nothing to damage the trust factor.
- What are you monitoring?
Before you launch or even discuss monitoring be sure of the whats and whys. What are you going to monitor - Performance, behaviour, quantity of work completed? You can monitor all of these but you don’t have to. Monitoring should be about standard practice, protecting employers and employees and keeping a team tight and focused. With the What recognised, assess the Why. Do you want better control of the workforce? Are you worried about motivation? Do you want to get a better grip of performance stats? Know the reasons why and be sure they are viable as you’ll need to communicate them to your team.
- Go human with your monitoring tools.
There’s loads of tech options that can help with monitoring internet use, tally time etc, but the best and most humane tools are people-friendly. Simple things like rearranging the office to improve your manager’s ability to monitor by eye makes a massive difference. There’s no deterrent like being caught so there’s less chance of your employees browsing Facebook if they think you can see them. Also, communication is the greatest tool you have. Set clear daily goals and check in casually to support, not spy. Being present on the office floor is enough to set a precedent and improve morale. Win win.
- Have a clear policy and communicate it.
Set rules, state rules and enforce rules. Have a clear and simple social media policy, or overview rundown of your monitoring manifesto. State what is allowed during work hours in terms of internet and mobile phone allowance, as well as explain what monitoring techniques are in place in the office. Remember to include the reasons why for each and what will happen if the policy is breached. Next, make sure your team know about it. Posting it in a dark and dingy corner of the office does not count. Hold a meeting where you can discuss each point and ask for your team’s feedback, design and confirm this policy with them, not against them.
- Have a plan in place for the data you collect.
Monitoring is a big responsibility and a epic ethical matter. Your employees will expect you to have a secure plan in place for how you handle the info you obtain during your monitoring. Have a good manage and store plan and let your team know what it is.
- Review and adapt your policy.
Make sure to review your monitoring strategy frequently, including your team in this process. What works? What changed? What didn’t? Monitoring will always be part of the workforce so as your team changes make sure your policy and practice does too.
The best way to humanise is come at your policy from the most employee-friendly way. There’s no need to be overly intrusive to lay down the law, there’s something way more important at risk here - trust. You have a job to do and that’s cool but try up-ing your time spent on the office floor, how about you spend time getting closer to your employees and increase productivity through support rather than scare tactics. Monitoring can be as tech-driven or people-driven as you choose, it’s all about results or relationships.
Want to read more stuff like this? Then come and join just over 8,000 subscribers who get tips on improving recruitment, technology, sales, customer service and of course all things LogicMelon.
