It is only natural for an employer to have reservations about allowing employees to work from home; however, in these unprecedented times, remote working has become essential to businesses. 

The main concern for these corporations lies in the quality of the work produced remotely. Will your employees work to the same standard with such a dramatic change in their working environment? Similarly, there is the question of employee productivity. Employee productivity is a high priority across businesses when considering working from home. But, there is a simple solution: employee monitoring.

Employee monitoring is a useful tool for employers that allows them to stay in control of their employee’s productivity. These tools work both ways; employers can monitor the rate and standard of work by the members of their team and, at the same time, employees are spurred on to continue at the same high-standard they would produce in the office.

Employee Productivity and Covid-19

Due to the dramatic acceleration of the coronavirus pandemic, employers have had no choice but to respond rapidly to reduce the disruption to their businesses. Innovative ways have been adapted, and more workers have had to adapt to working remotely, to help weather the impact of Covid-19. 

From a recent survey carried out by Willis Towers Watson, two-thirds of all companies (67%) surveyed say over 75% of their organisation are now working remotely. This switch to remote working is a sudden increase for over half of the companies surveyed (56%) who had less than 10% working from home before Covid-19.

Out of the 996 companies across the UK and Western Europe, only 15% of corporations reported remote working as having a negative impact materially.

It is thanks to technology that companies have been able to adapt to this new challenge quickly. Without the tech, organisations would not have been able to keep their team’s productivity levels up and, crucially, the workforce wouldn’t have been able to stay connected. Businesses who have a greater online presence have been able to continue effectively, and some have even managed to thrive. 

Pros and Cons to Working from Home

There will always be pros and cons to distributing your team depending on where you seek your advice; however, remote working is just a different way of getting a job done. It is all about adapting to a new working environment. 

The main concern with remote working is a lack of real-time collaboration, a breakdown in communication, a potential misplacement of information, and the fears regarding managing people from afar. For the employees, there can be anxiety around what your colleagues and managers will think of your activity — ‘Do they think I’m not working?’ is a question that can haunt the back of their minds. 

With the majority of these issues, it all comes down to a lack of trust between employers and employees.

However, around 90% of people who already have a remote job wouldn’t go back to a regular office environment. It is just a case of adjusting and implementing the right employee monitoring systems and technology for everyone to benefit. And, in reality, those who work remotely can end up putting in extra hours due to the trust that exists between them and their employer.

Managing your Employees Remotely

Employee monitoring software helps to reduce the challenges of managing remote employees. These software packages are incredibly flexible and can be adapted to the specific needs of your business.

For example, employee monitoring can measure their productivity and attendance, as well as collecting proof of their working hours and ensuring their security. Also, many packages can blacklist sites, log tasks and monitor idle time. All these features help an employer, not only to watch their worker’s productivity but also to provide them with the support they need. 

Once an employer can view all this information, they are able to take any actions that are deemed necessary to support their workers. Employers will be able to advise their employees on how to distribute their time by monitoring how long they spend on certain websites. Moreover, the priority levels assigned to specific tasks can be adapted to satisfy the businesses overall productivity.

Keeping your Team Proactive

The biggest challenge during these difficult times is keeping your employees enthused and motivated. The Covid-19 pandemic has brought new difficulties into people’s lives, on top of coping with a change of working environment, many employees miss the social interaction from their working life. Communication is, therefore, crucial. By keeping your team connected, there can be a constant conversation benefiting your team’s wellbeing as well as for any collaboration on tasks. 

Using employee monitoring software improves the overall productivity of your employees, allowing them to strive in their job role remotely. In turn, this software encourages a greater sense of trust and, consequently, gives each employee more job satisfaction as their progress can be monitored and rewarded.

At Global EMEA, we provide dedicated asset management services to corporate clients through procurement, configuration, support and maintenance. In such a time where your business is becoming increasingly dependent on its technology, the performance of your IT systems is vital, as is the importance of your data protection. 

Whatever your business and priorities, we would love to help you get the most out of your IT assets. Global EMEA is partnered with WhiteCanyon Software, a leading provider of security software which uses permanent deletion technology to prevent identity theft. If you would like your business to benefit from our services you can get in touch with us in a number of ways by using our enquiry form on our website, or contacting one of our specialists for more information or to arrange a demo on 0345 340 3105.