Management

Managing a Remote Workforce

Employee monitoring in the new hybrid workspace

As employees settle into a more permanent pattern of working from home, employers are starting to adopt new methods for supervising workers and monitoring their activity. Thankfully, the threat of COVID-19 appears to be waning, children are back in school and new safety precautions have allowed workers to return to the workplace. But in the face of a shortage in manpower, some employees have demanded more flexibility to trade in the pre-pandemic, five-day commute in exchange for the ability to login from home. A recent survey found that 80% of fulltime workers expect to work from home three days or more per week. The 2020 State of Remote Work by Owl Labs also found that half of surveyed workers said they would not stay in a job that didn’t allow some flexibility to work from home. Those worker attitudes have put pressure on employers to allow some latitude in work arrangements. Employers have discovered cost savings from having fewer employees in the office full time, including lower utility bills and cleaning expenses, reduced square footage space, rent, maintenance and property taxes.

URL History Email, Keylogging and GPS

To manage in the new age of hybrid work arrangements, many companies are reevaluating how to assess performance, including adopting revised methods for employee monitoring. While not a new practice, the way employees are monitored is being looked at through a new lens. How much monitoring is needed to effectively run the business and how much is an invasion of employee privacy? Employers have long used electronic means to monitor employees while on the job. Computer programs help measure productivity, track project completion and monitor workflow. Digital tools help employers ensure security and protect proprietary information. While workers generally understand such tools are in use, many are not really aware of the extent of their own employer’s practices. Monitoring the URLs workers visit has been a common employer practice for decades. Managers have long been interested in seeing where employees spend their time during work hours. It’s estimated the average U.S. worker spends 10% of their workday surfing the internet, shopping online or monitoring email and social media. According to a study done at the University of Nevada, such ‘cyberloafing’ results in lost productivity at an estimated impact of $85 billion a year. Modest interruption from the work schedule is probably a healthy periodic

diversion, but it’s not uncommon to find that a less productive worker has been spending a disproportionate amount of time in unproductive internet activity. The URL history provides good evidence to the manager to take disciplinary action against the employee. Some employers have also developed a greater interest in monitoring social media activity. If an employee is accessing Instagram, Twitter or Pinterest on a company device, the employer can see how often and for how long. For some time, many employers have takWhile companies can certainly en steps to integrate software to block benefit from monitoring undesirable URLs or to filter website employee activities, these access. In the past, such software was viewed as a security practices call into question measure to protect sensitive data, but management’s trust of its some employers now use it to deter workers. The challenge for the employees from idle surfing altogether. employer is to find the right In recent months, providers have balance between information seen an increase in the number of employers using gathering and needless spying. software to monitor the actual work activity of remote employees. Managers have accepted they can’t always interface directly with team members, so use of work flow software helps track employee activity, progress and output. This also helps the manager identity any employee who is getting off-track or pursuing the wrong priorities. Even before the remote-work trend, surveys showed more than half of employers regularly check employee

email in company accounts. Monitoring email helps employers keep track of the types of information coming in and out of the company. Keylogging software allows an employer to track every keystroke made by workers. Managers can review a readable file to monitor individuals’ activity, often without their knowledge. Some employers have resorted to tracking employee location through use of simple GPS functions on company-issued devices. Managers can view workers’ exact locations throughout the workday. Customer service workers are often subject to having their phone conversations recorded so management can provide feedback. But a new trend has emerged in monitoring company-paid phone use of WhatsApp and similar communication functions to keep tabs on the types of information being shared during work hours. Some companies have extended monitoring into use of screen capture technology, allowing managers to view

screen shots of an employee’s device to ensure work is getting done correctly. This practice allows for quick feedback to an employee to affirm they’re doing well, or to reset priorities or provide corrective guidance, if needed. Some monitoring programs also take periodic photos of workers through the webcam, a management practice that can be unsettling to workers. Perhaps the most potentially invasive practice is video monitoring to provide live feeds to managers, who can track entire teams of workers in real time.

Positive and Helpful

While companies can certainly benefit from monitoring employee activities, these practices call into question management’s trust of its workers. The challenge for the employer is to find the right balance between information gathering and needless spying. There’s also the important question of whether employees are fully aware of the extent to which they are being monitored. The simple way to address this question is for the employer to be upfront with employees about the company’s monitoring practices. The employer’s policy should explain: • Why monitoring is used. • The types of information the company accesses in its monitoring. • Methods of monitoring, along with information about when monitoring will occur. • Clear lines to assure workers that their personal data will not be improperly accessed or disclosed. It is equally important to consistently stick to the practices as described. As with many aspects of business, state and local laws can vary. The new remote style of working means employees could be located in any number of states or even countries. To ensure compliance, a company should consult legal counsel as part of developing or expanding an employee monitoring policy. For most employers, monitoring is primarily focused on managing the business and tracking work flows against established metrics to achieve its goals. And for that reason, the predominance of information gained through monitoring is positive and helpful. To that end, effective monitoring can be used to regularly acknowledge workers who achieve established productivity goals and milestones. For most employees, the monitoring will likely just become an accepted part of the job. It’s one of the tradeoffs that come with the new hybrid style of working. HCBM

Judith Wright is an assistant clinical professor-business law and Mosaic Faculty Fellow at the Indiana University Kelley School of Business at IUPUI.