Benefits & Effects of Computer Monitoring in the Workplace

Long gone are the days of file cabinets, rolodexes, and address books; here to stay is the age of social media, blogs, and the cloud. There’s no time to waste with this new fast paced style of business and overall lifestyle. Here in the modern world of tech, nothing is forever and at the same time, anything put on the internet is permanent. It’s a dangerous contradiction to navigate. This is especially true in regards to running and growing a business utilizing the internet. Which, if you are interested in having a successful business in this day and age, you should be prepared that in order to achieve success, it’s almost a certainty that you will be utilizing the internet, technology, and all its risks. That can be a bit of a frightening endeavor, considering you are responsible for protecting not only all of your company’s ideas, history, and future plans, but also all the information of your employees as well. However, this is where employee monitoring software comes into play; these types of software can keep a watchful eye on your employee’s actions while they are using company computers and electronic devices. This can help decrease the chances of lost information, ideas, and other documents important to your company’s well being. Of course, nothing is perfect -there are plenty of benefits to having an employee monitoring system in place, but it can also have an effect on your office in a variety of factors.

Protection

Keeping your company’s documents safe is the number one reason to have an employee monitoring system in place. This type of software can make sure that any important documents are being tracked. You can even be notified of suspicious movements of these types of sensitive documents, should you so choose. Inside leaks are not something that many managers suspect, but they are nonetheless, a very real threat.

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Accountability

Pointing fingers can often be a volatile point of contention when things go wrong; conversely, the same can be true of your employees when something positive occurs -everyone wants to take credit. Having employee monitoring software can point you in the right direction accurately and quickly when you need to pinpoint who to give praise to, or have a talk with.

Increased Productivity

Having this type of watchful software can really help to motivate your employees. When you never know when the boss is watching, everyone is less likely to browse their Facebook newsfeed or get lost watching YouTube videos on the clock. Even if you’re not always watching, just having the monitor there can be enough to keep employees on track.

Untrusting Employees

On the other hand, that watchful eye can have the effect of making employees feel like you do not trust them, or feel that they are incapable of working on their own. Micromanagement isn’t a good feeling for anyone, and often when employees find out about employee monitoring software they will feel as though they are not getting any freedom in their position. Be wary of this effect on your office.