Tracking and monitoring your employees’ work time is a bit controversial. There are some that see it as a bad thing and that it shows that the company doesn’t trust its employees or that it tries to squeeze more work than possible out of them.
On the other hand, numbers don’t lie. Studies show that people waste about 8 hours a week, which is close to a full workday, on non-work tasks – and that’s not including lunch and coffee breaks or other resting moments throughout the day. This is time spent on phones, social media, online shopping. Etc. And Companies that track employees work time to report a 30% increase in productivity in the first month.
Tracking employee work hours is also incredibly useful for accurate payroll and billing calculations, and makes these processes much more comfortable and much more realistic. Time Tracking is also used to implement incentive programs which can significantly boost the productivity of your employees and keep them motivated.
Research also indicates that by 2022, about 60% of people will be working remotely, which means that employee time tracking will become essential for managing remote workers effectively.
For all of these reasons, around 66% - roughly 2/3rd – of employers have some time tracking and monitoring system installed.
Types of Employee Time Tracking and Monitoring
There are many methods and types of employee monitoring, but we will discuss the five most common of those, which are:
1- Computer Monitoring
2- Email Monitoring
3- Call Monitoring
4- Location-Tracking
5- Clocking in/Clocking out

• Computer Monitoring
Tracking employees’ time by monitoring their computer and internet usage is by far the most common method, and some would say the most effective as well. This is done using a time tracking software that will monitor and record time spend on all computer activities, applications, programs, and websites you visit during the workday.
Some solutions also offer a feature where it periodically snaps a screenshot of your employees’ screen and sends it to you so that you can see the progress in real-time. The solutions will also create reports and graphs to summarize the data.
You will be able to use this data later to increase productivity, reward employees, and for more accurate payroll and billing processes. If you are looking for a free solution that does just that, check out the top free time tracking software. 

• Email Monitoring
Email Monitoring is used by more than 50% of large corporations to track their employees’ emails for security and to make sure that no time is wasted during work hours. Email monitoring can help not only increase the productivity of the employees but also to eliminate confidential information leaks.
Email Monitoring has another advantage as well, which is that it can help managers detect and stop inappropriate behavior and potential abuse. Email Monitoring can help employees become more productive as well as protect both the company and its employees. 

• Call Monitoring
Mostly used by call centers and customer service centers, Phone or Call monitoring records employees’ interactions with clients for quality control reasons. Call Monitoring makes sure that customers are getting the customer service that meets the company’s standards and that the employee is protected from any false accusations.
Recordings can also be used for training new employees and for evaluations. 

• Location Tracking
Location tracking – or GPS tracking – is used by companies which employees work – or spend most of their time – on the road. This includes truck drivers, taxi drivers, delivery services, etc. Companies attach GPS tracking systems to the vehicles which help them plan routes more efficiently, keep track of their employees, and make sure that company vehicles are not used for private reasons or for anything that might be against company policy.
It should be mentioned that this method has a lot of controversy surrounding it, as drivers often complain that some of these tracking systems don’t take into account things such as traffic, human error, or the fact that drivers need breaks often for everyone’s safety. 

• Clock in/Clock out
The most basic method to time tracking, as it only follows the arrival and departure times of the employees. This method is used to allow employers to make sure their employees arrive to work on time and don’t leave before the workday is over.
This method has suffered a lot of issues, such as buddy punching, but recently and thanks to new technology, most of these issues have been resolved. Now, companies can use facial recognition, fingerprints, and electronic cards and ships to log the arrival and departure of their employees. 

• Automated Timesheets
Automated Timesheets offers a smarter way to do a classic task. Traditionally, employees are asked to fill in a timesheet with the amount of time they worked on, but this was, in itself, a time-consuming activity. Thanks to technology, businesses can use automated timesheets and eliminate the manual data entry at all, taking the load off the employees and ensuring the accuracy of the recorded data. You can learn How to Boost your Productivity with Automated Timesheets here. 

Let’s talk about communication:
To harvest the real benefits of time tracking, your employees have to be on board with the company tracking their work time. They need to understand that you are not doing it because they need supervision.
Take the time to communicate with your employees and tell them that you are not playing the role of “big brother’’. They need to understand that you are not monitoring their time because you don’t trust them, but rather because you believe they have untapped potential and that they can become better.
You should also have some incentive program in place. A program that motivates your employees to do their best and rewards them for improvements. 

Time Tracking solutions can also help empower employees when used correctly by giving them some control of their workloads and deadlines and giving them an open communication channel with their superiors in the workplace. By showing them that a time tracking solution can improve transparency in the workplace, your employees will welcome the change and be on board with the new system. 

If this article has convinced you, or if you are already on board, using a time tracking solution, then the next step will be to choose a suitable time tracking solution for your business. We can help!
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