Step-by-Step Guide to Implementing an Employee Control System

Implementing an effective monitoring system is more complex than simply buying the most powerful tracking software and installing it on office computers.

The first crucial step is to define why the employee control system is needed in your organization. To better identify the necessity for monitoring, ask yourself:

• What problems are we trying to sulve?
• Are employees consistently meeting deadlines?
• Are we concerned about employee engagement and motivation?
• Are there risks of data breaches or unauthorized access to sensitive information?
• Is our organization required to monitor employee activity for legal or regulatory compliance?
• What do we want to achieve with monitoring? (for example, improve productivity, enhance employee satisfaction, ensure compliance, etc.)

Answers to these questions will define what features your future control system should have.

Now that you have determined what you would like to achieve with monitoring, you can prioritize the most vital features of your system. Generally, employee control systems can have the following groups of features:

• Time tracking:clock-in/clock-out, manual or automated timesheets, overtime calculations, vacation and sick leave management and approval, etc.
• Scheduling:managing employee schedules, tracking employee availability, shift swapping/trading, and shift reminders and notifications.
• Attendance tracking:monitoring employee absences, absence requests and approvals, reports on attendance patterns, and absenteeism rates.
• Activity monitoring on the computer: screenshots, screen recording, browsing history tracking, keylogging, printer activity control, monitoring external storage devices, recording active/inactive time, etc.
• Performance management:determining productive/unproductive activities, statistics on most used apps and sites, calculating individual productivity scores, etc.
• Project management: creating projects, breaking them into tasks and assigning them to employees, tracking time spent on a task, tracking milestones and budgets, etc.

Besides, some employee control systems have integration capabilities. They can integrate with your current payroll, project management, or human resources information systems (HRIS). Integration helps streamline payroll calculations, evaluate performance, and simplify administrative processes.

Employee activities that you want to monitor may be illegal to track under your jurisdiction. That is why it is essential to study applicable privacy and labor regulations. We recommend consulting your legal advisor before implementing employee monitoring in your organization.

In the first stage, you have developed the idea of what problems the future monitoring tool should solve and what features it should have ideally. Now, it is time to explore the market and choose the solution that best suits your requirements.

In addition to features and integration capabilities, consider the following factors while choosing the tool:

• Your budget for software, hardware, implementation, and maintenance;
• Scalability: the ideal solution should be able to grow with your business;
• User-friendliness;
• Customer support;
• Data security and privacy features;
• Compliance with relevant labor and privacy regulations.

Depending on your needs, you may choose software or hardware monitoring options.

Employee control software differs by deployment model: on-premise or cloud-based.

Cloud-based software is hosted by the software developer on remote servers and accessed via the Internet. This means you do not have to worry about purchasing and maintaining servers. Cloud-based software is typically more friendly and requires only three steps to implement: setting up an account, installing a monitoring agent, and logging in to track results. Such software is associated with lower upfront costs and increased accessibility and scalability. You can control employee activity even if you are outside of the company network. Cloud-based software is perfect for companies with remote employees or wanting increased convenience.

On-premise software is installed and operated within an organization's physical location. This type of software requires higher upfront costs (hardware, software licenses, and installation) and dedicated IT resources for maintenance and updates. In return, you receive complete control over the system, collected data, and updates. On-premise software has potentially greater flexibility for customization and increased security. However, it may not be as scalable and accessible as on-premise software. On-premise software is perfect for industries with strict regulatory requirements.

Employee control systems can be standalone or an integrated HRIS system.

Standalone software focuses on a specific function or a combination of functions: time-tracking, time-tracking & performance evaluation, project management, etc. HRIS offers a comprehensive suite of HR functions, including time and attendance, payroll, benefits, and more. Standalone systems are often more affordable but may lack the integration capabilities of more comprehensive solutions.

Finally, you can order a custom-developed solution tailored to your organization's needs and workflows. However, such solutions are usually more expensive and time-consuming to develop and maintain, which is why they are less popular than ready-made tools.

CleverControl is a powerful employee control software It tracks all activity on the computer, including typed and copied text, website and social media activity, idle time, printer activity, and more. The platform also offers live monitoring features: real-time streaming of employee screens and live webcam. CleverControl records the start and the end of the workday and active/inactive time, making worktime tracking automated and easy. The powerful AI Scoring feature provides individual productivity scores and short comments about employee activity, taking away the administrative load of performance evaluations.

CleverControl will be a perfect solution for organizations that want to monitor the daily workflow, track work time, and ensure employees are focused on productive activities. Learn more about CleverControl's features here.

Your monitoring purposes may require using hardware employee control systems. These include biometric scanners, card readers, mobile apps for clocking in/out remotely, access control systems, video surveillance, etc.

our recent article

Start with creating a detailed monitoring policy. This policy should state the purposes of monitoring and define its scope: what activities will be monitored, what data will be collected, and how it will be used. It should also describe data privacy and security measures and allow employee access to their collected data.

Whether your jurisdiction obliges you to notify employees about monitoring, honesty is always the best policy. Let your team know about the upcoming monitoring and communicate the above-mentioned policy to all employees. Ensure everyone understands their rights and responsibilities regarding monitoring. You may also provide employees with a copy of the policy for their records.

In some jurisdictions, employee permission is required for certain types of monitoring such as keylogging or email monitoring. In this case, you should obtain written or electronic consent from employees before implementing any monitoring methods.

Transparency will help maintain employee trust and address possible concerns and complaints on time.

Employees, team leaders, and managers should know how to use the employee monitoring system most effectively. Comprehensive user manuals, tutorials, presentations, and hands-on training will help the team understand how the system works and get answers to potential questions.

You may want to conduct a pilot program before rolling out the system to the whole organization. Choose a small group of employees or a specific department and install the monitoring agent on their computers. Check if the system works as intended and serves the monitoring goals and collect feedback from pilot participants and managers. If any issues occur, making the necessary adjustments will be easier on a smaller group than the whole organization.

When you ensure the employee control system works as desired, you can implement it gradually across departments or employee groups. We recommend closely monitoring the system at this stage for technical issues or unexpected problems.

If you want your employee control system to be truly efficient, you should not stop at the implementation step. Your monitoring software may require additional tweaks; labor and privacy regulations are changing and new monitoring technologies appear. That is why ongoing monitoring and optimization are crucial for ensuring the long-term success of your employee control system.

Along with monitoring employee performance, we recommend tracking the system performance for technical issues or potential improvements.

Another effective method is gathering employee feedback on their experiences with the system. If there are concerns or complaints, you should address them and adjust system settings, workflows, or training based on employee feedback.

Staying updated about new technologies, best practices, and regulatory changes related to employee monitoring is crucial. If your monitoring practices contradict the latest updates in legislation, you should change them as soon as possible to avoid legal consequences.

Do not forget to update the tracking software regularly to improve its performance, enhance data security, or add new features.

We hope this comprehensive guide helps you answer the question: "How do I control my employees?". The successful implementation of an employee monitoring system requires ongoing effort and attention. It needs careful planning, goal setting, choosing, and refining to ensure it meets your evolving business needs, improves employee productivity, and enhances overall organizational performance.