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Guidelines on monitoring your employees’ online activities

2016Mar15 Security A PH

2016Mar15 Security A PH

There are advantages and disadvantages to monitoring your employees’ online behavior. Below is an honest and transparent list of arguments for and against such a practice. However, should you decide to monitor your employees, we have some guidelines for you to follow for a smooth implementation process.

The case for monitoring

Here are several reasons why monitoring your employees’ activities on company devices is a good idea. It can help you:

Sadly, many business owners who monitor their employees often discover that their staff members aren’t focused solely on the company’s success.

Arguments against employee monitoring

Of course, you should also be aware of the potential downsides to monitoring. These include:

Monitoring guidelines to follow

If you decide to monitor your employees, here are a few tips you should follow.

1. Create written policies
When you monitor your employees, ask yourself: “Am I doing this for security purposes? Is it to ensure my employees aren’t wasting time on games or social media?” If your monitoring policies are too strict, you could create an atmosphere of distrust.

Set guidelines for acceptable use of email and social media, web browsing, instant messaging, and downloading software and apps. Also, make sure to include how monitoring will be carried out and how data will be used, secured, and destroyed.

2. Tell your employees
It’s important to inform your employees about the scope of your monitoring policies. If they find out you’re doing it secretly, you could face legal issues. By being transparent, you may actually see a boost in productivity by deterring employees from wasting time on the web.

When you tell your employees, explain why you’re doing it and the risks your business faces from misuse of digital assets. Reassure them you’re not doing it to spy on their personal life, but to create a compliant and law-abiding workplace. Because their activities will now be less private, encourage your staff to use their smartphones for personal matters. Also, provide your employees a copy of your written policy for them to read and sign.

3. Get the right technology tools
You don’t need to know each and every employee activity, so look for apps and software that alert you of the most relevant problems, so you can focus on more important tasks.

If implemented correctly, employee monitoring makes your business more secure and productive. For more information about security and other IT support tools, get in touch with us today.

Published with permission from TechAdvisory.org. Source.
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