Employee Monitoring Software Development: A Complete Guide

When COVID-19 arrived, there was no other way for businesses except to work remotely and that’s how the downloads of employee monitoring software skyrocketed and got worldwide popularity in the year 2020.

Following it, the employee monitoring software market size worldwide amounted to $1.12 billion in 2021 and it is predicted to value at $2.10 billion by the year 2030 at a 7.2% CAGR between the years 2021-2030. These statistics are proof that the market for employee monitoring software is bright ahead.

In this interconnected and fast-paced present world, businesses have realized the importance of using top employee monitoring software to track employees’ activities and progress. To increase productivity, security, & compliance with regulatory requirements. Additionally, it aids in detecting possible security risks and preventing data leaks via observing and analyzing employees’ activities.

Below, we have provided a complete guide to employee monitoring software to provide insight into the procedure of developing and implementing monitoring software in the workplace. This guide aims to help organizations in getting knowledge about the key considerations, and benefits of employee monitoring software, features, best practices, and others.

If you are also keen to create or implement the best employee monitoring software, choose from top software development companies in the USA. They will even assist you in tailoring the development process to address different concerns and ensure the successful utilization of software to encourage a secure and productive work environment. Keep scrolling to get more details-

What is Employee Monitoring Software?

Employee monitoring is the most preferred method to analyze and track employees’ activities during work hours. This process comprises different activities such as log-in time, performance, workflow, and many others. To make this process smooth and flawless, organizations are now embracing employee monitoring software which is known to be a specific type of software to enable corporations to observe employee performance, behavior, and adherence to firm policies with the help of integrated advanced features.

There are different employee monitoring apps and software in the market to gather data on user activity and provide firms with valuable insights to detect bottlenecks, process optimization, and augment overall productivity levels. This collected active data also includes app use, specific time of the day when the employee was more productive, and total time spent on non-essential tasks. These different types of employee activity tracking software help companies to get an overall scenario of what is the working procedure inside and outside of the firm along with the productivity.

Informed consent, clear communication, and transparent policies are some vital aspects to address privacy concerns and provide a secure and fair environment. Also, different types of employee monitoring software are being used to track the employees’ activities properly including email monitoring, web activity monitoring, GPS tracking & location monitoring, live chat monitoring, computer monitoring, call monitoring, video surveillance, and keystroke logging.

Benefits of Employee Monitoring Software

Undoubtedly, implementing employee monitor software is very beneficial to organizations as it provides them with valuable insights and analytics to measure employees’ performance and productive work hours. These software have so much to offer to all such as entrepreneurs, team leaders, executives, and employees.

To know more benefits provided by employee monitoring software, look at the following points– 

• Effective Time Tracking and Resource Allocation
• Easy Leave Management
• Easy Task Evaluation
• Easy to Handle Remote Employees
• Understand the Real Time Employee Performance
• Easier Payment Calculation and Billing
• Enhance Employee Efficiency and Productivity

1. Effective Time Tracking and Resource Allocation

Time tracking and resource allocation are the most important benefits of employee monitoring software. It helps to gather data on the log-in & log-out time of employees along with their breaks, task completion time, and resource usage. Organizations can find out how employees are using their allocated resources and whether they are underutilized or unnecessary. It directs to better resource allocation and cost optimization. 

2. Easy Leave Management

Easy leave management helps in the simplified management of employees’ leaves. It enables firms to track and manage all the leave requests, approvals, and left balance appropriately. This benefit leads to fewer errors & burdens while ensuing exact leave records. At the end of the month, the HR department can easily work on employees’ payroll as they have all the records of their leaves.     

3. Easy Task Evaluation

The employee monitoring software allows team managers to analyze the progress of assigned projects and tasks in real-time. The manager can detect any bottlenecks and provide timely support & feedback. Here, the role of a software development company is to provide you with such a solution integrated with easy task evaluation as it can benefit your firm with improved efficiency, optimized work processes, and timely completed tasks.

4. Easy to Handle Remote Employees

Various organizations choose to build employee monitoring software due to its ability to handle remote employees easily. With this software, supervisors and managers can track the progress, activities, and performance of remote workers irrelevant of their location. Organizations can also consider maintaining timely communication, accountability, and efficient remote team management.

5. Understand the Real Time Employee Performance

Getting to know about real-time employee performance provides instant visibility into employees’ activities and productivity that enable the manager to find out what is going wrong. Real-time performance tracking also allows us to identify performance gaps, enhance proactive management, and bring consistent improvement within the organization.

6. Easier Payment Calculation and Billing

Easy payment calculation & billing is one of the reasons why organizations prefer to obtain employee monitoring software development services. The software provides accurate tracking of employees’ performance including working hours, completed projects, etc. that help in calculating the payment at the month’s end. It assists organizations to generate accurate payroll reports and invoices based on the gathered data.

7. Enhance Employee Efficiency and Productivity

Employee productivity monitoring software helps in identifying inefficiencies, alleviating time-wasting behaviors, and optimizing workflows by tracking employees’ actions. It leads to better productivity levels as employees tend to be more accountable, focused, and better ranged with organization goals. This software also provides valuable data to sort performance issues, implement strategies, and provide targeted training for better efficiency.

Types of Employee Monitoring Software

Before going for employee monitoring software development, you must know about different types of employee monitoring software. Organizations must go for the one that aligns with their specific requirements and goals. Also, it is essential to consider ethical and legal implications while choosing the best among all.

The following are various types of employee monitoring software that can be advantageous for your organization’s needs and increase productivity. Have a look-

Type 1: Activity Monitoring Software

It is also known as employee computer monitoring software that helps in tracking and recording employees’ computer activities within the workplace. Organizations can get detailed insights about the working of employees using computers, and related apps. This specific software gathers and logs data including app usage, websites visited, keystrokes, email communication, and file access. Then, this data is used to evaluate productivity, detect violations, and identify inefficiencies.

Also, it is important to implement this software properly to address employees’ concerns about maintaining a healthy work environment.    

List of top Activity Monitoring Software:

• ADAudit Plus
• Netwrix Auditor
• Teramind
• SearchInform
• Digital Guardian
• ARCON
• RescueTime
• SoftActivity
• ResearchMonitor

Type 2: Employee Productivity Monitoring Software

Organizations use this software to monitor employee productivity by tracking and measuring various metrics comprising application usage, time consumed in tasks, website visits, idle time, and total active hours. It also generates analytics and reports to assist managers to analyze team efficiency, setting performance benchmarks, and making data-driven decisions for workflow optimization and resource allocation. Productivity monitoring helps in identifying time-wasting activities and removing distractions.    

List of top Productivity Monitoring Software:

• ActivTrak
• Hubstaff
• Time Doctor
• EffiWork
• Monitask
• Insightful
• WorkiQ
• Teramind UAM

Type 3: Time and Attendance Tracking Software

This tracking software is used to record and manage employees’ attendance, leaves, and working hours. By automating time tracking software, there are fewer chances of fraudulent practices or manual errors. With this, employees are more likely to hold on to their work schedules and time punctuality as they know that attendance is being recorded and monitored accurately.

This software modernizes time management, promotes accountability, increases productivity, streamlines payroll processes, boosts employee engagement, and ensures compliance. There are a lot of benefits associated with this software, hence you must hire expert dedicated developers to build it.

List of top Time and Attendance Tracking Software:

• Deel
• Connecteam
• Homebase
• Monday
• Wrike
• ClockShark
• Beebole Timesheet
• QuickBooks Time
• TimeCamp
• Jibble

Type 4: Performance Management Software

Performance management software provides a centralized platform for tracking & assessing employee performance, providing feedback, enabling managers to set goals, and observing progress. This software also allows ongoing communication and collaboration between employees and managers.

By facilitating a structured framework for performance tracking and goal setting, it assists to align individual objectives with business goals while increasing engagement and throughput. Any leading custom software development company can help you create performance management software according to your organization’s needs.

List of top Performance Management Software:

• Lattice
• BambooHR
• Culture Amp
• Paylocity
• Leapsome
• PerformYard
• Paycom
• SAP SuccessFactors
• Engagedly

Type 5: HR Software

The use of HR software tracks different employees’ activities comprising time consumed on tasks, application usage, and websites visited. It enables the identification of inefficiencies while ensuring compliance with firm policies and procedures by evaluating adherence to strategies and preventing data breaches. It also enhances employees’ accountability as they are aware of being observed, leading to objective and fair evaluation. Lastly, it manages admin tasks such as leave management, attendance tracking, payroll management, and others.

List of top HR Software:

• ADP
• Bob
• BambooHR
• Namely
• SAP SuccessFactors
• Rippling
• Keka HR
• 15Five
• Access SelectHR

Which Are The Top Employee Monitoring Software?

There are various types of custom software in the present market that can help you find out what are the important aspects, your employee monitoring software must contain.

Before going to develop employee monitoring software, you must get proper knowledge about other market giants so that you can compete with them considering every aspect. Have a look at them below-

• ActivTrak
• Time Doctor
• Teramind
• Hubstaff
• We360.ai
• Workpuls

Must have Features To Include In Your Employee Monitoring Software

Employee monitoring software features play a vital role in the success of the solution. And that’s the reason why every organization pays extra attention to them. Therefore, employee monitoring software must have a wide range of features to track & evaluate every activity of employees.

Below we have mentioned a list of important features-

• Project Management
• Live Screenshot Capturing
• Flexible Dashboard
• Reporting & Analytics
• Auto-Scheduling
• Keylogging
• Webpage Monitoring
• Application Monitoring
• Live Chat Monitoring
• Email Monitoring
• Removable Device Monitoring
• Webcam Access
• License Tracking
• Hardware Blocking

• Project Management

This feature helps organizations track and manage project progress effectively. It facilitates project managers to appoint tasks, allocate resources, set deadlines, and observe employees’ performance. 

• Live Screenshot Capturing

Develop employee monitoring software with this feature to allow users to take screenshots or record the screen to get visual proof of employees’ activities. It can be used for providing training, quality assurance, or compliance reasons.  

• Flexible Dashboard

Your chosen employee monitoring software developers will help you to get this feature as it is beneficial for users to find out functions according to their requirements and preferences. It works as an intuitive UI to get specific data they need to track.

• Reporting & Analytics

The comprehensive report & analytics feature helps to gain insights into employee time allocation, performance, productivity trends, and compliance metrics. This collected data aids in decision-making and augment complete efficiency.   

• Auto-Scheduling

This feature allows team managers to create and allot work schedules automatically to employees depending on predefined parameters and rules. It saves both effort and time by managing the scheduled processes, lessening the conflicts, and ensuring full coverage.

• Keylogging

Keylogging or keystroke logging is done by employees, leading to allows managers to evaluate the typed content. This feature helps to identify possible security breaches or observe specific activities.  

• Webpage Monitoring

Webpage Monitoring refers to tracking down the employees’ activities on a website visited by them. It gathers all the data about visited websites, visit duration, and access web pages. All this information is used to analyze employees’ online behavior.  

• Application Monitoring

This feature helps in tracking and logging the apps used by employees. Application Monitoring also captures details about the program employees are using, spending time on, and other possible misuses.

• Live Chat Monitoring

Live chat monitoring enables managers to observe and review live chat conversations occurring between customers and employees in real-time. Supervisors can ensure quality customer service and identify training needs with this feature.

• Email Monitoring

Email monitoring enables organizations to track and analyze email communications of employees. It also permits for observation of incoming & outgoing email content and attachments to monitor employee communication patterns.

• Removable Device Monitoring

This feature is beneficial to analyze the usage of external storage devices such as external hard drives or USB drives by employees. It enables admins to monitor how and when these removable devices are being used comprising data copying and file transfers.

• Webcam Access

This feature allows organizations to remotely access and view the webcam feed of any employee’s computer for security purposes or visual confirmation requirements. It helps to monitor employees’ activities, compliance with company policies, and others.

• License Tracking

The license tracking software effectively manages software licenses. It enables the tracking of software installations across different devices of employees while ensuring compliance with license agreements.

• Hardware Blocking

Hardware blocking facilitates organizations to block or restrict access to specific hardware devices connected to an employee’s workstation. These can comprise external storage devices, USB ports, printers, or peripherals.

Tips To Choose The Best Employee Monitoring Software For Your Organization

If you are looking at how to choose the best employee monitoring software, you should thoroughly research all the software. What are their advantages and disadvantages, what position they hold in the market, common features and many more are there that you need to know in order to choose the best one.

Do it carefully as the entire software development process largely depends on the type of software you are choosing. Though various employee monitoring software solutions exist in the market currently, but you must go with the one that is able to fulfill your organizational requirements.

Here are some considerable tips to gauge if the chosen solution is right for your organization or not- 

• User-Friendly Interface
• Data Visualization
• High-Level Security
• Time and Attendance Management
• Productivity Measurement
• Real-Time Screen Tracking
• Multi-Platform Device Compatibility

1. User-Friendly Interface

You must consider an intuitive and well-designed user interface for your employee monitoring software as it makes navigation easier for the admin. A responsive and organized user interface augments user experience and decreases the learning curve for admins. It must contain customizable dashboards, concise data, and easy-to-use controls. A user-friendly interface facilitates efficient monitoring, effective feature usage, fast analysis, and better decision-making ultimately.   

2. Data Visualization

Data visualization helps in the insightful and clear representation of gathered data. Valuable data visualization helps admins and managers interpret and evaluate the data easily, analyze trends and patterns, and make decisions accordingly. It also allows the vision of productivity metrics, employee behavior, and time allocation through graphs, charts, and dashboards.

Data visualization also increases the software’s usability and makes it simpler to draw actionable insights from the collected data.      

3. High-Level Security

High-level security is a crucial aspect that you must discuss while having software consulting services from a top-rated agency. It ensures the privacy and security of highly sensitive data and monitors information to safeguard it from breaches, unauthorized access, or misuse. There must be added rigid security measures including access controls, data encryption, and secure authentication protocols for data confidentiality.

Connectivity and integration are the two most important aspects as these allow the software to have a thorough and combined approach to observing employee activities. Every aspect of the software must be connected appropriately so that data can be monitored and collected from different devices & platforms easily. Whereas Integration allows the software to combine with existing systems such as project management tools, HR software, or communication platforms while enabling managed workflows and better data sharing.

4. Time and Attendance Management

An employee monitoring software integrated with time and attendance management is necessary as it helps to make the process streamlined and easier. It ensures the exact evaluation of employees’ work hours, leaves, and attendance. This feature can be integrated with the software to automate payroll calculations, simplify HR procedures, and alleviate errors. It helps organizations to have a thorough view of employee productivity and efficient resource allocation. Though it can have a huge impact on the software development cost, but in the end, it will be worthy.

5. Productivity Measurement

When choosing the best employee monitoring software, productivity measurement is one substantial aspect. It enables businesses to evaluate employee performance, optimize resource allocation, and identify the scope of improvement accurately.

You must consider this viewpoint while thinking about how to develop employee monitoring software to gain complete metrics and analytic reports on tasks, activity levels, consumed time, project progress, and goal achievement.

Lastly, you must ensure that the chosen software aligns with your productivity goals and visions.

6. Real-Time Screen Tracking

Real-time screen sharing allows managers to monitor employees’ screens in real time to get instant information about their activities. It is helpful to detect and inhibit non-work related or unauthorized actions, identify possible security risks, and observe productivity. Screen tracking also enables training, timely coaching, and feedback. It facilitates firms with effective monitoring, enhanced productivity, and robust company policies.

7. Multi-Platform Device Compatibility

As per the latest custom software development trends, you must look at this aspect while choosing the best employee monitoring software. Modern workplaces embrace different devices, operating systems, and platforms such as Mac, Windows, iOS, Linux, and Android, hence, it is needed to have compatibility across all these. You must own software that supports various platforms to ensure data collecting and monitoring irrespective of the device employees are using.

How Much Does It Cost to Develop Employee Monitoring Software?

The cost of employee monitoring software development can be influenced by various factors. These are the development approach, complexity of added features, size of the development team, and development timeframe to be responsible to vary the overall cost. Apart from these, there are also some additional factors such as the choice of platforms (mobile, desktop, or web) and customizations needed that can greatly impact the complete cost.

To provide a rough estimate depending on all these factors, we can say that the employee monitoring software development cost will range between $40,000 to $90,000. Further, it can be decreased or increased based on the described factors. To maintain a decent cost, it is necessary to engage with a leading firm and follow a proper software development process.

If you want to get more detailed cost estimation, look for accurately assessing specific requirements, software updates, infrastructure costs, and support services. Alongside, consider legal and ethical permission as well.

Partner with SemiDot Infotech for Future Oriented Employee Monitoring Software

SemiDot Infotech is a top-notch custom software development company that will assist you greatly in building & implementing employee monitoring software. The software will be designed by our expert and professional software development team used to track and analyze employees’ activities during work hours.

Firstly, our experts will help you to collect the necessary information to build a proficient solution as per the specific requirements and goals of your organization. We will evaluate the existing infrastructure and systems to find out any integration needs or compatibility issues. Then, our top software developers will help you to customize the software to align it with the unique needs of your organization. We will ensure that it captures the related data points and offers valuable analytics & reporting features.

Our focus will be on data security and privacy; hence, we will integrate robust security measures to safeguard sensitive data with the help of data protection laws. We will also help you to choose the best software development models to make the process flawless and the development cost reasonable.

Being a leading software development company, we will assist you throughout with customized solutions, offer training & support, solve security concerns, and ensure keep the software up to date & reliable.        

Conclusion

Every organization is trying hard to be in the race for successful ventures, that’s why they need to keep an eye on their employees’ activities in order to make them perform better and get more output.

Now that when you are well aware of the process of employee monitoring software development, working, features, how it benefits organizations, etc., you can decide how you want to implement this software within your organization to make the best out of it.

So, what are you waiting for? Hire a top employee monitoring software company in the USA like SemiDot Infotech to get a proficient solution as per the specific requirements of your organization. Make sure the solution you are getting is capable of properly collecting and managing data to profit the firm.

FAQs

Have a look at the below questions and answers related to employee monitoring software development to solve all your queries-