Coping with Employees who Resent Being Monitored

42-15509988 Employee monitoring is an important tool for many businesses. It allows business owners to make sure that the productivity in the office remains high. It keeps employees on track with their tasks and moves the company closer to meeting all goals. It provides insight into different problems in the office and allows for those problems to be corrected. The only drawback is that employees sometimes resent being monitored which can counteract all of the great benefits of using an employee monitoring system.

The good news is that employers actually have a lot of control over whether or not the employee monitoring is a positive thing. Employers who deal appropriately with employees who resent being monitored will be able to turn their mood around and make the monitoring a positive experience for everyone involved. This is done through discussing the goals of employee monitoring, soliciting employee feedback and working with a praise-based system.

Discuss the Goals of Employee Monitoring

The first thing that all employers should do to deal with disgruntled employees is to open up the doors of communication. Hold a staff meeting to discuss the reasons for employee monitoring. Focus on the goals of monitoring. These goals should include identifying problem areas in the office and assessing the usefulness of various technology and processes in the office. Note that “checking up on employees” is not on the list of goals.

The meeting should be structured so that you emphasize the ways in which these goals will benefit the entire business. After discussing this, you should open up the conversation for employees to talk about their concerns surrounding employee monitoring. There is a good chance that you’ll be able to alleviate a lot of their resentments just by answering some of the questions that they may have about the process of employee monitoring.

Solicit Feedback from Employees

The doors of communication shouldn’t close after this initial meeting. You should make sure to solicit employee feedback throughout the monitoring process. Hold weekly or monthly meetings for the specific purpose of discussing employee monitoring. Allow employees who are resentful to air their grievances. Ask them what they think should be changed in order to make employee monitoring more acceptable to them. By putting the ball in their court, you take the pressure off of yourself to deal with the problem.

Use a Praise-Based System

Make sure that you’re using employee monitoring to find the things that employees are doing right. Make it a regular habit to praise employees for those things. This is particularly helpful when dealing with employees who resent being monitored. Make it a specific point to use the monitoring system to find something praise-worthy that they’ve done. Praise them for it and mention that the monitoring system allowed you to see this. This will significantly reduce any lingering resentments that employees may have about being monitored.