There are some common mistakes in instituting an employee monitoring system. It is a given that organizations should implement an effective and comprehensive employee monitoring program that is replete with logical components.

The biggest mistake that business organizations commit in this regard is not creating a company policy on it. Often, employee monitoring becomes just a reactionary tool after a perceived crisis, or an ad hoc strategy. This is one of the clearest pitfalls in what could otherwise be a legitimate effort. When a policy is indeed in place, the biggest loophole is not communicating this policy to employees. While ignorance of the law is not an excuse, many untoward issues can arise when a policy such as employee monitoring is not discussed with the organization’s human resources.

Employee monitoring becomes beneficial and should be advisable if it makes good business sense. It usually does, though. Some examples are: blocking undesirable web sites and filtering for critical intellectual property keywords in web and email use.

No management person or employer has enough time to monitor employees full time. A system such as this may only be used when an alert is made. The important thing is that it is in place as a policy and that the policy is well communicated to everybody. The formula: have a policy, use it, tell everybody in the company about it, and use technology to implement it.

The most common and simplest form of employee monitoring is time and attendance tracking. This can come from the most primitive log book or the basic bundy clock. Complex systems can come in the form of technologically sophisticated tracking programs where users log into their computers to use specific applications. The vital thing is to log in for record
purposes.

The fastest growing area of employee monitoring relates to Internet usage. Companies have been implementing systems that track web surfing, instant messaging, emails, and other Internet related technologies. Since most employees treat their office PC like it is their own, these Internet usage tracking systems become a source of negative reaction from employees.

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Via Privacy Rights Clearinghouse