Top 10 Employee Monitoring Software Tools

With our remote workforce growing every year, and demands for higher and higher productivity, it’s increasingly important for managers to have a transparent view into what their employees are doing on a daily basis.

It’s not about spying on your employees or finding an excuse to accuse them of wrongdoing; instead, it’s about discovering teachable moments and learning opportunities, while finding ways to optimize productivity and workloads across a team of employees.

Thankfully, software developers have responded to this increased need with employee monitoring software tools designed to make employee monitoring easier.

These are just a few of the must-haves I’ve been able to explore.

1. EmailAnalytics. EmailAnalytics is the cornerstone email monitoring tool for any company that uses Gmail or G Suite. With it, you can monitor the email habits of your entire team, noting things like how many emails they send and receive, their average response time, and even how long their emails and email threads tend to be. It’s a good way to get a high-level snapshot of how busy your employees are throughout the day, and the platform is ripe with variables you can use to make positive improvements.

2. MyAnalytics. Microsoft’s MyAnalytics has similar functionality, but is exclusive for Outlook and Microsoft customers. The platform pulls data from multiple Office 365 sources to help you figure out where your employees are spending their hours (i.e., on email, in meetings, or focusing on core work). It can also guide you to set goals for the future, such as minimizing your time spent in meetings.

3. ActivTrak. ActivTrak is free behavioral analytics software for your team. It’s completely invisible, and will allow you to monitor how your employees are working. For example, you can monitor the emails your employees are sending, view which sites they’re browsing, and gather analytics to see which apps are most used on their computers. You can even use a built-in GPS feature to see where your employees are doing the work.

4. Teramind. Teramind is another platform geared toward monitoring and changing employee behavior. With it, you can set custom rules, such as redirecting employees when they attempt to reach specific websites, or blocking certain apps entirely. You can also monitor your employees’ behavior, including how they spend their hours, how long they work in a given day, and how they’re emailing and chatting with others.

5. Hubstaff. Hubstaff serves primarily as time tracking software, but it also offers employee monitoring software. You can take screenshots of employee activities automatically, to see which apps they have open, and track things like keyboard and mouse usage to make sure they’re staying on task throughout the day.

6. Time Doctor. Time Doctor is time tracking and behavioral tracking software designed especially for remote teams. It also features automatic, regular reporting, so you can keep track of how your employees improve over time. According to their website, users of the software can save up to 31 hours per month, per employee.

7. VeriClock. Vericlock is another cloud-based time tracking system for employees. If you’re looking for a simple solution that doesn’t require much setup or explanation, this may be the best fit for you—it doesn’t have as many features as the other options on this list, but that simplicity may be an advantage.

8. InterGuard. InterGuard is an employee monitoring system that monitors a suite of potential employee behaviors, including email, keyboard activity, instant message activity, internet usage, and app usage. You can also use it to set up specific rules that prohibit certain websites or certain types of activities.

9. Veriato 360. Veriato 360 is designed to give you more control and visibility over your employees. It features DVR-like recording, so you can play back employee behaviors and actions, and control exactly which types of data you collect from your team.

10. AeroAdmin. AeroAdmin is designed for remote employee monitoring. You can use it to connect to employee devices remotely, and view their entire screen. It doesn’t offer as many in-depth analytics or data visuals as some of the other solutions on this list, but it’s free for both personal and business use.

With employee monitoring tools in place, you’ll quickly learn the strengths and weaknesses of your individual team members, identify key areas that require improvement, and hopefully motivate your team members to continue doing their best.

With a little trial and error, and a commitment to ongoing improvement, you can eliminate the vast majority of wasted or inefficiently spent time in your organization.