How Intelligent Monitoring Boosts Employee Engagement

The average rate of employee engagement is only 31% in the U.S.

Yet, improving this engagement rate can be easily achieved with proper employee monitoring software. Because this monitoring data can drive employee satisfaction and boost engagement.

The only catch is - maximizing employee engagement with insightful monitoring is tough. Especially when you don't know how to do it.

In this article, we'll tap into how insightful monitoring can deliver real impact!

Why Employee Engagement is Needed & Which Components to Consider?

The real question is - Why won’t you need engaged employees? Do you expect good work output from tired & indifferent employees?

Engaged employees are more productive, focused, and loyal. Plus, they act as ambassadors on social media channels! After all, they are the power of your business. And when their battery is worn out, nothing runs smoothly.

According to Gallup, when employees are engaged, businesses can see up to 51% lower turnover. Moreover, the same businesses show incredible profits. So, the role of engaged employees is obvious!

Now comes the discussion of components for consideration. There can be various factors of employee engagement.

Some key components to consider:

• Expectation Clarity: 46% of U.S. employees strongly agree they know what is expected at work.
• Employee Feedback: Regular feedback and biweekly touchpoints matter. Hardly any organization focuses on those.
• Employee Benefits: Financial, mental, social, and more. Retirement plans, cash-out plan options, and unused time conversion plans are good motivators.
• Employee Well-being: There’s a positive correlation between employee well-being and ROI.
• Emotional Connection: When you say “we’re a family” as their boss, you have to mean it. The emotional commitment keeps the employees motivated in the vision.
• Workplace Culture: 70% of the variance in team engagement depends on the manager. So, invest in a good manager.

Engagement is a strategic lever rather than a side program. It starts with employee activation and employee accountability. When the company is empathetic, employees feel comfortable.

How to Measure Employee Engagement?

Measuring employee engagement requires careful and precise attention. Why? Because you need to maintain your workplace’s positivity with empathy. Without sacrificing actual facts and numbers.

So, how should you approach it?

Here are some steps for you to follow:

1. Employee Engagement Survey: Use a survey to measure satisfaction, commitment, and retention. For example, if the engagement is more than 50%, then it’s good.
2. One-on-one Scenarios: Include biweekly touch check-ins. Those capture honest responses and clear sentiment. You can later match this data with your monitoring insights.
3. Behavioral Metrics: Track focused work time, meeting frequencies, collaboration, etc.
4. Employee Sentiment: Monitor key metrics, including stress, absenteeism, inactivity, etc.Outcome Metrics: Track employee turnover rate and savings. You can also add employee participation rates in engagement programs.

When Monitoring Can do More Harm than Good

Productivity monitoring can be a great tool for employees when they actually open up to it. Otherwise, disengagement is the natural outcome.

So, keep these caution points in mind while monitoring:

• A global drop from 30% to 27% in 2024 in manager engagement. So, even the managers are not fully committed to your vision.
• Over-prioritising monitoring metrics can negatively impact employee mental health and overall employee experience.
• When monitoring is not transparent, employees disengage rapidly, and it can even bring legal consequences.

That’s why monitoring should always come with transparency and ethical frameworks.

Best Practices of Improving Employee Engagement with Monitoring

Finally, we arrive at what you can do right now to improve employee engagement. Smart monitoring helps in all aspects.

1. Be Transparent from Day One

Monitoring is always a double-edged sword. It can become a weapon of great productivity. Or, it can cut the very foundation of your business. So, always focus on the benefits of monitoring when you’re implementing.

Also, ensure the plan follows a proper training and workload balance. From the first day, use employee activation language. Here’s an example:

“We’re using insights to support your career progression plans and employee savings”.

Hopefully, you won't use “Be careful, we’ll track every action from now!”

2. Use Role-level Dashboards

Never single out employees in a crowd. Try to tackle disengagement as a team first. Then, you can use monitoring software to identify granular issues and trends.

Focus on building personalized reports to equip the manager level with key insights. For example, if a member of the marketing team has not been showing progress, approach him/her with data. After that, a one-on-one meeting can allow the person to be open about the concerned issues.

That’s why data can always help with teams, managers, and even the executive level.

3. Combine Monitoring with Recurring Feedback Loops

When you’re monitoring, it’s a good practice to schedule biweekly touch check-ins. It helps the monitoring system add value to employee productivity.

Foster employee listening via pulse surveys, open-ended questions, etc.

Keep the pulse surveys brief and candid. Do it every month/quarter to get the best responses.

When doing the surveys, combine monitoring data. That way, employees will learn where they are lacking. And how it reflects the current performance of your employees.

4. Prioritise Employee Well-being

Above anything, tracking is about boosting productivity and engagement. And when you consider employee well-being, your employees feel seen.

You can add more to the employee benefits programs with great insights. It can also apply to wellness initiatives and career progression plans. Monitoring data will help to launch effective benefits for employees.

So, it's not just about productivity. The goal is to make your employees better.

5. Governance and Ethics Matter

To be fair and ethical, it's best to have a cross-functional committee. Your HR, IT, legal, and employee reps can be the members. The purpose of the team will be to protect the monitoring policy and data retention.

For example, the usage of artificial intelligence can be a tricky thing. If your monitoring software uses AI, disclose how behavior is assessed. And how employees can see or correct their data.

Ensure employee accountability frameworks focus on support and development, not punishment. This reinforces positive engagement.

6. Measure, Refine, Repeat

When you’re monitoring, it’s a good practice to schedule biweekly touch check-ins. It helps the monitoring system add value to employee productivity.

Foster employee listening via pulse surveys, open-ended questions, etc.

Keep the pulse surveys brief and candid. Do it every month/quarter to get the best responses.

When doing the surveys, combine monitoring data. That way, employees will learn where they are lacking. And how it reflects the current performance of your employees.

Metrics that HRs & Leaders Should Track with Monitoring

Effective monitoring requires active tracking. Tracking of core metrics that show positive results. These metrics define how the team will shape up.

However, you should remember that the metrics are not permanent. They can change depending on the situation.

Core Metrics

• Employee engagement survey score
• Employee turnover rate (voluntary and involuntary)
• Deep work hours vs meeting hours (via monitoring tool)
• Cross-team collaboration index (email frequency, project coupling)
• Employee participation rates in engagement programs (e.g., pulse surveys, one-on-one meetings).
• Employee well-being metrics

Target Goals & Benchmarks

What’s the next step when you have the data you need? Finalising a target for the next month/quarter/year.

So, here’s a template you can refer to:

• Engagement score improvement (e.g., 5-8 percentage points over 12 months).
• Active disengagement reduction (50% reduction by next year)
• Increased bi-weekly one-on-one meeting (30% to 50%)
• Rise in employee participation rates in engagement programs (from 50% to 70% and above)

The Impact of Monitoring on Employee Engagement

Monitoring is a key factor for employee activation and participation. The real-life impacts of monitoring show great results:

• Engaged employees are 4 times less likely to search for another job.
• 78% less absenteeism and 23% greater profitability.
• HRs and leaders can find early signs of disengagement. With that, they can take proper action.

But the negative side is great as well. When monitoring is forceful, employees give up. The global drop in engagement to 21% in 2024 signals exactly that. Monitoring without humanity is of no use.

Monitoring becomes powerful only when employees listen. Without proper employee communication, the impact becomes irrelevant.

Why You Can Rely on Apploye?

Apploye relies on transparency, trust, and autonomy. When you maintain openness, it’s easy for employees to engage.

The reasons why Apploye can give you the best monitoring features, like:

• Accurate time-tracking with activity data.
• Role-based access for better privacy and control.
• Project management tools integration for good project tracking.
• Payroll and invoicing for easy budgeting.
• Support for compliance, data security, and trust.

Conclusion

Employee engagement is no longer optional. The current generation is more self-aware about what they want. And businesses can’t survive if they don’t adapt and change. So, you need to accept your limits. And improve on solving issues with engagement.

Only then, your employees engage and work with motivation!

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the 4 pillars of employee engagement?

The four pillars are culture, alignment, connection, and accountability. Together, they keep employees motivated, focused, and working toward the same goal.

What are the 5 C's of employee engagement?

The 5 C’s are care, connect, coach, contribute, and congratulate. These help employees feel supported, stay productive, and feel valued.

Is employee monitoring legal?

Yes, in many places it is legal. You must be transparent, follow data laws, and inform employees clearly. Always check local rules before applying monitoring.

Will monitoring reduce employee trust?

It can if done poorly. When used to support employees, not spy on them, monitoring can increase trust and morale.

What data is safe to collect with employee engagement software?

Collect high-level and team-based data. Track project time, collaboration patterns, and survey feedback. Avoid invasive data like keystrokes or camera screenshots.

How long should monitoring data be retained?

Personal data should be deleted or anonymized after a set time, such as 6-12 months. Long-term data should only be kept in a summarized form.

Does monitoring help remote and hybrid employees?

Yes, when combined with good communication and regular check-ins. It improves visibility, supports focused work, and strengthens team collaboration.