When you build your business, inevitably comes the moment when you are no longer able to perform all duties by yourself and need to entrust some of them to hired people. This is when trust becomes absolutely necessary in order to go on developing your enterprise. If you don’t have enough trust in the people you work with, it will result in your hovering over their shoulder, literally or figuratively, interfering into their activities, constantly checking up on “how it goes”, recommending what and how they should do and so on. Who would like to be controlled to such an extent?
Naturally, such mode of work promotes neither creativity, nor productivity and will sooner or later result in your employees quitting their job. According to Steven M.R. Covey’s view that he shares in his book “Speed of trust”, when the level of trust within the company decreases, the speed of change decreases as well, so any improvements are much harder to implement.
Evidently, building trust within the company is one of the fundamental qualities your business surely needs. But it doesn’t mean you should leave all your employees “unattended” and doing their tasks according to their wish.
A time tracker software offers a compromise between total control and total indulgence. It passively tracks employees' activities without interfering their work. But doesn't it make the staff trust you less?
Common misconceptions about employee time tracking and trust
Employee time tracking does look a good solution to employers, but they are frequently stopped from implementing it. The key reason is they fall victims to the common stereotype that introducing a time tracker means to acknowledge lack of trust to the employees.
This fear is strengthened by the hostility with which most staff members react to the news that their time is going to be tracked. This often results from the belief that time trackers are actually spy software, gathering all personal information, reading their personal emails, capturing passwords and payment details etc.
Another frequent misconception concerns the use of social networks, short coffee breaks and other means of taking some rest during the day. Employees are apprehensive that each such instance will be known and punished in some or other way.
How time tracker helps build trust within the company
In fact, if you pick the right software and use it to its purpose, it will act to strengthen the trust between employees and company management. Here is the evidence needed:
1. Fair treatment for all employees
Introducing employee time tracking service means that the data provided by this software will give you objective reasons for rewarding employees as well as taking measures against discipline violators. There will be no more ground for accusations that some staff members are treated too indulgently or vice versa – everyone’s even for the time tracker, and human factor is excluded.
2. Time tracker helps in ambiguous situations
This software can serve a good purpose by helping to resolve controversial situations. For instance, an employee who is frequently failing to meet the deadlines not necessarily is negligent. Possibly, s/he is overloaded with tasks or lacks proper training, but doesn’t waste time for entertainment while at work. By analyzing the time tracker data, you can assess the situation objectively.
Screenshot and webcam captures is another useful feature that is very helpful to solve conflicts. You might feel uneasy about your marketing managers spending a lot of time in social networks. Surely, it is their duty to promote your company this way, but how can you be sure they aren’t chatting away most of the time? The regular screen captures will reveal the truth and you will have no more doubts.
3. Transparent billing for freelancers’ services
If you never hired a freelancer before for fear of being overcharged, or have always had doubts whether the sums you’re paying are totally fair, the time tracking software is an excellent means of dispelling your doubts. When installed on the freelancer’s or a distant employee’s computer, it will provide you a detailed account of all activity going on, showing exactly how much time was spent for your project and how much – for personal tasks. This will make billing accurate and enable you to refer to freelancer services without any risks.
Bottom line
While a time tracker isn’t a panacea, it definitely doesn’t pose a threat to the trust you’re taking so much efforts to nurture within your company. Vice versa, it has numerous advantages that help you rely more on your staff without any doubts. It is only natural that you’re still incredulous, but it would be a shame if you didn’t take steps to try an employee time tracking tool in action, and Yaware.TimeTracker is right within a few clicks. Simply register your account and start your free 14-day trial, no strings attached.
