Five sectors that benefit most from employee monitoring software
19.02.2020
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Improvements in technology have radically changed the way we work. Before the arrival of this digital age, work meant going to a physical location, spending eight to nine hours there, and then heading back home.
This digitally connected age, on the other hand, has enabled so many things. Not only has technology made it possible for workers to be more productive, it has also allowed them to work in almost any location that has an internet connection. In fact, the past year saw quite a number of people work remotely. According to the 2019 State of Remote Work survey conducted by OWL Labs and Global Workplace Analytics, 62 percent of their survey respondents have worked remotely. Of that 62 percent, 30 percent work remotely full-time.
But that added convenience comes with added risks and more things to look out for. Data breaches and corporate thievery can now be done digitally. According to the Data Breach QuickView Report, the previous year saw 4.1 billion records being exposed in just the first six months of the years, all due to data breaches. That translates to 3,813 breaches, which is up 54 percent from the same time period in 2018. The number of exposed records was up by a staggering 52 percent.
Some of the breaches in 2019 didn’t happen only to small companies either, but to digital giants and high-flying startups as well. Thousands of Yahoo accounts were compromised by a former employee, while 4.9 million DoorDash customers had their information exposed because of a third-party service provider. Fifty former employees of Deutsche Bank were still able to send half a thousand emails even after being let go, while three former McAfee employees were able to take trade secrets to their next place of employment. The Desjardins Group had a leak that involved 2.7 million individuals and 173,000 businesses, facilitated by an employee that they had to fire.
The convenience of working remotely can also bring problems. Working remotely makes it difficult for employers to ensure that their workers are being productive. According to a study conducted in the United Kingdom, full-time office workers only spend around two hours and 53 minutes of productive time at work, and that’s with someone overseeing them in person. Forty-seven percent of the respondents also said checking social media and news websites was what they spent most of their time on. Forty-four minutes were spent on social media, while an hour and five minutes were spent reading news websites. One can just imagine how much easier it is to do that when one is working outside of the office.
Sectors That Benefit The Most
Thankfully, technology has also come up with solutions to these issues. There is software that performs remote employee monitoring for those who want to keep tabs on their employees who are working out of the office. Employers worried that their workers are either stealing data or slacking off can avail themselves of either employee computer monitoring software or employee screen monitoring software.
Products like these have not become an indispensable part of doing business in this day and age. In fact, one could easily make a list of the number of sectors that benefit from employee monitoring software, whether they’re working in-office or remotely.
1. Information Technology
Obviously, if there’s a sector that would benefit the most from monitoring, it would be the IT department. As the Yahoo breach has shown, former employees that have knowledge of the ins and outs of a system would be the ones who will find it easy to exploit any weaknesses.
Sometimes, it isn’t even maliciousness but just plain carelessness that makes people from IT one of the most dangerous employees in an organization. They might forget to update an important software or to remove the system access of former employees. These mistakes may be just simple human error, but it ends up costing the company a lot whether financially or by staining their reputation. If there is software in place that monitors what the IT department is doing, managers can anticipate any possible breaches and mistakes and prevent it from happening.
2. Finance and Accounting
Money is always going to be a touchy subject, but especially so when it involves the money of a huge organization. When big corporations lose money, it’s not just some middling amount. Every year, businesses lose about four billion dollars to fraud. Whether it is a bank or an e-commerce business, a lack of monitoring software is sure to leave them vulnerable.
Businesses equipped with one can also look out for accounting fraud that either involves exaggerating expenses or underreporting income. Having the necessary software in place protects a business from these, so it’s best to have monitoring software alongside tools such as the ones included in this list of the best accounting software tools.
3. Legal
Contracts are another part of business that is often contentious and kept highly confidential. A breach from a company’s legal department can spell disaster for any deals being prepared or any new hires being approached. With things like an activity monitor software in place, businesses can always be on top of what’s happening and not be caught unawares by any sudden developments or breaches that could negatively affect the company.
4. Retail
It’s a pop culture cliche to have retail employees be depicted as slacking off or stealing from their employers, but cliches do come from a place of truth. It’s not even about employees stealing from the till, but of employees stealing a client base and becoming a direct competitor of the place where they used to work. With the proper software, employers can look at the areas where risks are high and then come up with ways to combat and counter it.
5. Manufacturing
When people hear the word manufacturing, what they usually think of is the production line. But breaches and theft of intellectual property also happens here, as well as failure to meet compliance standards. With monitoring software, the flow of information can be controlled and data access monitored. It can also make sure that regulatory requirements are complied with and met.
Monitoring Software That Does More
Getting the best employee monitoring software ensures that the risks of doing business in the 21st century doesn’t don’t have a huge impact on a company. Products like Risk Monitor will surely be a big help, especially since it provides a wide variety of tools that will be incredibly useful to businesses, whatever industry they may be in.
Whether you’re in the manufacturing industry, the hospitality industry, or in financial services, there are preset policies available for you, as Risk Monitor has more than 200 of them. Problems can also be tackled with specific solutions, thanks to the tool’s capacity to provide a framework that is optimal, no matter the scope of the business. Activity monitoring is also enhanced by the hundreds of reports available to users, since these reports come with necessary details as well as a layout.
Compliance officers, risk managers, information security analysts, C-level executives, and internal auditors will also appreciate the numerous tools Risk Monitor provides. These include tools for fraud detection, intelligent risk analysis, policy violation discovery, and human factor management. There are also tools for data transfer control, liability monitoring, and retrospective investigation. Finally, users also have tools for capturing employee onscreen activity and current threat level assessment at their disposal.
