How To Use TMetric Time Tracking In Employee Monitoring

If you’re looking for practical advice on how to use time tracking apps for employee monitoring, on the example of TMetric functionality, we show 10 top effective ways of using time tracking for the purpose of increased employee productivity and business efficiency.

employee monitoring

The terms employee monitoring,  activity tracking, screenshot capturing
attendance management attracted new popularity in 2020 because they turned to be closely related to the subject of performance appraisal under the terms of the global shift to WFH.  

Currently, according to surveys, 79% of business leaders believe that people will not return to the office compared to the pre-pandemic level.

Another forecast released by Gartner says:

By the end of 2021, 51% of all knowledge workers worldwide are expected to be working remotely.

These numbers and global experts' reviews exemplify the need for new ways of employee monitoring, especially in the remote-first and hybrid environment.

a man holding the magnifying glass cartoonized image

Time tracking in employee monitoring and employee management

Time utilization stands out as one of the key factors in driving the workforce efficiency of many businesses.

The concept of time-tracking refers to a type of application that allows employees to record time spent on tasks and projects across any industry.

When it comes to employee monitoring, time tracking guarantees to benefit startups and enterprises with increased productivity and more focused work.

Below, on the example of time tracking with TMetric we discuss 10 top effective ways of using its unparalleled productivity-related capabilities for employee monitoring.    

Additionally, you can find helpful tips to learn how this software can benefit your business and be a good fit for both team members and managers.

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Activity Tracking 🏁

How It Works: It logs sites and apps that employee uses and registers keystrokes translated into activity bars.  

tmetric screenshot activity tracking

Additionally, there is an option of screenshot capturing: every 10 minutes, TMetric Desktop randomly takes a monitor screenshot visible from the Activity page alongside details of the user work.

Introducing web activity tracking and capture of screenshots as applied features, onboarding supervisor should stress that it helps workforce get insightful about:

  • employees' peak performance time 🌄
  • employee engagement 💡
  • operational compliance 👓.

Why It Is Important: The information on activity provides an unvarnished view of how employees address time management at work and help categorize time utilization ( on billable or non-billable tasks, on working or break time, etc.) in a click.

Tracking time off 🌴

How It Works: It provides the options for requesting time off without leaving the time tracker account and, according to the policies set by the company, automatically sends requests and approvals to the HR department storing the info for further use (attendance evaluation, payroll processing, etc.).

tmetric screenshot time off module

As it was stated in Morning Brew:

Vacation policies, family leave policies, and mental health policies are all pillars of the new office politics.

Aiming at work-life balance is one of the core values of businesses striving for employee retention and increasing employee productivity.  

Why It Is Important: Scheduling vacations enables managers to organize the workflow and team performance so that they did not suffer. It helps not only plan task distribution but prevents time off overlapping and provides employees with a seamless solution for maintaining work-life balance.    

Evaluation of time calculations in integrated apps employees use at work 🔗

How It Works: With a diverse system of TMetric time tracker integrations in more than 50 apps, calculations on the tasks performed there (email services, communication channels, project management systems, etc.) are automated and stored.

tmetric screenshot integration with trello

Hitting the start button launches the tracking process. Aside from giving a head start in task performance and project management, the integrations make tracking performance much faster and easier.

Why It Is Important: Long before the pandemic not only HR departments but project managers as well had been searching for effective ways to bring precision to the measurement of task performance that would be built around time metrics that employees show in the actual work production.

Using data stored through tracking time in the integrations means that work can be 'itemized' for achieving transparency in task performance.

Attendance Management 👱🏽‍♂️👩🏽

How It Works: By implementing time tracking practices, employers and HR managers get precise metrics not only to track work hours but monitor employee presence and engagement whether their location is onsite or remote. It is vital for effective attendance management.

tmetric screenshot attendance sheet report

Analysis of time tracking and attendance data helps in building those monitoring and workforce management strategies that will provide the HR Department with means of the stress-free transition to fully remote and hybrid work.  

Why It Is Important: Managers get a tool that allows them to monitor and evaluate employees' attendance in an unobtrusive way.

Time tracking for performance evaluation and employee promotion💲

How It Works: TMetric time tracker functionality includes several types of summaries that process time metrics in totals showing the time that employees spent on work in hours and days as well as indicating how much time in percentage was spent on online activities.

The analysis of this information is important in performance tracking and employee promotion.  

tmetric screenshot team summary

When it comes to performance evaluation and promotion, some decisions, unfortunately, show being made in a vacuum. Using time tracking metrics removes hurdles by addressing promotion policies issues with bringing transparency and accuracy of performance analysis.

Why It Is Important: Time tracking works well not only for creating the productive workflow but in building effective strategies for employee promotion empowered with metrics and easy-to-follow procedures to remove errors of human judgment.  

For project breakdown✍🏽

How It Works: TMetric provides options for effective employee monitoring in project management by amplifying the connection between time spent on the tasks and detailed task descriptions introduced within a workflow.  

tmetric screenshot project management module

On projects, especially big ones, one of the most common challenges that managers face boils down to answering the question: 'How to bring team members of different talents to collaborate in accord?'

Why It Is Important: Using time tracking metrics in this regard has several benefits. It helps not to be overconfident in estimates and removes any guessing games in project management by:

  • promoting a realistic assessment of employee capabilities
  • assisting managers in developing a backup plan
  • increasing the chances of positive business outcomes
  • affording companies a deeper comprehension of best-fitting workforce management strategies.

Generation of reports 📝

How It Works: The range of TMetric reports analyzing employees' work is wide. It is visible both to the employer and employee. To generate it, there is a Report module that includes various summaries and a Detailed Report as well.  

tmetric screenshot task summary

It assists in estimating the repeating tasks with precision ⌛. It also helps managers to make sure employees prioritize the activities that line up with the company's core values and specific objectives.

Why It Is Important: With time metrics-based reports of employee productivity that bring more structure to the working process., managers obtain relevant data to make sound project management decisions.

Effective employee scheduling 📅

How It Works: TMetric delivers means of effective calendar management in multiple ways.  

It has a module for viewing weekdays and holidays instantly. It can also be integrated into the scheduling and calendar tools employees use at work (in particular, it supports Google Calendar and Outlook Calendar).

tmetric screenshot calendar management

Time tracking technology monitoring employee workload and schedule filling helps not only manage the workforce more effectively but enables a higher level of flexibility and autonomy named as the most sought-after benefits among employees.

Why It Is Important: Effective scheduling that results from a thorough analysis of time utilization greatly contributes to developing an efficient workforce. Additionally, thanks to automatic time tracking, employers can be empowered with tools for better time management and providing employees with more flexibility.

Prevention of time and profit theft💱

How It Works: In addition to automatic clock in, TMetric time tracking has options that allow simplifying the work time calculations and rounding the figures for creating accurate and comprehensible metrics, preventing time theft, or risking a negative impact on business profits.  

Advanced time tracking also improves best performance readiness by eliminating the burden on employees' memory, ruining the attention span, or any other inaccuracy related to time calculations.

A more efficient and higher-performing workforce will emerge if organizations let employees choose their ideal working style, onboard them, and provide the right tools to be effective, autonomous, and connected from anywhere.

Why It Is Important: Automaton brings employee monitoring to a new level by assisting in the establishment of smooth workflow without falling into micromanagement or provoking time theft (longer breaks, buddy punching, logging the wrong number of work hours, etc.).  

App usage analysis 💻

How It Works: The fast-generating report on Apps Usage can help employers see if employees are abusing irrelevant sites, corporate email, or breaching norms set in company policies.

Implementing time tracking practices for monitoring implies that employees are informed that their app usage is under supervision.

Furthermore, employers can identify bottlenecks during the work process, or areas where employees spend more time than expected, so the app stack that employees use can be reviewed and improved.

Why It Is Important: Employees whose apps usage is monitored utilize work time more effectively and stop wasting time on distracting activities.  

Conclusion

In the reshaped work environment marked with trends for hybrid and remote work, the search for new solutions poses many questions related to the measurement of employee productivity.

Along with employee engagement and monitoring, time tracking with TMetric delivers solutions for:  

  • work-life balance
  • prioritizing mental health
  • teamwork
  • effective collaboration
  • optimization of the digital workspace.

The analysis of TMetric uses shows that its superb employee monitoring capabilities put it on top among the recommended time tracking software for businesses.