{"id":4189,"date":"2023-04-11T09:01:58","date_gmt":"2023-04-11T16:01:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.golinks.com\/blog\/?p=4189"},"modified":"2024-10-01T12:20:01","modified_gmt":"2024-10-01T19:20:01","slug":"measuring-remote-employee-productivity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.golinks.com\/blog\/measuring-remote-employee-productivity\/","title":{"rendered":"The Secret to Measuring Remote Employee Productivity in the SaaS Age"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

It\u2019s now been three years since COVID-19 normalized remote work at companies globally \u2014 a move that\u2019s largely benefitted employers. Not only have companies been able to save on rent and office supplies, but research has shown that working from home boosts employee productivity<\/a> by an average of 6 percent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet, despite the plethora of research linking remote work to higher productivity<\/a>, many leaders struggle to trust their employees when they can\u2019t see them. In fact, 85% of leaders<\/a> say that the shift to hybrid work has made it \u201cchallenging\u201d to trust that their employees are actually being productive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Managers\u2019 uncertainty about their remote employees\u2019 productivity is understandable. After all, as management guru Peter Drucker<\/a> once said, \u201cIf you can\u2019t measure it, you can\u2019t manage it\u201d \u2014 and many managers simply haven\u2019t been taught how to measure productivity from afar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The answer, of course, isn\u2019t to send everyone back into the office \u2014 it\u2019s to learn how to measure remote workers\u2019 productivity using software-as-a-service (SaaS) tools. Below, we\u2019ll show you how to do just that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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How to use SaaS to Measure and Improve Remote Employee Productivity<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In the absence of a physical office, your company\u2019s SaaS tools become your remote team\u2019s virtual office, and these same tools can be used to measure your employees\u2019 productivity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s explore your options and how each of them works.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Monitoring software<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Monitoring software<\/a> is a type of SaaS that companies can install on employees\u2019 computers in order to track their activity. According to a report by Citrix, close to 50% of business leaders<\/a> report using monitoring software to check in on their employees\u2019 work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Monitoring software is probably the virtual solution that most closely resembles a manager peeking over an employee\u2019s shoulder at the office. However, it has one (glaring) drawback: installing monitoring software on your employees\u2019 computers can quickly make them feel like they\u2019re working under the distrusting eye of Big Brother.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While monitoring software might help managers track employee productivity<\/a>, its use can harm employee engagement, increase stress levels, and negatively impact the employee-employer relationship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Work management software<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Labor productivity becomes much easier to measure if you can actually track the work employees are getting done. This is where work management software comes in handy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some departments, like Sales and Customer Service, require team members to deliver a consistent (and repeatable) amount of work. For instance, a sales development representative (SDR) may be expected to make a certain number of calls every week, while a customer service representative might need to respond to a set number of support inquiries a day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Software that automates team members\u2019 workflows can give managers a direct view into team members\u2019 productivity. For instance, within a sales automation platform like Outreach<\/a>, managers can see how many calls and emails their team members have completed each week or month. A platform like Zendesk<\/a> can do the same for customer service teams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For roles where objectives and output are less number-driven, project management software<\/a> can come in handy. For instance, a marketing manager might use an app like Trello<\/a> to schedule and keep track of work that needs to be completed within their department each week. Using analytics, they can understand just how much work is being assigned to \u2014 and completed by \u2014 different team members, helping them monitor employee productivity from afar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The only downside to this approach is that, since every department uses different workflows, companies will often require the use of multiple tools in order to track and monitor employee productivity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SaaS spend management software<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

SaaS spend management software<\/a> provides one of the best ways for companies to gain an overall<\/em> view of employee productivity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SaaS spend management software allows leaders to monitor the use of all <\/em>of the diverse apps used across their organization \u2014 even if different departments all use fairly different apps day to day. It\u2019s usually used to track SaaS adoption and usage across a company, but it can also provide leaders with a bird\u2019s eye view into employee productivity (no matter the number of employees).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SaaS management software allows leaders to monitor just how often employees are accessing and using software tools over the course of a month. By comparing different employees\u2019 software use, managers can get a sense of how busy employees are (and what kind of tasks are keeping them busy).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And best of all? It doesn\u2019t invade employees\u2019 privacy in the same way that monitoring software does.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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