Almost three in five UK workers say their company uses monitoring software to track activity, including attendance, meeting participation and computer use, according to research by Owl Labs. The survey also found that 82% believe employers should have to disclose when they use these tools, although such disclosure is not currently required by law, the report says.
The activities workers most commonly said were monitored included login and logout times (32%), the number of meetings attended (22%), screen and mouse activity (17%) and keyboard use (15%). Owl Labs argues that these measures do not provide a meaningful picture of how employees work.
Some workers report finding ways to satisfy attendance metrics without actively taking part. More than a quarter (28%) said they had marked a meeting as attended, or joined without paying attention, and caught up later using notes or summaries. Managers were more likely than non-managers to report doing this: 33% compared with 15%.
The survey also found interest in using AI avatars to attend meetings on employees’ behalf. Half of managers and 21% of non-managers said they were considering using one, further challenging the value of meeting attendance as a measure of work.
Owl Labs’ findings also point to technical problems with hybrid meetings. Nearly three-quarters (73%) of UK workers said they lose time because of technical difficulties, with audio issues commonly reported. Teams take an average of six minutes to get a hybrid meeting started. The report suggests that improving audiovisual equipment could be a more effective way to support productivity than monitoring attendance.
Owl Labs CEO Frank Weishaupt called on employers to be transparent about what they monitor and why. He said that, with the Government reviewing workplace monitoring regulation, openness could help build trust, while reliable technology supports productivity and staff retention.
Sources: TechRadar.