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I have a user that works remotely. I can see when he logs into some systems…but is there a way to make sure he is actually doing something? logging into a system then wandering off is what I am concerned about.

Thanks

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How would you measure his work if he was in the office? You can be sitting in a chair all day and not working. Does he have measurable goals? Can you see the results of his work somewhere?

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if he was in office, it would be easy to see if he is at least at his desk.
the reason why i am looking is becasue I have no idea what he does. and I want to be able to prove, yes/no he is worth 114k/yr

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Being at ones desk doesn’t mean they are working either

What did you or the company hire them to do? Have check-in meetings, confirm the scope of their work has content coming in frequently.

If you’re sceptical this person who is remote isn’t working, perhaps it shouldn’t have been allowed at all and their job should have either been office based or come with specific requirements.

You need something to measure by, what is their role, do they email a lot, are they on calls a lot, do they attend team meetings or have to do paperwork that could also be offline, and not computer based, including if they was office based?

Perhaps if this is how you feel, revisit the position.

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I am not sure that knowing he is logged in to a program and at his computer will tell you that, although there are lots of spyware like programs that can kind of tell you that… some of them snap a picture at regular intervals, some of them track what software is open and being used actively so you can see a breakdown, etc.

The problem with all of them is that you can fake all of them if you want to… including in person working, and that you can also seriously demotivate someone if you are constantly spying and they don’t feel free to grab a snack or use the restroom for fear that they will be seen as slackers… resulting in mostly the opposite of the goal here, I think.

To me, the underlying issue is that you need to know what the person is supposed to be doing, and then come up with a results-based way to measure his progress/impact. That is true whether in the office or out. I had a 12 person remote team at a past job, and for them we would keep statistics on what they accomplished. For some of them it was friendly competition… others didn’t like it much because they didn’t look good on the stats. For those people I usually ended up giving them other custom projects so they could show the group what they were doing, and then they would present progress and results from time to time.

If you don’t know what he does, maybe just try talking to him. Tell him your boss is asking for a way to measure his impact and perhaps he will help you come up with something that works for everyone.

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Nailed it.

I am not against company policies such as, internet monitoring, email tracking and archiving - but if someone was ‘monitoring’ me 24/7 while I worked, simply to validate I was, then it’s goodbye from me.

If you employ adults and allow remote working, trust them, if you don’t trust them, don’t allow it

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Just echoing what others have said: measure what a remote worker is delivering, instead of trying to guess if they’re working. If you’re wondering if they’re working, you’re actually revealing a deeper problem which is: “I can’t measure what an employee is delivering”. Solving that problem will illuminate so much more in your company (for both remote & in-person workers).

Maybe a remote employee is delivering to your expectations but you’re wondering if they have more to give? Then I’d suggest a temporary project or period where you up the expectations and see if they rise to the occasion.

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You hire a person to do things. Are those things getting done to your satisfaction? If so, then I would not obsess about it. Are you setting goals for projects? Are those goals being met?

If you have given a task that you know takes 2-3 days and 3 weeks later they are still “working on it” then yes, then you absolutely need to ask, what has this person been doing with their time. That’s something that should be solved in a (performance) meeting. What’s causing the delay, is it a lack of knowledge, other projects competing for time, held up due to for example licensing not being purchased? If there are legitimate roadblocks, then the question is, can you as the manager help remove some of those roadblocks.

If however the employee can not give any adequate explanation as to why they are unable to complete the things in a reasonable amount of time, you have to consider if that is the right employee for the job. These things can be determined without trying to spy on someone. It doesn’t even need to go any further than that. Sorry this is not working out for us, and you part ways.

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Rest assured, he’s not working…

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Computer Management, Event Viewer, Auditing\Reporting tools to monitor access to files…
Examine cached Web files … Monitor Web access at the firewall … Filter Web access by URL … Filter Web access by keywords … Monitor incoming and outgoing e-mail messages … Monitor instant messages (IMs) … Use keyloggers to capture typed data …Use Dameware remote so you can watch what they are doing, etc.

I think the real question is what were they hired to do, and are they doing it?

Do you have measurable deliverables in place, projects that require input and completion, a ticket system, do they deliver a finished product on time, ROI, etc.?

Maybe you have not, or do not, give them enough buy in to projects that you see completion of tasks… what are their responsibilities… are the responsibilities being met?

If it’s IT work, sometimes there are great periods of time that nothing is happening, and you’re
just monitoring systems, then all hell breaks loose! When hell breaks loose in your environment, does this person deliver results and get you back into production?

If you have anything to do with their performance standards, then tell them what you want them to deliver, by specific dates… is that being done?

If the position is not needed, because they sit at home and do nothing all day… then why do you have the position in the first place?

Honestly, It sounds more like a management problem then an employee supposedly not doing anything remotely…

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There are lots of software for remote monitoring these days.

I agree with the other comments that say they don’t monitor their employees, however. There are tools that track mouse and keyboard inputs to ensure things are “happening” right down to tools that take screen shots every couple of seconds.

If you want one try out:
The Best Employee Monitoring Software for 2024 | PCMag

for some recommendations.

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How do you figure that?

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Yes, there is a way. You buy activity tracking software and have all employees sign paperwork agreeing their activity may be monitored.

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