6 Ways your employees can trick your user activity tracker

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in millions of employees working from home. This has seen employers devise new ways to monitor their staff and ensure they are putting in the work and not loafing around at home. 

But not all employees enjoy being monitored and some have come up with ways to trick tracking tools. As an employer looking to monitor your employees' productivity, it’s important to understand how your employees are likely cheating on your time tracking software.

In this article, we share six common ways through which your employees are probably tricking your user activity tracking tool.

Automating Mouse Movement

This may seem unbelievable and extreme but it is possible to automate mouse movement using a battery-operated toy. Once the toy is attached to the mouse, it moves the peripheral around. The monitoring software is hence tricked into thinking there is mouse movement while in actual sense, there is none.

The quickest way to discover this trick is to use monitoring software that takes screenshots. Taking random screenshots of what your employees are working on will help show you if whatever is on the screen is changing or not.

Using Two Monitors

Using two monitors can be a great way to have all your work spread before you. Instead of constantly switching windows, a lot of people prefer to have two monitors. When tracking your employees, you may forget to track both monitors.

A mischievous employee will therefore have work-related apps opened on one monitor but have Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tiktok, and all other social media apps you can think of open on the other one. You can be assured that not much work will be happening with that employee.

To prevent this from happening, choose a high-quality monitoring software that can track dual-monitor systems.

Using a Window as Cover Up

An employee can be watching their favorite show during work hours but to cover this up, they will open another window with work-related content. The second window will trick the monitoring device into thinking that the employee is working while in reality, they are enjoying Game of Thrones during work hours.

Using a monitoring software that has smart algorithms that pick out activity levels based on keyboard and mouse activity will ensure you are not duped.

Timing the Screenshots

Most monitoring software takes screenshots as a way of monitoring what your employees are doing during work hours. Some employees figure out the interval at which the screenshots are taken and pretend to be working at this time. After the screenshot has been taken, they go back to doing other things that are not work-related.

It would be helpful to have a monitoring tool that does not solely rely on screenshots to gauge your employees' productivity. When it comes to screenshots, use a tool that takes them randomly hence preventing your employees from timing and preparing for them.

Interfering with the Software’s Code

If an employee is super tech-savvy, they might be able to tamper with the code of the monitoring software. They can customize the software to only track certain activities. Sure, this is not easy to do but it's possible.

Choosing a monitoring software with a complex encryption system will make it difficult for employees to interfere with its code. In case you suspect your monitoring software code has been tampered with, contact the support department and let them know. A decent company should be able to give you a lasting solution.

Using Remote Access

The lengths employees are willing to go to trick the monitoring software might shock you. An employee can choose to have two separate computers. The first computer will be used for work and this is where the monitoring software will be installed. They will then set up a remote access client and connect it to their second computer. This way, it’s possible for them to play video games, shop, and watch movies while still being considered productive.

If you notice a certain employee keeps on running a remote access client, it’s possibly a good thing to question them about it.

Conclusion

Using employee monitoring software on your employees can be a sensitive issue especially when it comes to privacy. Remember that your employees are entitled to their privacy and you should protect it at all times.

While at it, keep in mind that your employees are human beings and can get distracted during work hours. Be a little easy on them and allow their short breaks in between work.

If you are not too hard on them, chances are most will not even consider using the tricks we just shared above to try and trick you. Good luck!