Half of companies track home working hours, 

Of companies, almost half (44%) are gathering information on staff members’ home working hours; another 33% intend to do so in future. That is based on fresh statistics from Kinly, a worldwide provider of audio-visual integration and collaboration technologies, 425 corporate AV experts from the UK, Germany, Nordics, and the Netherlands were polled in the new Trusted Connections 2024 study. While a third (33%) are also investing in analytics tools to track remote workers, 65% of businesses are pushing staff members to install Internet of Things (IoT) devices into their homes. So employee data tracking trends is becoming more and more important.

For many businesses, tracking home working hours technologies such as Controlio are helping fulfill their responsibilities to preserve employee welfare – something which has become much more difficult since workers departed the office environment. Indeed, a third of those polled (32%) claimed their companies are now gathering wellbeing data including “tiredness indicators” from remote employees. Still another 37% intend to monitor this kind of information going forward.

More than a quarter (28%), stated their companies are also gathering environmental data from people’s homes — such as lighting and air quality, while 36% have plans to get this data in the future.

In response to this trend, Kinly CEO Tom Martin remarked, “For years businesses have been able to maximise both the productivity and welfare of personnel inside the office setting. From controlling screen time to offering natural lighting, worker analytics have been a major focus of the AV business. That is all changing right now. Businesses cannot ensure a high-quality work environment given so many staff members working from home. People working longer hours in circumstances unacceptable at the office follow from this.

Using at-home AV equipment to track everything from air quality to working hours and screen usage, IoT technology is growingly popular as a means of addressing this. Adopting this tech obviously involves being open with staff members. It cannot be used without express permission.

Kinly’s studies suggest that the emergence of hybrid working presents other issues besides employee welfare. While 27% of respondents deal with decentralized or isolated data, more than half of those polled (57%) claimed inadequate hybrid processes are reducing worker productivity. Of those, fifty-eight percent claimed that obsolete AV technology is also reducing remote employees’ general output. Here is where a sophisticated remote work tool can be a dependable friend in addressing problems with employee output.

Tom Martin says, “There’s a lot to be said for getting the foundations of AV right, even if remote worker tracking will surely be the hot issue of 2024. Many businesses still lack strong hybrid working plans with efficiency and productivity declining from poorly thought out processes and antiquated technology. Effective hybrid working is clearly necessary for personnel retention, business development, even recruitment, as our research report reveals. Saying “work from home” and handing staff members a laptop alone is insufficient. Built around their own business goals, and based on their employee’s unique demands, enterprises need customised, intelligent, and ever more data-driven solutions for hybrid working.