People ask us the best way to roll out workforce analytics all the time. And while there are several ways to actually do the rollout, the one thing we always recommend is: Be transparent with your team. There are many reasons for this, but our top three are below:
- Changing privacy laws across the United States
- Empowering employees to self-manage, self-correct and stick around!
- Transparency: Get even more from your workforce analytics implementation
As we talk about this topic below, the terms electronic monitoring laws and privacy laws will be used interchangeably.
Top 3 reasons to be transparent with your team
Changing privacy laws across states in the US
Currently, Connecticut, Delaware and most recently New York have electronic monitoring laws in place. As of November 8, 2021, New York signed law SB 2628 into place, and went into effect May 7, 2022. It requires private employers to give notice of employee monitoring of phone, email, and internet access or usage. States like California, Virginia and Colorado have data privacy laws in effect that are modeled on the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The good news? Most IT departments already have procedures in place to notify employees. And if not, we have you covered. Check out ActivTrak’s templates for how to notify and roll out workforce analytics platforms to your team.
Here’s a snapshot of current states with electronic monitoring legislation and privacy laws in place. We’ll continue to update this blog post as legislation changes, as other states are sure to quickly follow suit.
| State | Law | Effective Date |
|---|---|---|
| Connecticut | Public Act 98-142 | October 1, 1998 |
| Delaware | Delaware Online Privacy and Protection Act (DOPPA) | January 1, 2016 |
| California | California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) | January 1, 2020 |
| New York | Amendment to New York Civil Rights Act | May 7, 2022 |
| California | California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA) | January 1, 2023 |
| Virginia | Consumer Data Protection Act (CDPA) | January 1, 2023 |
| Colorado | Colorado Privacy Act (CPA) | July 1, 2023 |
| Connecticut | Connecticut Data Privacy Act (CTDPA) | July 1, 2023 |
| Utah | Utah Consumer Privacy Act (UCPA) | December 21, 2023 |
Empowering employees to self-manage, self-correct and stick around
Not only is it a best practice from an employee privacy perspective, but more and more research shows being transparent with employees is the wave of the future that’s quickly becoming a new normal (and it’s a great way to see a quick boost in productivity). According to a survey conducted by Slack, 87% of workers said that they hope their next job is transparent. For some, transparency creates alignment around goals and strategy, but for others, it gives them insight into what’s happening with other teams, their own team, and opportunities for growth. When people have access to what’s going on, trust is established… and it empowers autonomy to see your own information and self-correct… When you have autonomy and self-awareness, studies show it can create more effective leaders with more-satisfied employees and more-profitable companies.
Other results from employee feedback company TINYpulse show that workers said that transparency was the number one factor contributing to their overall happiness. And happy employees stick around, leading to higher retention rates. Happy employees stay in their job four times longer than unhappy employees.
Transparency: Get even more from your workforce analytics implementation
When you empower your team — employees, managers, and executives — with the data and insights from a workforce analytics platform, you’ll realize the full value of your investment.
For example, in ActivTrak, when everyone has visibility, you can harness the power of:
- Personal Insights: Adjust behaviors that are reducing productivity, efficiency, or other established benchmarks. Here are a few insights — and ways to take action based on the Personal Insights below:
- Spending too much time in Zoom? Try collaborating more asynchronously instead.
- Not hitting your focus session goals? Carve out blocks of time to focus (and even turn off Slack to do it!). Slack is the #1 focus distraction according to our State of the Workplace report.
- Getting distracted by emails? Dedicate time for admin and communications vs. responding as they come in.
- ActivTrak Coach: Our virtual productivity coach analyzes your team’s data and provides personalized recommendations on how to fine-tune workload balance, productivity, efficiency, and focus across your team.
- Review coaching opportunities – updated weekly – to understand where team members can work wiser
- Leverage impactful and actionable guidance tailored to your team’s work habits to drive collaborative discussions
- Review week-over-week progress reports assessing the impact of your coaching on team members’ work habits
At the end of the day, what does all this mean for you?
While we highly recommend a transparent approach to empower your employees and get the most out of your workforce analytics investment, privacy law changes are nothing to take lightly. Make sure you’re staying in the loop on the latest. And while we’re definitely on top of these changes (and will keep this blog updated as more information becomes available), we’re not lawyers. So, make sure to loop in your own legal team to determine the best course of action for your organization.
About ActivTrak
ActivTrak helps digital workforces work wiser and thrive. More than 9,500 customers and 550,000 users have deployed our workforce analytics platform to gain insights and metrics about digital work so they can measure and optimize productivity and wellness with the employee in mind. These innovations have been recognized by the Deloitte Technology Fast 500, the Inc. 5000, and the Brandon Hall Excellence in Technology award. Based in Austin, Texas, ActivTrak is backed by Sapphire Ventures and Elsewhere Partners, and led by a seasoned team of software industry veterans. To learn more visit: https://www.activtrak.com/.
