As sales agent monitoring software advances in leaps and bounds complicated questions arise such as the ethical implications of an employee tracking application. Employee monitoring laws are subject to many local legislations. However employee monitoring software can be seen as ethical as the software does not monitor an employee but rather collates the information uploaded by the employee.
It is still advisable to communicate the capabilities of the monitoring software to the employees and provide guidelines on the best work practices to adopt while being monitored during their work day.
As field sales monitoring software can be seen as a tool used to break down the barrier of trust between employers and employees, it is important to address following are suggested points when presenting the ethical effect of field sales agent monitoring:
Inform the sales agent of the monitoring application so they may understand that they are being monitored while performing their sales tasks.
Educate the sales agent on how to use the application so they may feel comfortable implementing the software.
Apply a written policy that states the best practices to engage in while being monitored.
Maintain a high ethical standard for both the employer and employee, monitoring must only be utilized by the employer during working hours.
Maintain an open dialogue between the employer and employee, employees should note the reasons for the monitoring and the employee should state their feelings on the software.
Assure the sales agents that in-depth research was conducted before a vendor was chosen.
Present the reasoning. Employee monitoring software creates accountability, the transparency created by the software forms a foundation of trust between the employer and employee, sales agent monitoring apps allow employees to be accountable to their actions as further proof is not needed, this saves time but mostly important allows for the actions of employees to speak for themselves.
