Cognizant has started tracking employees’ work activity with ProHance software, which monitors keyboard-mouse usage and websites. The company claims that this is not to improve performance but efficiency.
Cognizant Employee Monitoring Software: IT company Cognizant has recently created a software called ProHance for some of its employees. This tool is designed to monitor how much time employees spend on their laptops during working hours. It monitors keyboard and mouse activity as well as records which applications and websites are being used. Marks employees as “inactive” if there is no activity for 5 minutes or as “away from the system” after 15 minutes.
ProHance also gives detailed information about working days.
The special thing about this software is that it also gives detailed information of working days. It also tracks when employees log in, the time they spend on each task, and the breaks they take. Along with this, it also tracks the distribution of time in different activities. This type of data can prove helpful in identifying where processes are slowing down and where efficiency can be improved.
Monitoring so closely increases stress for employees
However, reports of such strict monitoring have increased concerns among employees about privacy and surveillance in the workplace. Some people believe that being monitored so closely can be extremely stressful for the employee. Even though the company says that this tool is not being used to evaluate the performance of individuals.
Use of ProHance tool only for selected projects
Regarding the purpose of this tool, Cognizant explained that ProHance is used only in selected projects, mainly in business process management or automation initiatives and only on the request of clients. The company said the tool helps different teams better understand client processes, highlight shortcomings and optimize workflows. Before implementing it, employees are informed about it and their permission is taken. Let us tell you that the data collected from this is not used for performance review or taking staffing decisions.