Top 10 Employee Productivity Tracking Software in 2020
In this article, we share our roundup of the top ten employee productivity trackers for 2020, and why they work best when you prioritize employee happiness!
It’s no secret that employee productivity has a direct correlation with company growth, but research suggests that employees aren’t getting the most out of their typical workday.
The State of Work Report 2019 by Workfront analyzed the productivity patterns of 4,000+ workers in the U.S. and the U.K. The report highlights the need for employee productivity tracking software. Here are some of the findings:
- Employees spend only 40% of the workday on primary tasks. The rest is spent on meetings, knowledge retrieval, etc.
- There’s no time for innovation. 58% said that they are so “swamped” that they did not have the time to think strategically.
- 86% aren’t sure of what their colleagues are working on. This indicates the need for collaboration features on employee productivity trackers.
As you can see, workplace productivity leaves much to be desired. It is no surprise that companies are eager to embrace the latest digital tools to measure, track, and optimize employee performance in real-time.
This is where next-gen employee productivity trackers come in. Unlike traditional monitoring tools, they don’t just map keystrokes or record the number of hours put in. Employee productivity tracking software will give managers and employees a comprehensive view of planned timelines of work delivery, work progress, pending/delayed tasks, and future assignments.
Learn More: What Is Performance Management? Definition, Process, Cycle, and Best Practices for Planning
10 Employee Productivity Trackers That Can Revolutionize How Your Workforce Operates
Employee tracking software comes in a variety of shapes and sizes. While we have compiled a comprehensive list of software, we always encourage buyers to do their own product research before making a final decision.
Here is our list, which covers a wide spectrum of options, geared to address almost every productivity optimization requirement mid-to-large companies need in 2020 (arranged in alphabetical order).
1. Beesy
What does it do?
Beesy is a task organization and productivity tool that helps employees manage their time better.
It isn’t only an employee monitoring tool – Beesy has powerful collaboration capabilities that lets you set goals, share them, map self and others’ progress, capture a decision-making trail, and analyze activity to find out what you can do better.
Beesy is ideal for team-wise implementation in areas such as sales, ops, IT, and project management.
What is the USP?
Beesy has an incredible portfolio of features, ranging from basic task digitization to advanced analytics and activity scheduling. A simple feature like auto-generated and reusable minutes of the meeting that’s sent even before the meeting ends can help employees save hours of their typical work week.
We also liked Beesy’s collaboration capabilities, with real-time updates, visual resource management of team leaders, and task assignment, all without sending a single email.
How much does it cost?
Beesy starts at €0 for life for an entry-level version, meant for individual use. Business packages come with tailored pricing, depending on your team size and business needs.
2. Clockify
What does it do?
Clockify is a time tracker and timesheet app that allows you to monitor employee productivity across multiple assignments and projects.
It is used by leading companies such as HPE, Siemens, Cisco, Amazon, and Google, to name a few. Clockify’s core features include the visual breakdown of employee activities, price allocation to employee hours, manual or auto-time tracking, and live status updates on what your team is doing at the moment.
Reports are available in three views: a summary view for the selected period, detailed reports for each employee, and weekly snapshots.
What is the USP?
You’ll find Clockify on nearly every list of employee productivity trackers for two reasons: its simplicity and price point.
Clockify has a breathtakingly minimalist interface that’s easy to use, despite the depth of data that it provides. On top of that, Clockify is free forever for unlimited users, available as a mobile app, chrome extension, or on your desktop.
How much does it cost?
As mentioned, Clockify is free forever – but if you want a more advanced feature set, such as single sign-on (SSO) for enterprise-grade security, pricing can go up to $ 9.99 /month per user.
Learn More: Time Tracking and Screen Monitoring: Are You Having Trouble Trusting Remote Employees?
3. Groupe.io
What does it do?
Groupe.io is a communication and productivity application that offers powerful employee productivity tracking capabilities. You can obtain visibility into employee progress, tracking work at both individual and team/organizational levels. Priority setting, checklists, and deadlines make this an excellent option for growth-focused companies.
Apart from productivity tracking, Groupe.io streamlines data collection and file sharing. There are ancillary features such as surveys and recognition to boost engagement – all told, this is among the most comprehensive platforms out there.
What is the USP?
Groupe.io has AI capabilities to predict employee requirements. It can also integrate with popular productivity tools including Salesforce and SAP. Member onboarding is fast and secure via QR codes, and you can get started with employee productivity tracking without any delays.
How much does it cost?
Groupe.io starts at 40 per user per month, but you can only get 10 GB of file storage. There is also a Pro version at $1 per user per month with unlimited storage and tailored pricing for the enterprise edition, with advanced security and customization.
4. Hubstaff
What does it do?
Hubstaff is among the leading employee productivity tracking software out there; in fact, it is among the few pure-play productivity trackers available in the market.
Hubstaff is designed for remote teams and field workforces, owing to its geofencing capabilities, as well as GPS tracking for teams on the go. Optional screenshots, timesheets, URL tracking, and integration with project management software make this a powerful tool.
What is the USP?
As mentioned, Hubstaff is an ideal solution for companies looking at a pure-play solution – particularly if you have a large field workforce. You can even use Hubstaff’s built-in payroll and invoicing systems to create a single source of truth. Productivity data flows in, you create reports and bill accordingly, and your staff receives the requisite compensation.
How much does it cost?
Hubstaff starts at $7 per user per month. There is also a $10 and a $20 version, each with a slightly more expansive feature set.
5. Know Your Day
What does it do?
Know Your day is a performance insight generation tool powered by sophisticated AI algorithms. It connects with employee systems to track application activity, keystrokes, and overall machine activity using neural-network-based categorization. The data is depicted on a centralized dashboard so that managers can access insights and provide more meaningful feedback.
Like most employee productivity trackers on this list, Know Your Day can calculate billable hours to aid in invoice generation.
What is the USP?
The standout feature of Know Your day is its AI capabilities. It can classify activity into segments such as technical or social media. The platform’s machine learning algorithm can “learn” from employer behavior patterns and send timely alerts.
There are sensitive query filters available so that security or data privacy breaches don’t happen.
How much does it cost?
Know Your day follows a tailored pricing model – you can contact them for a quote.
6. RescueTime
What does it do?
RescueTime is an insight generation engine that lets you track productivity and save precious work hours. The platform gives you team-level productivity reports so that you have a working baseline to formulate performance targets and objectives. Interestingly, RescueTime is not meant for employee monitoring – instead, it offers holistic trends on productivity.
What is the USP?
We were impressed by the employee-centric premise of RescueTime. Employees own all the data shared and stored within the platform, ensuring that there is no breach of employee data privacy rights. Further, employees can choose which productivity elements are tracked and when, paving the way towards workforce empowerment.
The premium version comes with a nifty feature called FocusTime that blocks distractions on major browsers, allowing employees to focus on their work.
How much does it cost?
RescueTime for organizations starts at $6 per month per team member. Individual users and freelancers can choose the free-forever Lite version or the $6 per month Premium version.
7. TimeCamp
What does it do?
TimeCamp reveals hidden insights into employee productivity, helping you to address inefficiencies and weaknesses over time. It integrates with project management tools like Basecamp, Trello, and Asana, among others. The desktop application tracking employee productivity and gives you a quick overview of ongoing tasks, billable hours, and gaps in performance, if any.
There are also built-in reports, budget management, invoicing, and several other useful features.
What is the USP?
Timecamp is a simple and effective productivity tracker for project-based teams. You can set either fixed price resources or hour-based billing to create accurate invoices. Further, Timecamp packs in GPS location tracking, deadline management, and attendance management, to revolutionize your entire work schedule.
The fact that the company’s integration list has 35+ popular apps also helps.
How much does it cost?
TimeCamp is available at $5.25 per user per month for the Basic version (timesheets and invoicing not included). You could also opt for a customized solution if you have 100+ users, with a tailored pricing model.
8. Timely
What does it do?
Timely is an automatic time tracking platform that has a clean, crisp user interface. It is an end-to-end productivity and project time management application, with team planning, time tracking, and team member orchestration features.
It tracks tasks and activities on a daily/weekly/monthly basis, visualizing employee activity as a timeline or as a sequential list. Automatic tracking means that there is no disruption in the workflow. And like RescueTime, the platform avoids taking screenshots or tracking mouse movements in a bid to maintain employee privacy.
What is the USP?
The biggest USP of Timely is its expansive range of integrations. You can connect it with project management, communication, design, product development, account management, and organization tools. From Upwork to QuickBooks, from Android Studio to Microsoft Teams, it’s all there on Timely.
How much does it cost?
Timely comes in two versions – $6 or $12 versions for individual use. The Team edition (compatible with 125 simultaneous projects, with AI timesheets) is available at $20 per month.
9. Trackolap
What does it do?
Trackolap is positioned as an employee efficiency platform that automates productivity management. It is meant primarily for manager/supervisor usage – unlike some of the other tools on this list, which are more employee-facing.
You can auto-capture attendance, track locations, manage tasks, approve expense claims, and obtain real-time notifications on employee movements. All of this employee productivity tracking data can be accessed via 100+ report formats.
What is the USP?
Trackolap has two independent modules, one for data collection from employees and a web/mobile portal for HR administration. It can be used in industries that rely heavily on field workers and hourly-billed services, such as logistics, agriculture, and facility management.
Trackolap is a direct competitor to Hubstaff, but it adds a couple of useful features like two-way communication between employees and managers and customer data management for employees servicing their customers on-site.
How much does it cost?
Trackolap follows a localized pricing model, starting at INR 110 (approximately $1.5) per user per month. The Enterprise version spanning sales and services modules is available at INR 320 (approximately 44.5) per user per month.
10. Work Examiner
What does it do?
As the name suggests, Work Examiner is a software that lets you monitor employee activity and track productivity. It gives you a detailed view of internet usage patterns in the organization. Work Examiner also analyzes how workstations are utilized, attendance patterns among employees, and employee idle time.
Work Examiner also scans organizational emails to detect anomalies and prevent data leaks via email.
What is the USP?
Work Examiner offers a Stealth mode so that the application can run in the background and capture screenshots/log data unobtrusively, with zero distraction to the employee. The platform has a powerful Current Activity dashboard that lists workstation details for employees, their active status/idle minutes, and the application that they are currently working on.
When implementing Work Examiner, employers should obtain full and transparent consent from employees regarding data collection, in line with GDPR and other data privacy regulations.
How much does it cost?
Work Examiner follows a client-based licensing model, where every workstation for installation is a client. Pricing starts at $25 per client for 100-149 licenses (Basic) and $37 per client for 200-299 licenses (Professional).
Learn More: 9 Benefits and Perks to Keep Your Remote Employees Happy and Productive
Parting Thoughts: Pay Close Attention to Employee Happiness for Optimal Productivity
Apart from tracking employee activity, there is another integral factor that translates into a more productive workforce: happiness.
Research by Oxford University finds a conclusive link between productivity and employee happiness, particularly in service-based roles. The study found that happy workers are 13% more productive on average, making it critical to invest in employee happiness as well as in standalone productivity enhancement solutions.
That’s why we recommend the intelligent use of employee productivity tracking software, in conjunction with tools that foster engagement, community, and a sense of “delight” in the workplace. This will enable a sustained uptick in productivity, taking your company to new heights.
Can you recommend an employee productivity tracker that belongs on this list? Share your solutions with us and tell us why on LinkedIn, Twitter, or Facebook.
