What's Happening?
Cognizant has addressed concerns regarding its workforce management tool, ProHance, which tracks employee activity on laptops, including applications and websites used during work hours. The tool logs mouse and keyboard activity to gauge engagement levels,
marking employees as 'idle' after five minutes of inactivity and 'away from system' after 15 minutes. Cognizant clarified that the tool is used in select Business Process Management or Intuitive Operations & Automation projects at the request of customers, and is not intended for performance evaluation. The company emphasized that the tool is used only with employee consent and does not impact team compositions. The purpose of these tools is to understand client process steps and related time metrics to assess process design inefficiencies as part of process transformation efforts.
Why It's Important?
The clarification from Cognizant is significant as it addresses privacy concerns and potential employee dissatisfaction related to monitoring practices. In an era where remote work is prevalent, companies are increasingly adopting tools to monitor productivity, which can lead to privacy issues and impact employee morale. By ensuring that the tool is not used for performance evaluation and is implemented with consent, Cognizant aims to maintain trust and transparency with its workforce. This approach may set a precedent for other companies navigating similar challenges in balancing productivity tracking with employee privacy.
