Workplace Monitoring
Workplace monitoring refers to the practice of tracking employee activities and performance using various technologies to ensure security, enhance productivity, and protect company resources. With the rise of telecommunication and digital tools, organizations can now monitor activities through computers, emails, internet usage, smartphones, GPS devices, and even drones. These monitoring systems serve multiple purposes, including preventing information leaks, measuring work quality, and conducting quality controls, particularly in remote work settings that became more prevalent during the COVID-19 pandemic.
While workplace monitoring can help businesses safeguard their assets and maintain productivity, it also raises significant ethical and legal concerns related to employee privacy. Employers must navigate these issues carefully to foster trust and avoid potential negative sentiments among workers. Transparency in monitoring practices, proper training for monitoring staff, and adherence to legal guidelines can mitigate some of the concerns. The ongoing debate about the extent of monitoring allowed and employee rights underscores the complexity of balancing workplace security with personal privacy. Prospective employees should be aware that monitoring is common and should consider separating personal communications from work-related activities.
Workplace Monitoring
Fields of Study
Information Technology
Abstract
Modern technology makes it possible for firms to monitor many aspects of the workplace, particularly employee activities and performance. Most monitoring systems used are electronic, including computer terminals, email, internet, telephone and smartphone systems, GPS, drones, and others. Challenges to workplace monitoring appear in the arena of employee rights and privacy legislation.
Monitoring Technologies
The practice of monitoring employees at work is known as "workplace monitoring." According to the US Office of Technology Assessment, workplace monitoring is the collection, storage, analysis, and reporting of information about workers' activities.
The introduction of computers and other telecommunication technologies in the workplace brought great changes to monitoring practices. Workplace monitoring includes a wide variety of technologies, such as hidden or overt video cameras, global positioning systems (GPS), landline telephones, cell phones and smartphones, computer software and systems, the internet, and drones. Many techniques have been developed to improve workplace monitoring. For example, packet sniffers are computer programs that can analyze communication flow across networks and intercept malicious files. Many businesses monitor all network traffic passing through their servers. Automatic programs can alert managers if a networked computer connects to a malicious domain, block particular websites, and scan emails for spam.
Many organizations monitor their workers in order to protect their property and information, protect employees, and measure the quality of their work and productivity. However, employers must also be mindful of legal and ethical considerations of workplace monitoring. Employers must work to maintain a sense of trust in their employees when engaging in monitoring. Monitoring practices can generate negative feeling among employees and create legal problems for the employer if they are not implemented carefully.
Further complicating the issue is the increasingly fluid nature of workplace boundaries. For instance, work is often spread across geographical spaces. Many employers have a large number of employees who work away from headquarters, either because they travel or work remotely. This has led to remote monitoring by way of varied technologies and devices, including GPS and drones.
Moreover, a growing amount of work is computerized, through intranet and internet networks. As a result, employers face real risks of employee misuse of these systems. However, these same systems have led to improvements in workplace monitoring technology.
Benefits of Workplace Monitoring
Because of the growing instances of hacking and information theft, employers have legitimate concerns about the security of workplace information. They may also want to conduct quality controls and monitor employee productivity. For example, it is a common practice for call centers to record customer service calls, in a system commonly known as silent monitoring. Another type of system, real-time monitoring, allows managers to analyze usage on computer systems as it occurs. Real-time monitoring helps track not only employee activity but also other firm processes, such as sales data and other trends. It is often used in conjunction with remote monitoring. Remote monitoring involves tracking the activity of employees who work off-site. The use of monitoring software by companies became an even more prominent topic following the identification of the novel coronavirus in late 2019 that resulted in the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to lockdowns meant to control the spread of the virus, many businesses had to adapt by having an even larger amount of employees work from home instead of in the office. As the pandemic stretched on, commentators noted a seeming rise in the purchase and implementation of employee monitoring software as companies prioritized productivity and security during a time of mass remote work.
Hundreds of software programs and other technologies are available to monitor the workplace. Some of these programs are free. Companies can establish their own monitoring systems. Others prefer to hire firms that provide the technology and analyze the data. The data retrieved by monitoring technologies may be used to identify information leaks or theft, evaluate employee performance, detect malware, or analyze business trends. Among the latest monitoring technologies are drones. Drones are mainly used in real estate, construction, and agriculture.
There are many ways in which electronic workplace monitoring is used. According to the American Management Association, 78 percent of major companies in the United States reported monitoring employee use of email, internet, or phone in 2015. A 2018 survey conducted by Gartner found that of 239 large corporations, over 50 percent were using some kind of nontraditional monitoring technique, indicating that companies continued to take advantage of advanced technologies to monitor employees and gather data. Some employers also use monitoring technology in order to measure employee performance by measuring time spent at the computer or keystroke speed.
Legal and Ethical Considerations
The increasing breadth of workplace monitoring has raised ethical and legal concerns. On the balance are the privacy rights of workers. Electronic workplace monitoring has become so common that labor rights advocates have raised concerns about the abuse or inappropriate use of monitoring practices. On the other hand, employers are concerned about liability costs and legal consequences.
In the opinion of some experts, electronic workplace monitoring is subject to insufficient government regulation. This may be due to its constant innovations and its relatively new status. Technically, employers are legally allowed to listen to, watch over, record, and read all work-related forms of communication. However, federal law stipulates that personal calls cannot be monitored.
Experts recommend companies ensure their monitoring practices are fair and consistent. It is crucial to implement measures to prevent managers from engaging in abuse of power and other illegal activities using monitoring technologies. Staff in charge of workplace monitoring must be adequately trained. Some organizations implement transparent monitoring in order to make employees feel more at ease with the process. Transparent monitoring welcomes the participation of employees in the process. Finally, when employers suspect employees of engaging in criminal action, experts recommend they alert the authorities rather than try to set up a sting operation on their own.
Debate continues about what employers should be allowed to monitor and to what extent employees have the right to know they are being monitored. This debate was heightened during the COVID-19 pandemic as a larger number of employees worked from their homes. Nevertheless, employees should always assume that they are being monitored and keep all private or personal communication in separate accounts and devices.
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