Employee monitoring has emerged as a necessity but controversial issue in recent years, mostly due to technology. While many employers are using some sort of monitoring device to track their assets, their employees are likely tied to those and opposed to “big brother” watching over them. An example of this can be a courier service or trucking company who are monitoring their vehicles but the employee may feel as if it’s an invasion of their privacy.
As businesses move forward and as technology continues to evolve in the workplace, many of our professional and even personal tasks are becoming much easier to perform on a daily basis. As an employee, you may not agree with being tracked by your employer. At the same time, you are less likely to be upset about it if there are benefits that improve productivity and reduce frustrations. You also may be less concerned about being monitored as an employee if your employer involves you in the process.
In order to deploy a successful monitoring solution, I recommend complete transparency by the employer as well as involvement from the team members. Employee monitoring is all about improving efficiency and productivity while eliminating unnecessary processes that employers would like to resolve for their team. This reduces stress, provides more time for employees to do other more fulfilling tasks and can eliminate a lot of manual paperwork that is done.
Though it’s controversial, it’s here and will only continue to become a larger part of our professional lives. I believe the term “employee monitoring” in itself sounds invasive and rude. But if we look at the productivity, the opportunities to improve and the efficiency this technology can create outweighs the fact that it may be abused. As long as these technologies are only functioning during company hours, employees (that have nothing to hide) should not resist this in my opinion.
What do you think about employee and asset monitoring? Comment and let us know!
