Today’s world is filled with technology – Internet connection is an integral part of a business, and computers are essential tools in a workplace to carry out day-to-day businesses. In a business environment, monitoring ensures that the members of the company are performing their tasks appropriately, and it exists in many different ways. It is a fundamental process in checking if everyone is on track and meeting expectations. It is commonplace to make sure that the employees arrive on time, stay at the workplace, and handle cash correctly. Yet, it is questionable to monitor what the employees do on their computers. This brings up the question: Should employers monitor employees’ computer activities? Giving employees the opportunity to operate …show more content…
As today’s businesses are becoming increasingly competitive, creativity can be a significant factor in a company’s success. Harvard Business Review says that companies that emphasize creativity are more profitable and 50% more likely to be leaders in the markets (as cited in Kumar, 2015). Allowing the employees to operate freely would lead to an improved environment. Workers are likely to be motivated and feel that they are an important part of the business. Highly motivated workers are inclined to carry out tasks effectively and efficiently. Moreover, it would create a sense of loyalty. All these factors can lead to increase in productivity. On the other hand, monitoring can make employees feel that the employers do not have enough confidence in them. Holland, Cooper and Hecker (2015) say that their research suggest that high electronic monitoring and surveillance is linked with low employees’ trust in management. Employees who feel that they are not an important part of the business are likely to be unproductive, and it would end up costing the business in the long term. Furthermore, the regulated workplace can create stress for the employees, and this can reduce the performance the workers. Aiello and Kolb (1995) says that their investigation suggest that the monitored employees are more stressed out than the non-monitored …show more content…
Even though monitoring can lead to improvements in terms of increasing productivity and preventing losses, the employers should make sure that the employees know that they are being watched. Employers acting behind the employees secretly may violate employees’ privacy. In order to build a successful work environment, it is important to establish a strong relationship between employers and employees based on mutual respect and
In Fitbit for Bosses written by Lynn Stuart Parramore she talks about how bosses want to start monitoring their employees. Parramore shows her discomfort with this idea. She thinks that “big money seems poised to trump privacy”(Parramore). Which basically just means that for bosses is that money is over everything even privacy. Allowing bosses to monitor their employees is dishonest and manipulating.Some researchers have also found out that increasing surveillance has caused the decrease of productivity. Researchers warned them that the data can have big errors and people that look at the data that the fitbits can cherry-pick the information that supports their beliefs and ditch the rest of the information that leads to racial profiling. “Surveillance makes everyone seem suspicious, creating perceptions and expectations of dishonesty.” Workers will become dehumanized“(Parramore), it prevents them from experimenting and exercising the creativity on the job.” A woman from California filed a suit against her former employer because he forced her to to install a tracking app on her phone. She had to have it on her phone 24/7 or else she would
Due to the ease of misuse, many organizations find it necessary to monitor communications. This is done to ensure proper use of company assets, maintain reputation, and manage productivity. This can include email, phone, video, and the internet. In an article by The Entrepreneur Andrew Walls, security and risk officer at Stamford, suggests that the key to ethical communications monitoring is in management knowing the difference between monitoring and surveillance and that they are transparent about their actions. General monitoring of abuse with prior disclosure to employees is legal and reasonable in the workplace. What should be avoided is more intrusive and personal surveillance, without disclosure, consent, or just cause. An employer could also unintentionally discover personal information about employees, such as religion, sexual orientation, medical issues, or political views that could open the organization up to possible lawsuits over discrimination. (Richmond,
Further on, the manager’s actions can demoralize the workforce that could put the business in danger. The use of emails and social media should be taken care of to reduce the number of cases of carelessly sent emails in the office that are keen to harm relationships. The small aspects the managers do such as complimenting and giving feedback to the employees are what define how workers will view the
Imagine a marketing manager receives an email joke with a racial slur then continues to forward it to a group of co-workers. A few months later, the company is being investigated and tried in a court case of racism. This situation escalated extremely fast and is a paradigm of why employers must monitor their employee’s technological activities in the workplace (Gaudin).
Does this sound common? This may sound common because the issue of E-mail and privacy is very common and controversial in our advanced technological world. The determination of what is ethical or unethical is not simple or straightforward. Employers and employees may have seen the ethical and legal issues associated with E-mail privacy differently. E-mail has become indispensable in the modern=day workplace, more often employers are realizing that E-mail communication systems can increase the efficiency of communications internally. Along with this increase in the use of E-mail come legal issues involving employee privacy and monitoring. The laws addressing an employer's rights to monitor E-mail traffic and employees' rights to E-mail privacy are still evolving (Lyford 28).
25 Privacy Rights Clearinghouse (2002) Employee Monitoring: Is There Privacy in the Workplace? . (6/3/2004)
Sometimes there is no middle ground. Monitoring of employees at the workplace, either you side with the employees or you believe management owns the network and should call the shots. The purpose of this paper is to tackle whether monitoring an employee is an invasion of privacy. How new technology has made monitoring of employees by employers possible. The unfairness of computerized monitoring software used to watch employees. The employers desire to ensure that the times they are paying for to be spent in their service is indeed being spent that way. Why not to monitor employees, as well as tips on balancing privacy rights of employees at the job.
One type of surveillance is employee monitoring. Many employers monitor their workers’ activities for one reason or another. Companies monitor employees using many methods. They may use access panels that requires employees to identify themselves to control entry to various area in the building, allowing them to create a log of employee movements. They may also use software to monitor attendance and work hours. Additionally, many programs allows companies to monitor activities performed on work computers, inspect employee emails, log keystrokes, etc. An emerging methods of employee monitor also include social network and search engine monitoring. Employers can find out who their employees are associated with, as well as other potentially incriminating information. (Ciocchetti)
Most companies today make employees sign what is called a Privacy Act. One main thing that pertains to this privacy act that is not said word for word is that the employer can look at anything they want and when they want that pertains to you on their company networks. There are a lot of reasons why this is allowed. New Technology today is outstanding on all the things inside a business that they can look at. Computer programs make is possible for the employer to look at exactly you are looking at or writing while you are looking at it or writing what ever you may be writing. Employers are also capable of obtaining phone records and verifying who you may have called, for how long, and sometimes even listen to the conversation. "Employers have not only a moral but a legal obligation to recognize certain employee rights." (Arthur, 1989). With all of this in mind, employers do have certain laws that they must pertain to in order to invade your privacy. Such laws, as the USA Patriot Act, which states individuals are guaranteed access to many government files pertaining to themselves, and the agencies of government that maintain such files are prohibited from disclosing personal information except under court order and certain other limited circumstances.
The software they implemented would use various methods of monitoring in the workplace these include key logging, CCTV and recording telephone conversations. These methods can have various positive effects on a company but also some negative eff...
A computer is a wonderful tool that can help us with many things. The question is why are computers more than a curse than a blessing? Many children this generation have advanced in computers and technology more than their elders, and the ones above them. The internet is wonderful when researching for homework, but it is not good when it is becoming a bad habit and going on it. Computers have many effects on people and the youth. It can lead to less physical activity for many children and teenagers. Many times computers are being abused for all the wrong reasons. One thing that it affects the most is your vision and can lead to glaucoma a type of eye disease. Many of us are not aware of all the health issues that are caused by computers.
Computers are ubiquitous. As our society grows towards being a culture connected through the Internet, and as prices of these machines gradually decrease, more and more have been purchased by families for their homes and as a result, children are beginning to learn to use the computer at an earlier age. Even if computers are not presently available at the home, a child will almost certainly be exposed to one at school or the library, among other places. Adults today are amazed at the amount of knowledge a child has at such an early age – children generally find that computers gives them a sense of power and accomplishment. “A computer is nothing more than a box of circuits that perform software level tasks for a user. Even the software is little more than instructions to the hardware to perform specified tasks. Therefore, a computer, in and of itself is, neither positive nor negative. Its inherent goodness or badness is determined by the user.” With that being said, there are many positive, with as many negative associations that come along with owning a computer.
Computers have changed the way that the world works in many different ways. Some of these changes are positive and some of these changes have had negative effects on our lives. From an industrial standpoint most of these changes have been helpful to businesses and the economy. In the medical field computers have had an impact in many different areas, ranging from the way appointments are made to the carrying out of everyday tasks.
There is a need for more computers in everyday life, in homes, schools and on the job. The advancement of computer technology today in all facets of the world, and life are growing to the point that everyone will need a computer to carry out their everyday life. Computer technology today is at the threshold of making life easier for everyone in the world.
The late 20th century has successfully witnessed the boom of sophisticated technology, which gave birth to a wide range of technological outcomes, including computer technology. Computer technology, that is a skill to manage information, communicate and a kind of entertainment media, has become an important part in modern life at work, in recreation and social networking. Whether computer technology is better or not is a complicated issue. There are different arguments that need to be examined. Most people support that computer technology is better for individual lifestyles. It improves quality of working and study, provides a wide range of entertainment and is a wonderful tool of communication. On the other hand, others believe that computer