Managers now have the technical means to monitor employees. Managers can listen to their staff's
telephone calls, read their email, and search their internet activity. Many managers believe they should monitor employees
because they need to measure productivity, gather information for performance
reviews, and prevent legal problems for the company. They also feel justified in keeping track of
their employees' actions because technology is owned by the company. The majority of employers using
electronic-monitoring technology notify the employees that they will be
monitored.
What do you think of this management practice?
Is it ethical, moral and legal?
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ReplyDeleteI think that this is completely within there right of the employer to monitor what their employees are doing during work hours. After all they are paying the employee a good deal at some of these jobs maybe even $50 an hour. If an employee spends an hour a day on YouTube or checking personal e-mail or Facebook, the manager should know because they are paying them to work during that time. The only reason an employee wouldn’t want their boss monitoring them during work is because their doing something they’re not supposed to. It’s the same thing with the background check if you don’t have anything to hide you don’t need to worry about what they might find.
ReplyDeleteIt is completely ethical to make sure employees are working on your time. It’s not like your spying on their personal life it is there work computer that they use during work hours. As long as they know they are being monitored it is morally ok. Finally this doesn’t break any laws because everything you are doing is completely professional you aren’t monitoring anything but work.
Asheesh, you bring up a valid point when you say that it is moral "as long as they know thay are bieng monitored". If an employer does not tell the employee that they are monitoring, let's say their internet usage, is it then immoral or does your first paragraph still stand?
DeleteI think that this is definitely acceptable and within the rights of the employer. As an employer you want productiveness in your company. But if nobody is doing there job because of the fact they are playing FarmVille of Facebook all day its understandable you want to control it. If you monitor your employees you can tell whether or not to fire or keep them too. A background check can also help keep your company safe. If someone had a history of bad credit and fraud then you probably don't want them unless your a mob boss.
ReplyDeleteIts not too different from a animal in a zoo, the zookeepers keep a tab on the animals to make sure they aren't eating each other or to see if they are sick. As long as they don't come to your home I view this as definitely ethical. It just makes sense.
Farmville on Facebook,Unless you are, an animal.
DeleteSorry spelling errors
Grant, your zoo analogy is very interesting. I never thought about it that way and although I feel that the employer and employee dynamics are different than the zookeeper and the animals, I think it is an intersting take on the topic.
DeleteWEEK 4: MANAGEMENT AND MARKETING
ReplyDeleteWhat do you think of this management practice?
Is it ethical, moral and legal?
I support the use of installing software packages to monitor staff. I believe it would ensure that employees aren’t wasting paid work time on popular online websites, such as, Facebook, MySpace or YouTube. I don’t think this is an infringement on their privacy because an employee has been hired to do a job and if they are wasting the company’s time by playing on social media websites, it could affect the company’s productivity.
IMV Projects, a Calgary management firm, installed SpectorSoft three years ago to monitor their 650 employees personal pursuits. By doing this, it is estimated that they have saved their company an estimated $1 million.
I feel that this tactic is ethical as long as the company is up front and warns their employees that they are being monitored. An employee shouldn’t have an issue if they are doing your job. Morally, I think that monitoring use is acceptable because you are being paid to a job. Monitoring a person’s internet use outside of work is not something that I approve of because it is none of anyone’s business how a person uses their free time. One company allows an hour of internet use at lunchtime to keep their employees happy. In my opinion, this fair, but unnecessary. Legally, I don’t have an problem with background checks and fingerprinting, as long as the information is kept confidential and stored under privacy legislation rules.
I agree that if a company is to keep track of their employee's daily activities and correspondance, they need to be upfront about it. Perhaps having a signed contract between the employee and employer at the time of hire would be sufficient. It is interesting that the Calgary company saved so much money by using that software - what do you mean by personal pursuits? Does that mean personal emails, calls, etc? Just curious.
DeleteIt is completely legal for employers to monitor employees through electronic technology because it does not violate any employee rights. Not only does it not violate any of the employee’s rights, it is also part of the employers rights. Employers are able to set terms and conditions for his/her employees, monitoring them during work hours could be considered a term. Monitoring employees’ emails and phone calls protects the employer and the business. Employees are getting paid to do productive work, and making personal calls or being on their personal email decreases productivity.
ReplyDeleteThis management practice is also moral and ethical because it is not meant to spy on personal emails, the system is just for the purpose of making sure the employee is on task. When someone applies for a job at a company where they monitor their employees through an electronic system, the company must tell the potential employee. If the person who applied for the job isn’t comfortable with the software then they have the option to not accept the job. I think employees should be fine with the system because if they were doing work and work only, which is what they are suppose to do, then they would not be concerned.
I agree with all of your comments on use of technology in the work place. It is important to have a management practice in place to not only protect the company, but also to be clear with your employees as to what your expectations of them are. As you said, the employee has the option of declining the software and the job.
DeleteWeek 4: Management and Marketing
ReplyDeleteI think that it is appropriate for employers to install technology that gives them the ability to monitor their staff during work hours. This process is in fact legal if privacy rules are abided by. The existing or potential staff must agree to participate in the process by paying a consent of $75, and must be made aware of the technology prior to their employment. Employees may choose not to participate in this process. However, this may cause some issues during their application process. Paul Guindon, chairman of national business management said, “They usually get into difficulties if they haven’t disclosed a criminal record when asked directly about it during their application process”. An employee should not be concerned about the results of a fingerprinting if they are not hiding anything.
I also think that desktop surveillance is completely reasonable. IMV Projects, a management firm in Calgary, had SpectorSoft’s software installed in 2010. The firm, in that year, had 650 employees. Ross Benov, an IT manager working for the company estimated that employees were wasting 40 hours a year on work unrelated medias like Facebook or YouTube. This means that the company will lose $1 million annually if action is not taken. The participants of this statistic make from $30-$4o an hour, and make $195,000-$260,000 per year in salaried work time.
I personally believe that employees should be on task and focused during work hours. Browsing the web or opening social media while at the workplace (during hours) demonstrates poor work ethic and productivity. I think that both fingerprinting and desktop surveillance during work hours is appropriate if the data is dealt with properly. Meaning the information is kept confidential and under privacy legislation rules. If an employee is doing what they are supposed to, they should not be concerned with being monitored. After all this technology is being used professionally, and to monitor work during company time.
I personally see fingerprinting and criminal checks one in the same on a certain level. I was also shocked with the statistic that people, on average, waste upto 40 hours a week on non-related work activities.
DeleteWhat do you think of this management practice?
ReplyDeleteI think that this management practice is used in the right way. For example, if an employee is not doing what he is supposed to and is using Facebook the employer should have the right to know that his employee is not doing his job and therefore apply sanctions. On the other hand, I also believe that it might be considered an invasion of the employee’s privacy. The employee has rights too. This practice is also used in monitoring taxis, truck drivers and vans to ensure that they stick to their routes and don’t stop for longer than the allocated breaks.
Is it ethical, moral and legal?
In my opinion it is unethical because it invades the employee’s privacy. Although this happens at work, the employer accesses personal information about friends, hobbies, and other personal stuff. Although it is legal, and common practice and it shows what the workers are doing, if they are actually doing their job or if they are doing something else, I don’t agree with the practice.
I believe that it is unfair for the employee’s privacy to completely invaded by his employer even when they are informed this is happening.
It may be an intrusion but it doesn't affect you much more than Google maps taking a picture of your house. If you are worth being investigated and fired, you probably shouldn't have done what you did. Also many employment contracts permit investigations. As an employee, if you agreed to allow investigations you gave up your privacy the moment you signed your name. The two parts of a contract are offering and accepting. Such investigation are no different from a background check at all. Background checks also see who your friends are too.
DeleteInteresting suggestion about Google Maps Grant. I personally feel that the degree of accessibility into your personal life are different between accessing your personal correspondance via your computer/phone calls and having your home in the Google Maps database but a very interesting thing to think about.
DeleteIn my opinion, I think that this practice of management is completely understandable. Under the rights of an employer, it says that he or she may set employment terms and conditions. This management is being used so employees stay on task. For example if an employee is on Twitter, Facebook or any other personal social media sight instead of doing their work, monitoring systems will be able to detect this activity. These employees are receiving a compensation to fulfill the needs of a business. If they are doing recreational things instead of their assigned work it will decrease productivity. This type of management is in use to ensure that this will not occur.
ReplyDeleteTo employees, this type of management may seem to share a resemblance to “Big Brother” from the novel 1984, but it is quite different. In no way does it violate the personal confidential information of an employee or their rights. This management is very ethical. Employers inform the employee beforehand that they will be monitoring their internet access and such as, it is the company’s property. If employees wanted to check personal emails, they could use their phones when on break instead of doing do using the business computer when work is to be done. Employees should use their own morals when they are doing off task activities instead of working.
In conclusion, I believe that the management being is effective, demonstrates ethical behaviour and is no doubt moral. It prevents employees from performing poorly and keeps them productive.
Great reference to Big Brother Geeta; it shows similiarities but I agree that it is different.
DeleteI think it's perfectly fine for managers to monitor the internet and phone use of their employees. It isn't fair to managers if they are paying someone who spends half their time playing online poker rather than working. If employees slack off by misusing the internet, managers should be able to know so their business can be more productive.
ReplyDeleteMonitoring employee's internet and phone usage is ethical, moral, and legal. . Monitoring employee's internet and phone usage at work does not violate any employee rights, and is perfectly within an employer's rights to "set employment terms and conditions, and "require that employees adhere to clearly defined job descriptions and performance criteria" (The World of Business 2007 Nelson Education). Since no rights are violated, and managers can be helped by this, I see no issue with managers monitoring their employee's internet and phone usage, it is ethical.
Is employees misuse to internet by perhaps looking up pornographic images or internet scamming, the business could get into legal trouble and it would be the fault of that employee. If a manager was monitoring that employee's usage, they could catch the employee and make them pay the charges.
If employees are on task, they should have no issues with managers monitoring them. Managers as well shouldn't have any issues with employees who do not abuse internet and phone use at work. Employees that are productive have nothing to fear. It's not an invasion of privacy because the employee is at work using a public computer, they shouldn't even be on their personal emails or social media during work hours. employees should use their own personal devices (phones or tablets) on their breaks if they want to check their personal accounts. It isn't mistreating employees or invading their privacy doing this, so it is completely moral.
Interesting point about inappropriate internet use and negative PR for the comany. By monitoring the usage, they not only protect their rate of productivity but also potentially protect the reputation.
DeleteI agree with the management practice of purchasing and using software on the computer to monitor employees online. This is because it enables an employer to know that his or her staff are spending time productively. Employees should not have to worry about being monitored online if they don’t do anything they are not supposed to do. According to an article published by CBC News “During the National Football League regular season some 37 million people spend an average of 50 minutes a week at work managing their fantasy teams.” It is logical that any business owner would want to prevent this problem from ever happening.
ReplyDeleteIt is ethical for a business to monitor your time on the internet and have background checks done on you as long as you are notified first and given the option to say no. It is understandable why an employer would want to know if his workers are being productive, as it is their duty to work while on the job. It is morally correct to monitor emplyees because they are being paid to work, not do personnal things on a company’s time. In fact, I think it is more wrong for an employee to do personnal things during paid work hours than for an employer to monitor his employees. This is because the employee would be stealing time and money from the employer. Legally, there is nothing wrong with monitoring and background checking as long as it is done professionally and adheres to the law. Those being background checked must approve the process, and the information is shared directly between the RCMP and the employer. According to Paul Guindon from the Canadian Corps of Commissionaires “Companies have some responsibilities to protect privacy and they must store the information securely and restrict access to it if they hire the prospect, or destroy it securely if the applicant is not hired.”
Sarah, I agree that time equals money in business and to put the unethical behaviour on the employee who is surfing the net or playing the fantasy football league is an insightful suggestion to make.
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ReplyDeleteWEEK 4: MANAGEMENT AND MARKETING
ReplyDeleteI think that the employer has every right to monitor their employee’s use of technology, such as internet and emails. It is my opinion that companies should be doing this to keep track of the employee’s productivity for the company. For example, if you couldn't monitor your employees, an employee that is dedicated and hardworking would be paid the same as an employee who is on social networks the whole time. If the employer monitors them he would be able to see this and make a change for the better, which might be disciplinary action, pay deduction, or termination. Also, employees who use the internet inappropriately can be jeopardizing the company if they are on risky sites. In an article written by Charles J. Muhl, he noted that, “An employee’s personal use of an employer’s e-mail system and of Internet access is not protected under the law, and employers can face legal liability for employees’ inappropriate use thereof”.
I also don’t think that the company has to necessarily tell the employee that they will be monitored because these computers, internet and company emails are company property and the employee shouldn’t be doing anything other than work while on the job. I also don’t see how an employee could or should complain when it’s the company’s property. There are many articles and surveys that show how much employees take advantage of employers by using the internet during work hours for personal use. In an article written by Dawn Rosenberg McKay, titled, “Surfing the net on your boss’s time”, she notes that 25% of employees use the internet at work for at least 10 minutes, while 13% use it for more than 2 hours.
In my opinion it is completely ethical for any company to monitor its employees as they work. This is not an evasion of privacy. If it is found that the employee isn't actually working during working hours and they are disciplined than it’s their own fault. Everything the employee is using is company property which means the company has every right to oversee that it is being used properly, and for business purposes. Even if the employee is using their own computer at work, but accessing the internet or using business email, I think they should be monitored while at work. In closing, I think that monitoring your employees is completely ethical and reasonable.
Cites used:
http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2003/02/art3full.pdf
http://careerplanning.about.com/cs/bosscoworkers/a/net_at_work.htm
You and Vandana think alike as she brought up the same point above regarding employees visiting inappropriate sites and, as you say, the computer is the employer's property.
ReplyDelete