More employers use tech to track workers
Companies hire millions of workers every year that they believe will help to better the company and help them to make money. Salaries are big chunk of where a company’s money goes, but it is worth it if the employee is doing his or her job to the best of their ability. The problem that many companies are facing now is that some employees are slacking off. They are using the time that they are getting paid to do work, to do things on their own agenda – some are using the computer to look up Youtube videos, Facebook, sports highlights, or simply just to chat with their friends and family. Although these things don’t seem harmful, they are wasting valuable time and money that the company can’t afford to lose. To stop this from taking place, many companies are tracking their workers.
I believe that if a company is paying you and supporting you then they have every right to track what their workers are doing. Many people refuse this idea because they believe it’s a lack of privacy. I do not agree that it is a lack of privacy because they are simply tracking what you’re doing at work to make sure that their money is being well spent. When you are at work, work should be the only thing on your mind and you should be focused. Not only does tracking your workers keep an eye out on your workers that would rather “Surf the internet” but it can also prevent information being leaked. If a company is tracking their employees it would make it much more difficult for someone to give away classified information to opposing competition.
“A court precedent says that employees have no rights to privacy in e-mail, even if a company promises not to track it.” Many people think that this is unfair. In my opinion makes sense. You should be using your work computer and email for business emails, anything personal should be done on your own time, on a separate account, on your own computer. Most people believe that they aren’t being tracked if their boss doesn’t tell them, but contrary to what they think – more and more companies are now “tracking.”
Tracking is just beginning to takeoff and I believe that soon it will be a standard aspect in every company. Although is seems a little scary to think that someone is constantly watching you, and it is a lot of pressure – but it may be the right amount of pressure. When most people are being watched they seem to be more on the edge of their seat, but in a good way. Being watched and judged encourages people to work harder and prove themselves worthy. If employees were all being tracked they would stay on schedule with their work and be more dedicated with less distractions. I can only imagine the amount of time employees waste during a day on Facebook, personal emails, text messages, phone calls, etc., and think about the amount of money they are getting paid for every minute that they are wasting the companies time. In conclusion, I agree with the idea of tracking you’re employees to protect your company and make sure your money is being well spent.
I believe that within signed contracts upon employment with a company, every employee should be aware of what's expected of them. They should unquestionably be meeting these expectations, and therefore I think that a company tracking their employees makes sense if warranted. I don't support companies who track employees without cause. This aspect is what I feel is an infringement on privacy. You can break down a forty hour work week into detailed time frames of production that should be completed by their employees. If these production standard are not met, the company is then in turn losing money. This is when I believe a company has a right to step in, but until then I disagree.
ReplyDeleteThis article was very interesting, and raised many questions in my mind. When I was reading this article, I could not but help thinking to myself whether or not I would mind it if I knew that at any point someone of Sr. management could potentially be watching me. I believe that employers should be able to keep tabs on their employees at any time throughout the business day, and should not feel hesitant to check up on their employees from time to time. However, I do believe that there is a difference in how top line management and lower management should be monitored. With less sr. officers, I agree that they are more likely to slack off, and therefore should be monitored to what the company deems necessary. For more Sr. management, I believe that little to no extra monitoring is necessary and disrespectful. In order to get to a sr. position within a company, that person has proven themselves to the company and showcased their skills/work ethic. Placing more supervision on sr. management should not be done. With this being said, I think that there may be a misconception to what the phase, “from time to time” encompasses. First off, if management feels the need to constantly observe their employees, this would prove to be a costly and time consuming. If so they should look into hiring new employees. By, “from time to time,” should entitle monitoring that person once a week, if caught previously as slacking off, until trusted that to be efficient in the work place. This is a good article, which raises a very interesting and controversial topic.
ReplyDelete