Monitoring or Spying?

Is checking up on your employees a necessary evil or is it a way of safeguarding your business?

The past decade has seen some major overhauls in how we do business. Social media, video conferencing and the internet have now all become fundamental in some way or another to the running of our companies as well as infiltrating our personal lives.

 

The implication for business owners has been one of duality. Whilst we all recognise the benefits of these tools they can be easily misused.

 

As an employer you need to know that your staff are capable, professional and will represent your business in its best light in any situation. On this premise using technology to monitor your employees is a natural progression to safeguarding your business but this act; whichever way you view it exists in a moral grey area.

 

Sometimes monitoring your employees is necessary, for example if they are not meeting deadlines or are having frequent unexplained absences from work. So at what point does monitoring turn into spying and does it even matter?

 

On its most fundamental level the employer – employee relationship is one of mutual respect and trust.

 

You need to be confident that your employees are engaged and can be relied upon to act in your business best interests. Your employee wants to know that they make a positive contribution and can be trusted with responsibilities.

 

Whilst you may feel that monitoring your employees covertly is entirely justified, doing such in excess will be viewed as a lack of trust and a vote of no-confidence by your staff.

 

Even with the best laid plans to ensure that no-one knows, information out of context can be misconstrued, every comment view can be traced or you wouldn’t be doing it in the first place. If you have niggling suspicions about an employee you should seriously weigh up whether or not covert monitoring is your best option. Airing your concerns in a conversation may offer a more productive outcome.