HUMAN RESOURCE

Human Resource

Human Resource

Introduction

Workplace surveillance is a common tool used by organizations all around the world to ensure that their employees do not violate the rules and regulations or breach the codes that have been established by it. Surveillance offers a wide range of benefits to employers, the most common of which are increased productivity among employees, greater compliance with company policies and lesser instances of unacceptable behavior and misconduct. However, where workplace surveillance provides a company with an array of benefits and advantages, it can also introduce it to a horde of problems. This is because workplace surveillance has been associated with a host of negative effects, some of which can be potentially detrimental to the morale and retention of employees. As a result, it is imperative that a company does its homework by measuring the pros and cons of implementing a workplace surveillance strategy before deciding to implement it.

Discussion

In order to maintain the efficiency of their workforce, a majority of companies around the world have started using varied forms of workplace surveillance. The benefits of workplace surveillance are wide and comprehensive, as they improve productivity among the workforce, significantly reduce the chances of theft and increase the safety of the employees working in an organization (Casimiro, 1998, p. 22). And while the modes of workplace surveillance may vary from one company to another, the benefits that a company may derive by implementing such a policy are largely the same.

Common surveillance measures

Employers of an organization tend to implement workplace surveillance strategies with the aim of monitoring the behavior of their employees. The common types of surveillance measures that a company may choose from include:

Telephone surveillance

Employers install telephone surveillance systems to monitor telephonic conversations. The primary purpose of installing this type of surveillance system is to gauge the quality of customer service that the employees are maintaining.

Internet usage surveillance

Employers may also monitor the internet usage of their employees in order to ensure that the rules and regulations set by the company are not being violated. Such surveillance measures are common in IT companies as a majority of employees working in it use computer for extended periods (Cronan & Kreie, 2000, p. 28). Companies that introduce internet usage surveillance in its offices typically do so to discourage employees from using social networks, visiting discussion forums, playing online games, or watching pornographic videos.

Computer surveillance

Employers also have the legal right as well as the means to review data stored on office computers and company-owned laptops that they may allow the employees to carry with them. Computer monitoring and surveillance allows professionals in the human resource department to access data stored in them during performance investigations. Moreover, surveillance also allows employers to monitor the amount of time that an employee's computer was idle or on standby (Garber, 1997, p. 22). This helps them to measure their performance.

Email surveillance

It is also common for employers of companies to monitor the text and other content of electronic mails. The purpose of monitoring emails is to ensure that employees ...