Is corporate monitoring an invasion of privacy, or an opportunity to improve business productivity and efficiency? It all depends on how you choose to look at it.
Microsoft, one of the world leaders in communication and collaboration right now, recently apologised for its “Productivity score” feature. The company came under fire from consumers who said that the app, which monitored usage of workplace applications, was an invasion of privacy.
From one perspective, it’s easy to see why people would get upset by the concept of being constantly under surveillance. Having the freedom to work without someone or something hanging over your shoulder is crucial in today’s landscape. Employees want to feel as though their managers and supervisors trust them to do a good job. Nobody wants to feel monitored.
On the other hand, monitoring things like app usage and productivity can help businesses to make better decisions about the tools that employees really need.
The Two Sides of the Monitoring Coin
There’s something inherently upsetting about the idea of being watched. No-one wants to feel like they’re constantly under scrutiny when they’re just trying to do their job. Having tools tracking everything you do can feel like having a boss sitting on your shoulder, evaluating every move.
With tracking tools placing so much pressure on employees, it can be difficult for team members to really work at their most productive. The strain of being watched impairs our creativity and makes it harder for us to thrive. Plus, it just feels like a real invasion of privacy.
But, is monitoring all bad?
These days, data and AI are common components of the workplace. We expect to have things tracking our performance to some degree, and we even benefit from having access to certain tools. Monitoring systems that connect to wallboards allow us to assess our performance compared to peers and potentially boost results.
The right tracking tools can help employees to access better training experiences and deliver more satisfying outcomes to employees. Plus, some tracking tools are actually there to help make life better for team members. Tech like Sentiment Analysis can help business leaders to evaluate the workplace and make decisions that genuinely benefit employees.
Monitoring in the Modern Workplace
As the workplace becomes more distributed, with “anywhere work” transforming the landscape, it’s likely that monitoring tools will become more crucial. When we sign an employment contract in the days ahead (if you haven’t already), it may be that we’re actively saying “yes” to being monitored at all times. Most companies are beginning to put these clauses into terms and conditions.
If your HR team hasn’t considered asking for permission to monitor team members as part of the hiring contract yet, they could be at risk.
So, if we’re actively agreeing to be watched as part of employment, and we know that there are benefits to this monitoring, did Microsoft really have to apologise for offering their new feature? Were they just playing it safe in an environment where people are becoming increasingly sensitive to issues about privacy?
Users are so protective over their personal information being stored and collected these days, but is it really reasonable that we take the same approach in a business environment?
Privacy, Security, and Monitoring (Oh My)
This issue is a complicated one.
Companies have a lot to consider, from how their employees might feel about monitoring, to how they can ensure compliance on a massive scale. Our data is often shared globally, but most of the compliance regulations are set on a geographical level. Should there be international governance for the way we use business data?
It seems as though there are always two sides to the story – no matter what you’re talking about. Some people will want everything open, unlocked, and available to be monitored. They believe that real-time insights and historical trends could be the key to success in a competitive landscape. On the other hand, there’s another team of people who believe that any kind of monitoring is a violation.
The reality is that monitoring is probably something we need to get used to. Around 7 billion of us already carry smartphones every day, and that means saying yes to being monitored. Our data is being harvested all the time, yet businesses are under excessive amounts of scrutiny for what they watch.
I polled my connections on LinkedIn recently and found that 42% of employees felt that employers should be able to monitor people at work, while 55% felt otherwise. Clearly, there’s no obvious right answer here.
