Introduction
There are numerous ways in which employers can ensure workplace productivity through the use of technological automation. One of the methods which some employers opt for is the use of surveillance and tracking methods. The main aims of using employee monitoring and tracking systems are to prevent theft, ensure the appropriate use of the company's resources, ensure examine employees' productivity and provide evidence in case of any internal issues among others. However, some employees may be unaware of the regulations pertaining to monitoring and surveillance software thus resulting in ethical issues within the workplace. This is as seen at Crossover, a talent management company based in the United States.
Discussion
Crossover Company has certain regulations and policies that every employee is obligated to adhere to immediately after being offered a job at the company. One of these requirements is for employees to install a spyware program from the company that monitors an individual using his or her webcam and takes random pictures every ten minutes. The pictures taken by the company's productivity tool, WorkSmart, are combined with screenshots of the employees' workstations together with data that is used to assess the value of work done. As explained by Moussa (2015), the use of such surveillance software has resulted in complaints from employees about the invasion to their privacy. Moreover, most employees claim that the company uses the photos as a means of determining payment as going to the washrooms and forgetting to turn off the spyware program attracts major consequences.
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The issue of extreme employee monitoring and surveillance has highly affected the position of Crossover Company today. For instance, many unemployed people hesitate when it comes to applying for jobs offered by the company. The relationship between the employers and employees also compromises the company's productivity as it is difficult to perform any duties at work when there is someone watching and taking photos of you every ten minutes. The power of the employer to know the employees' personal information is regarded as invasive and may ruin the employees' morale thus compromising productivity.
Despite the complaints filed by employees at Crossover, the company is yet to come up with resolution strategies that will ease the situation. According to Abomhara & Køien (2014), the purpose of installing the spyware program is for the management to confirm if the employees are working within the hours they are supposed to be working. Crossover' manager also defends claims that the use of monitoring and surveillance technology is mandatory as most workers get over the initial self-consciousness after a short while and embrace the need for monitoring as they do CCTVs in malls. However, this argument is not in line with the opinions of most workers as they claim that the company already pays for their time regardless of what they are doing in their places of work.
Several actions can be taken concerning the personal and professional issues that come with the monitoring and surveillance technology used at Crossover Company. For instance, the management could do away with the use of webcams and spyware and install CCTVs that will monitor the employees' movement within the organization without going deep into an individual's personal space. The company can also get rid of the current technology and embrace the use of Three Square Market's technology. Even though the technology is not for tracking employee movement, it has been programmed to detect what should be done and what is prohibited and uses a wristband that vibrates whenever an employee is doing something incorrectly. The use of a microchip that will allow employees to enter the building and move around without the use of an identity card would also serve the same purpose of increasing productivity.
Finally. Management can monitor the websites the employees use while connected to the business's Wi-Fi. This is efficient as employees have no expectations of privacy while using the company's devices. It would also be best for the employees to be informed that anything they do using the company's devices is visible to the employer. While these proposals serve the same purpose as the surveillance and monitoring technological tools that are used by Crossover, they ensure maximum productivity while assuring employees of their safety and utmost privacy.
Conclusion
The ethical dilemmas such as privacy and monitoring issues facing companies like Crossover can be prevented or reduced by the action of the management and the company's employees. For instance, the management should focus more on transparency within the company. Since employees are uncomfortable with the idea of being monitored, they could be consulted on the surveillance that will make them feel safe keeping in mind the alignment of the technology to the company's goals. According to Kumar & Patel (2014), transparency makes employees more willing to subject themselves to different methods of tracking and monitoring. While it is easier to monitor employees so as to ensure the achievement of maximum productivity, it is better and more ethical to respect personal privacy while doing so.
References
Abomhara, M., & Køien, G. M. (2014, May). Security and privacy in the Internet of Things: Current status and open issues. In Privacy and Security in Mobile Systems (PRISMS), 2014 International Conference on (pp. 1-8). IEEE.
Kumar, J. S., & Patel, D. R. (2014). A survey on internet of things: Security and privacy issues. International Journal of Computer Applications , 90 (11).
Moussa, M. (2015). Monitoring employee behavior through the use of technology and issues of employee privacy in America. Sage Open , 5 (2), 2158244015580168.
