Nursing: October 2013

Employee monitoring can be a controversial subject. Kristin Morgan, from an informative perspective, states that employee monitoring can be used as an important tool to assess and improve employee performance and productivity. She assumes that employers will work to improve their employees opposed to firing them. However, from an academic standpoint, Jitendra M. and Suzanne M. believe that the cons outweigh the pros for employee monitoring, assuming that employees wish to keep their privacy.
Morgan's primary purpose is to stress how employee monitoring can be used to improve the overall quality of employees, as well as teaching the employers how to implement the systems required. However, Jitendra and Suzanne state that employers can abuse these systems and create stress for the employees.
For example, let's say that an employee's call is being monitored when on the phone with a customer. The employee makes a rude statement on accident without noticing, ultimately causing the customer to hang up, frustrated. The employer notices and confronts the employee in an attempt to improve the employee's ability to interact with customers. This is how employee monitoring can be used from Kristin's point of view.
On the other hand, the stress buildup of always being monitored can be detrimental to the employees. Constantly being aware that your job depends on your employer's judgement on your actions may lead to extraordinary stress buildup and cause sub-par results from employees.
Morgan believes that using employee monitoring systems, when used correctly, can be used to improve employees whose problems wouldn't be addressed otherwise. Jitendra and Suzanne believe that employee monitoring can be harmful to both the performance and health of workers due to a high amount of stress. The disparity in these views are beneficial to employee monitoring possibilities. It can lead to Morgan's ideal use of monitoring and improve employer-employee relations by building trust in employers by knowing if their employees are working well. However, the disparity in ideals may lead to a complete abandonment of employee monitoring, effectively shutting off the benefits it provides, although saving employees from the detrimental effects.
Employers can either use monitoring well or not, regardless of the debate. Depending on which side the employer is on, they can make the workplace good or bad. If done badly, frustration and stress can build up in employees, a negative side effect. However, good use of monitoring will lead to fruitful employees and methods to improve their performance.

Sources:
http://www.stfrancis.edu/content/ba/ghkickul/stuwebs/btopics/works/monitoring1a.htm
http://faculty.bus.olemiss.edu/breithel/final%20backup%20of%20bus620%20summer%202000%20from%20mba%20server/frankie_gulledge/employee_workplace_monitoring/employee_monitoring_privacy_in_the_workplace.htm