Big Brother in the Workplace

My reaction to the recent Wall Street Journal article “Memo to Workers: The Boss is Watching” (WSJ October 23, 2013.)

Decades ago science fiction movies told us of a future where all your activities were monitored by an omnipresent force. People were frightened by this idea, but as the technologies for tracking our daily lives have become common, that fear has evolved into discomfort.  The Wall Street Journal article covers how robust these technologies are becoming.

-Let’s start with employees who drive:

“A 2012 report from research firm Aberdeen Group Found that 37% of companies that send employees out on service calls track the real time location…” (WSJ)

Obviously tracking whether your employees are on route is a way to insure appropriate behavior. The article fails to mention one of the primary reasons for this monitoring, and it has nothing to do with discipline.  The biggest economic impact is not from finding wrongdoers, but the ability to monitor your fleet as unit.  Hypothetically assume the most fuel efficient speed of your trucks at 57 MPH, and you know that for every 3 MPH over you are burning “x” amount of extra fuel every 100 miles, and for every 6 MPH over you are burning “y” additional fuel.  As a business owner the power to calculate how much gas you are needlessly burning is a statistical measure that will mean dollars back in your pocket. 

See  (http://www.nextraq.com/images/NexTraq_Five_Ways_to_Reduce_Fuel_Consumption_White_Paper.pdf) Nextraq whitepaper for a detailed look at fuel savings.

A = Most Fuel Efficient Speed.     R = Speed over/under A.      T = Duration       F= Excess Fuel Burned

A +or- ( R x T ) = F

*not a literal or exact formula.

 -What about tracking employees at a desk:

We have all been through an orientation where they tell you internet use is monitored.

“Specifically, the survey revealed 64 percent of employees visit non-work related websites every day at work. Of that group, 39 percent spend one hour or less per week, 29 percent spend 2 hours per week, 21 percent waste five hours per week, and only 3 percent said they waste 10 hours or more doing unrelated activities. (My experience as a CEO tells me these figures are probably underestimated.)” (Cheryl Conner with Russ Warner, “Employees Really Do Waste Time at Work” Forbes, July 17, 2012)

The WSJ author focuses this type of monitoring as a “monitoring workers suspected of misdeeds.”  But there are some who ascertain that allowing employees more free/break time to address personal matters may increase productivity.

 

http://www.wrike.com/blog/12/19/2012/Snapshot-Work-Life-Balance-Realities-Wrike-s-New-Fascinating-Infographic

“Snapshop of Work-Life Balance Realities: Wrike’s New, Fascinating Inforgraphic” Published by Nadia 12-19-2012

 Looking at the results of this survey it seems that people reach a limit and feel productivity drop.  Assuming that occasional “zoning out” may increase productivity leads us to question the value of such stringent monitoring.

-What about those in the Service Industry:

 

Figures from Advantage Polygraph Services, Oct. 23, 2013 http://www.advantagepolygraphservices.com/employee-theft/

Employee monitoring is a way to mitigate theft, specifically in the service industry.  “Theft monitoring software used in 392 restaurants found a 22% reduction in theft after the software was installed and staffers were told about it.  Drink sales, meanwhile, rose 10%.”  (NCR Corp statistic from WSJ article) The sample size seems significant enough to warrant the validity of the findings.  What is missing is further analysis that would show service improvement due to the accountability of the staff.  The study would benefit if it took a deeper statistical analysis and measured the increase in traffic (customers per hour), as well as possible increases in customer return rate, average bill, and average tip percentage per tab.  These metrics may improve simply by monitoring your workforce.

 In the end, the presence of “Big Brother” will continue to grow.  This article points out numerous benefits for the employer to engage in these practices but the discussion left out an opportunity to dive deeper into some statistical analysis that would show further benefits from employee monitoring and tracking technologies.

 Eric Higson, LMBA Class of 2015, October 22, 2013.