Is It Right for HR to Monitor Personal Activities at Work? How Would You Handle This?

Dear Comrades,

Please tell me - Is it the job of HR to be spying on employees - such as monitoring their personal activities during office hours, the websites they visit, their dating habits, and whether they have a boyfriend/girlfriend, among other things.

Is it appropriate for the company to expect HR to engage in such intrusive behavior?

If you are entrusted with such a responsibility, how would you react and how would you handle it?

Please respond.

Jeeva.

Dear fraternity members,

Can I ask you to reflect on this subject? Is spying on employees good for the company, or is it a way to ensure mistrust everywhere? With the recent scandals in the BPO companies that have come to light, one may feel that spying on employees in the organization is necessary. However, will such spying not affect the employees' morale and commitment?

Your views, please.

Jeeva.

Hi, check where HP has landed into trouble.

Hewlett-Packard is caught in a firestorm of bad publicity after it was revealed that the chairwoman of its board of directors authorized a spying campaign aimed at ending press leaks. This campaign ultimately included surreptitiously obtaining the phone records of some board members and nine journalists. Yet, HP chief executive Mark Hurd has not fired Patricia Dunn, who organized the Silicon Valley spy ring. Dunn has instead said she will step down as chairwoman but will remain a director, a move that has not quieted criticism of the high-tech giant.

And this is for official reasons. What your management is suggesting is about personal lives! I personally feel we have no right to monitor or spy. Create an environment of trust in the organization!

Regards,
Anuradha

Hi Jeeva,

I do agree with Anuradha. We don't have any right to poke our nose into anybody's personal affairs.

Regards,
Sujata

Dear Jeeva,

I agree with other members and their comments in totality. As you have already and rightly said, it is a "backbiting job." The Management is trying to use your shoulders to shoot; in the end, nothing will happen to them, and your reputation, integrity, and relationships will be in shambles.

I think if they are trying to regulate their employees, it should be done departmentally, not by HR. Tell your Management that it is not the responsibility of HR to police employees, and neither are you James Bond.

For example, if they feel that employees are surfing "Not Work Related" sites, it is the duty of the IT Administrator to block the sites based on input received from HODs. It is not HR's duty to keep track of who is surfing what.

Tell them one more thing: it is not possible for you to judge whether a person is working, wasting time, or not meeting schedule; that should be decided by the employee's reporting Officer. To do the whole thing, you need to know in detail and keep track of progress for each and every employee, which is not possible. To keep track, you yourself need to know everything; otherwise, you cannot supervise, and people will take you for a ride.

In the end, if they still entrust you with the responsibility, then say that unless you receive a complaint in writing, you will not be able to act. If they do not agree to this, then start an aggressive and authoritative drive, wield your stick, and act as a super boss and a dictator. Automatically, you will see other Managers will start objecting as their authority will erode, and employees will start complaining. The whole issue will die a natural death.

Regards,

SC

I fully agree with SC.

It is NOT the “job of HR to be spying over the employees”. HR is a staff, not a line, function. We administer policies, audit the organizational procedures, make employment decisions (discipline/discharge/safety/etc.) and plan/ introduce/ strategic initiatives consistent with the goals and objectives of the organization.

Staff promulgates policy; Line insures implementation. Line management has responsibility to control and direct the workforce. We have no responsibility for the day to day activities of that workforce.

Management has the right to run the business and so it follows that they must have the authority to legally control the workforce. Company rules of conduct, Standards of Operation, Safety Policies are all designed to promote productivity, efficiency and safety in the workplace, and stem from such managerial authority.

An employee gives up some personal rights when he accepts compensation for his efforts. That is a basic part of the employer-employee contract. The presumption of privacy goes out the window when the employee accepts the paycheck. Employees have an obligation to direct their efforts toward the good of the organization, not to “surf the net”, or send e-mails to friends, or use the company's equipment for fun and profit.

If one employee is allowed to divert his/her efforts to other, nonproductive endeavors, on the company's time, then the virus of irresponsibility will spread throughout the organization, resulting in a decline of morale, commitment, and finally the business. Then everyone will have the time to engage in personal pursuits.

Regards,

PALADIN

Hi!

I believe the HR department should never spy on its employees. It's their personal life, and what people do on their own time should be respected.

Make your boss understand that employee spying is not a productive measure or a valuable use of company time and resources. Regardless, it may unfortunately become a necessary evil in the corporate environment. The moment you erode trust, relationships begin to deteriorate.

Cheers,

Neeta S.

Hi Neeta,

I agree that it is not the job of the HR department to spy on employees. However, should the company keep a watch on the personal lives of employees to assess the potential impact on the organization based on their personal habits? If so, which department should be responsible for this?

Jeeva.