Earlier today I was pointed toward an article, “So You Want To Keep Track of Staff – But Will They Let You?” Let’s turn the question on it’s ear. As an employer, I can see you, I can track you: Should I, or should I even want to?
In the vast majority of cases, no. If the members of my teams need that level of monitoring, that level of micro-management, for my businesses, I have done a poor job in hiring.
As the article cites, there are some cases where geo-tracking is appropriate. For instance, where are my distribution vehicles? Where are my high-value assets (e.g. a truck, a major piece of equipment)? In these cases I am not tracking the person but rather the company asset.
In cases where, for operational expediency, tracking is a value-add, then it needs to be up-front in the hiring process. And, there need to be specified limits applied.
This is like any other sort of reporting process. I do not want my teams to track something simply because it can be, because it’s easy. There needs to be a specific value-add reason. Otherwise you are simply squandering resources and lowering morale.
[pullquote align=”right”]You might just get more value out of ‘not’ tracking your people, when they know you ‘could.'[/pullquote]With the increased prevalence of tracking services such as Google Latitude and Glympse, check-ins via Facebook and Yelp!, or geo-tagging whenever you post on Goggle+ and Twitter, what do you think? Under what circumstances might you feel Ok with your employer tracking you?
Image credit(s):
Map: Google Latitude
CCTV Camera: abcdz2000
Employees: I see you. I can track you. Should I? http://t.co/hbfbkkZb
Interesting question. I suppose if it’s the kind of job where the employer is providing the vehicle, then I would say, OK to the tracking. Otherwise, I could consider it off limits.
Just because you CAN do something, doesn’t mean that you should. Thanks for making us think.
Employees: I see you. I can track you. Should I? http://t.co/4MIu1BgT