How are employees being tracked?
In almost every way...
When did companies start snooping?
Bosses have always kept a close eye on employees. Henry Ford famously paced the factory floor with a stopwatch, timing his workers' motions in a bid for greater efficiency. He also hired private investigators to spy on employees' home lives to make sure personal problems didn't interfere with their work performance...
Yes, according to the data...
Who does the actual monitoring?
It's all done automatically: Software programs scan employees' email accounts and computer files and alert supervisors to anything inappropriate...
What else are they looking for?
Some companies search for evidence that employees might be thinking about quitting...
Can employees stop this tracking?
Generally, no. Most employee contracts give management free rein to do what it wants with data gathered from office-issued equipment, but some surveilled workers are fighting back...
Listening in at the water cooler.
If you find the idea of your boss reading your emails creepy, how about having your location, tone of voice, and conversation length monitored throughout the working day? Boston-based analytics firm Sociometric Solutions has supplied some 20 companies with employee ID badges fitted with microphone, location sensor, and accelerometer... more
