Employee monitoring software uses desktop monitoring, keystroke tracking, video surveillance, GPS location tracking, and other tools to track workers’ activities. These tools are typically used to track employee performance, elevate productivity, and minimize rule-breaking.
Understanding the psychological impact of employee monitoring helps businesses determine whether to implement the software. Although the use of employee monitoring can elevate performance and well-being, it also can lower an employee’s sense of moral responsibility and encourage behaviors the software is designed to discourage.
Employee Monitoring Can Increase Rule-Breaking
The Harvard University report Stripped of Agency: The Paradoxical Effect of Employee Monitoring on Deviance, published in the Sage Journal of Management in November 2021, detailed a study of over 100 US employees where some were subjected to employee monitoring and some were not. The monitored employees were significantly more likely to engage in the following rule-breaking behaviors:
- Ignoring instructions
- Purposefully working at a slow pace
- Taking unauthorized breaks
- Damaging workplace property
- Stealing office equipment
Harvard University’s follow-up study
Because the survey determined a correlation but not causation, Harvard University ran a second study where an additional 200 US employees were asked to complete a series of tasks and were given an opportunity to cheat. Half of the employees were told they would be working under electronic surveillance. The employees who were told they were being monitored were more likely to cheat than those who were not told they were being monitored.
Explanations for the study’s results
Factors such as a person’s internal moral compass, the threat of punishment, and the promise of reward motivate individuals to do the right thing. Therefore, employee monitoring can lead to diminished feelings of responsibility for one’s conduct. As a result, monitored employees are more likely to behave immorally than unmonitored ones.
Participant surveys found that the monitored employees were likely to report that the person overseeing their surveillance was responsible for their behavior. Conversely, the unmonitored employees were likely to take responsibility for their actions. As a result, the monitored employees were likely to engage in behavior that was contrary to their moral standards.
Maintaining Accountability While Monitoring Employees
The study elevated feelings of employer fairness by varying how respectfully the administrator interacted with the participants and whether the participants received the promised cash reward. The results showed that monitored participants were less likely to cheat if they felt they were treated fairly. Therefore, monitored employees who feel they are being treated fairly are likely to maintain moral responsibility for their actions.
Employer Tips for Fair Treatment
Employers can use these tips to enhance feelings of fairness to encourage employee accountability for their actions:
- Include employees in discussions and decisions about monitoring software.
- Maintain boundaries for when employee monitoring is appropriate and inappropriate.
- Openly and transparently communicate which data will be collected and how it will be used.
- Use the data to benefit employees, such as to educate them about wellness initiatives or professional development opportunities.
- Provide employee access to their own data and aggregated, anonymized data from relevant teams.
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