Internal communications – privacy and monitoring
by Gene Krause
Suzie Blaszkiewicz brings to mind the age-old concerns surrounding practicality and privacy concerning office internal communications. Every employer wants to provide a workplace environment where their employees feel comfortable, valued and productive. However, employers also need access to employee communications should any issues arise. Therein lies the challenge.
Communications in industries like finance are regulated by the government. It’s a given! Small companies that exist in non-regulated industries must find ways to respect both the employee privacy and monitor communications for their protection. Business owners were surveyed to get their take on how they felt about having to monitor an employee’s conversation.
Their answers provided some interesting stats.
20% of the employers who were surveyed don’t have access to a monitoring system and don’t want one.
10% of the business surveyed don’t have access to a monitoring system but would like to have one.
16% of those surveyed have a system in place but never check their employees’ conversations.
27% admit to checking the conversations only if it the need was related to a specific event.
Overall, it’s good news for employees who feel relief in not having their conversations monitored by management. Some jobs, as in specific government positions, simply require that employers have access. Employees can, understandably, make the mental adjustment. Smaller companies may not have those governmental protocols in place so employees may harbor a different level of resistance.
Monitoring employees is a gray area for employers and their staff. One of the positive things that employers can do is let their staff know there may be occasions when monitoring phone calls and communications is necessary. The dates, times, and methods don’t have to be disclosed, but this is an act of transparency that will likely be appreciated by the company’s employees.
Date publication:
Communications in industries like finance are regulated by the government. It’s a given! Small companies that exist in non-regulated industries must find ways to respect both the employee privacy and monitor communications for their protection. Business owners were surveyed to get their take on how they felt about having to monitor an employee’s conversation.
Their answers provided some interesting stats.
20% of the employers who were surveyed don’t have access to a monitoring system and don’t want one.
10% of the business surveyed don’t have access to a monitoring system but would like to have one.
16% of those surveyed have a system in place but never check their employees’ conversations.
27% admit to checking the conversations only if it the need was related to a specific event.
Overall, it’s good news for employees who feel relief in not having their conversations monitored by management. Some jobs, as in specific government positions, simply require that employers have access. Employees can, understandably, make the mental adjustment. Smaller companies may not have those governmental protocols in place so employees may harbor a different level of resistance.
Monitoring employees is a gray area for employers and their staff. One of the positive things that employers can do is let their staff know there may be occasions when monitoring phone calls and communications is necessary. The dates, times, and methods don’t have to be disclosed, but this is an act of transparency that will likely be appreciated by the company’s employees.
Date publication:
