I need help with a Psychology question. All explanations and answers will be used to help me learn.

Topic:

What do you think about the electronic monitoring of employee performance – such as when customer service calls are monitored and randomly listened to by supervisors as a way to evaluate employee’s performance? What are the advantages and disadvantages of this (from an employee’s perspective and from an employer’s perspective)? What are some other ways (other than recording customer service calls) that an employer could electronically monitor an employee’s performance? At what point does this kind of monitoring invade the employee’s privacy and/or infringe on his/her sense of autonomy or creativity?

( you should total have two post, one own original post at least 300 words, another one is response post to classmate at least 150 words)

Your textbook also has a website that you may find helpful, as it contains learning objective and chapter summaries for each chapter: http://routledgetextbooks.com/textbooks/9781138655…

For example:

My classmate A’ post :

I think electronic monitoring of employee performance is a bad way to monitor an employee’s performance because it is a complete invasion of their privacy. The advantage of electronic monitoring in terms of the employer’s perspective is that it is an objective assessment meaning that they measure the quantifiable aspect of performance such as the number of calls an employee in customer service takes. However, a disadvantage of this for the employer is that because only behaviors that are quantified are measured, quality is not being measured such as how the employee is treating the customer. There is also an advantage of electronic monitoring for employees as they can get direct and straightforward feedback on their performance that is not based on opinions but on facts. However, a disadvantage for employees is that they have their privacy and freedom violated, which is important to many.

Some other ways an employer can monitor an employee’s performance is through video surveillance, email monitoring, and software monitoring where the employers monitor everything on an employee’s computer. The point at which this kind of monitoring invades the employee’s privacy is when they are not told they are being monitored. If they are being monitored without their knowledge then it would violate their right to privacy. Employees should be informed of when and what is being monitored. It can also infringe on an employee’s sense of creativity because some people actually develop anxiety if they know their performance is constantly being watched and judged. They will not perform at their best if this anxiety keeps building up.

My classmate B’s response to classmate A:

Hi A,

I completely agree with your point that employee privacy is an important topic to take into consideration when contemplating the benefits and losses of electronic monitoring. Having that consent from an employee can help the implementation of electronic monitoring to go smoothly because this way the employee will not be taken by surprise when they find out that they were monitored and they will also not lose trust in the organization that they work for. Furthermore, I agree with your statement that employee performance might change if they know they are being monitored because I am sure that is something that would happen to me. I do not like the idea of performing bad in front of others especially an employer and I know I am not the only one who feels this way.

My classmate C ‘s post:( you should reply to this one):

For using the electronic monitoring of employee performance, the good reason I can think of is : the organization hopes to help employees improve their performance, let them recognize their shortcomings in their work, and thus improve efficiency. Employers can electronically monitor employee performance in many ways: evaluation, video surveillance, big data, image detection and other technologies, and even can rely on electronic monitoring to track employees’ facial expressions or tone of voice to determine emotional state. In some industries, employee monitoring technology can alert them to potential safety issues. These reasons are quite reasonable for industrial psychologists.
From the perspective of employers, reasonable use of employee monitoring technology can keep track of the progress and general status of employees at any time, so that employers can see who is the most efficient at work, thereby promoting or rewarding employees with good performance. In addition, for specific occupations, such as power station operators, having electronic monitoring technology allows the operator to observe whether there are technicians who leave their posts causing further mechanical operation problems, or potential safety hazards are being exposed. Therefore, reasonable use of employee monitoring technology can benefit both employees and employers.
But electronic monitoring of employee performance also has disadvantages. When the monitoring policy is opaque, for employees, monitoring goes against people’s understanding of work traditions and people’s basic privacy rights. In addition to ethics, employee monitoring technology can also cause the risk of personal data leakage. Employers may not obtain employee consent when relying on electronic monitoring to collect information. Many employees are unaware that their data and performance have been unreasonably hacked and analyzed for different purposes. This is also one of my biggest fears as an employee: I don’t know when employers are collecting my information, what it is collecting, and how it is used against myself. In terms of ethical factors, when we consider the rules of organizational justice and ethics, transparency may be the main principle to be observed and considered in the development of employee monitoring technology in the future.