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“I monitor my staff with software that takes screenshots”

bbc.co.uk

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Re: “I monitor my staff with software that takes screenshots”

#71

Post by cortesoft »

mrweasel wrote: post #21

I worked for a company with a UK department, the UK boss would routinely use similar software to check that people where actually working and doing things correctly. The Scandinavian bosses opted to just trust everyone to do the right thing and people always would. Interestingly enough if was always the British employees who would do things like steal customer contact lists when they left or do deals on the side, so…

If you have to lie to do reasonable things, most people will lie.... and then you get used to lying, and find it easier to justify.

Re: “I monitor my staff with software that takes screenshots”

#72

Post by snapetom »

My last company, a large regional hospital, spent over a decade trying to create a remote work policy. The app and business management side spent all that time figuring out which productivity monitoring software to buy. People from the network and security teams got sucked in spending endless cycles trying to figure out how to get these platforms working in our complicated network. Legal and compliance also spent God-knows-how long making sure everything was in line with HIPAA. Rinse and repeat with every pilot and trial of monitoring software.

The whole effort was so focused on employee monitoring, other things like security and actual productivity tools and protocols were essentially ignored. In the end nothing was ever formalized and business units just did their own thing. Some never even allowed it.

Then COVID-19 hit.

The network and security teams spent three weeks+ working on capacity upgrades for things like the VPN and laptops accommodate everyone. Old school managers who had never used anything like Slack or Teams suddenly had to figure out how to manage without patrolling the cubicle farm. During that time, nothing got done because employees were sent home but didn't have the tools to work.

If management actually stuck with their charter of creating a remote policy instead of software shopping, they wouldn't have missed a beat.

Re: “I monitor my staff with software that takes screenshots”

#73

Post by acvny »

What is the motivation behind this article? Is it an encouragement for all employers to track their employees or is it that we should all return to the office? This form of surveilance should be deemed illegal as the employer is not buying my life but my work. This is just a poor country exploitation practice that is being tried to be introduced in developed countries to maximize profits. And by advertising this on bbc makes it normal. Next step is to connect mind reading hats and to require that you only think about your work during the shift.

Re: “I monitor my staff with software that takes screenshots”

#74

Post by throwaway_pdp09 »

If you (effectively) spy on your staff, they will be unhappy and will want to leave. Which are most likely to be able to find other employment, a) your best staff b) your worst staff?

Set high-level targets and track performance, not behaviour.

Re: “I monitor my staff with software that takes screenshots”

#75

Post by aaron695 »

zenincognito wrote: post #5

I once went to court against a client who wouldn't pay his bills. The sum more than 35K. It took over 9 months to get to court ( as the court wouldnt give a date ) and countless docs and hours spent to come up with evidence folder. In Australia, a citizen can argue their case which I did without using any lawyers. Finally, we both argued our case to a point where the client's defence was that there was no time log fo…

> Pay for work not time spent on the computer

And next week HN will love UBI.

Many people are shit at their jobs and always will be.

The current system with its messiness gets them money and self respect.

I'm not against a hard world that hurts more people for the next century while we work towards utopia. But just be aware what you are advocating for. Cut throat gig contracts are different to the Fuck you, Pay me, idea.

Re: “I monitor my staff with software that takes screenshots”

#76

Post by Nursie »

mrweasel wrote: post #21

I worked for a company with a UK department, the UK boss would routinely use similar software to check that people where actually working and doing things correctly. The Scandinavian bosses opted to just trust everyone to do the right thing and people always would. Interestingly enough if was always the British employees who would do things like steal customer contact lists when they left or do deals on the side, so…

Honestly, as a Brit, I think we have a pathological work culture.

Employees are often treated like naughty children, and in return they behave that way.

Re: “I monitor my staff with software that takes screenshots”

#77

Post by Thlom »

mrweasel wrote: post #21

I worked for a company with a UK department, the UK boss would routinely use similar software to check that people where actually working and doing things correctly. The Scandinavian bosses opted to just trust everyone to do the right thing and people always would. Interestingly enough if was always the British employees who would do things like steal customer contact lists when they left or do deals on the side, so…

The Scandinavian bosses didn't just opt to trust the employees. Spying on employees is illegal in (most of?) Scandinavia as far as I know.

(By the way, I have the same experience re: British/Scandinavian labor culture)

Re: “I monitor my staff with software that takes screenshots”

#78

Post by williamdclt »

b3lvedere wrote: post #43
nip wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One day you come home and realize that you locked yourself out of your home. You call the locksmith. He arrives, looks at the door, fiddles with the lock for one minute, opens the door then leaves. The next day you receive the bill, 150€. Are you mad for spending so much for one minute of work? You shouldn’t: you paid for the experience that allowed him to open it in 1 minute. — Recalling it from a discussion with a…

I fully agree with this, but it can't hurt to try and learn some of those tricks yourself. Some locks are surprisingly easy to open.

If I remembered to take my lockpicking tools when going out, I probably also remembered my keys!

Re: “I monitor my staff with software that takes screenshots”

#79

Post by charlieda »

stiray wrote: post #34

I would just simply leave the company that trusts me so little that it needs to monitor what I am doing. In another words if company is so worried to squeeze the last drop of money out of employee to actually use such methods there is something wrong with it. I know one in our country that pays really good but employs such tactics. Developers are leaving on quarterly basis - not due to tactics but due to rotten relat…

And we should consider ourselves lucky as engineers that we work in an industry where we are so in demand that are able to do that. Workers in other industries (the article talks about a firm that re-sells beauty products) might not be so lucky.

Re: “I monitor my staff with software that takes screenshots”

#80

Post by roel_v »

helsinkiandrew wrote: post #11
zenincognito wrote: post #5

I once went to court against a client who wouldn't pay his bills. The sum more than 35K. It took over 9 months to get to court ( as the court wouldnt give a date ) and countless docs and hours spent to come up with evidence folder. In Australia, a citizen can argue their case which I did without using any lawyers. Finally, we both argued our case to a point where the client's defence was that there was no time log fo…

> Pay for work not time spent on the computer This is the right solution, but of course is harder for some occupations - call center, sewing buttons, and more mundane work. Where 'bad' employers can push up the amount of work expected.

Does that make them bad employers? I would expect it to be quite logical that employers want to hire the best workers, where the 'best' is those who can process the most items.

I used to work in a brush factory when I was a teenager (during school holidays). It was basically 8 hours of grabbing a metal clip and s row of brush hairs, slide the latter into the former, put the assembly under a press, put the result in a box. I made the day interesting by getting my movements down exactly so I would get into a flow and even almost dissociate (it was better than it sounds, I was not a sweatshop child laborer). The regular workers would regularly remind me not to 'overwork' myself, and after a few weeks, those 'reminders' turned into near bullying (probably because I was upping the level for what was 'normal' output levels).

Was I a bad employee or bad colleague in that case? I don't think so, but ostensibly some others thought differently.

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