Assignment 1 - Snooping bosses
Ok, so I've just read the article Snooping bosses by Kristina Dell and Lisa Takeuchi Cullen, an article about how employers monitor their employees, not only during their working hours but also at home, and I'm now supposed to analyze it and express my feelings in the matter. But the fact is that I don't really know what to think. When I consider all the aspects and listen to both sides I still can't decide which one I think is right in this matter.
When I think that my employer is watching and monitoring me when I work I get upset, but why should I? I'm (usually...) not doing anything wrong when I'm working, so why can't he/she watch me? Maybe because I just don't like the feeling. I wouldn't like it if someone was standing behind me, watching me either. Perhaps it's because I don't like the feeling that he/she isn't trusting me to do my job even if I have never slipped before.
But say, if I WAS doing something wrong, and now I don't really mean anything illegal but more like visiting webpages I shouldn't while I'm supposed to work, then shouldn't my boss have the right to know this? Since he/she is the one paying me to sit there, shouldn't he/she be the one to decide what I'm to do with the time? And if I'm doing something that I shouldn't, then shouldn't he/she have the right to fire me?
But even I like to surf the web from time to time, and if I'm on break or have finished all my work for the time being, then I don't really see the wrong in doing so. I think that five minutes on Facebook may make me more efficient the rest of the time since I got it out of the system. I think people will be able to concentrate better if they're allowed to take small breaks every now and then, and if I want to surf on my break, then why not? But the employer should be able to see which pages I have visited and how much time I have spent there, so they know that people isn't just slacking.
So I think it's all right to monitor the employees to a certain degree while they're at work, but they should never be allowed to monitor people at home. They have nothing to do with what I'm doing at home, after working hours. If I'm doing something illegal, then it's up to the police to do something about it. Yeah, sure, it would be easyer to find the bad guys, like childmolesters, murderers and so on if we were all constantly supervised, but at what cost? I sure wouldn't want someone to be watching my every step every single day. I'd become paranoid.
And I mean, don't we all do things that we probably shouldn't sometimes? Like downloading our favorite music or movies (how many really stopped when that law came?) or lie about our age just to get the cheapest ticket for the bus? Or ignore those constant letters from Radiotjänst, asking you if you have a TV or not? Or even cross the street even though it's a red light?
And the fact that possible future employers nowadays Google every candidate for the job before hiring them really freaks me out. Not that I really have some pictures or texts on the net that I wouldn't want a future employer to see, but then I don't really know what they are looking for or what they actually interprets in my texts. If I write that I for example totally partyed my ass off on Saturday and that I was oh so hungover on Sunday, then they may think that this mean that I'm not so reliable when it comes to work, even though they have absolutely nothing to do with each other...
That last one may be a bit off-topic, but still, it's about supervising people, and I just don't like it. It may be necessary sometimes, but I still just don't like it.
When I think that my employer is watching and monitoring me when I work I get upset, but why should I? I'm (usually...) not doing anything wrong when I'm working, so why can't he/she watch me? Maybe because I just don't like the feeling. I wouldn't like it if someone was standing behind me, watching me either. Perhaps it's because I don't like the feeling that he/she isn't trusting me to do my job even if I have never slipped before.
But say, if I WAS doing something wrong, and now I don't really mean anything illegal but more like visiting webpages I shouldn't while I'm supposed to work, then shouldn't my boss have the right to know this? Since he/she is the one paying me to sit there, shouldn't he/she be the one to decide what I'm to do with the time? And if I'm doing something that I shouldn't, then shouldn't he/she have the right to fire me?
But even I like to surf the web from time to time, and if I'm on break or have finished all my work for the time being, then I don't really see the wrong in doing so. I think that five minutes on Facebook may make me more efficient the rest of the time since I got it out of the system. I think people will be able to concentrate better if they're allowed to take small breaks every now and then, and if I want to surf on my break, then why not? But the employer should be able to see which pages I have visited and how much time I have spent there, so they know that people isn't just slacking.
So I think it's all right to monitor the employees to a certain degree while they're at work, but they should never be allowed to monitor people at home. They have nothing to do with what I'm doing at home, after working hours. If I'm doing something illegal, then it's up to the police to do something about it. Yeah, sure, it would be easyer to find the bad guys, like childmolesters, murderers and so on if we were all constantly supervised, but at what cost? I sure wouldn't want someone to be watching my every step every single day. I'd become paranoid.
And I mean, don't we all do things that we probably shouldn't sometimes? Like downloading our favorite music or movies (how many really stopped when that law came?) or lie about our age just to get the cheapest ticket for the bus? Or ignore those constant letters from Radiotjänst, asking you if you have a TV or not? Or even cross the street even though it's a red light?
And the fact that possible future employers nowadays Google every candidate for the job before hiring them really freaks me out. Not that I really have some pictures or texts on the net that I wouldn't want a future employer to see, but then I don't really know what they are looking for or what they actually interprets in my texts. If I write that I for example totally partyed my ass off on Saturday and that I was oh so hungover on Sunday, then they may think that this mean that I'm not so reliable when it comes to work, even though they have absolutely nothing to do with each other...
That last one may be a bit off-topic, but still, it's about supervising people, and I just don't like it. It may be necessary sometimes, but I still just don't like it.
Welcome I guess...
I actually already have a blog, but since I don't really want to write the assignments on that one, I guess I have to start a new one. ;) But I still feel comfortable on this domain where I know how to write and publish everything so I'll stay here instead of starting over elsewhere. And sorry about the design, I'll try to do something about that later...
