HR is increasingly leveraging software such as StaffCop, Variato Cerebral and ActivTrak, which utilise surveillance cameras to help monitor employees’ behaviour both at work and on remote computers. The US-based restaurant group, Outback, recently trialled Presto Vision, whose cameras enable management to oversee employees and customers. The software allows managers to analyse waiting times and interactions between patrons and staff. However, following staff and privacy group concerns over time spent chatting with diners being confused with longer service times, Outback eventually dropped the experiment.
With what is offered as “unmatched visibility into employee activity and communication”, the effect on employee engagement is something that HR must be aware of. With working from home now commonplace, talent managers should take into account that flexibility and a level of trust tends to create a much more convivial work environment than over monitoring.
Paul Arkwright
Publisher
