So, the hot new rumor about a "former employer":http://feralboy.com/log/archives/000213/ of mine is that they've installed "monitoring software":http://www.spy-007.com/ capable of "keystroke logging":http://www.pestpatrol.com/Support/About/About_KeyLoggers.asp on everyone's computers. Since I left this particular company, I've seen things there go from bad to pretty much horrible.
One of the first things that went was the use of instant messaging software. Not usually a big deal, seeing as how it can be a big time-waster and all, but the _reasons_ given for removing the software were, frankly, stupid:
# "It's a big security hole."
# "We don't want company secrets getting out."
Point number 1. If you're worried about security, you might as well just shut off your email system, since that's where "99.9% of the viruses":http://www.patchdayreview.com/ that are going around these days are coming from.
Point number 2. Puh-leaze. This is not a company that works on government contracts, or financial applications, or even proprietary software. They make fucking dogfood coupons. Get over yourself.
Now the potential for "keystroke logging":http://www.zdnet.com.au/builder/manage/business/story/0,2000035090,20264688-4,00.htm comes along. I tried to imagine what the justification for that might be, and I just come up blank. If you're trying to see what your employees are doing, so they don't go to "time-wasting":http://www.fark.com/ "internet":http://blogshares.com/ "sites":http://feralboy.com, then just block them at the firewall. "Plenty of places":http://feralboy.com/log/archives/000074/ do that. Then I thought about the whole "trade secrets":http://wired.com/news/games/0,2101,60701,00.html thing, and again I refer you to the "fucking dogfood coupons" paragraph above.
The implications for watching your employees that closely are so sad. Are you planning on logging into their "Hotmail":http://www.hotmail.com/ accounts to see what they're writing about the company? That's at least unethical, and probably "extremely illegal":http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/ts_search.pl?title=18&sec=2511, as well. Checking to see how many spelling mistakes they have to correct in a day, so you can fire them in favor of someone whose typing is less error-prone?
The basic issue is trust. In order to have a tolerable work environment, there needs to be a level of trust between employer and employee. It's not like you're going out into the street every morning and picking the first 30 people that walk by and say "You there. You are going to make my dogfood coupons today." These are people that you interview, you try and learn about, and gauge their character. Instituting such draconian measure in an environment where employees already are fearful about being let go on a whim will just make your employees that much more likely to bolt.
If you're trying to make absolutely everyone quit, then you're probably on the right track. If, however, you would like to have some measure of employee retention (doubtful, since turnover while I was there was _over 100%_ in a year and a half), then give them some measure of personal freedom. As long as their work is getting done, there's no need to make everyone feel like they're in the Gulag.
Sorry about the rambling... I've wanted to unload about this for awhile, and there are plenty of other things that are not appropriate for me to discuss here, but as I still have friends at this former employer, and I really just want their work environments to be better. Life is too short to work at a shit job.
