Guest blog by Chris Robinson about his Master of Applied Psychology (Organisational) thesis project.
Having walked through the local supermarket one afternoon, I arrived at the checkout to purchase my items and observed every teller was under direct and intense surveillance from a video camera. I thought about the implications: ok theft is possible when handling cash but surely such invasive monitoring might cause unnecessary stress for staff?
After searching the literature it became obvious that monitoring employees with electronic equipment was quite common. In fact organisations who did not use some sort of electronic system to account for productivity or workplace behaviour were a rarity. However, though research suggested electronic monitoring could improve productivity under certain conditions, it was also associated with negative psychosocial effects such as decreased levels of trust, commitment, productivity whilst increasing stress. Not exactly the type of conditions I would personally find appealing!
Having a natural interest in personality and how it influences perceptions and behaviour, I wondered if someone’s personality could change how they felt about electronic monitoring. If so, could it help explain and strengthen what was known about the effects of monitoring? As it turns out, yes.
I conducted a survey asking people about their personality traits, the monitoring in their workplace, and their well-being. I found that a person's level of Emotional Stability and whether they believe that they have control over the outcomes in their lives can contribute to the negative effects of electronic monitoring.
This suggests electronic monitoring will not always be in the best interests of an organisation because people have a different capacity for managing these conditions. It also became apparent that explaining why information is captured and how it will be used is pivotal for alleviating these issues. If monitoring systems are employed to ‘catch employees out’ it can become a source of pressure. But if they are used to support performance they feature as a resource that employees can draw upon to help them perform better.