Analysis of Workplace Monitoring and Surveillance

Key Concepts of Workplace Monitoring and Surveillance

Definition of Analysis of Workplace Monitoring and Surveillance

  There are different approaches related to Industrial Relations. One of the most significant approaches is unitary perspectives approach. This approach is basically based upon one basic assumption that organizations are integrated in form of group of people and there is single authority or loyalty structure in organizations. Employees working in the organization have common set of values as well as interest and objective. All the members of the organizations have same goals and move in the same direction (slideshare, 2019).

Pluralism theory discuss about the distribution of the power among the employees working in the organization. According to this theory, power in the organization is distributed among different groups of employees working in the organization. These groups of employees might be different from each other on the basis of professional Association, unions and business lobby. It might be possible that these different groups of employees working in the organization might have different interest and objectives. The appearances of conflict are appeared to be multiple and flowing since power is a constant negotiating progression in the middle of challenging groups. The presence of different as well as challenging interests is consider as the basis meant for a independent stability, and it is also quite fundamental for the attaining of objectives by individuals(study, 2019).

Radical feminism is another perspective in industrial relation and it is categorized under the concept of feminism. It is a perspective which suggests that the society should eliminate the Supremacy of male members in all types of social as well as economic context. Radical feminist mostly view the society as a place where most of the female members are oppressed by the male members living in the society. They believe that male members living in the society are dominating as compared to female members living in the society. Radical feminists search for eliminate the patriarchy in order to release each person from an unfair civilization by addressing the current social standards and societies(Fineman & Thomadsen, 2013).

Comparative Analysis of Workplace Monitoring and Surveillance

 Pluralism theory is about the idea that how power is distributed among different group of people in society or in organization. This theory indicates that power prevailing between people is distributed between different groups. These group can be correlation of different people like unions, business law B and professional associations. This type of theory is more focused towards factors like compromising and collective bargaining. Different sub groups in this theory have different types of interest and it can cause conflict between these groups due to different types of interest. For instance, conflict between management of an organization and trade union is an example of application of this theory. It can be suggested that at this theory is opposite to unitary approach because in unitary approach, all the members of the group have same interest and they are considered to be homogeneous.

Management of organizationhasclear defined policies for implementation in order to achieve the formulated goals and objectives. That is why, unitary approach is better for organizations as compared to pluralism approach. Sense of competition is considered to be one of the most significant elements in pluralism theory. Workplace surveillance does not have implementation of any kind of competition due to which this theory is not relevant for workplace surveillance. This theory can be associated with workplace surveillance in a manner that some of the employees working in the organization might consider workplace monitoring of employees as a positive step by the management of the organization because they believe that management is safeguarding the employees at workplace. Some of the employees have conflicting opinion that workplace surveillance is mostly implemented by the management of the organizationagainst the privacy rights of the employees working at workplace. Organization does not have right to collect Private data of employees working at workplace. These conflicting opinions related to implementation of workplace surveillance are one of the associated examples for Pluralism theory.

Apply a theoretical model as above to your critical analysis with Workplace Monitoring and Surveillance

Workplace surveillance is a matter of worker safety or an invasion of privacy and employer control. This topic is one of the most discussed topics in modern days related to workplace and human resource management. Some people are of a view that workplace surveillance is for the safety of the employees working in the organization while some of the people have different view that workplace surveillance is a clear violation of employee’s privacy and it also negatively influences the individual level performances of employees working at workplace. This study will be utilizing the Unitarianism approach in order to relate it with the workplace surveillance and will formulate Conclusion and Recommendation accordingly(Petersen, 2012).

Unitarianism is a perspective which is physically based upon a concept that companies and organizations are considered to be integrated group of different people working together having single line of authority and loyalty structure. This perspective also suggests that all the employees working in a specific organization have common values as well as interest and objectives. All the members working in the organization have similar goals and objectives. According to this perspective of Unitarianism, all the employees working in the organization are moving towards a unified goal and objective.

This concept can be closely associated with human resource management practices related to workplace surveillance. Most of the employers implement workplace surveillance for the employees working at workplace in order to make sure that the employees working in the organization are safe and secure. Workplace surveillance is also implemented to make sure that all the assets of the organization are being used ethically and they are not being used by employees for their personal benefit. According to human resource management practices, it is an ethical for employees at workplace to use Assets of the organization for personal objectives. Assets provided by the Management and Organization should only be utilized in order to achieve the formulated goals and objectives of the organization(Management Association, 2017).

Concept of Unitarianism is closely associated with workplace surveillance. Workplace surveillance is implemented by the management to make sure that all the employees are collectively following similar policies related to usage of workplace assets. Workplace surveillance also make sure that all the employees working at the workplace are moving towards a unified direction to achieve the formulated goals and objectives without wasting any kind of resources and time. It can be suggested that the relationship between the concept of Unitarianism and workplace surveillance is closely associated. It might be possible that some of the employees working at workplace may not feel comfortable due to workplace surveillance and it might negatively influence their individual level performance at workplace. At the same time, it is important to understand the objective behind the implementation of workplace surveillance which is to make sure that all the employees are utilizing the assets in most effective and efficient manner to achieve the formulated goals and objectives of the organization.

Different techniques are being used by the employer around the globe in order to monitor their employees at workplace. Different kinds of surveillance equipments are being used by employers such as closed circuit television, internet, and global positioning system. These surveillance equipments are being continuously used by the employers around the globe in order to collect data related to their employees who might help the business to achieve the formulated goals and objectives of the organization. It is important to understand that legal quotes of United States has provided legal justification in favor of employees for using different kinds of electronic workplace surveillance techniques. This clearly stated that employers can implement different electronic workplace surveillance techniques in order to monitor the activities of the employees at workplace from legal perspective (Rodney, 2018).

It is important to understand that there are several advantages of implementing workplace monitoring and surveillance for the employees as well as employer. One of the most significant advantages of implementing workplace surveillance is efficient time management. With implementation of efficient time management, employee is able to improve his Individual productivity level which eventually improves the overall productivity level of the organization. Data collected related to the Employees at workplace can be used by the employer to analyze daily routine activities of employees. This will help the management to make sure that employees make most productive use of assets of the company. Another significant advantage of surveillance and monitoring at workplace is that it helps to reduce the personal usage of workplace assets as it is unethical to use organizational assets for personal motives(Solove & Schwartz, 2017).

Surveillance and monitoring related activities will help the employees to identify their weaknesses and they can accordingly improve their weaknesses by looking towards their daily routine activities. Surveillance can also help the management to protect itself from different legal cases related to sexual harassment at workplace. Nowadays, Workplace cases related to sexual harassment is increasing and it is necessary that companies should have relevant and adequate evidence to prevent in court in order to protect itself from any kind of financial claim or financial loss.

Theory of Unitarianism is focused towards movement of the members of the group towards a specific and unified goal. Similar is the case for implementation of workplace surveillance in which the primary objective of most of the employees is to make sure that employees are working in right direction and to make sure that employees are working efficiently and effectively to achieve the formulated goals and objectives of the organization. Implementation of workplace surveillance also helps the employees to tackle issues related to different stakeholders. It might be possible that specific employee working at workplace might excuse other employee for any kind of sexual discrimination. In this case, the employee which has accused other employee might approach court in order to file a legal Suit against that employee. This might negatively influenced the reputation of the organization in which that specific employee is working. It might also be possible that Court may ask organization to provide surveillance footage in order to analyze them to decide whether the employee has been sexually discriminated or not. Effective implementation of workplace surveillance will help the organization to provide proper evidence. That is why, it can be suggested that implementation of workplace surveillance will help the organizations to tackle issues related to legal quotes which is considered to be one of the most significant stakeholder for businesses around the globe Theory of Unitarianism is focused towards movement of the members of the group towards a specific and unified goal. Similar is the case for implementation of workplace surveillance in which the primary objective of most of the employees is to make sure that employees are working in right direction and to make sure that employees are working efficiently and effectively to achieve the formulated goals and objectives of the organization. Implementation of workplace surveillance also helps the employees to tackle issues related to different stakeholders. It might be possible that specific employee working at workplace might excuse other employee for any kind of sexual discrimination. In this case, the employee which has accused other employee might approach court in order to file a legal Suit against that employee. This might negatively influenced the reputation of the organization in which that specific employee is working. It might also be possible that Court may ask organization to provide surveillance footage in order to analyze them to decide whether the employee has been sexually discriminated or not. Effective implementation of workplace surveillance will help the organization to provide proper evidence. That is why, it can be suggested that implementation of workplace surveillance will help the organizations to tackle issues related to legal quotes which is considered to be one of the most significant stakeholder for businesses around the globe(Langford, et al., 2013).

As far as employees are concerned, most of the employees working in any kind of organization are interested to contribute towards the success of the organization and to achieve the goals and objectives of the organization. If the organization is making sure that employees are working in the correct direction to achieve goals and objectives by implementing workplace surveillance then it would be not only beneficial for the employers but will also be beneficial for the employees working at workplace. It will help the employees to identify their strength and weaknesses. This opportunity can be accordingly utilized in order to improve the weaknesses accordingly (Rodney, 2018).

As far as employees are concerned, most of the employees working in any kind of organization are interested to contribute towards the success of the organization and to achieve the goals and objectives of the organization. If the organization is making sure that employees are working in the correct direction to achieve goals and objectives by implementing workplace surveillance then it would be not only beneficial for the employers but will also be beneficial for the employees working at workplace. It will help the employees to identify their strength and weaknesses. This opportunity can be accordingly utilized in order to improve the weaknesses accordingly.

Another significant example of Unitarianism at workplace is formulation of employee Union. Employee Union helps the employees to make sure that they are provided their rights. Primary objective of every employee union is to make sure that all the employees working in the organization will act collectively if any kind of misbehavior or misconduct is exercised by the employer on the employees at workplace. Employee Union help to enhance the awareness level among the employees regarding their workplace rights. This collective movement of employee union is another significant example of Unitarianism.

Draw recommendations and conclusions for key stakeholder’s employees, unions, employers, government, etc. of Workplace Monitoring and Surveillance

Recommendations of Workplace Monitoring and Surveillance

In order to make sure that unitary approach is successfully implemented at workplace in relation with surveillance of employees, it important for the employer to make sure that business should provide the Employees with legitimate business reason for conducting required surveillance of the employees at workplace. It should also provide details to employees regarding the position where the cameras have been installed to make sure that privacy of employees is not violated. It is also important for the employer to formulate a proper policy and notify the employees working in the organization for the existence of different types of cameras and legitimate reason behind moving cameras from one place to another place at workplace environment.

As far as legal law of United States is concerned, employer is allowed to conduct surveillance of their employees at workplace only. It does not mean that employees should be monitored by using hidden cameras at workplace. Installation of hidden cameras at workplace is strictly discouraged by law and is not allowed to employers to conduct surveillance in such manner. It is important to understand that up till now, there is no United States law which requires the employees in the organization to notify their employees regarding installation of the monitoring and surveillance system. Although, it is considered to be ethical for the employers to disclose their activities related to implementation of workplace monitoring and surveillance.

Conclusion on AnalysisWorkplace Monitoring and Surveillance

This assignment is focused towards analysis of work place surveillance and monitoring of employees. The assignment analyzed weather workplace monitoring is legal for the employer or is it against the privacy of the employees working in the organization. This assignment associated unitary theory with workplace monitoring and surveillance. The study concludes that this theory is closely associated with monitoring and surveillance at workplace. It is mostly because of the fact that this theory believes in unified goals and objectives of employees working at workplace. One of the most significant objectives of workplace surveillance and monitoring is to make sure that the employees are using the Assets of the organization in unified form without using them for any kind of personal use. Management makes sure that assets are being used by the employees in unified form to achieve the formulated goals and objectives of the organization. Management also makes sure by implementing surveillance technique that the employees are working towards the best interest of the organization in unified form. These all objectives of workplace surveillance and monitoring are closely associated with unitary perspective of Industrial Relations.

References of AnalysisWorkplace Monitoring and Surveillance

Fineman, M. A. & Thomadsen, N. S., 2013. At the Boundaries of Law (RLE Feminist Theory): Feminism and Legal Theory. s.l.:Routledge.

Langford, M., Sumner, A. & Yamin, A. E., 2013. Millennium Development Goals and Human Rights. s.l.:Cambridge University Press.

Management Association, I. R., 2017. Social Issues in the Workplace: Breakthroughs in Research and Practice: Breakthroughs in Research and Practice. s.l.:IGI Global.

Petersen, J., 2012. Handbook of Surveillance Technologies. s.l.:CRC Press.

Provost, R. & Sheppard, C., 2012. Dialogues on Human Rights and Legal Pluralism. s.l.:Springer Science & Business Media.

Rodney, 2018. Ethics: Electronic Surveillance of Nurses in the Workplace: Ethical Considerations. Electronic Surveillance of Nurses.

Sabharwal, N. & Wali, P., 2013. Cloud Capacity Management: Capacity Management. s.l.:Apress.

slideshare, 2019. Unitary perspective - approaches to industrial relations - industrial relations - Manu Melwin Joy. [Online] 

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Solove, D. J. & Schwartz, P. M., 2017. Information Privacy Law. s.l.:Wolters Kluwer Law & Business.

study, 2019. Social Power Theories: Pluralist, Power-Elite & Marxist Models. [Online] 

Available at: https://study.com/academy/lesson/social-power-theories-pluralist-power-elite-marxist-models.html

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