Big Brother in the workplace Adapted source: Odebra, N. in Kinicki, A. et al, [2021}, Management: a practical introduction 3e, Big brother in the workplace: how much is too much when using technology to monitor and track employees? McGraw Hill Education PTY LTD, Sydney, Australia Employee monitoring is now virtually the norm in most organisations. Advances in technology enables employers to monitor and measure how employees spend their time while working. Counting keystrokes, viewing emails and instant messages, security cards, and system logs are just some of the ways employees can be tracked. In a Florida hospital, nurses and patient care teams are provided with sensor badges that tracks their movement during a shift. While seemingly intrusive, the hospital used this data to discover that a lot of time was spent restock medicine. As a result, the hospital improved its inventory systems in order to improve efficiency. In a hospital where patient health is crucial, employee tracking can be seen as justifiable, but where does the line blur from productive to intrusive. Can a similar case be made for employee tracking in an office environment? Monitoring employees can help teams work together, reduce distractions, ensure safety, evaluate performance, and helps develop training. On the flip side, it can break trust, lead staff to become disengaged, increase employee turnover, and potentially decrease productivity. Workplace monitoring is becoming more Orwellian with the advent of new technology. Sentiment analysis is being adopted by organisations to focus on fords in emails and instant messages. These words are given meanings and reported on even your private thoughts will no longer be your own