Monitoring worker activities in organization- purpose and potential issues

Monitoring worker activities in organization- purpose and potential issues

Monitoring within an organization is mainly done to enhance security and safety. The purpose is to identify the activities of insider threats that can potentially harm the workflow of the firm (Ma, 2007). After identifying the activities, it is necessary to implement ways that can mitigate the risks. The physical security of a firm can be enhanced by installing systems that can track the actions of the team.

The link between activity monitoring and organizational security

Organizations are required to work with information, and it creates the need for securing the information. By using a set of internal controls, an organization can monitor the activities of workers. Most often, breaches occur due to insider threats or worker activities. It can have a direct impact on the security system. Hence, managing the actions of workers becomes a necessity. An organization might not be able to tackle the loss of data, and a huge time will be required to retrieve the data. Hence, it can install the activities of workers by using motion detectors, intrusion alarm, CCTV, and guards. It would keep the employees on high alert, and they are more likely to behave responsibly.

The rationale that managers should consider while monitoring activities

Workers might feel that they are being controlled by their managers during working hours. Monitoring often gives a negative vibe. It indirectly indicates that managers have lost complete trust in employees. However, the issue can be seen from another angle, and it can be stated that monitoring aids in enhancing the performance of employees. The rationale behind monitoring the activities is workplace security and improved performance. The digital assets of the firm can be secured as well.

The degree to which activities should be monitored

In this case, users mainly involve employees and customers. Their activities should be monitored because an error in their activities might cost millions to an organization. The organization can track user actions and traffic by installing a range of monitoring software available in the market. User activities can be monitored using kernel monitoring and video recording sessions (Schulman, 2001). Nevertheless, a certain limit or extent must be maintained while tracking user activities. It is illegal to use the confidential information of users for purposes other than monitoring and tracking behavior. Organizations should identify the source of malicious attacks and take actions accordingly.

Actions to resolve the potential issues

Risks and issues in the digital age are likely to prevail in a firm that deals with loads of information. The need of the hour is to identify the source of such actions and real motives of users. Critical assets should be identified as soon as possible, and installing the monitoring software is also a necessity. Apart from that, organizations should focus on building an effective threat detection program so that they can find solutions to the threats on time. Legal compliance is a necessity to prevent the occurrences of the threat (Stavrou et al., 2014). HR management and IT security should be part of the threat detection program.

References

Ma, Q. (2007). From monitoring users to controlling user actions: A new perspective on the user-centred approach to CALL. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 20(4), 297-321.

Schulman, A. (2001). The extent of systematic monitoring of employee e-mail and internet use. The Privacy Project, July, 9.

Stavrou, V., Kandias, M., Karoulas, G., & Gritzalis, D. (2014, September). Business Process Modeling for Insider threat monitoring and handling. In International Conference on Trust, Privacy and Security in Digital Business (pp. 119-131). Springer, Cham.