Recording your employees
"This call may be monitored for quality assurance." Heard that line before? Quality assurance or catching an employee in the act of being rude? What message do we send when we record - audio or video our employees? My youngest son worked for a big company once delivering products in a van. During his tenure, they installed cameras inside the vans to record driver activity. When their leader informed them of this change he said, "you can quit if you don't like it." I was dumbstruck. I know there are leaders who behave that way, but I still couldn't believe it. "What a way to foster loyalty," I thought sarcastically. His story got me thinking about this topic - recording employees.
I understand the need to record activity at work but it presents a challenge for leadership and a risk to the trust leaders should strive to establish between them, their own bosses, the company and, most importantly, their people. A policy of recording employees without an explanation translates as, "we don't trust you." Effective communication is the only savior.
Our people are not stupid. They understand that a company records events at work to better itself. This said, they still need to know why. Instead of, "here's the new rule, now get to work," leaders should explain the reasons for recording and promote their organization and people. It could sound something like this; "Hey team, our company leaders have decided to install recording devices to monitor activities. The intent of this action is purely to help us perform at our peak. We are an exceptional organization with exceptional people and we want to improve and grow by seeing ourselves better. Continue to do the great things you do each day and do your best to focus not on the fact that you are being recorded but focus instead on our customers and your roles here on this team. I trust you and I have your back. So do our leaders."
A statement like this sure beats, "you can quit if you don't like it," but it is insufficient for the leader who wants to foster trust in their organization. A leader must constantly remind his or her people that he trusts them and has their back in both word and deed. A leader must be the voice of his or her people seeking clarity from those about them as to why the change. He or she can and should ask a policy-maker in the spirit of supporting the policy, how best to communicate it.
Record if you must but build trust!
Make it Personal!
Rob
Rob Campbell