You may be more familiar with this phrase from the Channel 4 Show which captured every move of ‘housemates’ whose life was broadcast to the nation 24/7; rather that the George Orwell book Nineteen Eighty Four where this phrase is designed to remind citizens that they were under constant surveillance. 
But how much is this happening now during remote working? Research by Top 10 VPN shows that there was an 87% rise in queries about its surveillance software, and Gartner research has predicted 80% of firms will use these tools by the end of the year. 
 
But how does employee monitoring affect trust between the employer and employee? Is any level of remote surveillance acceptable? And if so in what circumstances? 
Monitoring employees in this way will always be a poor alternative to a robust performance management system. If some employees are spending all of their time googling their next holiday, then this needs to be addressed – properly. Unfair surveillance for good employees could be seen as poor management as it may appear that you can only get them to do their best when you are watching them. 
 
If you have concerns about employees, make sure you have a good performance process for dealing with them. If not. #asktheexpert hello@duchesshr.co.uk 
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