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This article is from ihnp4!cuuxb!mwm@hplabs.HP.COM
 and was received on Mon Sep 29 10:09:51 1986
 
>  1. Is this form of monitoring *ever* good?  When?  Why?
>  2. Are there circumstances where this is *very* bad?  When?  Why?

	I think that this form of monitoring is okay, as long as you use
     it for measurement of actual performance, and not to set goals for
     future performance.  If you notice that on one good day person X
     can frombozzle 16 widgets an hour, but on the average he does 12,
     and therefore say he is being lazy the rest of the time, that is
     bad.  If you are using it to find out how many pencils to order next
     month, I think it is usefull, and not harmfull.  The problem is that
     it is often tempting for managers who are looking at a bottom line
     to go too far...

>  3. What level of monitoring should be performed?  (this is obviously
>     relative to the task...)

	Well, enough to get reasonably useful information.  As you
     mentioned, that is task-relative...

>  4. Are *you* being monitored at all?  Have you ever been?
>	If so, was it positive or negative, and how did you and your
>	fellow employees (and management) react to it??

	We keep a database of support calls, which includes information
     on how long a call has been open, etc. which can be used for
     "monitoring".  Fortunately our manager realizes that every call is
     different, and some take longer than others.  He does check up on
     ones that are taking a long time though...

>  5. Finally, would information of this sort be viable information to
>     exchange on the "market"?  (for example, an on-line search for all
>     programmers who take short lunches, type > 70 wpm and know how to
>     program in Fortran, by a placement agency).  A subset of it?   Do
>     you think this already takes place??

	It might, but it is not neccesarily useful information, unless
     you are talking about assembly line style work, where this information
     is not likely to be found.  (I know a guy who personally started
     a walk out at a GE plant by walking into an assembly line area with
     a stopwatch and starting it.  He was actually timing the machine, but...)

>Please keep in mind that there really needs to be SOME way for management
>to have a way to keep tabs on employee performance, and that not all emp-
>loyees can have 'goals' and such (like a directory assistance operator).

	Ah, but that is exactly the PROBLEM, when people like directory
      assistance operators are GIVEN goals -- like an average of x seconds
      per call;  This leads to impoliteness, and tension for the operator.
      I think this is the real danger of monitoring systems -- when peoples
      jobs are made into a constant pressure for speed.  Picture an office
      typist that is penalized 10 dollars for every typing mistake she makes.
      It doesn't sound quite as bad as giving her an electric shock, but is
      probably almost as stressfull.
-- 
    Marc Mengel 					...!ihnp4!cuuxb!mwm