EMPLOYEE RELATION
Electronic monitoring was not well received by most employees at the travel agency. Most of them regarded this computer system as an unwarranted and odious intrusion of their privacy. Employees felt that it was especially unfair for the company to listen in on phone calls. Sometimes incoming or outgoing personal calls were a necessity particularly in cases of an emergency or family crisis. And since the company monitored all phone conversations, managers were often privy to private, intimate details about an employee’s personal life. Travel agents also complained bitterly that incessant monitoring of their phone calls war causing considerable stress and anxiety. According to one agent,
This monitoring system is nothing more than an electronic whip to make us work faster. It products incredible stress and I’m afraid sometimes that I’m going to crack under the strain.
One other longtime employee of Topper made the following observations:
This new technology is terrible! It invades my privacy-this company knows everything I do even how long I spend in the bathroom. Also, if the clients knew that they were being listened to, they wouldn’t like it one bit. And they wouldn’t be happy that we are under constant pressure to get the call over with and move on to the next customer. It makes it real difficult sometimes to be courteous and thorough with each of our clients.
Despite these complaints, Topper’s management steadfastly defended its right to monitor its employees in order to ensure that they were performing up to company standards. Indeed, as Chairman William Topper observed at the most recent board of directors meeting, since installing this system, productivity for the corporate travel agents had increased by almost 15 percent. If these productivity gains could be sustained, it would enable Topper to eliminate several positions by attrition and thereby cut costs and improve its profit margins. With the new system, Topper’s response was quite peremptory and defensive:
This company has a right and an obligation to shareholders to manage this workplace with the most effective tools available. No company can succeed unless it changes with new technology, and this means that the employees must learn to adapt. We need this technology to stay competitive, to maximize profits, and to deliver quality service to our customer with greater efficiency.
Other observed that Topper was “way behind” in implementing this technology. Major airlines and travel agencies had begun monitoring a long time ago as a means of cutting costs.