Who's Watching Your Wireless?

Part of this may be slightly off topic. but it has to do with text messages, but it is interesting.

There really should not be a charge for it, the pipeline that sends text messages is always there (it also explains why the 160 character limit) its there being used ir not when you call. The telecom companies just found a way to add charges.

When I had a business, One of the rules I had to set was no personal cell phone use. Employees (this came from the employees who with a lack of a better word commit these offenses) responded what if there an emergency, My response was call the office by all means, we will do everything that is at our disposal to assist in solving this emergency.

Had one emergency where this happened, Since it was winter and a snow storm, I let him used the company truck because it was 4 wheel drive as a precaution.

As far as the question. Do employers have the right to gather data on their employees' wireless activities or is this a matter of personal intrusion?

The employers do not need to know the content of data, but there are other ways to keep things fair, and fair as in a hour worked is a hour earned. And if the employee finds ways to keep their personal non work related social lives current during work. Show them the door to the street. Then they can keep up to date on their own time. And look for work elsewhere on their breaks between personal social networking.

p911

I had a reverse of this situation years ago.

The company I worked for at the time wanted all of us service techs to get personal cell phones so that we could be reached while out working on service calls. That way the company didn't have to buy them or pay for the service plans for us to have them but they still could get a hold of us anywhere and at any time during work hours.

The few who did have them were of course not supposed to be using them for personal things during business hours. But where expected to pay for having the larger monthly hours packages at their own expense being that the company calls did eat up a measurable amount of call plan time.

I don't like the idea of employers having the ability to eaves drop on what the employees are saying unless the employees have the same capacity to see if the bosses are using their cell phones for work only related use.

I have yet to see any upper level boss's or managers that spent more time on actual business than on personal goofing off disguised as business! If they cant figure out who the employees get their influences from maybe they should look at themselves first and monitor their own phone calls for a while.

Just lead by example and see what happens.

I also worked at the company where the company gave cell phones to the employees.......you ended up being available 24/7.

They were not allowed to smoke at their workstations. Not because of second hand smoke issues but because smoking wasn't working.

That is no different, GA

and

Now it seems, people must get to go outside and smoke whether they have breaks in their schedule or not. WTF?

They think it's their right...not to mention the time they waste prior to their smoke break with the announcements such as "I can't work till I get my smoke break." excuses.

Oh wait thats right....its not a habit its a desease.

p911

In my opinion,which is usually right as rush,lol,just kidding,the cheapest solution to the cell phone issue that would never have a legal challenge,along with getting rid of slackers without ever a challenge would be to put a cell phone jammer in the employees work areas.And never tell a soul that it existed.The first day someones cell phone didnt work at work,when they went home,they would tell whoever may need it the number for the front office. If an employee complained that his phone didnt work here, the boss should just say as "I dont care if your phone works.as long as you do,it's all good"Any real emergency would reach you through the office. And as for me, if there is an emergency,call 911,not me.I am at work.I do not own an ambulance or tow truck(if you are concerned about wife/kids breaking down and being stranded,aaa is about $5 a month,and can probably respond faster and with more tools than you can,)I am not a doctor,plumber or electrician,i have type a positive blood,so i am sure there is no life threatening shortage where you are,i am at work.If someone is in the hospital,the staff will not let me help operate on you,so i'm going to work.I will,however stop by before and after work to make you feel better by stopping in.If someone has died,sorry,cant help you now,i am at work.I am sure you will still be taking visitors when i get off work(throw in here, if i am at work or on vacation, do not call me to tell me the dog died.Just because he had a bad day is no reason to ruin mine.I will find out when i get home,and he will be just as dead) If you want employees to be productive as cheap labor for your business,you somtimes have to guide them gently a little bit.If someones phone not working at the workplace drives them away,great.Then you can get on to other more important issues,like how much time they spend on lunch,coffee,cig and bathroom breaks,without someones phone ringing while you are having a meeting about productvity.When i run an ad for employees,or run one for anyone else, i usually add the subtle hint ''feel free to leave your cell phone at home"If i am meeting with a client at their home,i do tree trimming work, i leave my cell phone in the truck,while we are discussing their job.At that moment,no one elses job or problems matter to me.

with getting rid of slackers without ever a challenge would be to put a cell phone jammer in the employees work areas.

They just move/disappear until it they are far enough away until it does.

And never tell a soul that it existed.

Thats gutless, if there is a problem be honest and direct.

the boss should just say as "I dont care if your phone works.as long as you do,it's all good"

Truth will set you free.

They have Jammers in theaters. which is great, but in the work place, where cells are needed to contact key people for work would be too much of a hinderst

Then you can get on to other more important issues,like how much time they spend on lunch,coffee,cig and bathroom breaks,without someones phone ringing while you are having a meeting about productvity.

can I borrow one of your depends, I'll be sure to give it back.

At that moment,no one elses job or problems matter to me.

And your job matters to no one until it slows them down. careful what you wish for.

One can be cold and heartless and be extremely rigid, I feel one still has an obligation to the employees. If there is a serious emergency, there is no extra cost for empathy or assistance. One just has to put yourself in the other shoes to judge what your response should be.

p911

If the employer was working as hard as they think the employees should work they wouldn't have time to be standing around and watching to see who is working and who is not.

Be content with the dismal amount of work you get from them for the dismal amount of pay you give them. If you really wanted good workers you would have likely payed the extra it takes for getting people with better work ethics!

If your a business owner and you don't understand 'You get what you pay for' its probably why you have such low work ethics and employee loyalty! Plus your product probably isn't as great as you think it is either. After all you spend all day watching them to see if they are working which means your not working and since you see them on the phone all day that means that the work they do get done is likely rather sloppy and poorly done.

If the employer was working as hard as they think the employees should work they wouldn't have time to be standing around and watching to see who is working and who is not.

Be content with the dismal amount of work you get from them for the dismal amount of pay you give them. If you really wanted good workers you would have likely payed the extra it takes for getting people with better work ethics!

Come on, That was a very unsubstantiated assumption that amounts to nothing more that an excuse.

If you are not getting compensated and worse yet, taken advantage in other ways.....walk.

Employer/employee is a 2 way street, if ones work ethic is that poor. The employer will deal with it, but by reverting to the excuse that you get what you pay for, that the employee will only give 20%, 50%, or 70% to justify their behavior it tells you what your (and your I mean in general terms) make up is.

Yes there are employees that are undecompensated, as well as the other way, (though not as often, but they are there for a number of reasons).

It get difficult also, Let me ask you how to solve this.

three employees work a 8 hour day.

Employee one gives 100% on every thing he does 100% of the time, the output in dollar amounts this employee has lets say $225.00 dollars a day. he gets compensated 15.00/hour

Employee two, gives 100% on about 20% of his projects. other wise he gives 70% of is potential on the remaining 80% of the projects. He is compensated at $25.00/hour. When he is putting 100% out, his dollar output is $325.00/day.

Employee 3. Give 50% effort 100% of the time, gets compensated $15.00/hr. Output is again $225.00/day

If you were an employer, of these three employees, What would you do? What employee(s) would you rather have?

(do not forget hidden costs of having employees such as payroll, unemployment, Medicare taxes, not to mention insurance and other benefits. the company may offer)

p911

To be honest it all comes down to how the company works.

My observations say there is far more to how a business runs that just what each persons 'on paper' financial returns are. The thing is people are not machines. People have lives outside of work. Most are expected to take their work home with them yet not bring their life with them to work. Sorry but the human mind does not work that way. Some people may have great work ethics but then many of them also have terrible social skills as the balance too!

If what a person produces in monetary figures alone was the only determining factor for whether they stay or go most people in management would never get paid. Most company owners would be run off by their own company for being a gross financial burden for what efforts they do put forth when balanced against the rest of the work force being able to do the same and likely better decision making themselves. The only people who would really get paid would be the production floor workers who typically have both hands full while they are working so they cannot hold a phone and talk at the same time any way. Office people and management are the ones I have always seen with cell phones talking all day while doing as little as possible.

For what its worth I run my own business and I don't even have a cell phone. I do all of my paperwork myself and handle all of my business myself on top of doing the actual work that brings in the money I live on. To me I see it that if the production floor people do their jobs and related paperwork the cell phone issue would be solved simply because there would be no office people to talk on them then!

Like I said earlier, it is a 2 way situation. And as a business owner, your realize that you have employees

not to be your friends

not to help your self esteem

not to build your confidence

not because your charitable

you have employee to make your company money...period. Its no shang gri la.

And the more employees the more difficult it is.

But you also realize you get out of them what you put into them. If they do not fairly compensate you as you do them. you do what you are suppose to and should do and vise versa.

I was just surprise with your earlier comment after your good post here.

p911

I have different points of view on different topics. Depending on how I view a thread in relation to past or current work experiences and those people that were involved in those work experiences my stand will always vary.

I have had wonderfully rewarding jobs with horrible managers and bosses and I have had crappy jobs that had great managers and bosses as well. Toss in the vast variations in coworkers I had from those experiences and it becomes far too complex to ever properly explain.

As far as what goes on at the work place the balance between natural work ethics and personal freedom can make or break anyone or any business. My experience has been that letting people have a bit of extra freedom greatly improves work moral and output. I've seen it and experienced it from both the workers and a manager/supervisors view.

So what if someone talks on the phone while doing their job. That person may be great at multitasking and is not having any real drop in overall productivity while doing so. They may feel happier now for having talked with someone for whatever reason being personal or work related. Either way they are likely to be feeling better and will be more productive. If it isn't disruptive to anyone else I would let it slide without concerns.

Yes some people do in fact need a bit more limitations placed on them in some areas. It often comes down to what each individual is capable of. And how the majority of the work force is overall. I will never place limitations on everyone just because one or two people are screwing off. I just let them know what I am seeing and thinking and how it relates to the average.

Just the same when I acted in a management/supervisory position I had to keep my focus on my work and I too had to hold myself to the same rules I expected everyone else to follow. I lead by positive example by showing that I was not above the rules that everyone below me had to follow. Thats the part about the boss minding his own business and doing his job I was inferring too.

I have had bosses who thought the company revolved around them but yet they where well known for being the biggest time wasting screw offs to ever exist! Their major concern was to make sure that everyone else worked as hard as possible for the least pay and rewards as possible because what didn't go to the workers went to them. And when they had everyone else did that managers or bosses work they didn't have to do anything but sit around all day on their cell phones and try and find partners to go golfing with or have business lunches with while on company time and at company expense!

Thats where my issue with topics like this comes from.

Yes it is an intrusion and an invasion of privacy; but employees should not be using personal phones on-the-job! The whole issue can be avoided by restricting the use of these devices to off-time and special permissions.