As the economy obsesses over efficiency, software companies have found a solution to track employee productivity. The solution is Network Monitoring Software. Network monitoring software has several functions that allow management to track what their employees are doing. A common function used by management is to use network monitoring software to track measures that are seen as a proxy for how much work is being done. Some of these measures include the amount of emails sent, or the number of keystrokes made. While these measures are far from being a perfect way to track productivity, it remains t he main method of network monitoring software. Using network monitoring software in this way can sometimes create a poor work environment where the employees feel that they are not trusted or respected by management.
The other common feature of network monitoring software is to restrict certain websites, or to monitor the content of emails received. In some cases this is completely reasonable. For example, using network monitoring software to prevent people from going to adult content websites. However, some companies uses network monitoring software to act a Big Brother who won’t allow their employees any freedom. A much more threatening feature of network monitoring software is that it can scan emails for certain keywords that are deemed inappropriate for the office. The amount of control that some companies have over their employees through their network monitoring software can be scary at times.
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