Do your employees trust you to keep their data safe?
Workers are concerned about whether their data is secure against hacking and theft, and that they want their employer to be transparent on what data is being collected.
Workers expect their employer to monitor work emails, phones and other workplace activities to make sure they are on track to meet business goals, but they really object to their employer stalking them on Facebook, according to the HR Metrics & Analytics Summit’s report, “Workplace Privacy and Protection- Is Your Employer Watching Your Every Move?”
The survey of 250-plus global HR leaders and anonymous employees found that a majority of workers (72 percent) say it’s unacceptable for employers to monitor private social media accounts. More than half of the workers additionally indicated that tracking physical movements and personal interactions in the workplace is objectionable.
Related: Wellness apps and employee privacy: What employers need to know
Virtually all (95 percent) of the workers say that they are most concerned about whether their data is secure against hacking and theft, and that they want their employer to be transparent on what data is being collected.
When the workers were asked if they trust their company to protect their data, almost half 48 percent say they do not. Those who answered “no” were asked to specify the reasons why. Among the responses, frequent themes emerged surrounding insecure software in the workplace, incompetent IT departments, previously misplaced data (by the employer), and zero transparency regarding how their data is protected.
“As organizations collect more personal and business data about their employees, it raises a number of growing risks and ethical questions about data security, transparency, and communication standards,” the authors write.
While 85 percent of the HR leaders surveyed say their organization has set privacy and security guidelines regarding what employee information is collected, and how it is stored and used appropriately – roughly 15 percent answered “no” or “I don’t know.” Those who answered no were requested to share if their organization is planning to implement privacy and security guidelines in the next year. Of those, 35 percent answered yes, while the other 65 percent answered either ‘no’ or “I don’t know.”
“Companies are collecting and analyzing unprecedented quantities of unstructured data and this has created a new outlook on the capabilities of workforce analytics,” the authors write. “But while these capabilities have created a lot of excitement, they have also generated some anxiety and debate. While the benefits of these capabilities are potentially game-changing, data privacy concerns are on the rise.”
Workers responding to the survey did believe there were some benefits to data collection if the information was used to reward them with promotions, and more favorable employee incentives, as well as to design a better workplace.