Forms of Monitoring Devices Used in Banks: Employee Awareness and View of Being Monitored

Background: Organisations need some sort of supervision, control and monitoring systems to direct and ensure that the behaviour, attitude and perception of their employees are in line with the organisational culture and goals to enhance performance and productivity. The study examined various forms of electronic monitoring devices used in the commercial banks, employees’ awareness and the nexus with employees’ privacy. Methods: Survey research design was deployed in the study. Structured questionnaire was used to access information from the 262 respondents. Data collected were analyzed descriptively. Results: Findings revealed that various forms of electronic devices or monitoring tools were used in the selected banks to monitor the activities of the employees as well as their environments. CCTV was the mostly deployed followed by the use of computer monitoring, internet monitoring, and email monitoring software, key logger, GPS tracking, clock-in device and video / camera surveillance. CCTV systems were strong probing tools for dictating any unethical behaviour. 85.9% says electronic monitoring intrudes on their privacy very much and majority of the employees (80.5%) feel very bad being monitored and agreed that permission should be sought from employees before an electronic monitoring gadget can be used to monitor their activities. Conclusion: Electronic monitoring intrudes very much on the privacy of employees of banks and majority of them feel very bad being monitored. Therefore, permission should be sought from employees before an electronic monitoring gadget can be used to monitor their activities at workplace, even at remote areas.