No Trust in the Workplace

You think your boss trusts you? HA! Just look around your office. The basic layout screams, “I don’t trust you. If left alone you’ll screw off all day.” You don’t believe me? Let’s look at the empirical facts.

• 65% of employers use Internet blocking software to restrict access to certain sites.
• 50% store and review computer files of employees.
• 55% of surveyed employers retain and review employee emails.
• And the most troubling of all…36% of employers tracking content, keystrokes and time spent online.
  Based on the 2005 Electronic Monitioring & Surveillance Survey by the American Management Association and the ePolicy Institute

I can understand e-mail monitoring and porn blocking, but capturing keystrokes?! Let’s say you are in the dog house. You forgot your wife’s birthday. You decide to type a love letter at lunch time. Not only will your wife know how you feel about her, but your boss will also! I know legally companies can monitor and do whatever they please. But what happened to trust? Will the mice play if left unattended?

Now, let’s look at the less empirical evidence. Take a brisk walk around your office. Pay close attention to where the computer is located in offices and cubes. Most offices have the back of the monitor facing the doorway while most cubes have the screen of the monitor facing the cube doorway (see the photos below). Why the difference? You, as a cube monkey, must always be monitored. Your boss can casually walk past your cube and see what is on your computer screen. Reading your Hotmail? GOTCHA! Looking for an antique rug on eBay? GOTCHA! Typing up meeting minutes? Nice work!

The important folks in offices don’t want us monkeys seeing what is on their computer screens. It is none of our business. They would never aimlessly surf the web or play Hearts. They are too important for such things!

Here’s a bit of homework. Go to an electronic store and purchase a long monitor cable, a long mouse cable and a long keyboard cable. Then, reposition your monitor, keyboard and mouse so the back of the monitor faces your cube opening. You can now work and no one can see what you are doing. Now, watch what happens when a manager walks by your cube. I guarantee that you’ll either be confronted about it directly or you’ll get dirty looks.

Here's another idea; get a shower curtain rod and hang beads so no one can see what you’re doing in your cube. It is like having an office door. I bet you’ll be asked to take them down faster than your manager can say "mission statement".

Here's more anecdotal evidence that there is a lack of trust at work. Take a look at where the offices are generally located. Offices are on the parameter while the cubes are located in the center of the office building. Does this remind you of anything? There is a military strategy called Double Envelopment. You surround the enemy on all sides and attack inwards. The offices, which are filled with the important people, surround the cubes which are filled with us monkeys. Makes you think doesn’t it?

These are but a few proofs that there is no trust in the workplace. It simply doesn’t exist. Then again with sites like The Cube Monkey giving tips and techniques for faking work, I can’t say that I blame them ;-)