I recently heard about a new policy at a corporation here in Chicago. Without discussing the matter with their employees they began fitting their service trucks with GPS devices to track their whereabouts, along with cameras and microphones in the truck cab to monitor activities and conversations. This isn’t the first company to install such devices, and I can appreciate that in some situations they offer an extra measure of security – for example, among a fleet of armored vehicles or trucks carrying valuable goods subject to theft or hijacking. However the trucks in question don’t fall into that category and it sure sounds like the corporation has decided to rely on advanced technological devices to hold their drivers accountable.
There’s no disputing that simpler devices have been used for years, starting more than a century ago with the night watchman’s watchclock and the employee punch-clock. Yet this strikes me as extreme surveillance - instead of effective management. Rather than imposing such an intrusive system, how about hiring and developing skilled managers who know how to bring out the best from their drivers? Now that this corporation has spent a small fortune on gadgetry, what are their managers doing? Will more companies turn to automation because they don’t have a clue about how to lead or manage people?
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