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Survey Says Bosses Fear Being Filmed By Employees

Posted by timothy on from the it's-attaching-the-mic-that's-tricky dept.

New submitter Cazekiel writes "If you think your boss is a fearless, miserable beast whose only worries lie in how well his company or business competes, think again. The 'Business Video Behavior Project' survey conducted by Qumu reveals that those in-charge are growing more and more paranoid about something the Average Joe fears just walking down the street nowadays: employees who will 'secretly film him with his metaphorical pants down and then post the footage for public delectation.' It would seem that it doesn't matter if you're powerful, wealthy and lording over hundreds of cubicles; they know the internet exists, everyone has a cell phone camera and thick wallets don't make discarded banana peels magically move out of their path." The company that paid for the study, note, promises to "securely distribute business video simultaneously over multiple Edge routes," so they probably don't mind some workplace paranoia.

25 of 159 comments (clear)

  1. I have an idea by Psychotria · · Score: 5, Insightful

    No, he's scared you might use your new technological tools to make naughty videos -- the worst of which would be to secretly film him with his metaphorical pants down and then post the footage for public delectation.

    My brilliant idea is that if you're a boss BEHAVE APPROPRIATELY, ethically and fairly. It's not that hard.

    1. Re:I have an idea by furytrader · · Score: 4, Informative

      That's Business Ethics 101 - if you're doing something at work that you wouldn't want posted on the front page of the local newspapers, don't do it.

    2. Re:I have an idea by garcia · · Score: 2

      I'm a supervisor. If my employees video me at work they're going to show the world that I use Putty and Chrome to get a more-than-occasional peek at Slashdot or Twitter.

      As long as they are getting their work done to my expectations and especially the expectations of the customer, they can pretty much do what they want as well.

      So why would I care that they video me and why would they want to in the first place? Are supervisors really that unethical and misbehaving so often that this is really a concern?

    3. Re:I have an idea by causality · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I guess, your statement has more to do with simply not wanting to get caught

      That's about the only thing a sociopath fears. That's why the "threat" of video documentation is so effective.

      than being ethical.

      I don't see what ethical people would fear from this. Not at the workplace, anyway.

      I think this situation has merely arisen to cope with a modern reality: that altruism and enlightened self-interest are at an all-time low. Many people won't even fake them anymore to be thought of as "good" because it is the value of those things itself that is eroding. People like this are self-absorbed and often live as though other people don't exist and could not be inconvenienced or harmed by their bad decision-making, something you can witness in traffic daily. It's not that they are malicious, it's that they don't even notice how their actions affect other people. They don't even have sense enough not to block doorways or other basic things like that. People like this need a selfish reason to do the right thing, like avoiding embarassment, because they can no longer be trusted to have any other kind.

      Of course there have always been bandits, assholes, etc. The difference is they used to be rare enough to stand out. Self-absorbed obliviousness as a societal norm is the next logical step after ADD and perpetual victimhood ("nothing's ever my fault"). That's where we are today.

      --
      It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education. - Einstein
    4. Re:I have an idea by tophermeyer · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I think my concern would be that someone is trying to collect video of me that, out of context, puts me in a bad light. I say this because I once had a junior employee (not a direct report) try to throw me under the bus for one of his mistakes by presenting an email that appeared to show me giving him specific directions. It was dumb because, you know email. But without context it might be difficult to defend yourself from false allegations.

    5. Re:I have an idea by jellomizer · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Business ethics gets very complicated very quickly.

      Here is an example. Your job is to sell your product to a foreign country (You sell a good product at a good price). In this country offering bribes is common and legal, however it is considered immoral and illegal for you and your culture and country to offer the bribes. So you go to the business deal the the owner says, you are offering a fine offer however what is in it for me (wink, wink).

      Do you.
      1. Turn down the bribe and loose the business.
      2. Offer the bribe and hope they don't find out.
      3. Offer to close the deal near your headquarters in Orlando Florida, and give him prepaid tickets and cover expenses (and his family who should be leaving his side) to come to headquarters to fill out the deal.

      The problem is the more diverse set of people you meet the more muddy ethics get.

      --
      If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
    6. Re:I have an idea by Sarten-X · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Problem: 100 people on a sinking boat, only enough lifeboat space for 50

      Ethical solution: Pick 50 people at random for the boats

      Politically-correct statement the public wants the captain to say: "Put a few extra people in the boats! We'll save as many as we can!!">

      Politically-correct statement the company wants him to say: "We'll make a lottery, remove ourselves, and pick 10 people at random, then we'll let them take their families, and pick more until we run out of space"

      Quick statement: "We'll pick 50 people at random. There will be orphans."

      Frankly, I'd be pissed if my knee-jerk reaction statements were recorded, too, regardless of whether my behavior is ethical or not. The public at large is so quick to become enraged, and the media is so willing to sensationalize, that anything but silence in a bad situation is a PR mess.

      --
      You do not have a moral or legal right to do absolutely anything you want.
    7. Re:I have an idea by Opportunist · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Reality solution: Crew grabs lifeboats and leaves the sinking ship, passengers will survive, or not, who cares.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    8. Re:I have an idea by Opportunist · · Score: 2

      Because of the double standard where they do it with impunity while we shouldn't.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    9. Re:I have an idea by kelemvor4 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Business ethics gets very complicated very quickly. Here is an example. Your job is to sell your product to a foreign country (You sell a good product at a good price). In this country offering bribes is common and legal, however it is considered immoral and illegal for you and your culture and country to offer the bribes. So you go to the business deal the the owner says, you are offering a fine offer however what is in it for me (wink, wink). Do you. 1. Turn down the bribe and loose the business. 2. Offer the bribe and hope they don't find out. 3. Offer to close the deal near your headquarters in Orlando Florida, and give him prepaid tickets and cover expenses (and his family who should be leaving his side) to come to headquarters to fill out the deal. The problem is the more diverse set of people you meet the more muddy ethics get.

      It only seems complicated because (most?) businesspeople think there are a separate set of rules just for them. Hence the fact that the term "business ethics" even exists. Option 1 is the correct answer.

    10. Re:I have an idea by cyn1c77 · · Score: 2

      I would do number 1. This is not a hard question. There is no muddy ethics. Don't do business with corrupt countries.

      Is that why you are posting anonymously? :)

    11. Re:I have an idea by CanHasDIY · · Score: 2

      I'll take Option 4: Avoid idiotic, leading question written so there is no right answer while maintaining personal ethics, by someone with an obvious agenda to create a fantasy world where doing the wrong thing is the only way to survive.

      --
      An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
    12. Re:I have an idea by sjames · · Score: 2

      If more people took option 1, employers wouldn't have the option of firing ethical people.

      So, still option 1. YOUR ethics aren't what is causing the problems. For extra credit, leak the details to the world so they can focus on the cleptocrat that is spreading human misery everywhere he goes.

    13. Re:I have an idea by CanHasDIY · · Score: 2

      From a pure Darwinist point of view, it means that the scumbags will thrive while the ethical intact will perish...

      Explains a lot about modern society, doesn't it?

      --
      An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
    14. Re:I have an idea by sjames · · Score: 2

      Even in countries where it is common, "grease" is still called corruption. Growing numbers of people in at least some of those cultures recognize that it doesn't really "work". In other words, it's not culture, it's prevalent crime. Any apparent dilemma is due to a faulty premise. That's the moral hazard of relativism.

      A coupon isn't a bribe since the benefit accrues to the payer. A kickback is corruption because the agent personally benefits to the detriment of his employer (often the people).

    15. Re:I have an idea by sjames · · Score: 2

      Especially once you have handed them such juicy extortion material.

  2. Relevant Quote by Frogbert · · Score: 5, Funny

    You know, the courts may not be working any more, but as long as everyone is videotaping everyone else, justice will be done.
    - Marge Simpson

  3. Hiding under a bed by readin · · Score: 2

    Isn't there a French saying to the effect of "No man will check under his wife's bed unless he himself has hidden under a woman's bed."?

    --
    I often don't like the choices people make, but I like the fact that people make choices. That's why I'm a conservative.
    1. Re:Hiding under a bed by Psychotria · · Score: 5, Funny

      Isn't there a French saying to the effect of "No man will check under his wife's bed unless he himself has hidden under a woman's bed."?

      Not sure about that because this is Slashdot and I've never had a GF -- let alone a wife. But I do check under my bed before I go to sleep in case there's monsters or ghosts hiding under there. Sometimes I check twice just in case there's a nymphomaniac under there, but no luck yet.

    2. Re:Hiding under a bed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      Nymphomaniacs sound like fun, until you actually live with one Mine had daddy issues, and printed out loads of really fucked up fantasy porn stories. While reading those, she raped me, repeatedly. Seven times in one night. After seven times, walking hurts, sitting hurts, and not just outside, but inside, too.

      Say that you decide you don't want any that particular night. Well, that's just too bad, because you're her fuck toy so you just have to put out. Mine used to accuse me of being gay, if I didn't want to bend her over and fuck her stupid five times a night, whether or not she was bleeding or had just got over a yeast infection. What I wanted didn't come into it.

      The emotional and verbal abuse are early indicators that she might need help, but by the time that starts, it's already too late.

      With a nympho, you have no choice. You never do. The more fucked up they are, the more you want to get away from them, and the more abusive they are toward you to make sure they keep you.

      Saying you'd just leave is easy, because you have no emotional attachment. I wasn't strong enough to leave her, she left me, then strung me along for months afterwards. That bitch was incredibly fucked up, and she made sure that she fucked me up, too. It's 14 years later, and I still have issues to deal with.

  4. The rapidly expanding boss video market? by mbone · · Score: 2

    The company that paid for the study, note, promises to "securely distribute business video simultaneously over multiple Edge routes," so they probably don't mind some workplace paranoia.

    So, what, they are proposing that companies pay for the secure distribution of their employee's secret boss videos? A delicious thought, but I don't see that as a rapidly expanding enterprise market.

  5. Re:so what? by Sarten-X · · Score: 2

    Well, yeah... Bosses are human, too, of course. They don't want to be embarrassed any more than anybody else, but being at a higher position within the company, their reputation is directly tied to many other people's reputations as well. That goes for any other collective entity, too, including churches, charities, sailing crews, police, etc... Nobody wants to have anything recorded, because they know they might make a mistake, and that recording will be used against them, out of context and long after any reasonably limited time. Being nice and friendly regarding recording just isn't worth the risk of having a mistake get blown out of proportion.

    This is Slashdot, though, where we love the Average Joe who does whatever he wants with whatever he wants, and damn the corporations that make it happen! Managers are the personification of the corporation, so we hate them, too. Any story that attacks a company or anyone in the company (except the lowest tier, who's always oppressed and overworked by their superiors) is instantly approved and the hivemind lauds its message.

    I suppose this will head off into the world of "Flamebait" if I continue ranting... There's no "Annoyed at Slashdot" mod.

    --
    You do not have a moral or legal right to do absolutely anything you want.
  6. Two can play this game by Vinegar+Joe · · Score: 3, Insightful

    The bosses have been spying on employees for years. Feels kinda different now, doesn't it?

    --
    "The average reporter we talk to is 27 years old......They literally know nothing." - Ben Rhodes
  7. That woudl be ok by Sycraft-fu · · Score: 2

    But only if people would stop being hypocrites and decide that the things they do themselves are appropriate for others to do.

    You can do nothing legally, morally, or ethically wrong at work and still not want to be filmed because you still can do things that people will hate on you for or make fun of you because.

    Like maybe when you listen to music, you rock out and dance in your chair. You don't even know you do this, but you do. Suddenly there's a video of it online and people mock you for it, including people who do it themselves! They are fine to mock others for it, but would themselves not want to be mocked for it.

    Trust me, if I put some cameras on your for a week, I could find enough footage in there that you wouldn't want other people to see. You probably do nothing wrong, but you do things that are embarrassing in one sense or another. If I've the video to pour over, I can find it, and with a NLE I can cut it down to just the shit you don't want others to see.

    Worse still if I've got audio with it. I can get you saying shit out of context and unguarded. Don't tell me you've never badmouthed someone behind their back. Maybe you didn't even do it that directly, you said something like "For such a brilliant guy sometimes he's such an idiot about things because he jumps to conclusions too fast. I wish he'd slow down and think things through." I cut that to just "he's such an idiot."

    Just remember if you aren't willing to have surveillance on you all the time at work, ask yourself why. Those same reasons apply to everyone.

  8. Good! by assertation · · Score: 4, Interesting

    No reason only ordinary people should go through life feeling like an amoebae under a microscope.

    I enjoy the occasional article posted to Slashdot about law enforcement organizations lobbying against police being videod ( it is time to retire the word "filmed" as obsolete ).

    I love the irony of the authorities, at least some of them, being told what they tell us.

    "Gee officer, if you are doing your job and following all the rules then you have nothing to be worried about"