The Negative Effects Of Using Data In Employee's Privacy

Using Big Data around the globe by successful companies has become widespread. Indeed, a climatic increase of employee's productivity, which leads to company's increase of revenue while the decrease of expenses that takes place.

However, there is also a downside in using Big Data by the different companies around the world.

One of the most important downside is that "employees may feel a Big Brother is watching", says Mark van Rijmenam, founder of Datafloq.

This means that they may feel that their boss is always watching them and even every move that they make. This may lead to uneasiness of the employees which can seriously affect their happiness so as their productivity.

Other than that, Industrial Organization Psychology did an interesting research about how are the employee's responses to Big Data when it comes to their privacy. Research shows that employees don't like large scale, intense data mining programs.

Generally, employees are not comfortable with the new trend due to infringement of privacy. Companies can tract down the employee's whereabouts and monitored devices even outside their working hours and even personal activities of employee's life can easily be accessed.

Moreover, there is a difference between data and when it becomes information. If the companies do not have any proper orientation on how to manage the collected data from their employees could lead to a risky situation.

Since there is an invasion of privacy, such programs may lead to "decreased job satisfaction, well-being, organizational, commitment, attitudes about fairness, and performance," says Joe Sherwood, Human Capital Management Practice, SAP.

With this, employers should be transparent to employees as to what data is used, why it should be used, to what extent or measure have them prepared to secure the employees.

Therefore, there should be a proper and clear orientation of the company. This could then change the minds of the employees on how they view in using Big Data as it will "help them and will not affect them negatively," Mark van added.