Microsoft CEO doesn’t want employees spied on when working from home
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Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has urged companies not to spy on their employees who work from home, despite a recent report claiming that bosses trust their employees who do.
The company’s report found that 85% of leaders find it “challenging to trust employees to be productive,” despite a massive 153% increase in Microsoft Teams meetings since pre-pandemic.
Nearly the same number of employees (87%) believe they are more productive when they work from home, and even report instances of burnout. The number of virtual meetings has increased by 84% in the past two years, while preliminary RSVP responses have increased by a significant 216% as bosses turn to regular check-ins to monitor the performance of their teams.
Monitor staff with Microsoft Viva
“We have to get past what we describe as ‘productivity paranoia’ because all the data we have shows that over 80% of individual people think they are very productive — except that their management thinks they are not productive,” he said. Nadella on the BBC (opens in new tab).
Microsoft VP Jared Spataro added to Bloomberg (opens in new tab)“There is a growing debate about employee oversight, and [the company has] a really strong attitude – we just think that’s wrong.”
“We don’t think employers should monitor the activity of keystrokes and mouse clicks and stuff like that because in so many ways we feel like it’s measuring heat rather than result.”
There’s plenty of employee monitoring software out there, but Microsoft thinks it can offer something else that encourages employees to prioritize their goals.
Used by 10 million active monthly users, the Viva platform has just undergone a major upgrade and offers even more valuable tools, including the introduction of Viva Pulse, which is designed to facilitate feedback between corporate personnel.