The Impact of Workplace Surveillance on Employee - Employer Bond

Abstract

Workplace surveillance has drawn the attention of many organizations during the past decades. Previous research investigated the impact of workplace surveillance on different constructs such as job satisfaction, employee loyalty, trust in management, employee creativity and employee privacy. However, there was a dearth of research on the impact of workplace surveillance on employee – employer bond as it has not been tested previously in any organizational context. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of workplace surveillance on employee – employer bond and to identify the role of trust in the impact of workplace surveillance on employee – employer bond. Further, this study used social bond theory which has not been used before to investigate the impact of workplace surveillance on employee – employer bond. The model was empirically tested by collecting data from two hundred and eight operational level employees working in commercial banks in Sri Lanka. In selecting the sample, convenience sampling was used due to time constraints. The survey questionnaire method was used to collect data. The study focused on three constructs, namely, workplace surveillance, trust, and employee – employer bond. This study used Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) to analyze the data. Before the statistical analysis, data was screened for its appropriateness for use in the main analysis. According to the findings of the study, workplace surveillance had a weak positive impact on employee – employer bond and a moderate, positive impact on trust. Trust, on the other hand, had a strong positive impact on employee – employer bond. Further, trust had an indirect effect on the relationship between workplace surveillance and employee – employer bond. Hence, managers should identify strategies to enhance their employees’ trust levels as they directly enhance employee – employer bond and increase organizational performance.

Keywords: Employee – Employer Bond, Trust, Workplace Surveillance