The Surveillance Trap: When Employee Monitoring Backfire

Catalyst Center for Work Innovation: The Debate · Mar 25, 2026 · 25m

In this episode, the hosts lock horns over a controversial finding that challenges the corporate enthusiasm for people analytics: surveillance technology designed to boost productivity and wellbeing may actually be driving employees out the door. They debate explosive research showing that when companies deploy monitoring systems to track worker behavior through granular data dashboards—tools managers can see but employees cannot—the result is often a collapse in organizational trust and a spike in turnover intentions. One host argues this is a predictable consequence of information asymmetry…