GUIDE PÉDAGOGIQUE - Hachette

Under AT&T’s Remote Monitor program, a business
owner could install adjustable cameras, door sensors
and other gadgets at up to five different company
locations across the country. Using a Java-enabled
mobile device or a personal computer connected to
the Internet, the owner would be able to view any
of the images in real time, control room lighting
and track equipment temperatures remotely. All the
images are recorded on digital video, which can be
viewed for up to 30 days.
“It is Big Brother, but in this day and age, you need
these type of tools” for theft protection, weeding out
false accident claims and other risks, said Beaux Roby,
owner of a chain of five Mama’s Café restaurants and
two banquet halls in Texas. Mr. Roby has been using
the system for nine weeks as part of a pilot program.
“You have fraudulent claims from customers that trip
and fall and things like that,” he said.
The system can detect break-ins and monitor
employees who “are just sitting around on the clock
not doing what they’re supposed to be doing,” Mr.
Roby said. In one instance, he said, a worker seen
operating a meat slicer without wearing protective
gloves was reprimanded. For businesses, digital video
monitoring at multiple sites is added. “It’s a unique
and affordable option for a small business that wants
to keep in touch with various locations,” said Steve
Loop, executive director for business development at
AT&T. “It saves them a lot of time in their day from
having to physically go to all of their locations.”
© New York Times, November 14th, 2007,
by Janet Morissey.
1. The pros are that the cameras offer a protection
and control of the quality of the service. It is also here
to spot a theft or a fake complaint. The cons are that
it means surveillance of the employees who are spied
on.
2. Big Brother is mentioned here because of the
cameras which spoon on people, watching their
every move and denouncing bad behaviours such as
laziness at work.
REPORTING
The previous articles put forward different ideas that
could very well contribute to making the atmosphere
in the workplace very good, if not ideal.
Laughing, having a social life, enjoying extra-curricular
activities, benefiting from “on the job training” with
a personal coach who helps you enlarge your career
prospects, being covered by unions could all be assets
contributing to good working condition. However,
20 Unit 3 – Human Resources
employees could easily do without cameras in the
workplace!
How to lose your job on your
own time (pp. 32-33)
Cette double page pose un problème particulier et
moderne relativement inquiétant puisqu’il s’appuie sur
un fait réel d’une jeune femme dont on a refusé l’embauche
et le diplôme en raison d’une photo publiée
sur sur sa page personnelle sur internet. Les sites tels
que Myspace, Facebook et les blogs sont de nouvelles
sources d’espionnage par les entreprises et représentent
désormais de véritables dangers pour le recrutement.
FIRST STEPS
1. The article deals with recruiting (a).
2. The threat concerns off the job activity (b).
MOVING ON
1 & 2. Henry Ford created a “Sociological
Department” to snoop on people. It is compared
here with Internet and special sites like Myspace and
Facebook that play the same role.
3. What Henry Ford implemented was a complex
system with inspectors visiting employees (although
never the highest–level managers!) at home to test
their ability to work by investigating their drinking
habits, hobbies etc. Today there is no use resorting to
this kind of device since it is easier and faster to visit
employees’ pages on the internet.
4. This expression tends to say that your personal life
should almost look like your professional life, that is to
say you shouldn’t show too many signs of bubbling
vitality outside work. Unrestrained activities could
harm your professional life. Therefore it sounds more
reasonable to maintain some kind of “amorphous”
attitude in your extra-curricular activities.
5. a. Wrong. All but the highest level of management.
(l. 5)
b. Right. They remain very vulnerable.
c. Right. They can be dismissed only for “cause”.
d. Wrong. It’s none of the companies’ business.
(l. 19)
6. a. likely (l. 1); b. delighted (l. 1) ; c. dig for (l.
6); d. amused (l. 7); e. fail (l. 9); f. dismissed (l. 14) ;
g. trial (l. 26).
© Éditions Foucher