'Working Wounded': Privacy at Work

D E A R   W O U N D E D: I keep reading articles about identity theft. I didn't take privacy seriously, but now I'm careful about giving out personal information. Should I also be concerned about the same kind of issues at work?

A N S W E R: A 36-year-old man was tackled by customers after he had robbed the Zion's Bank in Salt Lake City shortly after it opened on May 2. Several customers had had their eyes on him after they had seen him waiting outside for the bank to open but already wearing a hooded sweatshirt and mask. The man meekly waited in a bank line for his turn before snatching money from a teller.

This robber didn't do a very good job of maintaining his privacy and neither do most of us at work. I've included some strategies below to help you do a better job of keeping your stuff yours. For more information, check out "Naked Employee" by Frederick Lane (Amacom, 2003)

Do you assume you don't have any privacy at work? It all starts with this "aha," privacy matters. So don't just assume that your entire life must be an open book at work.

Do you avoid sending personal e-mails? I can't believe the number of people who write to me trashing their company using their company's e-mail. There is no reason to put yourself in this position when you can open a free e-mail account for all your personal correspondence. This will protect your personal information and avoid telling your employer you have better things to do than your job.

Related

How important is privacy at work to you?

Do you keep your Web surfing work-related? I understand how tempting it is to surf the Web on the company's fast Internet connection. Avoid this temptation. Again, the ability for your company to monitor your Web use is easier than it's ever been. And it's silly to go down this path when most libraries have fast and free Internet connections.

Are you careful to keep your phone calls work-related? Call me old fashioned, but work time is for work. Again, with a cell phone and pay phones, there is no reason to phone home, or anywhere else, on the company's equipment.

Do you watch your public conversations? I learned early in my career about the downside of having a private conversation in a public place. I said something about someone and by the time it got back to him it was mangled beyond recognition. I was able to calm him down, but it's much easier to not raise this red flag by only having private conversations in private.

Do you periodically check your personnel file? It's amazing how much incorrect information can get in your file. There is no reason not to check yours for accuracy, especially when many states have laws allowing you to do so (and some even give you the right to make changes in it).

There are many people out there ready to rob you of your privacy; you've got to guard it if you want it to stay private.

We'd like to hear your strategy for dealing with privacy at work. I'll give an autographed copy of "Working Wounded: Advice that adds insight to injury" (Warner, 2000) to the best submission. Send your entry, name & address via: http://workingwounded.com or via email: bob@workingwounded.com. Entries must be received by Wednesday (December 1st).

Online Ballot and Contest

Here are the results from a recent workingwounded.com/ABCNEWS.com online ballot:
If an employee is failing at work, which song title best describes how you think it should be handled?

  Cry Me A River. 7.5 percent

  He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother, 24.2 percent

  Bye Bye Blackbird, 30.1 percent

  You Can't Always Get What You Want, 38 percent

Winning Strategy

Our winning strategy for handling a failing worker comes from K.N. in Cyberspace:

"I recently went through this, I was the failing employee. My former employer tried all of the solutions you suggested. What was missing was sincerity. For example, it's one thing to promote and provide training for employees, but what is often missing is the follow through. What finally worked for me was when my supervisor sat down with me and had a heart to heart. She laid out the direction and path I needed to take to succeed in the organization, and offered to help me with it. But she also acknowledged that maybe I didn't really want to go down this path and approached the possibility that maybe it was time for me to move on. This was a turning point, because I felt like I didn't have to hide my decision to leave, we came to a mutual agreement. What changed was that my supervisor finally took a personal interest and was sincere. I had had similar conversations in the past about my performance but they always felt confrontational. I'm glad things finally turned out the way they did, because I'm really excited about the new career path I have chosen."

List of the Week

54 percent of employees would rather mow the lawn than attend a meeting

41 percent would rather wash the kitchen floor

26 percent would rather research car insurance rates

25 percent would rather go to the dentist

23 percent would rather read the phone book

Source: Genesys Conferencing

Bob Rosner is a best-selling author, speaker and internationally syndicated columnist. His newest bestseller, "GRAY MATTERS: The Workplace Survival Guide" (Wiley, 2004), is a business comic book that trades cynicism for solutions. Ask Bob a question: bob@workingwounded.com or http://graymattersbook.com

ABCNEWS.com publishes a new Working Wounded column every Friday.