Monitor employee e-mail. It’s good for the company
February 13, 2007
The U.S. survey, conducted by e-mail archive company Fortiva and Jeffrey Plotkin, a partner with the law firm Pitney Hardin LLP, found 63 per cent of those which have formal electronic communications retention and review policies said it has improved visibility into the risk the organization is exposed to as a result of employee communications. Twenty-six per cent of those organizations terminated an employee as a result of information gathered from e-mail surveillance, and 12 per cent uncovered customer complaints that were not previously escalated or disclosed. But this diligence comes with a cost. Companies reported spending a median of 12 hours per week for every 100 employees to review 10 per cent of their electronic messages. Other findings: - 64 per cent of respondents sample a percentage of electronic communications across all their employees, while 36 per cent only sample groups of users such as brokers, advisors or executives - five per cent of respondents do not review e-mail attachments. Fifty-two per cent review instant messages and 41 per cent review Bloomberg and Reuters Mail.
