Writing about Life in the digital age

The idea of being connected to the organisation 24X7 via whats app, or e-mail often results in a sense of being monitored by big brother. The idea of connecting to employees all the time has begun to rankle many. Jennifer has rightly pointed out that 'what appeared to be a revolution in work-life balance has gone too far'! Research has shown that late night smartphone use has an adverse impact on 'employee productivity and engagement! Some of the well know organisations like Volkswagen have even enacted mandates for unplugging. Isn't it high time so called efficient organisations desisted from pestering employees with late night messages, and even messages on holidays? French employers and unions have even created an 'obligation to disconnect' for contract workers, isn't it high time others did the same too? The stress resulting from excess connectivity and the anxiety factor that leads to reduced employee productivity is simply not worth it! I have known of organisations that make it mandatory for their employees to switch their data service on so that they can receive whats app messages the moment they step into the organisation, others make it mandatory for their employees to keep their whats app on at all times. Similarly the shift from the good old written circular to the e-mail soft copy form has made it convenient to deny receiving a mail, or for that effect easier to blame the employee of negligence in checking a mail that was sent earlier. What makes it worse is that it is easier to miss an e-mail that forms part of a hundred mails than a hard copy of the same communication for which you have signed an acknowledgement!