The value of work-related blogs

I will first of all make it clear that there is hardly any substantiated evidence to suggest employers take note of work-related blogs other than to check if their employees are in breach of their contract of employment. However, there is just a little bit of evidence emerging to suggest that such a parochial attitude is set to broaden. Take the following two articles for example - The Secret Lives of Agents Jennifer O'Herron and Keith Dawson (Call Center Today), and, Don't Miss the Mark: Motivation that Works Jennifer O'Herron (Call Center Magazine).

Both articles reveal a curiosity with and perhaps a secret admiration of work-related blogs. Indeed in the first article O'Herron and Dawson make the following comment - "If you want an inside look into what [call centre] agents are really thinking, just search the Web. Recently, we came across a couple of interesting blogs said to be penned by call center employees. " In the second and much more substantial article O'Herron clearly feels a number of lessons can be learned through reading the blogs of call centre workers. In one example the blogger and blog in question - Call Center Purgatory (who I should thank for sending me links to both articles) - is said to highlight how incentives meant to motivate operators actually create the reverse situation.

I'm not claiming that all work-related blogs are as revealing as Call Center Purgatory, but it does suggest that work-related blogs represents an enormous wealth of information, which remains virtually untapped by employers, practitioners, journalists, academics, etc. Never mind, prospective employees checking out a particular career or may be a specific employer. However, the main point I wish to make is that the value of work-related blogs is arguably not in catching the employee out, but in seeing how employees really feel about their work and how they view their employer.

To view a range of call centre blogs see a previous posting.