Should You Videotape Employees? Is monitoring employees with cameras worth it?

Wonder what your employees are doing when you're not there to mind the store? Sovus Media has come up with a multimedia answer. For $5,000 to $7,000 per location, you can set up surveillance equipment that allows you to see, hear and talk to employees, giving shop owners and managers a window into their stores.

Ron Hammer, president of Sovus Media, says that in addition to facilitating communication, the system is a strong motivator for employees to perform. "We are able to view and communicate with stores over the internet," he says.

But is this an invaluable efficiency booster--or just Big Brother? Terri Kabachnick, CEO of The Kabachnick Group Inc., a Largo, Florida, retail consulting practice, says it depends. "If your insurance company requires it, or you know people are stealing from you, that's one thing," she explains. "But unless employees know they're going to be monitored from the point of being hired, you could have backlash."