Benioff monitors worker communications

Salesforce.com chief executive Marc Benioff has been monitoring worker communications to identify key employees.

Chatter is a Salesforce social networking tool designed to plug into the companies' customer relationship management software. Chatter lets staff post status updates in a similar manner to Twitter, and review feeds, like Facebook.

Benioff told the Cloudforce conference on Wednesday that he had been using Salesforce.com's Chatter Mobile application, announced at the conference, to monitor employee communications.

"It's given me a new view of what's going on in the company," said Benioff. "I can go through and see what employees are saying, what collaborations are happening, what product leaders are saying – I can get a whole view of what's happening."

Benioff said he had identified a "secret network" of employees who were influential in driving the business.

"In customer support, a lot of people escalate [work] but there are very few who close cases," said Benioff. "It's mostly bureaucrats and politicians who have climbed their way to the top of the organisation. [Chatter] has exposed a private network, and turns the company into a meritocracy. We're changing the compensation systems to reflect the folks who are really making a difference."

In a press conference, Benioff addressed a question about employee privacy. A journalist asked a Salesforce partner whether employess think they are being watched by Big Brother.

"Salesforce.com has a professional enterprise network and [Chatter] is part of professional network communications," said Benioff. "There are certain things appropriate in a business environment. We're not talking about a tea party, we're talking about how to get things fixed. It's a different tone and a different tempo."