An approach to monitoring employees

Employees are humans first, and most people are adaptable to their circumstances. An assured salary will produce compliant behaviour within reasonable limits. An intrusive monitoring system will inevitably result in a proportion of employees trying to beat the system. There are many ways of staying put at the work place without a motivated and sustained effort to contribute to the goals of the company. This does not imply that employees should be left to their own devices without any monitoring system. However, individual self-respect should be protected. The company should encourage employees to set and achieve a productive work ethic of their own.

Focus on business results

Optimal use of scarce resources is at the foundation of professional business management. Monitoring employees does not have a sound fit with this basic principle. The very term ‘monitoring’ implies that employees may not be trust-worthy. Treating people as ‘children’ invites them to respond accordingly. Managers and owners should be serving customers, competing in the market-place, and planning for the future of the company. Monitoring can lead to a downward spiral in terms of productivity, with managers and owners wasting time fighting their subordinates and employees.

Review your work relationships

Work practices should be designed so that lapses on the parts of employees become self-evident. An electronic time-recording system is a good example of a self-monitoring system. The employee knows when he or she is late to work, away during work hours, or leaves early. Everything is on record, but not presented in a way that would make a person feel publically shamed. It is always possible to openly reward good behaviour at the same time. Treating employees as responsible adults is the optimal way to elicit professional and mature behaviour.

Listen before you monitor

Participative goal-setting is a related way of making monitoring, in the traditional sense of the term, redundant. Encourage people to set group targets. Ensure that they have the resources needed for achievement. Reward superior performance visibly and swiftly. These actions will create an ambience in which there will be structured disincentives against non-performance. You will need to watch workers only to know when to applaud!

Err in favour of people who report to you

Unhelpful behaviour in a work situation may not be intentional or conscious. Make plenty of space for constructive and courteous criticism. It helps to focus on issues rather than on personalities. Feedback from peers can be easier to digest than harsh words from a line manager. Anyone being assessed should have ample opportunities to air his or her opinion. Such approaches will produce better results than conventional monitoring.

Treat employees as valued customers

The adage ‘people will do what you inspect, not what you expect, as long as you do it with respect’ is most relevant when it comes to monitoring employees. A supervisor should balance concern for business results with care for staff. Employees will respond to diligent and polite supervision with enthusiasm.