Snooping bosses
On the plane to Vegas last week, I buried my nose in an issue of Time magazine and stumbled onto an article that made me wince, smile and then wince again.
Titled Snooping Bosses, the article is three full pages about how bosses in businesses big and small are using high-tech tools to keep track of where their employees are, what they’re doing and what they’re looking–on company time and off.
My dad was a business owner. He had employees and it drove him just about nuts trying to make sure they weren’t ripping him off, sleeping on company time or generally doing all those nasty things that can drive a business to ruin.
But my inner Biznik just can’t fathom working that way. It all just feels a bit too much like elementary school, with the teacher dourly asking just WHAT I had written on that NOTE and would I SHARE it with the entire CLASS.
Anyway, food for thought.
September 12th, 2006 at 8:33 pm
i’m kind of hoping that if i hire the right folks in the first place, encourage a fun work enviroment that rewards creativity and productive behavoir, and just generally treat people the way i would want to be treated if i were in their shoes…i hope i can avoid having to play too much Big Brother type BS..
am i living in a pipe dream of idealism?
September 12th, 2006 at 9:44 pm
It’s a good question. I mean, the fact of the matter is that we Americans sepnd a phenomenal amount of time at work not working. As a freelancer, the only one I’m hurting by procrastinating is myself. If I’ve got a deadline, I meet it. And sometimes that means worknig late into the night (like I’m doing tonight). But if I had an honest to goodness boss? Or employees of my own? I’m not sure how I’d feel on the issue.
What I’d like to see is a workplace where expectations are firmly set and as long as projects get done, monitoring is kept to a minimum.
My favorite part from that article is about how the employees who complain the most about being overworked are the ones who do the least actual work.
September 13th, 2006 at 10:55 am
Justin,
I don’t think it’s a pipe dream at all! The consulting company I do tech support for does has shunned any big brother BS and they are doing quite well.
The company offers lots of performance based incentives and has a pretty high work standard. The attitude is if you are spending too much time goofing off or surfing the net, it will show up in your work and you won’t be around for long.
I think one of the keys is rewarding based on results rather than everyone getting a consistent hourly pay. I say shoot for the sky!
Rebecca
September 13th, 2006 at 11:00 am
Personally I think hourly pay in general is sort of nuts. I occasionally will charge straight hourly for a meeting or consulting, but otherwise it’s value all the way. Plus, that way my clients don’t feel any need to look over my shoulder (not that I would let them anyway.)
September 15th, 2006 at 6:44 pm
When my boss establishes clear performance expectations, everything is easier for me. Knowing what is expected includes having clarity about what I should be producing, as well as about what behaviors are okay and what ones are not.
People mis-behave. I’ve worked in many different fields, and all over the place there are employees stealing and cheating. Some of it is a consequence of a certain Us-Them mentality that seems to be encouraged in the United States. Somehow there’s a rationaliztion that anyone who is successful (and owns a company) doesn’t deserve everything they have and therefore it is “okay” for employees to take from the company.
Starbucks does an interesting thing. Their employees are given a box of tea or a pound of coffee every so often. My guess is that someone at Starbucks realized that staff were going to be snagging product and whisking it off for their personal use. Flat out giving some of the company’s product to employees is a great way to circumvent this common cycle of petty theft, which really can escalate. Instead of having to be Big Brother, Starbucks can come across as generous.
September 25th, 2006 at 1:59 am
Hi Chris,
Great post — reminds me of what my dad (who had his own company) used to talk about every evening over dinner. Seems that there aren’t that many bloggers who picked up on this article — here’s my own take on it: http://blogs.ittoolbox.com/km/dr-dan/archives/snooping-bosses-get-real-11798
Dan
September 26th, 2006 at 7:00 pm
Hey Dan,
Great post and thanks for the comment. Now come be a Biznik!