When you have that blurring, though, the idea that you can measure productivity the same way as you did when we spent 8 hours building a widget seems a little overly simplistic, doesn’t it?
The challenge is finding the thing we can measure to evaluate whether people are accomplishing the goals we set for them, but those goals can’t be the “number of things or hours” when the work is so much more than that.
I am convinced that the best managers are the ones who help remove obstacles to doing good work. Every organization has them. It’s a question of how effectively they can be navigated. In toxic environments, it’s not possible. In healthy ones overcoming obstacles is possible, and that is where managers focus their efforts. Monitoring every action of an individual employee does nothing to help them navigate the obstacles and does nothing to support them. It’s all a top-down case of the “gotchas.”
Imagine having one thing you can do that would give you a 94% retention rate. There is one, though it won’t be as simple as doing one thing. It will involve figuring out the appropriate career development tools and paths for the people you are trying to retain, but having a program designed for that purpose gets you way ahead of most companies.
Yes, the thought that people aren’t loyal and won’t stay no matter what you invest in them is, in fact, a myth.
I’ve written before about the IT people in your company who probably know more about you than you might think. This now extends to taking your personal devices to a repair shop. You should assume someone might be surfing through your data while working on your computer, and you should decide if you are OK with that or if the physical destruction of the device after being replaced is the safer option.
If you haven’t taught your managers how to do more than measure time in seats, you’ve done everyone a disservice, especially those same workers who performed so well for you remotely that you’ve rewarded them by making them return to what they did before.
That’s not smart.
So please, read the whole thing and be prepared for the possibility that someone you work with may be at risk for suicide or surviving after a loved one’s death by suicide. The more you know the more you can support them.