Where’s the Trust?
My favorite daily newsletter Chief Executive had an incredible article in January: 60% of companies (I think the writer means very large public companies) are using monitoring software to check on their workers! And an additional 17% are considering doing the same! I was flabbergasted! Where’s the trust?
Tune in this week as Wayne react to these amazing finding and discusses why monitoring software and the obvious lack of trust are likely to produce counterproductive outcomes because they fail to measure at least SIX productive business activities.
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Hi, everyone. This is Wayne Rivers at FBI, where We Build Better Contractors.
This week I want to talk about where's the trust? I play practical jokes on my wife at home. I mean, we've been married
32 years, there's got to be something to keep the excitement going. I usually play the same jokes on her over and over
and over again. Then she's come to anticipate most of them, and she'll check me out and make sure I'm not about to pull
something on her. I always say, "Where's the trust? Where's the trust?"
There was an article in the chief executive newsletter, January the 25th of '23, talking about where's the trust really? So,
it said... I couldn't believe this. 60% of companies, I think this must be big businesses, 60% of companies with remote
workers, which is all of us. I mean, don't all of us have remote workers now? 60% of the companies with remote workers
are using monitoring software. Then 17% of companies, in addition, were considering using monitoring software. So
almost 80% of companies are saying we want to know that you're at your keyboard, that you're at your computer, that
you're working.
So, they're looking at things like productivity and then idleness. If you're not tapping on your computer, they're consider
you idle. People have even been terminated by this remote monitoring kind of spying software. I think it would have... I
know in my shop and probably in your construction company, that kind of monitoring would have the opposite effect on
most people, the big brother looming kind of a thing. I think it would hurt morale. I think it would demonstrate a clear lack
of trust. I think you'd probably hurt productivity. You might even have a little resentment from some of your employees.
I can imagine that if I went to my wife and I said, "Lisa, I love you and I trust you, but I'm going to put some monitoring
software on your car via GPS, so I know where you are 24/7." I don't think that would go over. If you love and trust, where's
the love? Where's the trust? I mean, come on.
Anyway, I just can't see it going over. So let me read a passage from this article. "The people who work for us are not dots
on a map, numbers on a screen or lines in a spreadsheet. We all have lives, families and obligations outside of work. And
in an age where work and life are now fully integrated, the traditional nine to five workday is over. Results should matter
more than punching a clock. The point of providing a flexible work environment should be to actually provide flexibility."
I mean, it sounds so reasonable when phrased that way, and I tend to agree with it. So, you think about this monitoring
software, what does it not monitor? It doesn't monitor thinking. It doesn't necessarily monitor collaboration between
people, at least face-to-face. It doesn't monitor planning. It doesn't monitor the soft skills that people may be developing
or utilizing. It doesn't monitor reading. I'm preparing for these blogs, doing a bunch of reading. If my employer's using
monitoring software that's considered unproductive that I'm researching and reading? What about phone calls? I know
that phone calls are low tech, but I'm on the phone all the time.
I just don't get it. What if these companies invested in employee engagement tools, better communication tools that
people could use to collaborate and things like that? I believe, FBI believes, our peer group members believe you hire good
people, and you trust them to do the jobs you hired them to do. You hold them accountable, but you don't micromanage,
and you don't use monitoring software to look over their shoulders every day.
In your construction world, do you really care about time and effort and clicks on a keyboard, or do you care about results?
I'm going to say that 99.8% of our contractors out there care about results. So, let's hear from you. What's working for
you? How are you holding your people accountable successfully? If you're using monitoring software, maybe a polite
rebuttal would be appropriate in the comments.
This is Wayne Rivers at FBI where We Build Better Contractors.
