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Companies more and more undertake distant or hybrid work models to handle up to date well being, security and life-style priorities. Fewer and fewer managers hyperlink their staff’ efficiency completely to their bodily attendance and desk presence.
They’ve a degree — there’s convincing proof that granting staff flexibility can increase productiveness in comparison with inflexible 9-to-5 schedules. However what does this imply for managers? Can they merely let their groups run wild with none oversight? If attendance is an outdated measure of productiveness, ought to managers utterly disregard it?
Let’s take a look at the attainable alternate options to the “bums in seats” mentality that may give managers a way of management with out sacrificing worker autonomy.
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The hidden prices of attendance fixation
At my firm, as builders of a time-tracking and productiveness app, we analyze worker work habits. Our studies have proven that procrastination and time-wasting can happen even when staff are bodily current within the workplace.
Whereas there’s undoubtedly a correlation between attendance and productiveness in some instances, this black-and-white view is overly simplistic. It fails to account for the nuances of particular person work types, the character of various roles, and the impression of things past an worker’s management. On high of that, versatile work is crucial for supporting parents and women in the workplace.
An overemphasis on attendance can have a number of detrimental penalties for each staff and organizations.
- Demotivated workforce: When staff really feel consistently monitored and judged for his or her attendance, it may well result in decreased job satisfaction and engagement. This will manifest in diminished productiveness, elevated turnover, and presenteeism, the place staff come to work regardless of being unwell, hindering their efficiency and probably spreading sickness.
- Micromanagement tradition: A concentrate on attendance can foster a tradition the place managers really feel the necessity to intently monitor and management their staff’ each transfer. This will stifle innovation, creativity, and autonomy, in the end hindering productiveness and worker development.
- Overlooking true efficiency: When attendance turns into the first metric for achievement, it may well overshadow the standard and impression of an worker’s work. An worker who’s persistently current however underperforming is probably not contributing considerably to the group’s targets. Alternatively, one other worker’s precious contribution can go unnoticed.
As well as, by solely specializing in attendance, you might be neglecting to handle the underlying causes for absenteeism. Stress, burnout, work-life stability points, or perhaps a poisonous work setting can all be the actual causes behind it and needs to be addressed proactively.
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Shifting focus from attendance to accountability
It is comprehensible that managers wish to keep in command of their groups, as they’re those chargeable for driving outcomes. Due to this fact, the primary apparent step is dividing the duty amongst all of the group members, not simply managers. Empower your group by delegating tasks and offering them with the mandatory data. By holding everybody accountable for his or her contributions, attendance turns into much less essential as the main target shifts towards attaining group targets.
Second, consider staff based mostly on their precise output, high quality of labor, and contributions to group targets relatively than solely on their attendance report. Managers can implement targets or milestones with group members and arrange a system for checking in or reporting on that progress. This strategy will no less than lay the muse for appreciating the work finished, which is already a big step.
Third, managers ought to work to instill a way of possession of their staff. The extra individuals really feel like an integral a part of the method or an organization, the upper their motivation to deliver good outcomes. Belief and autonomy accompany the sense of possession, empowering your staff and giving them objective.
Lastly, implement versatile work hours. This will appear counterintuitive at first, however that is the entire level. Attendance and time spent on the pc do not matter so long as you get the wanted outcomes. Giving your staff the mandate of belief and the duty to work their hours — on the time they like — can also be an oblique method of claiming that outcomes matter.
I might go even additional and encourage you to attempt shorter work weeks. In my firm, we have now been doing 35-hour weeks for over a 12 months, and the outcomes are very satisfying. Our staff have the liberty to distribute these hours as they want so long as they’ve amassed 35 hours over the week. We have noticed that regardless of diminished work hours, the standard and amount of labor have both remained fixed or improved, probably as a result of elevated motivation and a extra relaxed work setting.
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Shedding the presenteeism mindset
In case you Google “alternate options to monitoring worker attendance,” you may principally discover articles attempting to persuade you to just do that — monitor attendance. That is stunning, given the rising recognition of trust-based workplaces, versatile preparations, and outcome-focused administration.
Whereas proof strongly helps abandoning the presenteeism mindset, many organizations nonetheless persist with this outdated strategy. So, why can we cling to this metric?
As a result of it offers us a way of management. But it surely’s apparent that managers want to tear the band-aid off. The notion of attendance needs to be separated from productiveness. Attendance-based programs needs to be changed with evaluating task-based accomplishments and output relatively than time on the pc. It is excessive time for managers to search out different programs to assist their staff’ success and preserve tabs on their accomplishments.