21st century alternatives to timekeeping

Normally I don’t stay in the office to supervise the work of 15 employees who are my direct reports in our small business. This leaves them enough opportunity to violate our attendance and punctuality policies, if not horse around while I’m away. I can’t afford to buy those expensive CCTV and automated timekeeping devices. What’s the best way to ensure that they perform to my satisfaction? — Rainbow Star.

We’ll, I guess it’s a matter of attitude like the two fishermen in this story. The first fisherman was lugging a fish twice his size when he met another fisherman with about a half dozen small ones tied to a string.

“What do you think?” said the first fisherman, as he dropped the huge fish on the ground to show off.

The second fisherman stared at the huge fish. Then he said calmly, “You mean you only caught one?”

I will raise this question: “You mean you want to micromanage your work force?” It’s easy enough to do what’s conventionally obsolete and to rationalize by thinking something similar to what people and organizations have done in the past.

That in essence is a Bundy-clock mentality.

We’re now in the 21st-century workplace where empowerment and performance-based reward systems rule.

This means that you have to adopt a different approach, at least for the tools. This is not necessarily limited to using high-technology equipment.

If you have only one nail, it will bend. I mean, if you think that strict timekeeping would do the job for you, then you’re terribly mistaken.

On the contrary, it would only backfire.

Allow people enough opportunity to be honest with their attendance and punctuality record. Even a simple attendance logbook would suffice.

More often than not they will reciprocate your trust and confidence.

Don’t freak out over those few minutes of tardiness. It’s too much work for you particularly, if you monitor it on a daily basis. Instead, I suggest that you devise a system where you measure the work of your staff not on the basis of their physical presence in the office, but rather on the productive result of their work.

The first thing to do, of course is to come up with formal work standards and a mutually acceptable objectives for all. The standards and objectives must comply with the SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and time-bound) approach.

Delegate everything possible to your subordinates. Assign production quotas, either on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis. This doesn’t have to be complicated, if done through your supervisor or office manager.

Supervising 15 direct reports is too much for you. The ideal number for line supervision should not exceed five to six direct reports. I therefore suggest that you appoint someone and his assistant who should be responsible to you, given their specific job functions.

This should be easy for you if only you have an achievement-oriented style of management. This encourages employees to reach their peak performance. Simply, it goes this way:

You as the business owner must set challenging goals. Do you want a big fish or half a dozen small fishes? Then expect your employees working with the help of their office leaders perform at their highest level.

Continuously seek improvement in employee performance and give them proper reward and recognition. If you give your people positive expectations they perform well enough in what Robert Merton called as “a self-fulfilling prophecy.” But if you treat your people like schoolchildren, then they will act like children. –In The WorkPlace — By Reylito A.H. Elbo, Businessworld