My mother, who worked in human resources and customer service into her 70s, was called an "engaged" employee because she was never late, sincere in helping resolve problems, and committed to the organization. She was willing to pull a little more than her weight when called upon. She was a digital native. Her reviews were always very good.
Her working life was over because of something other than physical or mental limitations. It wasn't the commute in New England. A note was left on her chair by her supervisor stating that she had taken too long to use the restroom. Mom explained to me that she was missing the camaraderie that was her main motivation to continue working because of the careful employee monitoring. She had to rush in the loo.
I read about the growth ofttleware to monitor employees, especially those working remotely during the Pandemic, and thought of this story. The programs track everything from keyboard activity to websites. Other versions show how quickly warehouse workers pick and pack items. The signal from leaders to their employees is one of distrust, which is why micromanagement is a problem. Micromanagement is almost certain to disengage even the most loyal workers.
Micromanagement is detrimental to worker happiness and productivity because of self-determination theory, a long-established body of work on human motivation. To feel motivated, people have to fulfill three core needs: competence, autonomy, and relatedness. Micromanagement cuts against these. Shadowing employees suggests a lack of faith in their ability to do their job. They also lose their independence. In my mother's case, it destroys relatedness because each individual feels forced to always concentrate on task completion. The social nature of humans makes treating people as if they are machines counter to the nature of humans. The professor at Harvard Business School told Working Knowledge, "You have to trust that they are intelligent enough and well-intentioned enough to get work done no matter what it takes."
My mom's working life was not limited by physical or mental limitations. A note was left on her chair by her supervisor stating that she had taken too long to use the restroom.
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There is a social media site called the Twitter.
Facebook.
There is a professional network called LinkedIn.
Neuroscience shows why micromanaging is counter productive. Donna Volpitta, an expert in brain-based mental health literacy, told me that the two most fundamental needs of the human brain are security and autonomy. When leaders micromanage their employees, they undermine that sense of trust, which tends to breed evasion behaviors in employees.
Volpitta says that our brains have two basic operating modes. Short-term is about survival. I call it the freeze-flight-fight response because it is the brain that is jumping all over. Long-term thinking is necessary for complex problem solving. The brain is slower and steadier. She says micromanagement can cause short-term thinking problems.
The illusion of control is given by micromanaging. It is an illusion. The data collected from hyper-observation won't show enthusiasm, commitment, or the satisfaction of either workers or customers. A downward spiral of evading punishment is created by moves that put people into a fear-based state. The beatings will continue until the people are happy. It won't work.
Micromanaging is caused by a number of predictable causes: managers who are not good at managing people, workers who are not trained or resources that are not enough.
Managers are not at fault for this situation. It is too easy to complete an MBA without taking a single course in organizational behavior or psychology. Future leaders are not prepared for the challenge of inspiring people to achieve great things together. It is different than the world of numbers and plans.
There are three antidotes to the trend of Big Brother management.
You should be educated about human nature. Humans achieve peak performance, make decisions, and work together, thanks to a growing body of knowledge. Go into it. Investing in the development of individuals and teams, fostering psychological safety, learning how the brain responds to different stimuli, and treating people as fully capable adults have been shown to yield significant dividends.
Building soft skills is hard work. You have to be comfortable around people if you want to lead. It doesn't come naturally to everyone. How can I make it easier for you to succeed? How do you think we can do better? What makes a day at work great for you? An open dialogue with team members will help build your skills and overall team performance.
Clarifying the mission as well as the metrics is important. It can be easy to overlook the larger mission when you are focused on minute-by-minute measurements. Tell your employees why they do what they do and how it improves their lives. When no one is looking to connect people to the mission, there is no better way to make sure they are doing the right thing.
When organizational work was defined as people assigned to company-supplied equipment performing designated duties to produce standardized outputs, it was a time ago. Management in those days tended to focus on task completion with interchangeable employees, according to Rachel Happe, founder of organizational consulting firm Engaged Organizations. The focus shifted to individuals and the application of specialized skills. Individual skills and expertise are not enough to address complex challenges now that many rote activities have been automated. Employees add value through coordination, collaboration, and creativity. Management is about creating the conditions in which individuals thrive, by fostering communities of workers who connect with, support, and challenge each other. The best work comes from self-organization, psychological safety, and relationships in these settings. Work has evolved faster than organizations and management practice because of the rapid pace of technology. Managers have to attend to the system.
To survive the great resignation and succeed beyond it, leaders need to speed their own evolution. If only their managers would trust them to do it, they would be able to create organizations that attract and retain people who are ready to achieve great things.
